Last Day in California

Today was our last day in California and our day to spend with the Pulliam family.  We made our way to Wendy's house about 10:30 in the morning.  They live in a beautiful neighborhood and you can see the ocean from their house.  It was a beautiful view when we got into her town.  The ocean views were amazing!

After checking out their new house we walked down to their kids school where we watched the boys run in their fun run.  Well we mostly let the kids play on the play ground and then we walked back to Wendy's house
After Gabe checked Alex and Jacob out of school and got back home we headed out to go to Gabe's work.  We picked up lunch on the way and drove to the Coast Guard station in LA.  It is located right by LAX.

I was super surprised at how inconspicuous the station was.   We drove around the airport and pulled into a very plain looking business building, no security or anything.  I guess you did need a code or key to get into the building.  When you entered there were a couple offices and then you went in and saw the big hanger with helicopters and it was super cool.  I was really excited to see everything.

Gabe showed us the helicopter first.  He let the kids climb all over it.  They got to sit in the swimmer seat in the back of the helicopter (that is wear Gabe sits), the pilot and co-pilot seats, and they also had a flight mechanic seat.  The kids really liked the pilot seats and all the buttons.  

Gabe showed us how he would sit on the edge of the helicopter and jump off.  He also pulled out the basket that they pull people up from the water in and let the kids all climb in.  He also showed us how he would rescue people with the different life jacket things.  He used Josh as an example and it was fun to watch him lift him up and show us how he rescues people.  Gave is super humble and never talks about his rescues so it was cool to see him in his element.

After he showed us the helicopter he showed us his life jacket that he wears in the water with all the different pockets and the stuff that they have in them that he might need in the water.  Josh and Megan both put on jacket and it almost made Megan fall over.  Gabe said it weighs like 15 pounds.  Tyler didn't want to try it on, party pooper.

After the jackets Josh and Megan got to try on his helmet.  It pretty much took over Megan's face.  Tyler once again didn't want to try it on.  Too cool.

Then Gabe showed us his shop/office work area that he spends most of his time in when he's on duty.  Then the kids all wanted to go to the gym and play on the machines.  They have a lot of machines for the people to workout on while they are on duty so the kids went wild on all the stuff.  They went a little too wild and we had to calm them down a lot.

Before we left we got to watch a helicopter take off.  Since it is right by the airport we also got to see some really big airplanes come by.  It really was so much fun to go and see everything up close and personal.

We left the station and went to an arboretum that is by their house.  They had a little museum and a lovely view of the ocean where you can look for whales.  It was pretty windy and cool when we were there so we didn't take much time to look for whales.  But it was beautiful and the kids seemed to like the little museum.  

After that we went back to Wendy's house for dinner and to let the kids hang out and play.  The kids loved playing with their cousins and it was nice catching up with Wendy and Gabe.  Once it started getting dark we decided we should say our good byes and head back to the hotel.  It was a long day but a super fun one.