On Friday we went to The Huntington. It is my favorite place, and since I'm able to get a visitor in for free it's a good place to hang out. My favorite thing about hanging out with Jaiden is that she doesn't care that I'm an embarrassing, out-of-touch aunt and will still do goofy things and indulge me when I asked for a picture.
Although sometimes that means I get this:
Folowed by this:
I told the nubbins that if you stand on the edge of the pond the fish will come up and nibble on your fingers. Jaiden was terrified of them biting her fingers (even though they don't have teeth) and would splash and scare them whenever they got close.
Kolten was definitely steadier, but the fish were really suspicious after Jaiden!
We did a bit of an abbreviated tour because it was hot, and well... teenagers so after the Lilly Ponds we headed straight to the Japanese Garden.
This guy sits on top of the Tea House
Herding teenagers is kind of like herding cats!
It had been a while since I'd walked through the Bonsai Court; I don't usually go all the way over there, but Jodi wanted to check it out, and a lot of the trees were in bloom.
Hibiscus bonsai
Natal Plum (the have regular sized Natal Plum trees in the gardens as well)
Pomegranate
In the Bonsai Court:
I'd never seen this bust before and I failed to take a picture to remind me who it is, but I especially like his glasses.
We headed over to the Chinese Garden where we had the traditional almond cookies and cold beverages and sat by the lake and chatted and relaxed. I failed to take any pictures of this portion, but one day I'll remember (or feel motivated) to get my camera out and capture this little ritual. After a bit we started to get hungry (almond cookies only go so far), and decided to head out. As we were walking back out I remembered that I'd told the teenagers that if they were good they could play in The Children's Garden before we left. There are a lot of cool play stations, and water activities (that with the drought may or may not be working on any given day).
Where is Jaiden?
Where. Could.
She. Be?
Oh, Hi Jaids. There she is. Looking a bit like a GIANT with the tiny blue door.
See how she indulges me in goofy-stuff. Love it!
She felt a little more comfortable with her fingers near these fish.
Until it bit her, of course!
Kolten was cool as a cucumber, as usual.
I made Jaids crawl into the prism tunnel... and then I couldn't get her back out.
And she took these amazing photos for me from the middle of the tunnel.
There was a weird smoking tee pee thing. I don't know what the real purpose of this is, but it was a foggy mist. (Ok, I looked it up it is an interactive Topiary Volcano - the leaves are theoretically red and the mist is the smoke - it erupts every 5 minutes or so.)
And sometimes Jaids gives you this:
Before this:
The teenagers then found the pebble chimes. You drop little rocks through the top and they hit spikes on the way down that make wind chime noises. I thought I took a video, but now I can't find it. :(
Magnetic Sand was another big hit. The both made mohawked hair on the forms.
I always wanted someone to pose with the crows. Kolten didn't want to be in the picture, but we told him that since he had to he better hustle to get the shady side of the bench!
I had promised water activities and so we headed over to the vortex and water bells. Jaiden discovered she is a water-bender.
We were kind of hanging around waiting for the Rainbow Room misters to go off. The docent monitoring the Garden said it only went off every 20 minutes or so, and it was finishing just as we came into the Garden, and then it started again while we were busy somewhere else. We had decided to call it quits without seeing it, but just as we turned to go it turned on again.
And as we were leaving there was a sign made especially for them:
Afterward it was time for dinner. I told JJK that I usually go across town and eat at either Olive Garden or BJs Brewhouse (btw, who names a restaurant BJs?!). Neither are particularly my favorite, but they are easy, familiar, and most of all tradition - stretching more than a decade when I first visited The Huntington. When I told them Olive Garden was a) an option, and b) was a 2-story restaurant it was decided. As a bonus, they were running their special where you can choose 1 entree to eat there, and then get another to take home. Bonus 2 meals in 1 for hungry teenagers who totally believe in the absolute necessity of second dinner. We sat, ate, and talked at the restaurant and then drove back to Long Beach where we sat and talked for several more hours - and planned the adventure for tomorrow. JJK went back to their hotel and I went to bed very happy to have family visiting!
