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.