summa summa summatime

since we've all been home from our trips, we've just been enjoying time together and the lazy days of summer break.  i did sign the bean up for a few different day camps, and the first one was horse camp at nearby cal poly pomona.

of course, it happened to fall on the week that the temperatures went up into the triple digits, but the counselors were prepared.  they scheduled all of the outdoor activities during the morning hours, brought the campers in for lunch and then they hung out in an air-conditioned room working on fun crafts and watching movies.  the week went by pretty quickly, and the last day of horse camp came before we knew it.

spending time in the back yard and the pool is becoming a way of life as it continues to heat up.

speaking of the back yard, we seem to have gained some new family members.  they've set up camp right above one of the heaters and seem to be perfectly comfortable, even relocating to a larger corner of the patio enclosure when they grew out of that spot.

we got to spend a little time roller skating at the local rink as part of my cousin's daughter's birthday celebration.

and then she got to do a week of animation camp at a local art school.

after that she spent another week at cal poly pomona, this time in entrepreneurship camp with her BFF.

oh!  i took her for an eye exam and found that her prescription had changed.  while i declined her request for prescription sunglasses, we did end up ordering two different pairs of glasses (because they were both so cute and it's never a bad idea to have a spare) and added on the transitions option so that the lenses would automatically darken when exposed to sunlight.  she LOVES them.

my cousin seven, her boyfriend and their dog came down to stay with us for a few days while they visited with friends and family.  i was happy to dogsit their cute little max whenever they needed it, and she was sweet and cuddly and super laid back.

i also got to spend some quality time with stevie.  he's so sweet.

we got to see the newest toy story movie the night before it officially opened.  i'm still torn on how i feel about how it ended, and i still think they could have just left it at the third one and most of us would have been perfectly satisfied.

the bean has a new obsession:  BTS.  she's watched their videos over and over and over, and finally answered the question of "who will her jonas brothers be?"  oy.

i guess i shouldn't talk, because i totally squealed when we walked into a random store at the mall and found these:

we've been trying to make dinners at home, keeping it simple and enjoying meals together on the patio.

while i passed on buying this ridiculously large hat:

i definitely scooped these up.

the bean and i met up with our friends lilcee and mini cee for some korean bbq, and towards the end of our visit lilcee realized that the bean had grown taller than her.  and she's even wearing some platform-y 1"-tall sandals here!  sheesh.

gotta love the summertime randomness.

a bloom-in' good time

we all know i'm a sucker for a fun pop-up art installation, and when i found a 15%-off code for a flower-themed one called "bloom" at griffith park, i decided that it would make for a fun friday outing for me and the bean.  i thought it would be extra fun if we wore some cute floral outfits, and since she's still at the age where she's willing to wear matching mommy-and-me ensembles, i busted out these tops and skirts for us:

the tickets were all timed so as to avoid giant crowds descending on the event all at once.  i'd opted for the earliest ones possible - 11am - and we arrived just before they opened for business.

i'd also pre-ordered a couple of fresh flower crowns for us, so we headed over to that vendor's station to grab them.

i think she would've rather had this, but she was happy with the flowers.

we watched the bees for a minute and then tossed a buck into the donation box so she could grab a honey stick to suck on.

here we were invited to remove our shoes and walk through a bunch of different textured things that plants grow in.  it was kind of fun, and we got to borrow their parasols for our experience.

she sucked on that honey stick the entire time.  made for some great pictures.  heh.

 when we were done, there were towels for cleaning off our feet before putting our shoes back on.

the next photo op came in the form of these clear tents.  we chose the lavender one and sat down on the pillows (hoping to get our shot before too many people came in and ruined it all).

the bean was excited to jump into this next exhibit and frolic through the "dandelions."  and yes, this was a super hippie-dippy event and i was kind of bored by this time.  haha!

more photo op stations.  this was a little weird though...i wasn't sure exactly what we were expected to do with this one.

suuuuuuuper awkward.

one of her famous selfies-before-taking-a-picture-of-her-mom.

more rather awkward photos that probably could've been cooler if we'd given them a little more thought.

 and even more.

at the next station there were a bunch of white props and an assortment of jars full of different colors of paint.  you were to use the droppers, pull up some paint and leave your mark on the display.

i may have been bored as all hell, but she was having fun.  and i suppose that's all that matters anyway.

i'd promised her that we could go check out the two whole food trucks that were parked nearby, so once we'd had our fill of floral fun that was our final stop.

 mac & cheese stuffed grilled cheese sandwich, anyone?

on the way home we stopped at dots cafe for a treat, where we found these adorable mini cupcakes.

and we wore those crowns all damn day long.

as the old lady says, i'm a major sucker for those "art" museums.  there's a new pizza experience coming to the pasadena area in october, and while i'm pretty sure it's going to be just as silly as all of the other ones we've attended...i really want to go.  heh.