Sunday, March 31, 2013

Cruisin'


Lotusland


From the Lotusland website, better than I could ever explain:

"Madame Ganna Walska, a well-known Polish opera singer and socialite, purchased the estate in 1941 and spent the next 43 years creating Lotusland. The spectacular collections of exotic plants throughout the 37-acre property are a very personal expression of Walska’s penchant for the dramatic, the unexpected, and the whimsical. After her death in 1984, Lotusland became a nonprofit botanical garden and opened to the public in 1993."


My favorite parts were the small details. Vera playing with the magnetite rock.  

 

 The recycled glass used to outline the paths throughout the garden.


The fact that Vera was thrilled that some of the hedges were shaped like chess pieces. 


Rocks that look like animals. What do you see?


Randomness. The entire pool was outlined with Abalone Shells. 


More randomness = an entire cactus garden. The theme of the tour is a bit random. I am sure there is a logical order to the plants and the way the gardens are organized, but it was quite a jumble to me. My one wish was that we had gotten to see the Lotus plants in bloom, but that happens in June. 


End of B-ball Season



The end of basketball season came and went and I fully forgot to blog about it. Vera loved practices, found the games to be a bit overwhelming, and adores her trophy.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Keller Making New Friends


TaTa's new birds love the worms that the kiddos were finding.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

First Time Volunteering


Vera's School District held a 5k race and Vera and J went down to volunteer. I think her first experience as a volunteer went well. It helped that they had both bagels and doughnuts for the helpers + the runners. 



The Beach Days Just Don't Stop



This time though, the kiddos and their friends (with the help of the dads) created a massive waterway/pond/construction area. 


Water Baby!


I pretended to help after all of the hard work was done.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Painted Cabernet - Part 4



I think I might officially be addicted.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Beach Day








Eric Carle Theater


All three kids loved the Eric Carle Show...one of our UCSB shows in the Family Fun Series. Two puppeteers performed The Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, and Papa Please Get the Moon For Me.







Thursday, March 7, 2013

Best of the Rest


Cars Land = AWESOME!



Vera showing off her birthday button...better late than never.This was Vera's birthday party.


Our crew waiting for the parade.

Tower of Terror


Keller is proving over and over again that he is a risk taker. Not only was he tall enough to ride Tower of Terror, he really wanted to do it. Of course, the picture of him on the ride tells another story. I think he was in shock. 


Not so sure about the decor. 


Yep, I think that face states, "What did I get myself into???"


Thankfully, for this mama who worries, he is just shy of being tall enough to ride California Screamin'. That would be the roller coaster that goes upside down and I wasn't prepared to see him on that yet.

My Favorite Part of Disney