Hiking around L.A.

I recently found a group called Mommy Adventure Club. It is a business run by a Mommy named Carrie who plans trips to cool events around Southern California. This was kinda what I thought Mom's Club was going to be-- before that ended up as two trips to the same park a week.On our drive down I asked Libi what kind of animals we were going to see. I primed her by saying that we were going to the forest where bunnies, deer, and birds live. Then came my question again-- what are we going to see, to which Libs responded, "Elephants!!!!" I guess I need to work on forest animals some more!
When we exited the freeway Libi exclaimed, "That's amazing!!!" I'm not sure what she saw but this was the first time I have heard her say this-- it was pretty cute!
This week Libi and I decided to go on a nature hike with the group while Ron did UCLA interviews. We had a great docent from the Children's Nature Institute and we went to Tree People's Park which I had never been to before. It's located at the top of Coldwater Canyon right before you dip into Beverly Hills.Despite talking about leaving the trail the same way you found it, Miss Libs picked these flowers just to get a better sniff.When the kids started getting tired we stopped for story time. We read a bug story called "Beetle Bop!" Christina (our guide) actually gave the kids a vote for either that book or a froggy book--- about halfway through the book Libi yelled out, "Froggy book!" I guess that she was done with learning about bugs.Coincidentally immediately when we finished the book we found a black beetle crawling around on the trail. Miss Christina wanted everyone to take a close look at it so she put it in a bug holder and told the kids to keep the lid on. When it got to my very investigative daughter guess what she did????? Yep, she popped that lid right off. Luckily Miss Christina was fast and she got it on before the beetle could escape.As we were coming back down the trail I asked Carrie to take a picture of Libi and I (since I rarely get in pictures when we go on an outing.) We both followed the rules to the tee-- both wearing hats, long pants, and good walking shoes-- all of my Girl Scout training paid off!It was a nice group, a great hike, and a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning! I'm so glad I found this group.