L.A. Day Two

Having picked up our second rental mini van, and spent a peaceful night, we decided to check out the sights in L.A. Discussion was given to the merits of the La Brea Tar Pits, Disneyland, and many other places. We finally settled on the Museum of Natural History and the California Science Museum. So we loaded the brood in the van, and took off for the museum. When I rented this van, I decided to throw in a Garmin GPS with the rental. This turned out to be a very good decision because a) we didn't have a map of L.A., and b) I didn't want to spend the whole time arguing about where we were going. So we plugged our intended destination into the GPS, and off we go. Ten minutes later, we arrive at our destination only to discover that there are no less than five museums all in the same spot, and that the L.A. Olympic Arena is also right there. And we've forgotten the camera. Great.
So we find a place to park, get the kids out of the car, and head in to the science museum. This is the hands-on type of museum, and it's actually got a lot of really cool stuff in it. Out in the parking lot, you can try to pick up a truck. Really. The girls were actually able to do it (with a little help from Dad). The thing the kids seemed most impressed by was the HUGE gift shop inside the museum and the fact that there's also a McDonalds in the museum. Admission to the museum itself is free (donations are requested). There are three floors to the museum, with lots of things to try. The girls had fun running around and generally making us crazy. After the science museum, we walked next door to the Museum of Natural History. Admission there was $9 per person, but the museum was pretty neat. I was very Night At the Museum kinda feeling, with lots of dioramas and stuffed animals to see. Unfortunately, the dinosaur exhibit was closed for remodeling. Somewhere on the upper floors, though, they have a real working fossil lab where you can watch techs dremmel away the stone surrounding fossils found in the field.
After the museum, we went back to the hotel, and had another uneventful evening.
The next morning, we got up before the rooster. This was the morning of our flight. Our flight departed around 9-ish, so we planned to be at the airport no later than 7. This also coincided with the time I had to return our rental van, so we proceeded with the rush to the airport, unload all our luggage and run like hell to turn in the van plan. We got everybody up, ate breakfast in record time. Crammed all our luggage back in the van, loaded up, and drove down the street to the airport. As is the case with every other airport I've ever been to, there is only a one-lane loading zone in front of the departures area. We pull up, hubby jumps out of the car and starts to unload. We start the check-in process with the SkyCap at the corner, who checks all of us in for the flight, then proceeds to check the luggage in. For those of you who may not have read my earlier blog, we had 13 bags to check. That's right. THIRTEEN BAGS. (Of course, that's counting two car seats, a stroller, and a portacrib.) So hubby is getting the bag checked, and I notice that the motorcycle cops are like white on rice for people parked in the loading zone. I'm trying to communicate this to the hubby, but he just gives me the it'll be fine wave off. So I go and stand next to the van with the kids still in it right as a cop shows up. I assume my best frazzled mommy face and quickly explain to the officer that we're trying to get checked in. My husband is with the luggage, and I have the kids in the rental car. The cop lets me go. Thank GAWD! We finally get checked in, unload the kids, and I hop in the van to race over to Alamo and turn in the van.
I have to give props to the folks at Alamo. They have streamlined the rental process with barcode scanners. All you do is pull up, let them scan the car, get out and take off. Great. And they have a shuttle that goes right back to the airport. So, van turned in and back to the airport I go.
Get there, potty breaks, gate check in, and we're on the plane to Hawaii. ALO-HA!