Discovering the Los Angeles Arboretum {in Pictures}

When Harrison was a toddler he would regularly ask, “What fun adventure will we do today!?”
No pressure there.

As he got older and our schedules got busier and busier, it became more difficult, eventually he stopped asking; but there’s always room for adventures and I still try to get us out on them as often as possible – luckily he’s still a willing party.

One of my favorite childhood memories is visiting the Los Angeles Arboretum during an extended stay in California with my grandmother  (I went in depth about the experience on my blog, A Little White Space).

On a whim one day, I decided it was finally time to take Harrison to the Arboretum; after all I had good intentions of venturing there for years… However the thought of an almost hour-long drive, through the heart of Los Angeles, with a boy who hates being on freeways… well you can get the picture. 

However, I was set on it, I checked their website and saw that their annual Wild West Days was coming up, so I waited a week and off we went. 

The gardens are beautiful, and peaceful and it took all of one minute for Harrison to take off in several different directions trying to take everything in and choose which path to take first. 

Then we discovered the peacocks.

 

And soon after, the huge geese; one of which went charging toward him as we walked through the grass!

Not to mention the giant fish in the lake along with the turtles and ducks…

“Fish-zilla”, as Harrison referred to them, “I learned about these on the news, the news discovered them and they devour everything, and if you bring them out of the water, they get up and go back into it!!”

 

…and finally the horses. He loved the horses; if I would have allowed him, he would have sat there all day talking to the horses.

While we walked through the grounds and listening to the birds singing and crickets chirping, Harrison said,  “It’s so quiet and peaceful here, I’m jealous of the people who live here!” 

Right before we left, Harrison bonded with this little guy.  feeding him and talking to him.

We’re definitely going back, Harrison is even willing to brave the L.A. traffic for the peace of the Arboretum.

After all, he’s wants to visit his pet peacock.
Yeah, the one I wouldn’t let him adopt and bring home.

I’m such a mean mom…

Second Grade Valentines Day with Style!

I touched on the trials and tribulations of this year’s Valentines cards on A Little White Space. The road was rocky yesterday – to put it lightly (let’s just say we all woke up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday, even the parakeet had an attitude).  But in the end we pulled off one more year of personalized cards for Harrison’s class – complete with too many pieces of candy in each (maybe I’m still overcompensating for his Kindergarten year with the tiny dime-store valentines and no treats attached – that’s what happens when you come from a private Jewish Preschool and no elementary school experience to blaze the way). 

And I confess, after last year’s VERY personalized Valentines, I couldn’t go the store-bought route just yet. 

After juggling some ideas last week, I headed to Pinterest for inspiration.  When I did a search for Valentines cards, every few posts were of a child holding out their hand with a lollypop attached.  So glad I got that out of the way last year!  By the time I was done with Pinterest, I didn’t want to see another pink or red thing in my life EVER.  (…and I still hadn’t settled on an idea.)

I finally made a decision with hours to spare.  We went on a mini shoot (that ended up in a parking lot at the end of the day).  No fancy personalization's from Harrison this year, he just signed them and we assembled them. DONE. 

 

After everything we went through to get these done, we still had fun.
Which isn’t that supposed to be the whole point to begin with?

When Harrison got home from school today, he showed us his Valentine cards. Not far down was one from a friend… holding a lollypop…
I chuckled.

Been there, done that!

 

Next year we’re rebelling – Store-bought, Cookie-Cutter, Pre-fab Valentines all the way, Baby! BOOYAH!

 

Oh, and Happy Valentines Day.

Three Up, Twelve Times in 2012

2012 is officially over. 

Again, it rushed by with lightening speed; and again I wade through a plethora of blog posts that never got published, revisiting our year and being reminded of so many moments I would have forgotten. 

This is why I love what I do.  Documenting our daily lives and capturing our memories.

So without further ado, here is seven-year-old Harrison in 2012.

Hello 2013, can’t wait to see what you have in store for us! 

Where Have all His Ghoul Friends Gone?

Remember Harrison’s Ghoulish Friend?  If not, you can meet him here he’s worth it. 

Well, had we ever wondered about what became of him after the Blue Light Special was over we now have our answer.

I stumbled upon him at the Rose Bowl Flea Market- literally.

On my mom’s day out at the Rose Bowl Flea Market a few months ago, was rounding a corner in the far end of the farthest end of the flea market [true story] and there he was! 
Of course, I had to snap a picture for Harrison.

Headless Harry sat on the ground still holding his head as if nursing a permanent headache.
I don’t blame him based on his current condition.

Poor Headless Harry. 

Now he’s body-less too.

 

 

All things Halloween 2012 style coming soon!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Wordless Wednesday Ninja Style!

Lego Ninjago is all the rage around here – especially since Harrison stumbled upon it on the Cartoon Network.

So it’s wasn’t surprising when the only thing he wanted from out visit to China Town a couple months ago was a Sensei Wu-style hat.
(well, at least until he saw the faux nun-chucks on the way to the car that is.)

Who knew those VBS survivor style buffs would come in so handy for so long!

Just watch your back, you never know when a stealth ninja warrior may sneak up on you in the dark.

Because he really will be Wordless.

 

 

More wordless Wednesday here and here.

Wordless Wednesday

Remember this?

He still has those days.

Only Bigger.


More Wordless Wednesday here.

Second Grade

Today Harrison and I joined some friends at the park.  We were there for four hours with them.  We haven’t hung out at the park for four hours with multiple families since the Toddler days.
The Toddler days. Sometimes I miss the care-free hours of the Toddler days.
As we watched our first, second, third graders play together we reminisced and laughed at similarities in our boys. Apparently, Harrison isn’t the only one who loved wearing high heels as a toddler and the Guy I  Dig isn’t the only husband who made his wife promise not to paint his son’s toenails and fingernails. But I already knew that.
Yes, those days are long behind us and last week Harrison officially started Second Grade. Unlike everyone else, I didn’t get the off-to-first-day-of-school picture posted on Facebook that day (or the second, or the third day).
In fact, {shamefully as a photographer} I didn’t even REMEMBER to bring the camera until we picked him up in the afternoon! (GASP! I know!)

However it’s all still worth a picture or six – albeit fashionably late! We got his hair cut on Sunday and sent him off to school looking half way presentable on Tuesday. He even has several friends in his class again, including his friend M. below. As we start second grade he enjoys reading and read over 50 books this summer – long and short.  He finally started piano lessons and began making up songs on the keyboard once again.  He did swimming lessons again, 3 weeks for VBS (vacation bible school), a week of soccer camp, a week of Breakwater Camp in the Seaside Lagoon, two weeks of Camp Menorah and a week of Art Camp.  As summer was starting he discovered Cartoon Network and with it, Lego Ninjago the series, Beyblade, Pokimon, Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry and some annoying cartoons that I remind him I don’t like/want him to watch and has to turned off… it’s tough being seven years old.

All-in-all, the first week of school ended with a hug for his new teacher – a good start for the year.
Let’s just hope he’ll still want to hug her after the first test!