A little of what the Thompson's are up to.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Merry-go-round

Hope you all had a great Christmas, ours was fun, quiet but fun and thanks Chris and Amber for letting us crash so much. Another thing I really love about this time of year is that Eric's work days are shorter as its quieter at his office, just for the week between Christmas and New Year but its wonderful to have him home more. Yesterday we took advantage, Kate loves to ride the carousel, has been asking to go and ride one for about a week now and so after he got home we headed out to Griffith Park to ride the merry-go-round there.

Located in Park Center between the Los Angeles Zoo and the Los Feliz park entrance, the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round has been a Los Angleles family attraction for over five generations. Built in 1926 by the Spillman Engineering Company and brought to Griffith Park in 1937, the Merry-Go-Round boasts 68 horses, everyone a jumper. Each horse is finely carved with jewel-encrusted bridles, detailed draped blankets and decorated with sunflowers and lion's heads. A Stinson 165 Military Band Organ, reputed to be the largest band organ accompanying a carousel on the West Coast, plays over 1500 selections of marches and waltz music.

Sorry for the boring stats but it is a fun and beautiful little merry-go-round, a great alternative to the Topanga mall and its only $2 to ride and the ride lasts a lot longer, plus its right by Shane's Inspiration so after the girls rode (Kate rode twice) we let the girls play on the park for a little while. Here are some pics to liven things up a bit.





Sara only rode once, she rode the first time with me on my horse but didn't enjoy it so much, strange as she has ridden the carousel before and liked it, although the music did play a little loud, maybe that was why she didn't love it so much this time.





Shane's Inspiration, a really fun park, a little far away but fun for a change of pace, they have lots of cool stuff to play on, and as always Sara loves, loves, loves playing in the sand.

4 comments:

Gina and Jon said...

Looks like a good time.. and still somewhat warm! Hope you had a good Christmas

anniemcq said...

Oh, I miss Shane's Inspiration so much. Such a great park. That Merry Go Round is so beautiful, too!

bob said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bob said...

I came across your website by accident, looking for a business in Sherman Oaks! But..I loved the photos of the merry-go-round at Griffith Park. Even though I now live in Nashville, I grew up in the Valley and rode on that merry-go-round many times, beginning in the mid 50s! ("I Love Lucy" hadn't hit re-runs yet.)

Great site, great family. (Just don't apologize for your wonderful content and pictures!)
--Bob Anderson www.bobanderson.biz
bobandersontn@gmail.com