Our Larson Life

When we have the energy, we can really pack in some fun stuff into our weekends. It's incredibly easy to do nothing and lounge all weekend. I think sheltering in place made not leaving the house seem normal when I used go out and about every single day. It's always cheaper than going out.  HOWEVER we also love to explore our backyard (in case you haven't kept track, we have had 17 different mailing addresses in 10 years) so I have LIST after LIST of places to see, things to eat, and then hopefully remember to keep a new list of places that we loved. The pins saved on my LA list always seem so close together but in reality it could 30 minutes between each. More, if there's traffic. But on this Saturday, we ticked a lot off my LA to-do list. Sprinkles: we went to the one in the The Americana at Brand in Glendale. I don't usually go for cupcakes. They are more often than not a major disappointment. HOWEVER, the black and white cupcake at Sprinkles was totally worth it!

I have taken my girls to art museums since they were babies. I truly believe they do well from all the practice they've had over the years. It's not perfect but we talk about how to act before we go in: -keep your elbows close to your body! -pay attention to ropes or lines on the floor, no body parts should go over them - and there's usually something for children put together by the museum. The Broad has a  treasure hunt/checklist for children to complete in order to get a small prize (like, paper bookmarks) upon exit. It's fun and easy with things like: 'find something with wavy lines, find a piece of art with your favorite colors'...etc. I love THIS BOOK for getting a start on talking to kids about art! If you've never studied art (I took two Art History courses to meet my fine arts credit in my undergrad lol), it's a perfect way to get into art enough to discuss and explain enough of the possible questions kids will have about an art museum. The In

 September is always a little more mellow and moody for me. It's been 6 years and it still hurts. There are moments the memory can crush me but they are fewer and fewer every year. Our loss is the most sensitive on the anniversaries of when we found out he had died in September and his due date in February.  When we went back to visit London last month, we placed a grave stone on our son's grave. We were not emotionally together enough to do that when we buried him. I ordered a beautiful yet simple stone off of Etsy and kept it safe in my carry-on. It felt so right to be back there. To be in the place where we experienced and grew so much. We will always be tied to that wonderful city not just because we loved and gained from it but the losses we had, too. The thing that has actually helped most is to talk about him. And there is no one better than Charlotte to do that. Seriously, she brings up her brother all the time. At the park, at the store, at church, anywhere. She is pro

  When we lived in Northern Virginia last year, we loved a little drive down to Old Town Alexandria and soak in its historic charm. Even better than seeing all the charming houses by the water is seeing them all dressed up for the holidays! Of course, it was the pandemic so trick-or-treating was not a thing but the decoration was still worth hanging out there for as long as the girls could hang. Which wasn’t actually that long. Charlotte was trying to kick naps at that point and she fell asleep in the weirdest position on the stroller ride-along board which made the walk back to the car very awkward but hilarious. I literally had to tie her to the stroller so she wouldn’t fall off in her deep sleep. Devon was still young enough not to complain but she knew that something was up and she stared at me like she couldn’t believe I was letting Charlotte sleep on her feet. So many wreaths and from a distance I thought was Christmas too soon…pumpkins! Buckle in for a million pictures because I