The Gentle Barn

The 2nd birthday party circuit continued this weekend with a celebration for Peter's friend, Alexandra, at The Gentle Barn. The Gentle Barn is a wonderful farm that rehabilitates abused and neglected animals.

First, the kids got to feed carrots to the horses.

"That was fun!"

This is Peter's friend, Dylan, and her mom on our walk up to the barn to see more animals.

As soon as we got up to the barn, Peter found this cool chicken and sat right down next to him.

And started throwing dirt... (Not exactly the kind of behavior they encourage at The Gentle Barn.)

Moving on from the dirt... Peter, Dylan and Eyal were fascinated by this enormous pig.

I could tell he was tempted, but luckily Peter didn't throw any dirt at the pig.

Peter likes chickens.

And tractors.

Happy Birthday, Alexandra!

Gimme some cake!

Birthday Party Season

All of Peter's friends from babygroup are exactly the same age, so that means that it's birthday party season for us. Hooray! We have been to some very fun parties in the last few weekends. On Saturday, it was Kaj's birthday. We celebrated at Travel Town in Griffith Park.

There's the birthday boy in blue. What a cutie!

The kids had such a great time building tracks and playing with the trains.

Wait. Do you wonder where Peter is? He is in this photo, I swear. See if you can find him.



How about now? Do you see him now?



Oh! There he is... the boy who chose to play with rocks and dirt instead of trains.


The kids all got to go on a train ride around the park. There's Peter with his friend, Eyal, and Eyal's dad on the train. Fun!

Clara and I waived at the train when it passed us.


Clara was a hit at the party. Peter's friend, Dylan, really wanted her to wear her pink hat.

Eyal's mom took Clara for a spin around the party.

These moms are the greatest!

This dad is the greatest, too, don't you think?

Happy Birthday, Kaj!

We love the park! And ice cream! And friends!

Peter, Clara and I went to meet some of Peter's friends and their moms today at the park.

It was a beautiful day and the kiddos all got to eat ice cream. Peter had already finished his by the time this picture was taken. I wonder where he gets that.

Hi, Eyal! Doesn't he look cute? And sticky?

Another sweetheart, Lauren, and her mom.

No matter how much she tried, Eyal's mom could not keep that popsicle from dripping everywhere.

Hey, mister cool dude. What cha doin?

Hooray for ice cream!

Little dudes.

Cute friends.

Date Night 2

Wait. Seriously? Two date nights in one week?

That's right. We are livin' large at the Apley house and this week we have had TWO date nights.

Tonight's excursion was to the opening of the new Dinosaur Hall at the LA Natural History Museum. Imaginary Forces worked on commercials and print advertising for the new exhibit, so we were invited to the opening party.



The museum is beautiful and there are some pretty crazy dinosaurs there.

Peter would have loved it.

Check out this giant T Rex about to chomp Ben's head.

It'll probably be a while before we have such a socially active week.

This is definitely the coolest thing we've done since 2008.

Date Night

Last weekend, Ben and I went to Geisha House, a super cool restaurant in Hollywood.



We had delicious drinks and fantastic food (which I forgot to photograph).



It was a little dark to get a good picture, but you can probably tell by the empty tables behind us that we were there early. I don't think there is anything wrong with a 7pm Sunday night dinner reservation.


We love Geisha House!

Here's what happened earlier in the day. Exciting stuff.

Big Brother / Little Sister

I bought these Big Brother / Little Sister shirts before Clara was born, and have been waiting for them to fit so that they could wear them in a series of adorable photos. Too bad it is nearly impossible to get a good picture of them together.

Check out mister laid back, Peter.

Yelling for absolutely no reason whatsoever.



Poor Clara.


"Sorry, Clara."


This is the best one of the bunch. Rrrrrr. Maybe I will get a good pic of them in 3 years.

Holiday Weekend Fun

We have had the most fun holiday weekend so far.

On Saturday, we went to visit the Peier family for brunch. Here is mom, Lisa, with sweet new baby Quincy and 18-month-old Atticus.

We had a delicious brunch with the Peiers and another family who also has two kids the same age as ours. We got to relax in the shade for a few minutes while the big kids played.


Lisa's husband squeezed fresh orange juice from the trees in their yard for our mimosas. How Californian is that?

Peter and the boys splashed in the pool...

...And at the water table.

Clara and I checked out the orange trees in the backyard.

I love this picture of the three moms with the three babies.


Today, we packed up and headed to the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica. It was 80 degrees when we left West Hollywood, but once we got to the beach it was only 65 and overcast. Still... there was nothing that was going to keep Peter away from this cool splash pad. Do you see us on the opposite side of the water?

"1, 2, 3, go, go GO!"

Clara even got in the beach spirit and put on her cute bathing suit for a few minutes. (Less than 5.)

After the splash pad, we walked down to the beach.

Peter played in the sand for about 30 seconds until he realized there was water a few feet away.

I'm not really sure what Clara thought of the beach. She probably would rather have been at home, but she was a good sport.

Peter and his dad 'plashing in the water...

... And reluctantly returning to our towels.

My three favorites on the beach. Happy 4th of July!