A "Welch" afternooon

We decided to spend the afternoon at Disneyland with the "original Welches." Mom, Dad, Erin, Heather. . .and the little girls. Lucy spent some time with her gorilla friends. . .
She and Rosie got a kick out of this guy.
Lucy was enchanted by Pluto. I thought she might be afraid of the characters, but she ran right up to him and smiled and laughed.
Brave little Mouseketeer!
The gang on the Winnie-the-Pooh ride. We had a wonderful lunch, complete with ducks, boats, train whistles and french fries. What more can a 18month old want?!

Check out Heather's version of the same story!
http://eckert3.blogspot.com/2009/03/mickeys-house.html

Thesa and David's wedding

Simon, Lucy and I went to Thesa and David's wedding this weekend. Thesa is Simon's coworker. We had a wonderful time! I thought I would be certain to include a photo of Simon and Lucy for those of you who wonder if he is still a part of the family due to his absence in the blog. I assure you, there has been no foul play. He just works really hard!
In front of an amazing piece of artwork called Catawampus by Patrick Dougherty at the Arboretum where they had their wedding. It was an interesting nest of sticks and other organic materials that you could walk through.

Check it out:

http://www.arboretum.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=getFrontPageFeature&catagory=home&FeatureID=9db8ebb8-1b20-461c-ab55-8cb5501974cd&TypeID=1&CFID=2252306&CFTOKEN=17727014

Pencil Pusher

Not quite sure what happened, but Lucy has become inexplicably attached to a pencil. Although her room is full of beautiful toys, all she wants to do is hold this pencil and a blue pen cap. She has decided that they go together.

She even decided to take them in the bath with her. I initially took them away, but a massive battle ensued. . .and yes, I caved.

She's like a mini Bob Dole bathing beauty.
Playing with her "babies," pencil still in hand.

The River

More of Rosie and Lucy splashin' away!

(Note: Try to ignore the evil mom yelling at her child, "OUTTA THERE! OUT!" at the end of the clip.)

California ADVENTURE

Heather and I have been extremely busy at work this past week preparing portfolios that encompass the entire year for all of our students. So naturally, faced with an unbelievable amount of work, we decided to go to Disney's California Adventure.

Rosie and Lucy seemed more apprehensive this trip when on the rides. It's easy to see who's having the most fun in these two pictures.

It wasn't until we got to the Brother Bear obstacle course area that they both perked up splashing in a river with their shoes off.
Now THIS is more like it!

Working from home

Working from home is very challenging.
You have to send emails.
You have to take phone calls.
You have to negotiate.
But it's all worth it when you get to spend the day with your wonderful "co-workers."

South Pasadena Farmer's Market

The stoller overflows with ranunculus. . . it must be the South Pasadena farmer's market. Inspired by a 60 Minutes piece on organic foods, Lucy and I took the family truckster down to the farmers market to get some organic fruit and vegetables! We bought tomatoes, strawberries, garlic, mixed greens, and flowers. I felt oh-so-green. . .
Why eat just one strawberry. . .
. . . when you can have TWO?!
Dancing to the cool sounds of the accordian guy. .

And the thing that makes the South Pasadena farmer's market truly great? The bubble guy. Lucy chased bubbles with the other kids like an old pro.

We got home at about 7:00 and decided to have some "Num Num." I looked into my organic basket and plucked out a tomato. "What the heck," I thought and sliced half of it up for her. She ate it in about 20 seconds. I sliced up the second half. Gone. I sliced up another half tomato. Gone. So I sliced up the second half. Num! Num! The child ate 2 full sized tomatoes in one sitting. Yowza. I guess that justifies their $5.00 price tag.

Monah's Ark

Just sittin on a camel. . .
A rooster made from a red boot! Come ON!
Lucy watches the ark fill up with water. . . .I can't say enough good stuff about this site. It was really a fun afternoon.

Noah's Ark!

An alligator made of a glove, a violin case, and 2 tires!
Yesterday, Lucy and I went to the Skirball Museum's Noah's Ark exhibit. Wow! Wow! Wow! What an incredible experience! They have created a hands-on Noah's Ark experience for children that is unlike anything else! All the animals are made from recycled materials in very imaginative ways. Lucy was amazed. . . actually literally speechless.
Polar bear made out of ice, a bathtub, and a bucket. . .
Lucy peering through a peep hole. . .
The Ark!

Lucy hasn't stopped saying, "Monah! Monah! Monah!" since we left.

More arboretum fun!

Here are a couple more pictures from our wonderful afternoon at the LA Arboretum. They have million different exhibits on site including an adobe and Native American area. Here's Lucy in the Native American grain grinding bowl exhibit-
Lucy in the Wikiup-
I don't think the real Native Americans used a steel frame, but whatever. It's LA.
Lucy in front of Queen Anne's cottage (used in a million movies. . . but think Fantasy Island)

Sunglasses

LA Arboretum

Lucy and I went to the Los Angeles arboretum yesterday to walk around and, yes, see some ducks. Not only did we see ducks, but turtles, fish, geese, birds, and squirrels, all which were pretty entertaining.

Lucy is getting braver and insists on walking on her own on the trails now. She does not want to be in the stroller, unless there are Teddy Grahams involved, and that is another story.



Taking some time to stop and smell the flowers. . .

Wisteria Festival 2009

Eating corn is a lot of work! Even when Daddy holds it for you!
This is what Lucy discovered on Sunday at the Sierra Madre Wisteria festival. We had roasted corn on the cob, and sausages hot off the grill. Lucy danced and ate and had a great time