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.

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.

last day of school

today was just crazy busy. i woke up at 5:30 to make sandwiches for dahlia's class picnic. i had to make 36 sandwiches and i really underestimated how long this would take me. i figured around an hour. nope. after an hour i only had 12 done. i had to rush to finish before her class would get to the park around 9:30. of course it rained this morning just to make things more difficult. connor still had a fever today so i felt bad making him get in the car to go deliver sandwiches with me. i made it on time and then rushed home to finish painting the ready set summer sign.

connor helped me hang the sign inside the house since it was too wet outside. the kids had a minimum day and i had to be at the school by noon to pick them up. the last day of school is so surreal for me. it never feels relaxing like i think it should.

they had fun running through their sign and then they got presents for finishing the school year. legos for everyone. our planned trip to disneyland after school got cancelled because connor is sick. his fever spiked to 103.5 so we all got in the car and went to the doctors. of course they didn't tell me much. he has a cold.

man. what a long day. i can't believe it is summer break.

easter eggs

yesterday was so fun. miles didn't have to work. that was nice. i ran around town buying shoes for the boys that were not converse. we have a limited shoe collection for the boys around here. unlike dahlia who i am pretty sure has more shoes than me.

miles' mom came to visit. after school we painted eggs with the kids. they were so excited. we had many viewings of charlie brown's it's the easter beagle before this event. dahlia and mason went over the ways we should not cook the eggs. no frying, using the waffle iron, baking them in the oven, trying to toast them, or boiling cracked eggs. no egg soup!

miles had a great idea of how to use the dye with a paintbrush and paint directly onto the egg. the eggs looked so cool. while this technique is very interesting, the paint became sticky and came off on our fingers after it had dried. we unfortunately had to wash the eggs and the dramatic effect was lost. it was still lots of fun and we got some photos of the eggs before we had to wash them.

disneyland

bodhi is on spring break this week and my kids had the day off so we all went to disneyland. poor miles had to work so he didn't get to go. jen and ray went early because they had breakfast reservations at ariel's grotto. i decided to skip that because it is really expensive. they told me kira loved it.

ray and i took mason, dahlia, bodhi, and connor on thunder mountain for the first time. i was worried that it would be too scary for connor but they all loved it. now dahlia wants to try all the roller coasters. we also rode gadget's go coaster in mickey's toontown. this was another hit. we did so many new things this time. it was great. i was thankful that jen and ray were with me and we could divide the kids up so they had a grown up next to them. i am not sure how i will do it when i bring them by myself.

we stayed all day. we were all super exhausted when it was time to go.

disney day

we went back to disneyland today. we are going to get our money out of our passes. yay. we met mason's friend archer and his mom there. we didn't hang out with them for too long. we did the classic rides including a trip over to tom sawyer's island. they now call it pirate's lair on tom sawyer's island. they added all this pirate stuff that is new from when i went there as a kid. it is really cool. it was the first time the kids had been there. they loved playing in all the caves. i love all the wooden bridges. we also went in the tiki room and the jungle cruise. all my favorites.

after we split up from our friends we headed over to the haunted mansion. we all love that ride. it was so fun for me to be at disney with just my three kids. we could do whatever we wanted to do without a big group decision. it was very relaxing.

i decided to not stay too late. i didn't want to get stuck in traffic. the kids were also getting pretty tired. we got home at 4:30. they played while i cleaned up.

spring break

we are on spring break. yay. it was so nice to not have to wake up early today. so very nice. we decided to skip dance class and go to santa monica to visit my sister and their cousins. bodhi is not on spring break this week so we went with jen to pick him up after school. he was so excited to see all his cousins waiting for him. we stopped for frozen yogurt on the way back to their place.

the kids played the rest of the day and jen and i got to talk and hang out. we made delicious salmon tacos for dinner. we stayed until bedtime. it was a fun and relaxing visit.

the happiest place on earth

today was the best day ever. we got annual passes to disneyland. yay! it has been a really long time since we have had passes. they keep raising their prices and it was just too expensive. but this year jen and ray decided they were going to get disneyland passes instead of throwing a birthday party for bodhi and kira. we decided that we would do the same. we really did spend too much money on the passes but i don't care. i am going to take the kids all the time. i even convinced miles to join us and get a pass for himself. a real family outing.

