We went to Sunday Mass at Saint Mary's Basilica in downtown Phoenix (which I previous blogged about here). The church still had its Christmas decor up.
Christmasy sanctuary
For the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God (January 1), we went to Saint Daniel the Prophet is Scottsdale, which looked unimpressive from the outside but had a beautiful sanctuary.
Saint Daniel the Prophet sanctuary
Side alter to the Holy Family (what is that hammer St. Joseph has?)
Downtown near a geocache I saw the Orpheum Theater, which looks very impressive.
Orpheum Theater
On a second day
We went to a local H Mart and were surprised to see a TinyTAN section in the store!
BTS in Phoenix!
A local park had lots of fountains and statues, part of another geocache. This fountain and the fishing boy were not part.
A relaxing spot
We went to Fatcat Ballroom for an East Coast Swing Dance lesson along with a dance party. They let all the students video the moves we learned:
Action in the ballroom
The local downtown library was impressive, with an open floor plan and indoor water features and art!
Phoenix Public Library
Is this a Borg cube?
Fountain by the elevators
The stacks
Unburied time capsule
View from the top floor
Scottsdale has an interesting "old town" section.
Sculptures
Flowers
A civic building
The downtown plaza has a memorial to Winfield Scott, the founder of Scottsdale.
Winfield Scott Memorial
Nearby dry fountain
Ever present cactus
The plaza goes over a road, or the road goes under it?
Scott is up there
Santa visiting someone in the past
My wife and I were surprised to see some brown, fog-like haze over the city. Was it a sandstorm?
We did a lot of random stuff in the Los Angeles area in addition to the theme park visits.
We visited a playground near the Rose Bowl that was fun, but not big fun. A lot of summer camps were there swapping in and out of the playground.
Spinning for fun
Dad takes a spin
We went up to Griffith Observatory, balked at the parking cost, and did a quick shot with the Hollywood sign before going back down the hill.
Sign alone
LA as seen from Griffith Observatory
Us with the sign
We went downtown to Grauman's Chinese Theater, a famous venue in Hollywood that has the Walk of Fame outside its courtyard and the footprints of Hollywood celebrities inside its courtyard.
Less famous but colorful El Capitan across the street
We did not go to see this movie
Proof I was there
We saw lots of celebrities' marks.
Harrison Ford on walk of fame
Harrison Ford in concrete
Roy Rogers, Trigger, and his pistol
Abbott and Costello and me
Comparing hand sizes with Black Widow
Comparing hand sizes with Thor
Harry Potter gang
Could be a Potter
Not far away is a branch of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum but only posed outside with the Hulk (they have a 4D exhibit with Marvel characters inside but we were not sold on going inside the museum).
Can I hold him back?!?
Strangely unworried about the situation
Another store even further away had some recreations of famous villains, like the Predator.
Predator ready to get me
We saw a BTS-related billboard (along with several posters of the same).
Can you really love Jin more?
Back in Pasadena, we had custom coated and filled cream puffs at Beard Papa's.I had the green tea eclair with vanilla filling. Yummy!
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