Travel Town, Los Angeles
I'm always looking for new things to do with Georgie on the weekends. If there's a train involved, that's a bonus. So searching around on the net I came across Travel Town in Griffith Park. Its a park with antique train displays. Pretty good way to kill a couple hours with a little kid. Another bonus... admission and parking are free! G loved climbing around on all the old trains and riding the small one that circles the place saying "choo, choo" over and over. I liked watching her smile as she enjoyed the trains.

We were going to hit Pinks (famous hot dog place in hollywood) afterwards. But, when we went by the line was all the way around the building and I figured it would take almost an hour. Standing in line for an hour to eat a hot dog just seemed wrong so we skipped it. Its still on my list of things to do but next time we're going to have to pick a less popular time.

Train display at entry:
Peering out the window, waving to mommy. The trains are huge. I guess I never realized how big they were until I stood next to one. No steps to get in either, you had to climb a ladder.

G was pretending she was a choo choo while she walked around this little painted track. It didn't seem that exciting to me but it must have been great fun for a two year old --there were several other toddlers doing the exact same thing. Too funny!

On the choo choo with daddy

Checking out some of the equipment in one of the engines.

Ahhhhh...
So, Brett came home this weekend for a surprise visit!!! I haven't seen him since spring break which was about a month ago. It was nice to have a chance to hug the biggest of my babies --yes, even at 21 he's still my baby :-)

G loves her big brother and the feeling is totally mutual. Its really sweet to watch them interact. Funny too because while we were waiting I worried that G and the boys wouldn't have a relationship or that there could possibly even be conflict. WRONG! B and C are head over heels for her.

Anyway, Georgie came in the house after being out and she was taking off her shoes when all of a sudden and completely out of the blue she looked up at me and said, "I love my family." Seriously, I was completely blown away. I told her "your family loves you too sweetface"

Like I said, ahhhh so sweet!!!

Pix of a recent bubble blowing session. G loves to blow bubbles!!!

Amy's Farm with Friends
One of our Lucky Mommys, Christy, has a relative with a working farm nearby. They also do school tours there. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit! A few friends were not able to come due to other commitments so it just ended up being the three girls and moms. We still had a great time though!

This is G in front of the cows. She loved the cows but, somewhat disturbingly, was more fascinated with playing with the many flies that surrounded the cows. Gross, right??
G and Mia looking at the cows
G loved climbing on the fence and looking over at the cows, roosters and chickens.

She'd been hunting for a ladybug and once she finally found one she was able to catch it! I was glad she didn't squish it. Tanya was glad we found a ladybug. She's hoping that means her travel info is on its way quickly.

G loved the goats. I think she could have stayed in their pen petting them all day!

Feeding Wilbur the pig some organic lettuce that our guide had just picked!

Combing the miniature horse. This little one is blind, he was a rescue horse. Gracie in the back looks on.

Group shot. G looks really unhappy. She's now willing to sit with the group for a photo but isn't that happy about it. Baby steps.

G also got to try some fresh from the cow milk... I mean really fresh. It had only been out of the cow for about 30 secs. She decided it was "good"

Afterwards, we all went to my favorite fast food place in the whole world CHICK FIL A. G fell asleep in her seat and then slept on my shoulder for about an hour while the mommies chatted. Poor little thing was zonked out.

Awesome day!!!

Rocking the skinny jeans!
I actually took these pix a week or so when it was still kind of cold. The weather's been flipping back and forth here between hot (think high 70s) and cold (low 60s) so quickly its hard to keep things straight. Anywho I totally loved these little skinny jeans. G loved wearing her boots!

The new neighbors were having a little work done to their house and a truck belonging to one of the painters was in front of the house that day. G was so excited when she saw it "purple truck!!!" she yelled over and over and pointed. I think its funny that she recognized that was unusual. She said "I want to go wook at it mommy!!!" and then "picture with me!!!" meaning she wanted me to take her picture with the purple truck.

Sure baby, whatever you want!

G was doing some kind of fairy dance with the flower here. Too funny!

March and April editions of "The Tutu Two Year Old"
Ok, I know I'm running slightly behind on my post of the March St Pat's photos but, in my defense, I've been busy. Luckily I wasn't so busy that I couldn't get the pix done. We actually just did the April photos today because I haven't had much time.

G's ability to have her pic taken has improved over time. Its always somewhat of a crapshoot as to how cooperative she's going to be though. March was not a terribly cooperative month. The poor photog tried really hard to engage her but she was really wound up and, although she was enjoying herself, it was really difficult. I think they must have taken about 100 pix that day. IMO, we did finally end up getting some really cute shots though.

The tshirt says "Lucky Charm." Top, tutu and korkers came from etsy sellers, don't recall which ones though!

I think this one is really cute. It looks like she's blowing a kiss but actually she was playing with daddy and pretending she was eating "delicious bugs" --somewhat odd I know, its a little game they play, I don't quite get it but they get really into it :-)

April pix were a different story. OMG she was sooooo cooperative! She was in a really good mood, super happy about playing with the props and, thankfully, liked the outfit. This surprised me somewhat because when I first tried to try it on her a week or so before she had a minor freak attack and kept saying "No! I don't like it! I don't like it momma! Want to take it off!" Ugh. I didn't push the issue and just put it away. More proof that toddlers can be fickle, fickle, fickle.

Anyway, we ended up with tons of cute pix to choose from and I had to be brutal about choosing which ones to get.

I love this picture so much! This is the one they chose to bring out in a b&w color enhanced framed sample... you know, the pricey one they torture you with??? I was good though and didn't bite (insert congratulatory pat on back).

