Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens

For our last day with Grandma and Grandpa in town, we stayed local to explore a new place that Maddie had recently taken a field trip to: the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens, in Claremont (which is approximately 10 minutes away from our house).  We particularly enjoyed the expertise our junior tour guide brought to the experience! ;)

We practically had the entire place to ourselves and the weather was pleasant, which combined, made for a delightful outing.

Those who were willing to stop and pose for a picture...someone else was being a bit persnickety about joining in!

Maddie, aka "junior tour guide", leading the way! 

Pretty pops of color.

After I got over my paranoia of being enclosed in a tent full of flying insects, we enjoyed exploring the Butterfly Garden, and even saw a butterfly hatching (I don't know if that's what it's called??) from its cocoon. I tell you, it took a little bit of a pep-talk to get me to walk through there.  No, they didn't hurt me, or land on me, but I just get a bit jumpy when I'm around insects as it is...flying ones aren't super easy for me.  Just being honest!

I definitely did not volunteer to hold the caterpillar.  

It was pretty cool to see the butterfly emerge.

I applauded him for being excited about the idea of having a butterfly land on his hand! 

Exploring the gardens gave us plenty of photo-ops!  Enjoy!

My girl loves selfies as much as I do!

Closing in on the end of her 1st grade career.  Wow.

Posing with some unique plants within the Joshua Tree gardens. 

A giant plant soaring over the trail.

My beautiful mother-in-law, who humors me -- pretty sure I hit the jack-pot!

Two exceptional guys.

She made a super junior tour guide -- if you're in need of someone who knows how to read signs and follow pathways in the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens, I can hook you up.

Natural History Museum

We went on a new-to-us adventure with Grandma Marty and Grandpa Dale when they were visiting us in May, to The Natural History Museum.  It was fun to try something new and different with visitors (well, also because our Disney passes had officially expired, so it was necessary to make some new discoveries)!

This was in the entrance to the museum, which I believe was the mascot of a sponsor for the bug festival that was taking place that day.   He insisted I get a picture.

Geoffrey was feeling a bit sheepish to begin with, when we entered the Dinosaur Hall.

I wouldn't want to come face-to-face with this fella!

These are not chipmunks, believe it or not.  I asked for their best dino faces, and this is what they came up with! 

I couldn't get over how huge these skulls were! 

Such a good time together!

Near the end of our visit, we walked across the lawn to check out an i-max movie all about the National Parks in America, followed by a visit to the Endeavor Space Shuttle.  This was our family's third visit, and it never seems to disappoint!

We had a great day, and managed to avoid missing Disneyland...for the most part! ;)

Maddie's Spring Dance Recital

It's no secret that we have a dancer in our home.  Our sweet Maddie Mae loves nothing more than to walk on her tip-toes, even when clearing the dinner table, and put on dance "shows" for anyone who will stop and watch.  She completed her second year of ballet/tap classes with a culminating recital.  We were particularly excited about this because Brant's parents were able to come down for a visit and see her performance! 

Watching this girl perform on stage is something else!  She is confident and puts her all into each move.  We are so proud of her!

So is her little brother!

Such a doll!

Hooray for Grandma and Grandpa being here!

Like daughter like father!

Although we are happy for the break, we're already looking forward to next season!