we met jen, ray, christina and their kids at the storybook cafe for bodhi's birthday brunch. the brunch was fun but way over priced as expected. they had characters walking around making the kids laugh. after brunch we went into california adventure to see the new cars land. it was pretty cool. we rode some new rides including the little mermaid ride. that is a fun one.

we also went over to disneyland and rode a bunch of rides over there. we stayed all day and had plans to stay to see the fireworks. we almost made it. we were going to watch the fireworks from the roof of the parking garage where we were parked. we got the kids in their jammies and waited for the show to start when mason and connor got too cold and too tired. then dahlia started to cry, so after a couple of fireworks we took off for home. still it was the best day ever.

natural history museum

we had a great weekend. today i took the kids and met jen, ray, bodhi, and kira at the natural history museum. i love this museum and have decided to renew our membership. they recently have made lots of fantastic changes. it is really a fun place for the kids to learn. every time we go we see something new.

they had this booth set up today where they take pictures of you on a green screen and then comp you into funny backgrounds. the kids did it and the pictures were really cool. i actually bought the set. usually i don't go for the expensive photos. i think it was worth it this time though.

we stayed at the museum for three hours and then we all went back to my place for dinner. the kids love hanging out with their cousins.

western round up

today we woke up early to go to the western round up. it is a carnival at connor's preschool. this year it was pouring rain so they moved all the games inside and set up a huge tent for the pony rides and petting zoo. i had to work at one of the game booths so miles took the kids around to play and see everything. i missed out on all the fun. once my shift was up they all wanted to go home.

they did get to play lots of games. connor's favorite activity was the pony rides. he loves to ride the ponies. how cute. luckily it stopped raining for a little while. mason likes the petting zoo. connor and dahlia got tatoo's before we left. a fairy for dahlia and spiderman for connor.

we lucked out and it didn't start really pouring rain until we got home. the rest of the day was really wet. we stayed in and i did laundry. it turned out a pretty relaxing day.

grossology

we went to the discovery science center today. we met my friend carla and her two kids there. it was fun to hang out with them. we don't get to see them too often. she works a lot and they live pretty far away.

the museum has a funny exhibit going on right now. it is called animal grossology. it is filled with all these gross facts about vomit, digestion, and poop. yuck. the kids thought it was hilarious and of course educational.

it was pretty funny because carla's kids are so mellow and well behaved. she was actually reading all the information about the different stations in the museum to them. my kids were just running around like crazy people playing with all the interactive stuff but not reading the descriptions.

after the museum we all went to dahlia's favorite soup plantation for dinner. it was such a nice finish to our day.

a new park

today was a beautiful day. we had the day off from school so we ditched gym class and drove to santa monica. we went to jen and ray's house. christina and zena came too. we walked to this new park by the pier. it was so nice. it is called tongva park. it is really beautiful and has a great playground for the kids.

they couldn't get enough of the slides. kira was a daredevil and went down head first. connor loved the rock climbing wall and they all loved the spinning chairs. so fun.

there is a really beautiful view of the ocean from there. the park is also filled with unique sculptures and water fountains. i loved it. it is really designed well.

we had such a nice walk back to jen and ray's house. at their house we grilled burgers and had some wine. the kids played legos. such a lovely day off from school.

aquarium

today is our last day of winter break. miles and i took the kids to the aquarium. he rarely gets to go places with me and the kids. we were all so excited to get out of the house. the aquarium was not very crowded so we had plenty of time to see everything.

i gave connor my camera and he took tons of pictures. he loves the divers. he told me he wants to be a diver and work at the aquarium when he grows up. before we left miles bought him a toy diver that he played with in the bath.

i love the aquarium. i never get tired of watching all the fish. after we left we stood and watched the boats coming into the harbor. it was so beautiful it looked just like a postcard. it made me wish i was on a boat.

kidspace with daddy

miles and i took the kids to kidspace today. he had never been there before and it is really close to where we live. it seemed like a perfect outing. after being stuck in the house yesterday the kids were ready to run around in the sun. no rain today! we had the best time. i love kidspace. it was a bit crowded but not that bad. we still were able to enjoy all the exhibits.

miles helped them build a big robot out of these giant foam building blocks. we also spent time looking at all the shells, insects, and toy dinosaurs in the nature exchange room. dahlia and mason love the shells. it always makes me want to organize our shell collection.

we walked all around the outside and the kids got to play in the water for a little bit. it was such a fun visit. miles and i rarely get to take the kids somewhere with just the five of us so it was really nice. we got ice cream before it was time to go.