For you

Hanging atop a dome

 I like it up here.  I can almost reach the leave of the tree.

My dad and I can also spy on critters.

The LA Arboretum

 Thinking of what snack I'm going to eat next.

 This way, mommy.

 Cool shade pattern on the ground.

 Still thinking what snack to eat.

 Posing my Marceline doll (from Adventure Time).

 Found a cool spot on Queen Ann's Cottage.  We hung out here for a while.

 Path from Queen Ann's Cottage.

 Duck, turtle, fish pond.  Hung out here for a while, too.

Why are there bad people?

I stayed home today because I am wheezing and coughing like an old man.  I was taken to urgent care by my parents at 2am to get checked up because I was having difficulty breathing.  When I finally woke up in the morning, my mom was watching the Boston Marathon on tv.  She was telling me about the athletes and I recognized a couple, Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher, because they are on her Runners' World Magazine cover.  It was pretty cool to see how fast the athletes run with a consistency of a metronome.  Then this Jeptoo lady and Desisa guy won.  Wow, they were fast.  Then I went did what sick 6 year olds do after I was given my prescribed meds, lay on the floor of my room, and stare and sorta play.  

Shalane and Kara

(photo credit: nike.com)

Then I heard my mom calling me in the living room telling me that there was an explosion at the race.  I'm confused.  Why?  And why are people bleeding? This is weird.  I asked my mom why this is happening.  She told me that sometimes there are very bad people who are cowards that would try to harm innocent people to scare their community or country.  She also told me that the bad people did this at this race because they want to hurt as many people as they can.  That's not cool.  I really hope they find out who they are.  

What I've been up to

 Hello there!  It's been a week since spring break concluded.  Well, I've been busy.

   I learned to ride my bike without training wheels.  Ya-hoo!  It took like 10 minutes and I was on my way.  My parents couldn't believe it.  I was pretty amped about it.  

 We celebrated my Lolo's birthday midweek.  I saw my awesome cousin of course.  We had a very nice dinner and then had cake.  Yum!

Oh, look what I got at school.  We had an assembly and I got these.  Whut?

Other than that, I've just been doing regular 6 year old things like catching bugs, hanging out in the backyard, and stuff.  I hope you had a good week.

Catalina Island

My parents went here about 12 years ago.  They haven't been back until now.  With me.

 The boat ride from Long Beach was about an hour.  We were seated inside and my mom felt a little nauseous. So I invited her to go outside to get some fresh air. She liked it much better outside. She didn't barf or anything, so that's good.

We went on this Avalon tour which takes you around the island and learn about it.  It was a pretty cool tour. Of course, we decided to have our own seats.

View from the tour. 

Wow.  We were pretty high up.

 Trying to tell my mom to sit on the other seat...while the tram is moving.  She said no.  

She's no fun sometimes.

 It's quite expensive to live in this island.  For a teeny 2 bedroom house, that'll cost you about a million.  And guess what?  You don't own the house and land.  It's a 99-year lease.  For gas?  Oh, it's just $6.70 per gallon.  If you want a car?  You can file for application now and you'll get your approval to get a car in 25 years.  If you get sick and need to be flown by helicopter to the main island?  That'll cost you a cool $12,000.  So our guide, who's also a long time resident, said that they'd rather drop dead.  LOL! Well...not for the person dropping dead.

 Daddy and me talking about where we want to eat lunch.

 Explored the area for a place to grub.

 Still going.

 Ah yes, a shrimp and steak place.  I had the jumbo shrimp plate with rice pilaf.  Oh my goodness, it was so good.

Pretty view from our restaurant window.

 Of course, we have to stop by Olaf's Ice Cream.  My parents shared a giant waffle cone with coffee ice cream and I had an tropical fruit sorbet.  Delish.

 Enjoying the rest of the afternoon.

 Daddy taking an afternoon siesta.

 With a bronze seal.

 My little tourist self walking toward the boat dock.

Because my mom got sea sick by sitting inside the boat, we decided to sit outside.  It's so much better and she didn't get sea sick at all.

We had a very pleasant day exploring the island.  Goodbye Catalina Island.  Til next time!

Tea Rose Garden

My mom and I went to have afternoon tea at this small tea room in Pasadena.  Yummy-licious!

Of course I gotta make a funny face.  Of course!

Dinosaur Egg

Okay, so my mom and I went to Lakeshore Learning Store to get some stuff for school.  I saw this fake fossil egg and asked if we could get it.  I'm fascinated by the tools that come with it and how I'm going to dig the baby dinosaur out.  I started it and about 20 minutes into it, I asked mom to take over.  She gave me an evil look because I now have a mini excavation mound of sandy plaster stuff in front of me. Like me, she's interested in digging for stuff and investigating anything, so of course she took over.  Below are the phases of the excavation egg mission.

 Finally, there's something.  I'm starting to think we got tricked.

 Okay, it's looking like a dinosaur leg.

 More of it now.

After getting the stuff off it, there it is! A Triceratops! This dinosaur is vegetarian, so that's good.

Norton Simon Museum

It's Spring Break this week.  So I get to hang out with my parents. 

 Mommy and I went to the Norton Simon Museum.  This is my second time here.  The first time I was here was when I was still in a stroller, so I don't remember anything.

 Monet's pond.  So beautiful.

 I found a perfectly sized rock formed like a chair.  

 Exploring the grounds of the museum.

 I got to see Van Gogh's famous paintings, Rembrant's, Renoir's, and many, many others.  Why are so many of these people in the paintings naked?

 I think I'm getting hungry here.

 I spent the most time here in the Southeast Asian exhibit.  The deities' poses fascinate me.

It's peaceful too.

 Wow.

Whoo! I got a free Van Gogh poster souvenir.  I like this museum.  I told my mom it was awesome.