a new cube

we went to the new discovery cube that opened up in los angeles. we have been members of the orange county one for a long time but this was the first time that we visited the los angeles one. it just opened last november.

it is very similar to the orange county one without the outside dinosaur play area. everything is spread out and it seems to be more spacious inside. there were a few new exhibits that we had not seen before. a favorite was the inspector training course. the kids were given a tablet that they took around a house checking to see if it was earthquake proof. it was fun. they looked for the safety features and answered questions about what is needed to make a house safe. mason loved it. anything with a screen is fun for him.

another new exhibit was the helicopter simulator that takes you on a tour of the los angeles water system. it was pretty interesting. they showed us how our water gets cleaned in our treatment plants.

they also had our favorites like the recycling sorting game and discovery market. i think i still like the orange county one a little bit better but it was fun to do something different.

we were there for almost three hours. i am pretty tired after our busy weekend. we are home now. it was only a 20 minute drive. nice. the kids are watching the new spongebob movie for the fifteenth time and i am relaxing.

fire pit at the beach

my niece zena graduated from middle school so we celebrated with a little beach party. my family met at bolsa chica state beach and roasted hot dogs and smores by a fire pit. bolsa chica is one of the few local beaches that still has fire pits on the sand. it was a long drive there for us but it was worth it. i haven't roasted hot dogs at the beach since i was in college.

it was very windy and super cold but we had so much fun. i love it when my whole family gets together. they are really funny. we always have a good time.

mason was bummed that i didn't bring his swimsuit. he wanted to play in the water. it was freezing though so i didn't think it would be a good idea. we didn't get there until after 5:00. they still splashed around and played in the sand. dahlia collected lots of broken sea shells.

connor found a huge feather and asked if anyone had some ink so he could write with it. miles said we could try to make it into a quill later. that would be a fun project.

the kids loved the smores. they were sticky though. we stayed until sunset. it was incredibly beautiful. i just love looking at the ocean. hopefully we can make it back to the beach for another family party this summer.

material girl

dahlia had her end of the year dance recital today. she did great. i always get nervous on recital days but luckily dahlia doesn't. she loves to be on stage. i was a backstage mom again and it was fun to hang out with her before her dance. her class did a tap dance to material girl by madonna. it was really cute and pretty complicated for a seven year old. very sassy.

after the recital my whole family came back to my house for dinner and dessert. we grilled chicken and served it with salads and corn on the cob. everything was delicious. we sang happy birthday to my dad. his birthday will be on monday so we had a cake for him.

whew! i am so happy to be done with all our school year obligations. this was the last event. now we can really start our summer.

swimming lessons

we started swimming lessons last friday but we were running late and i didn't get a picture of the kids together before class. mason and dahlia are in the same class. they are taking school age level 3. connor is in preschool level 3. the lessons are at the rose bowl aquatic center. i really like it there. this will be our fifth year of lessons for mason and dahlia. connor started last year. mason and dahlia can swim pretty well but i would like them to learn the correct way to do their strokes. i really wish we had a pool at home so we could all practice.

when our lessons were over we drove over to my sister's house in santa monica. the kids wanted to hang out with their cousins. we walked to menchies and got frozen yogurt. we stayed for dinner and jen and rays friend scarlett joined us. she is really fun. i had a great time talking to her. i think i am starting to relax and realize that summer is here.

the bug collectors

connor and dahlia have been collecting bugs. mostly ants and roly polies. they got these plastic bug containers from kira's birthday party to keep their bugs in. they go outside and check under rocks to find the largest roly polies.

i don't love the bug collecting as much as the bird watching but it is cute to have them playing outside and exploring. connor is especially excited about his roly polies. he has named them joey, chloe, and zoe.

too hot

jen and i took the kids to los angeles zoo today. it was crazy hot. it was 100 degrees out. just miserable. the kids were complaining most of the time. we were only there for a couple of hours before we decided it was just not worth staying. we did get to see the jaguar in his new home though. that was nice. the kids also got to ride the carousel and they enjoyed that.

we went back to my house and set up the little pool for the kids to play in. they had so much fun. they loved it. we should have just done that first and skipped the zoo. they were running and jumping into the pool. so funny.

jen couldn't stay late because dahlia had picture day at dance class. i had to dress her up in her costume and makeup. it didn't take that long and we went out for froyo afterwards. when we got home it was 7:00 p.m. and it was still 99 degrees out. i was so annoyed. it is still hot now. ugh. i don't know how i am going to survive this summer without air conditioning.

a cool day at the gardens

today connors fever was gone so we went to the huntington gardens. we had free tickets. it rained in the morning and was so nice and cool out. it was one of my favorite visits to the gardens. i usually feel rushed because i have something else i need to get to afterwards but today was very relaxing. no stress.

we walked all around the gardens and let the kids run around the grass. jen met me there with her kids. they were so happy to play together. i loved the japanese gardens and chinese gardens the best. they were so green and beautiful.

after the gardens we went back to my place. i cooked dinner and the kids played until bathes and time for bed. tomorrow we start swimming lessons. even though it is summer we are still so busy.