Noah's Ark Exhibit

This morning we went to visit the Noah's Ark Exhibit at the Skirball Center. It was a great exhibit, beautifully and artistically created, and fun for both Nicholas and Samantha. I highly recommend it! The animals were made from a combination of found objects and carved wood. There were interactive features that made sounds and movements.

Here is the front of the ark.


There was a cute conveyor belt that you could put pairs of animals into and wind the wheel to send them into the ark. They dropped back down into a basket to start over again.


Here's Nicholas and Chris checking out a smaller scale version of the ark. It was like a doll house with miniature animals. It even had lights that worked on a hand crank.


One of the rooms had a whole suspended netted climbing system.




















They had fake rubber animal poop (I guess there must have been a lot of poop on the ark with all those animals)! Samantha got right to work cleaning it up. Let's hope she doesn't get any ideas with Milka's poop at home now!


Here is one of my favorite animals. It was a push toy that was being pushed around by one of the people that worked there. Its head bobbed up and down as it went. I got a kick out of the red cowboy boot (no pun intended!)


Here was the end of the exhibit, the other side of the ark.



Thanks Auntie Lisa for the fabulous idea and including us on such a fun outing!

Newport Yacht Wedding

Chris' step-sister Brenna was kind enough to refer my flower business to a friend of hers that was getting married. Holly and Anthony were married this evening aboard The Destiny on a harbor cruise in Newport Beach.


I created 2 large arrangements for the ceremony. The large glass cylinder pedestals mimicked the beautiful glass windows around the spiral staircases. Sand and shells tied in the ocean theme.


Below deck, the tables were set for the reception. Casablanca lilies and ti leaves were a simple yet elegant center piece, surrounded by scattered shells.

Samantha is 2!

Our baby is 2! She's definitely not a baby any more and has official entered the "terrible twos" which she displayed by having the most whiny day yet (and it continued today as well). There were a few brief smiles - like in the morning when she opened her presents which included her new big-girl scooter and helmet.


Another happy moment was when she got to eat her giraffe cupcake that she picked out from the Torrance Bakery.

April is the month of Chapman family birthdays. Mine is on the 2nd, Samantha's is the 7th, and Nicholas' is on the 30th. Being a teacher it tends to be the best time of year to have babies (maternity leave until the end of the school year and 3 months of summer off!)

We spend our second annual Easter weekend with Chris' mom and step-dad, sister and brother-in-law and their son Jamie in Palm Desert. We got to hang out in a house together, enjoy the pool, the boys played a little golf, and we celebrated all the birthdays - including Bill's that was at the end of March.


Another reason to stay in Palm Desert is so that we can visit with Bill's mom Anna or "GiGi" to the grandkids, who lives in a retirement community in town. We went to her place for an Easter egg hunt they had set up for the kids.


Then we took her to dinner and Nicholas and Samantha were all about helping her in her wheelchair.

It was a great weekend!