Griffith Park, The Trails & the Observatory

Last Sunday was beautiful in Los Angeles. Sunny, blue sky, warm weather, a perfect day for a hike. So we headed over to Griffith Park to check out The Trails Cafe and do a little hiking. The Trails is a great place for brunch with a little one. It's very simple-- a walk up counter and some picnic tables off to the side. There are a few games piled next to the eating area for guests to play; Baby M was particularly fond of Connect Four. The menu is healthy, plenty of organic and even vegan options. My husband and I had homemade granola with a generous portion of fresh berries. Baby M had a waffle with real maple syrup. We also picked up a couple of their infamous lavender shortbread cookies, which were amazing. Really, the best shortbread cookies I've had in my life. At 9:30am the cafe wasn't very crowded, but by the time we left the park around 1pm there was a line of people down the road.

After finishing up our breakfast we walked across the street where there were some hiking trails and a small playground. Baby M was in heaven. Piles of giant Sycamore leaves, interesting sticks, foot bridges, rocks to climb on... He was so enthralled with nature's playground that he didn't even notice the man-made plastic one a few yards away. The hiking paths are wide and flat, perfect for walking with toddlers and probably fine for most strollers too. Feeling extra ambitious we decided to walk up the hill to the observatory. The walk took about an hour and Baby M made it half way before asking my husband to carry him the rest of the way. The view from the observatory was amazing-- from snow capped mountains to Catalina Island and the city stretching out in every direction. After admiring the view, we went into the observatory. Surprisingly, Baby M really enjoyed looking at the exhibits and we even considered taking him to see the show in the planetarium. Unfortunately, kids under 5 are only admitted to the first show of the day (10:45am on weekends, 12:45pm during the week) and we had already missed it.

After thoroughly exploring the observatory we walked back down the hill and headed home. Baby M fell asleep in the car and took an unheard of two and a half hour nap. I guess we tired him out.