Out-takes.

No comments from me....just all the bad pictures that normally don't get posted.  ha!!

La Brea Tar Pits

Before we left the LA area, we spent a day with my brother, Dan, and his family.  As I looked through the pictures I realized I didn't get a single picture of Dan or his fiance, Victoria.  So silly.  I promise, they were there.  ;-)  

We saw their apartment and the zillion reptiles that live there with them, had some lunch, and headed out to the La Brea Tar Pits.  What is that you ask?  It's a huge natural asphalt deposit right in the middle of LA.  Two blocks one way is trashy (scary) LA, and two blocks the other is Beverly Hills/Hollywood.  It's a bizarre area.  Anyhow, during the Ice Age era (whenever THAT technically is) this deposit was busy trapping animals- LOTS of animals- and since has preserved their remains.  Therefore, it's a cool place to drop into for the afternoon.  It's still an active dig site, so you can watch archeologists that work/volunteer there are uncovering bones by the hour.  Big stuff like Mastodons, Dire Wolves, Sabertooth Cats, Ancient Buffalos....and small stuff like tens of thousands of birds and bugs and whatnot.  It's cool....but then we're kinda dorky....so maybe it's not as cool as we think.  BUT, we had fun poking sticks in the tar, seeing LOTS of OLD bones and watching scientists work right before our eyes.  

Here are the kids:  Savannah, Sam, and Bailey on the top row.  Briana (Bri, are you really a kid still?  I don't think so...), Miles, and Maggie on the bottom.

Mastodon mama and it's baby.  Most any ice age era bone you see in any museum is from the La Brea Tar Pits.  Although the bones look like they are lacquered they aren't.  THey are stained dark from their years in the asphalt.

 Ancient Bison.

 Bailey and Sam looking "scared!!!" in front of the furry mastodon dude.

 Crazy HUGE tusks on this guy.  It seemed impossible to think that he could hold his head up at all with those things hanging off the front of his head.

We hit up Baja Fresh together for dinner afterwards and then had to part ways, as we were getting a jump start on our drive north that evening.  It was super fun to get to spend some time with Dan and Victoria and their girls.  Thanks for letting us crash your day guys!