Some Favorite Things

These are some things I saw this week that made me happy:

A many-petaled camellia (at least I think it's a camellia)

Portuguese lavender

Red and white cyclamens

And a sweet little girl with a bow in her hair.

Where Do I Apply?

What do you get when you cross a low-key Disneyland ride with a chainsaw?

This guy's job. Apparently tree trimmers get to operate their own personal crane . . .

. . . and they get a mini chainsaw for whacking away at the trees. Does this sound fun to anyone else?

Some Things Don't Change

I recently watched a friend's blog video of their tiny baby rolling over for the first time. It's crazy to think that a year ago, our daughter was still practically a newborn who couldn't even sit up.

Nowadays she's eating her own sandwich . . .

. . . and stomping in puddles (over and over and over and over--Uncle Robbie must be proud).

Ah well, at least she still does the cute little foot-cross thing. Come to think of it, I do the same thing and I'm pushing 30, so maybe she'll keep it up, too. Happy thought.

Easter

Joy's still a bit young to grasp the deeper meaning of Easter, but she has at least figured out that it involves . . .

. . . family . . .

. . . and plastic eggs with sweet stuff inside (thanks, Aunt Laura).

Growing Girl

We have a pint-sized teenager on our hands, folks.

She carries a phone everywhere and is just itching to get out of the house.

"Hmmm . . . I know this twisty thing is important. If I could just figure out how it works!"

Creative Play

Who says there's only one way to play on a slide?

Spring Break 2

We've been meaning to visit the LA Arboretum for some time, so when we realized admission is free the third Tuesday of each month we decided today was the day.

The plants were interesting (including these carnivorous flowers--don't be alarmed, unless you're a bug) . . .

. . . but the highlight for me was the parks big flock of peacocks . . .

. . . and peahens, of course.

Here's one of the peafowl mooning my precious child. The nerve.

Spring Break 1

Phillip is on spring break this week, so we decided to celebrate with a trip to one of the local parks.

We had fun on the swings . . .

. . . and the slides.

Here Joy graciously shares some sand with Daddy.

We finished up by throwing our frisbee around a bit. I love this thing - easy to throw and soft to catch.

Tabasco Sauce and Gumballs

Here's Joy wielding her light saber.

Just kidding - it's only our Tabasco sauce bottle. Now that walking has freed up Joy's hands, she loves gripping something while she explores. She will often hold on to the same thing for an hour or more. It might be a hot sauce bottle, her tube of baby toothpaste, . . .

. . . or these prickly seed pods that fall off the local trees. My brothers and I called them "gumballs" when we were little, presumably because of the spherical shape. As Joy can attest, they certainly don't TASTE like candy.

Discovering the Wheel and Great Pibil

For the last fifteen months, my spinning wheel Rosie (yes, she has a name--don't laugh) has successfully flown under Joy's radar.

Of course, I knew it was only a matter of time before Joy realized that the big wooden thing with spokes and pedals might be interesting. Sure enough, when I brought it home from my guild meeting today she began poking, prodding, and giving various parts a whirl (with adult supervision, of course). Lookout now, Rosie.

If you thought whirling an archaic textile production devise sounded like fun, just wait. Joy also had her first slumber party tonight . . . sort of. Her buddy Anna (and Anna's mom) came over for a little while so Phillip and I could slip off to a restaurant. The "party" actually didn't last long--Joy went to bed shortly after they arrived, and Anna's dad came by to take her home to sleep, too. We won't tell either of the girls that most slumber parties last until 3:00am and involve lots of junk food and chick flicks. They'll figure that out on their own before we know it.

In case you're wondering about the "Pibil" in this post's title, it refers to a dish we sampled at El Portal this evening. Phillip served his mission in the Yucatan region of Mexico (Cancun was his first area), and he recently learned that El Portal in Pasadena specializes in cuisine from that region. We decided to give it a try, and we certainly weren't disappointed.

The atmosphere was classy but comfortable, and the food was great. I had panuchos (chicken tostadas) which were messy but tasty, and Phillip ordered the "Yucatan Trio," a combo platter with three distinctive Yucatan entrees: a Yucatan-style tamale, Poc Chuc, and Cochinita Pibil. The last two are pork dishes flavored with different marinades. As for the third dish, I usually don't get hugely excited about tamales (which are often a little flavor wrapped in a lot of bland), but this one was really tasty. Heck, even the free salsa they gave us when we sat down was good.

Of course, all this begs the question whether their non-Yucatan dishes (enchiladas, tacos, and the like) are as good as the Poc Chuc and Pibil (tell me THAT isn't fun to say). By golly, I guess we'll have to go back and find out.

At the Park

Now that Joy can walk and I've (mostly) gotten over my dirt phobia, we've come to really enjoy the park.

When we arrived today, did Joy rush to the cool playground equipment where all the other kids were hanging out? Oh no--she decided it was much more fun to stroll up and down the sidewalk a while showing off her cool walking skills. Yet another example of a toddler finding fun in the most mundane things that we grown-ups often take for granted.

Of course, we eventually did make it to the playground with all its tunnels, slides, . . .

. . . and of course, sand.

Smelling the Flowers

My dad once told me that you're more aware of your surroundings on a motorcycle than in a car. In a car you're contained, and though you can see the outside world your other senses don't interact with it much. On a motorcycle, you're much more aware of changes in temperature, humidity, smell, and even sound. Also, since there's no barrier between you and your surroundings, you feel much more connected with them.

Those thoughts have been on my mind a lot lately as I've gone on walks with Joy. As we stroll along, I smell the flowers that are beginning to bloom, and I feel the cool humidity when we turn off a busy street onto a shady lane with lots of trees. I love the variety.

As long as we're talking about flowers, I couldn't resist sharing a couple more pictures from our recent walks. Irises look so flashy, in a noble sort of way . . .

. . . and though this looks like a peppermint taffy bush, it's actually an azalea. I know, I know - "peppermint taffy bush" sounds so much cooler.

The Horror! The Horror!

I remember hearing rumors a few years ago about some gas station downtown that was charging a whopping TWO DOLLARS for premium gasoline. Ah, the good old days.

Back in the present, Baby and I saw this on our walk today. Yikes.

The Latest Dirt

I let Baby play in the sand at the playground today. And yes, she promptly shoved a fistful of it into her mouth. And yes, both mother and child survived the experience.

I noticed she only tried eating dirt once, though. Perhaps she decided it tasted terrible, and therefore made a better toy than a snack. I'm all in favor of kids with discriminating palates as long as that doesn't translate to "picky eater who refuses to eat anything Mom puts in front of them."

I just jinxed myself, didn't I?