Next month is May. I'm not sure what's in store for the tutu two year old. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Easter Weekend: Part 3
Brunch again. This time with my mom at the Mission Inn in Riverside. I'd been there a few times before for lunches (mostly business) but had never been for their sunday brunch which I'd always heard it was super nice. Reservations for holidays like easter and mother's day are taken months in advance. I was a slacker and never got around to making reservations but, through some fast talking on the phone with the reservation people saturday night, I was able to score us a table even though they'd been turning people away for a couple weeks!!

Well, the stories were true. The place did not disappoint. The food and surroundings were lovely. The Mission Inn is a very old and beautiful hotel dripping with spanish style plantings and fountains. There are even parrots at the entrance to greet guests. For Easter they had a bunny who greeted the kids and passed out cute little baskets. As always, G loved the bunny and would get super excited when she saw him at various times throughout the morning.

We sat inside the main dining room of Duane's (very old school with big leather chairs, lots of woodwork, oil paintings and silk draperies). It was very posh but knowing what I know now, I would choose to sit in the patio on such a beautiful spring day --not complaining, just planning for next time :-)

This is G with the bunny. I always find it surprising that she has no fear of these giant stuffed things. You can see the cute baskets they were giving out to the kids.
G in a serious moment in front of the ironwork. G loved wearing her dress again --same one she wore for the bunny pix at the mall. It has a little petticoat underneath it that makes it flare out that way. Great for twirling which G tried a few times!
G was a perfect angel at the restaraunt which was impressive because we were there for almost 2.5 hours! She ate --I'm not even sure how many strawberries my little girl put away --laughed, drew and looked around hoping to spy the bunny. I brought this little drawing thing for her to keep her busy. I thought it used the kind of markers that only mark on the paper and not on other things but.... I was wrong. Instead they were the most deadly, messy markers I've ever come across. I thought for sure her dress was a goner but as luck would have it, it remained unscathed!!! Can't really say the same for the tablecloth though. It was so marked up they probably had to throw it away when we left.... ooops.

After a breakfast of strawberries with whipped cream, G wanted dessert. What better dessert could there be than strawberries with chocolate! G was fascinated by the chocolate fountain and wanted so much to do it herself. I just couldn't imagine that turning out well. Here she is carrying her prized strawberry back to the table.

Not to be outdone, Bobby enjoyed a little chocolate of his own!

This is G enjoying the parrots. They were quite entertaining screeching "bye bye" etc. Every few minutes they'd start fighting which G thought was hysterical. There was quite a crowd of people around watching G interact with the birds. She was really into it!!

G and my mom out front on the way out. G really wanted to sit on this canon. I have no idea why there are canons there but they make really great climbing toys as well as unique photo props!

After the morning's fun, we came home and G had a nice long nap. When she woke up it was windy so we went to the park and flew a kite!!! G held on the kite for a few mins but then lost interest preferring to go run barefoot in the sand instead.

It was an almost perfect day marred only by Brett and Casey's absence.

Easter Weekend: Part 2
After we got home from the Arboretum, the drive home being the day's only nap, it was time to decorate some eggs. Deciding to forego a big mess, I decided to do the same spinning thing we did last year. G was better at pushing the button to spin the egg and really enjoyed picking colors to use!
G with her egg creations!

This picture cracks me up. Its G holding the bunch of carrots that daddy brought home so we could leave one out for the bunny. She was doing her fake sad face. She loves to stuff her little lip out and say "sad" then she starts laughing like a hyena. Its a weird little game she's come up with but quite entertaining. G decided that the bunny needed two carrots... uh, ok.

Easter morning just coming downstairs with daddy and seeing her big basket!!

G's basket... these were Brett and Casey's baskets when they were younger so they've been around a good long while. The bunny brought Georgie several coloring books (G loves to color!), assorted little bracelets and rings, a magnifying glass, sticker books, scissors (which G has been dying for), bunny ears, sunglasses, and a Madame Alexander fairy doll. G discovers that the bunny has eaten the carrots she left for him... silly bunny!

G sporting her new How to Train a Dragon sunglasses

Showing off her prized scissors

G loved "hunting" and finding the eggs. "Hunting" because they were pretty much just laying on the couch and floor in full view.

Each egg contained 2 m&ms. Once G figured out there was candy inside, she started opening each one as she found them and popping the candy into her mouth. Yummmm, candy for breakfast!!!

G with her haul!

Easter Weekend: Part 1
We started off saturday morning at the LA Arboretum. They were having a super fun Beatrix Potter themed event including an egg hunt and planting activities in addition to the beautiful gardens and, G's favorite!!! the peacocks. First we enjoyed a really nice brunch at the cafe on the grounds. After that we moved on to the hunt. For some reason, G got herself into a little mood and didn't want to pick up the eggs. I'm not sure why exactly. I'm not even sure if she didn't want to pick them up or she was unhappy because they didn't have anything inside them. (The kids were supposed to collect them and then trade them for a prize at the end). After a few mins though, G decided that picking up the eggs wasn't so bad afterall.

This is Bobby trying to explain the egg hunt to her.... you can see, she doesn't look terribly convinced.
G very carefully inspecting the eggs to determine whether or not they were acceptable to place into her basket. She literally walked past, over and on dozens of eggs and then would all of a sudden decide to pick one up!
Georgie loved the peacocks, they actually didn't love her so much I don't think. They're amazingly quick moving though and G wasn't able to bother them too much even though she desperately wanted to pet them.
G with the flower she planted. The dress she's wearing is a beautifully smocked Strasburg that I bought for her about a year before we received our referral. I had actually forgotten all about it and came across it in her closet a few days before this. She looked lovely, imo, and she was really comfortable. But, its kind of funny that she was doing her little gardening activity in her fancy schmancy dress. The look on her face in this pic cracks me up!

G with daddy in the gardens. It was so beautiful that day, 70 degrees, clear blue skies and all the spring flowers in the garden in bloom. A perfect 10!