The Garden in Spring
The weather was socal gorgeous --clear blue skies, low 70s, ever so slight breeze-- so it seemed like a perfect day to check out the spring blooms at the Huntington. Of course, a visit is always improved by a nice lunch at the tea room! Because Bobby had to work, Georgie, my mom and I made a girls day of it.

The weather and gardens did not disappoint. Truthfully, it could not have been a more gorgeous day. I was so glad that I decided to bring along my big camera. I've gotten so lazy about it lately. I try to avoid doing the iphone pix just because, even though they tend to look great on the phone, they're really not good quality. But I do tend to rely on my purse camera a lot. It takes really good pix, for a point and shoot, and its always sitting there in my purse right at the tip of my fingers!!! but it cannot compare to an SLR with a nice lens :-)

Tea was awesome as always! I do love tea at the Huntington. G surprised me this time by trying the salmon tea sandwiches and really liking them! I gave her a bit of the hummus and caviar with crackers but she wasn't at all impressed. And, of course, she still thinks actual tea (even with a couple cubes of sugar on it) is gross. I think its cute the way she is willing to try new foods and isn't a mac & cheese chicken nugget only kind of kid.

Anyway, it was a lovely day to snap pix of my girlie :-)

 The Chinese garden is so beautiful. I wish my photo skills were better.

I'm always asking G to make a pouty face for pix and usually it just makes her get a huge smile... finally caught this good one.

OK, this one's weird I know. Georgie was looking at the fountain and I was taking a couple pix of her looking into the water when I noticed the skeleton guy in the background. It was some college kids who were photographing the reflection of the face in the water, probably for a class project or something?? G didn't notice it right away but when she finally did she was intrigued.

Backyard fun
First day of spring break and it was sunny and warm. Time for some swimming for G any way. We just sat and watched. I never get tired of seeing my little girl happy.

First she played...

 then she posed!

 Just a quick one of my roses in bloom. So pretty.

Spring Sing
Georgie's school takes spring break quite a bit later than most other schools. On the last day of school they had a little party (nothing big, just a special snack and cute plates, etc) but the big event is the Spring Sing. The kids work on the songs and movements for weeks leading up to the big day. They must really build this up because Georgie at least was fairly bursting with excitement. A couple of days before the sing she advised Bobby and I separately of her expectations for the day: Daddy was to bring her flowers and then afterward we were to go to lunch! She didn't say it in a snotty way just very matter of factly as if everyone and anyone would know that this is the way that things would be. So funny! So cute.

 Daddy came through with the flowers :-)  and lunch out at Chipotle seemed to make her happy.

Pirate Princess Night
Georgie always loves these!

The Magic Tree House: Live Tour
Brag alert!! G is reading really well now. There is almost nothing she cannot read and her comprehension is amazing. The books she's reading now: Rainbow Magic Fairies, Disney Fairies, Magic Puppy, etc are mostly rated between 2.5 (2nd grade, 5th month) and 4.2 (4th grade, 2nd month) by AR (Accelerated Reader). When she first started on this type of book her comprehension was only so-so. She followed the story line but wasn't able to answer more detailed questions about the how's and why's of the character's actions. Now?? No problem. Again, I am amazed. Its hard to believe that she's reading so well and she's not even in kindergarten yet. Its just something that's come naturally to her and, of course, we do lots and lots and lots of reading for practice. The biggest problem is finding books that are the right level for her that also match her interests. Being a girlie girl she tends to like princesses, unicorns, fairies and things like that. Honestly, I often find them tiresome so I was happy to find the Magic Tree House series of books.

I was told by a teacher friend of ours that we should read them in order. She was right! And, I'm happy to say that although the books are not girlie at all she still really likes them. She's become very interested in the main characters, a brother and sister named Jack and Annie. She's read 7 of them already, they usually take her about 3 days each. There are 47 or 48 books total so it would certainly take her awhile to read them all.

When I found out that they were going to be making a live appearance at a book store in Pasadena, I knew we HAD to go. I planned a day off from work and to have G miss a day of preschool :-)

Finally, the day arrived!! G was super excited. We got there a bit early and purchased the most recent release. There were quite a few school groups there, mostly 2nd and 3rd graders I'm guessing. G initially sat in the back with me and my mom but after awhile decided she wanted to go sit on the floor with the other kids. Its hard to believe she's the same little girl who was so timid and shy just a few years ago.

The Jack and Annie duo sang a couple songs and led the kids in a fist pumping cheer of "READ, READ, READ!!!" Then they all recited the Reading Ambassodor Secret Oath to read 5 books in the next 30 days, learn 5 new facts, and to help teach someone to read.

G was absolutely giddy when she got to meet the characters. I think she truly believed herself to be in the presence of celebrities. Adorable!

 Our friend Cora wasn't able to make it on a weekday so we picked up a copy of the new book for her.

The Phantom Tollbooth
This was the last show of the children's series at our local theater. I recall my boys reading the book years ago in school but I didn't know the story. Reading the summary of the show I was a bit concerned that Georgie wouldn't be able to follow the story. It sounded weird and complicated.

For anyone who isn't familiar, the premise is that Milo is a teen boy who is perpetually bored. One day, a magic tollbooth appears in his room and takes him to a faraway land The Kingdom of Wisdom where he encounters dueling kings: The King of Dictionopolis who thinks that words are more important than numbers and The King of Digitopolis who has the opposite opinion. Milo is helped to navigate this strange world and escape "The Doldrums" by Tock a "watch" dog that wears a very large clock around his neck. After some adventures the two eventually manage to rescue the kings' sisters Princesses Rhyme and Reason. With Rhyme and Reason restored all is well and Milo realizes that the world is a beautiful and interesting place.

It's an odd little story but fortunately G had no trouble following it. Although she did require an explanation of the word "bored" with which she was not at all familiar. Not surprising, G is never bored! Overall cute show. G and I were even thinking we should read the book so we can learn about some of Milo's other adventures!

 G with King of Digitopolis

 and one of the demons (scary!)

 and finally Tock.

Fossil Fest 2013
Back to the Alf Museum for more dino fun. This time with friend, Cora, in tow. G loves having her friends with her, so cute!

This was in the afternoon of the Princesses at the Castle thing hence the tiara on G's head :-)

 Bobby is a goof

 How cute are the girls' poses in this picture???

Princesses at the Castle 2013
Georgie enjoyed this event at the Kimberly Crest House so much last year, I thought we'd give it another try. Last year it was HOT, this year it was much cooler which was very welcome. Plus, without the bright, scorching sun the endless photo ops were better as well.

Georgie really liked this part. There was a simple obstacle course then, at the end, the two fairy godmothers chattered for about a minute about magical stuff and then cast a "spell" complete with a sprinkling of gold glitter "fairy dust". Georgie's was the spell of knowledge.

They fished with magnetic poles in the pond. I was pretty sure that one of the little princesses would eventually fall into the pond but luckily no one did :-)

Of all the activities, the scarf dancing was by far G's favorite. She spent a considerable period of time listening to princess music and spinning her scarf around with the helper princesses. Each time a song would end, I'd ask her if she wanted to do it again or go try something else... after about 10 songs of scarf dancing she decided she'd take a break.

All the castle princesses and fairies are part of an non profit group that's associated with the House...its a community service/charitable thing. That means that these boys dressed like this for FREE!! They must be very sweet.

Finally, it was Georgie's turn to be announced. She definitely remembered it from last year. "Introducing Georgiana from the House Crowell". Just like last year they slaughtered her names but she didn't seem to mind.

More scarf dancing!

The princess garments drying on the line... so funny!

So beautiful...