Descanso Gardens in April

Descanso Gardens is the sister gardens to LA Arboretum; at least that is what I like to refer to it. As members of the Arboretum we are able to enjoy these beautiful gardens with free admission and it is just 10 miles north from where we live. What Descanso has the Arboretum doesn’t is a train ride. We enjoyed our first train ride with Tatum there on Sunday. And choo-choos are a whole lot of fun.

tree fun

Earth Day weekend was spent setting up two tree distribution for work.  Tatum came along to help, and help she did.  To set up the distributions where free trees are given to residents of LA, the trees have to be unloaded from the truck and displayed for adoption.  Tatum greatly enjoyed the task as she helped carry the trees to the event.  She would pick up the tree, holding onto the black bucket, grunt, and say "heavy, heavy, heavy!"  Being a working mom has its shining moments, and this was one of them for me.  Here she is pictured in the truck where she laughed as she ran around inside.

Tatum's Torments

Recently Tatum came down with an eye infection. Symptom – yellow puss coming out of her tear ducts. This resulted in a two hour wait at the walk-in side of the doctor’s office and we came out with the WORST of medical treatments: an antibiotic ointment that must be applied four times a day for seven days to the lower inside lid of the eye. Tatum was out of daycare for the week. The application process was horrible and in the end all I can say is that next time I will demand eye drops (yes, this is option that I did not know at the time) and the infection is finally over. Tatum was a champ, crying intensely as we held her down to administer the medicine, and then quickly cheering up when it was over. It helped that we pretended to give the medicine to her baby first so she knew she had a friend to share the experience. And it was Tatum’s insistence that we did this saying “baby eye, baby eye”.


And right when that cleared up, Tatum was helping me cook (you know where this is going) and she suffered a second degree burn on her wrist while putting greens in a very hot pan. I know, I know, bad judgment, but it came from the good intention of her wanting to be involved. Nevertheless, the girl has a high pain tolerance. She grabbed her wrist and wined a bit and looked at me very puzzled. I quickly got a bowl of cold water and set her on the floor. She was immediately delighted to splash and play on the floor. After spilling the entire bowl of water (which ran across the room since we have a tilted old house), the greens were on simmer, and we headed to the bath where she continued in a good mood to play. We being great parents had NO first aid materials in the house. Walgreens is about two blocks away so I went and picked up some Neosporin, sterile pads, and medical tape. I returned to my happy babe and not so pleased but very helpful husband. We patched her up, gave her some Tylenol and in the morning she woke with a blistered burn. Parenting is a continual lesson. At least now we have Neosporin in the house.

Two is looking like it will be an interesting adventure.  Happy 23 months Tatter Bell!

Camping at Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo State Beach was our home for the weekend as we took our 150 sq. ft. tent out for another adventure. Leo Carrillo is located a few miles north of Malibu off the Pacific Coast Highway. Yes, Southern California living can be grand. Pete and Jesica who were married on March 17th came out for the weekend and joined us. We spent our time playing on the beach, playing cornhole (think adult bean bag toss) and eating.



Before we left the Pacific we grabbed and early lunch at Neptune's Net in Ventura County.  Here you can enjoy fresh seafood fried and/or steamed to order.  Yummy!

Pigtails

Yep, the hair is finally long enough for pigtails. We have her loving Cecelia and Tia at her daycare to thank for the hairdos, because that’s not really my thing.

My Cute Bunny

On the Thursday before Easter, Tatum came home from daycare looking like a bunny:

Easter weekend was celebrated at the LA Arboretum’s Beatrice Potter in the Park celebration. On Saturday we flashed our membership cards and went into the festivities to enjoy Easter egg hunts, story telling, and a farm petting area where newly born chicks and bunnies were there to touch and love.
Tatum LOVED the egg hunt. Kids were given a basket and then let out on the lawn where hundreds of eggs laid around. Toddlers are wired to put things in baskets and carry them around; and I realized this as I observed her ease and enthusiasm during the hunt.

another reason to love LA

Griffith Park is the largest urban park in the country. I have the great fortune to work in a part of the park as the Urban Forestry Manager for the LA Conservation Corps where I oversee operations at a shade tree nursery. The park is also home to tons of hiking trails, the LA Zoo, Travel Town exhibiting old trains that can be explored, parks, pony rides and yes this grand wonderful Carousel. Truth be told, Tatum was not a big fan of the ride because of its speed and intensity of going up and down. Nevertheless, in momma’s arm she held on and enjoyed what she could while saying “out, out” and “bye bye”.

Carson's Baptism

The below excerpt taken from Rachel Carson’s book The Sense of Wonder:

If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to be preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.

As the daughter of a Buddhist, Tatum has not had the blessing of a christening. Yet on this day, after reading Carson’s words the night before, Tatum and I came upon the displayed baptism artifact of the native peoples located today at the LA Arboretum. With the blessing of the recent rains, the baptism bowl was full, and Tatum chose to baptize herself by putting water from the bowl on her head. And in my life, Rachel Carson has great influence, and I am sure that at this moment the good fairy gave Tatum the gift of indestructible wonder.