So, this is kind of embarrassing, but there's a lot of things we don't do in L.A. because we can't take our dog. The little guy has endured chemo in order to spend more time with us so I really want to make it worth his while and keep his life as full of the things he loves as possible, which doesn't include sitting at home alone while the human-folk galavant about town. I don't mind leaving him home while we do indoor things--he wouldn't enjoy himself anyway--but it's hard for me to handle the idea of a romp in a garden without my little fellow.
On Sunday we were surprised by suddenly bright and jolly weather here in Los Angeles so we came up with a compromise. First we let Bernie go hog wild at Runyon Canyon and then we dropped him off at home and us humans went to the Huntington, a sprawling botanical garden, park, library, museum complex in ultra-posh San Marino.
Though the admission price is steep ($20 for adults, $10 for students -- no ID required, ahem), it's well worth it. We strolled for about four hours total through a jungle replete with waterfall, a Seussian tangle of cacti sundry other succulents, a mock Australian outback, a Japanese tea garden, a children's area with spitting fountains and shrub-walled playhouses, a pond surrounded by traditional Chinese architecture and cherry blossoms, prim rows of English roses, and orderly French gardens littered with marble statues and ornate fountains. It's like a really, really, really high brow version of the Epcot Center. If you decide to go I have a tip: bring your own food. Their chow is overpriced and mediocre, unless of course you're down for high tea. Bea was not.
As you can see above, we took a few photos, an impressive 240 to be exact. I'd been kind of negligent on my photo taking responsibilities over the last few weeks so we had some making up to do. Both Alden and I are total amateurs behind the lens, but we spent some time there trying to think about composition and jiggle our camera settings in our favor. Maybe someday one of us will actually read our camera's instruction manual or even take a photography class. In the meantime, below are a few of my favorite people shots. Don't worry, I'm not going to post 100 photos of plants up here.
jjk
5 comments:
Love these pics! Bea is such a triumphant toddler and you are looking so pretty, Mama JJ! Not to mention the Huntington has got to be one of the most glorious places in creation, right on our backyard. Might I also add, if you bring your own food, be sneaky, they don't allow picnics...although it's tough to imagine someone cold-hearted enough to snatch a cheesy poof from Blondie there.
I feel the same way about my dog. He’s only 9months old and hasn't had any life hanging in the balance moments yet, but even without that, I’ve skipped many a ski day to take him for a hike in dog welcoming areas around town. My ski pass is going to waste, but the poor pup never asked to be adopted by me, so it wouldn’t be very nice of me to leave him sitting at home- he does that enough during the week while I’m at work.
Oh gosh, look at her go! I'm so trying to hang onto these last days while G isn't walking.
Though maybe she'll take her time & walk at 17-months like her daddio!
Oh my goawsh, I do love the huntington. It was my haunt when I was preggers and had a membership, but now that I'm a student again (ahem) I'm ready to go back! After we run the dog of course. Let's go JJ!
AND what amazing pics. I especially love the triumphant Bea in the adorable costume...
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