Showing posts with label peaceful. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peaceful. Show all posts

Sunday, June 14, 2015

the best adventures are accidents

Last Monday a client asked me if we ever go up to Hollywood Broadwalk. I realised I haven't been there for a billion years and after we talked about it I decided to take the girls this summer. Well it's summer so we went on Saturday. We left later than we should have for such a trek as we attended a piano concert so I told the girls we would have dinner and maybe rent a bike.

Well we did just that and had ice cream and walked about. It was so lovely and I just cannot wait to go again but next time I am putting our bikes on the rack and taking them. At first we parked in a car park at the very end of the boardwalk and even though I asked if there was something closer and more centralised I was told no. After walking for a good distance and barely touching the tip of the iceberg we marched back to the car, glared at the attendant and left in search of something better. We found it and it was perfect. I wasn't about to let the first incident mar the evening.

The girls became a lot more excited once they saw all the people and the fun. Rosie immediately wanted to rent a bike but being an evil mother I told her she had to eat first.  We found a lovely little restaurant, the Boardwalk Grill and had dinner with a truly fantastic view.


She is bubbling over with happiness
demure. ( the man behind us was with an extremely drunk woman, she was so trashy but entertaining) 
our view from the table. Yes, really
I had barely paid the bill when Ro shot up from the table and headed for the door. She was not leaving without a bike ride! We double checked the time on the parking metre, (not sure who invented, pay by phone, but I love them) and decided a 30 minute bike ride would suffice and would leave us time to do other things.
Rosie was so ridiculously happy, we all were but she took the cake
This is going to be entertaining
and we are off.
such a lovely view
glad renting this was not an option 
hello Mr. Bird
We rode through the crowds and Lily and I peddled and I let Ro steer. There were so many people in places but we avoided running anyone one over. Lily was the only one wearing a watch so she was in charge of time and you all know how responsible she is. I thought we had been riding for about 10 mins and I asked for a time check from the responsible one and she says, "Ohhhhh no, we are already 4 minutes late! I was sure she had made a mistake, how could we have been riding for over half an hour already? Then it hit me, they are kids and have a never ending supply of energy, I have been running up to 4 miles a day so I am now in shape. It seemed like nothing at all. We turned that bad boy around and raced at full speed back to the rental place all while laughing like fools and Rosie non stop ringing our ringy dingy bell. Flipping hilarious. We got back and the man says, hmmm, and then hmmm again and says why don't you just pay for an hour and we will call it even. Best deal of the night!

Ice cream was next on the agenda.
It takes so little to make her smile so big
good stuff.
We walked around after the ice cream. We had to take a time out to eat them as they just melted everywhere and instantly.

A handball court. They whacked the ball against the wall with their hands. incredible.
I couldn't extend the life of the parking metre as it had a 2.5 hour limit so we headed back to the car. Since we were parked on the very top floor the views were quite impressive.




Driving home we saw the most beautiful sunsets but I was driving so photos were not an option, sadly.

A new favourite place and we can't wait to go back.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

peaceful

The girls and I went to Fairchild Gardens on Sunday because I kept seeing posts from friends on Facebook showing something that I wanted to see. We had hoped to end Christmas break with a bang by heading to the west coast but the bang ended up being right at our front door.

Ever since my first trip to Washington I have loved the artwork of Dale Chihuly and lucky for me Lily loves it too. I wasn't even concerned about Ro as we all know she just tags along with Mama. Turns out she loved it and we had a fabulous day. The botanical gardens are just beautiful and a very serene place to be. Yoko Ono has a wishing tree there and it is covered in little paper wishes, the girls added their own.

Wa Wa's. 
These look like skinny balloons to me and not a favourite but still amazing 
It's a bridge, I love bridges, nuff said
at the end of this corridor is the wishing tree
just loved it
photo cred, Rosie
❤️
Photo cred, Rosie
These chairs were ghastly but they caught Rosies eye the second we arrived, it took a couple of hours to find the path that led to them
love the colors
another favourite
reflection captured by Lily.
An aside, I wear prescription sun glasses that are polarized, she was in awe with something in the pond and I couldn't see it. Once I took off my glasses I agreed, it was stunning.
Rosies Boom Boom tree, Bao Bab
The ceiling inside the Chihuly gallery. 
I really don't care for greed but darn, I wanted them all.