Happy birthday to me! (June 12)

Another year older... ahhhh!!  46 years old this year - slowly moving to the big 50!  If anything, at least my older sister will get to it first.  Ha! :-P

I've always wanted to head over to the Huntington Library.  So I figured this would be a good time to plan for it as no one can say "no" to the idea.  He he!  It was going to be a bit expensive for the entry fee, but come to find out - the Library recommended the bus in Pasadena and provided discounted tickets as well!  So that's what we did.  

But first, a birthday song from my morning crew:

I ended up buying some more socks for my birthday and of course, for the rest of the family too. I love my socks!

Trust the boys... this is what they bought for me.  Cheeky monkeys!!

I actually picked out a pair of matching sweats and hoodie sweater as well from the same store.  Figured I'd need something cozy for those dreary days in IL.  LOL!!

Here's the bus!  Bus H for Huntington.  There were a couple of "strange" people hanging around the bus stop so that sort of gave me an uneasy feeling at times, but all good once we got onto the bus:

The boys on the phone... as life passes them by:

We made it!  Wow, this place is massive!

The first room we enter is sort of like the introduction and history of the library and surrounding area.  And there's also this famous Blue Boy - which I know nothing about.  Ha!

We enter the main library through these massive metal doors.  Woah!!  Yeah, I love taking photos of doors :-D

And also love taking photos of ceilings.  He he...!

This library is impressive!

And what's even more impressive is what the library has in it:

Here's one of the very few remaining Gutenberg Bibles. It's crazy to think how old it is!

I'm glad the boys find it amazing too:

And then, there's a handwritten letter by George Washington:

How cool is that!  It's from the year 1788!!

And here is a huge book of birds - very huge indeed! 

It's crazy to think how this rather plain building holds so many amazing historic pieces:  

And yes, not sure why Graham is on his phone again.  Although, he did use his phone while in the library - translating or having the phone read passages.  Amazing what these new phones can do these days, just by taking a photo!

On to the next building: 

This was the original home of Henry E. Huntington and his wife Arabella.  I don't have a photo of the entire house, but we are greeted by these massive mirrors: 

And what a massive hallway and impressive stairs:

And don't even get me started on the study area.  WOW!!!  The tapestry on the wall is something else as well:

And that was one of several tapestry on the wall.  

Here's a cute wooden ladder:

The Huntingtons had such amazing furniture.  And that rug (one of two) is like super old as it used to belong to a French king.

And don't even get me started on the fireplaces:

Look how huge this one is!

And here is the original The Blue Boy (1770) painted by Thomas Gainsborough.  Huntington paid $728,000 back in 1921, which would have been over $10 million dollars today. YIKES!!

An X-ray was performed on the painting and it was discovered that The Blue Boy was painted over an existing artwork.  And there also used to be a dog in the painting!

Here's a painting by Kehinde Wiley, that debuted his homage to The Blue Boy last year:

Charlie immediately said that he liked the original Blue Boy better.  LOL!!

Quite the gallery!

There was a pretty stained window on the way up to the 2nd floor.  I can't remember exactly now but I believe this window was transported from another cathedral:

Check out this piano... it's like a chest!  The boys actually were the ones that noticed the pedals below:

There were lots of interesting plates, dishes, tea pots, etc:

Check out this embroidery:

Amazing!! Look at those details.  My fingers hurt just looking at this amazing workmanship:

A story of Cinderella in tile:

Interesting clock:

What a place!

Moving out into the garden.  Graham wanted me to take a photo of this rose.  Pretty color:

There are multiple gardens here.  We are obviously in the Rose Garden:

A little pass the Rose Garden is the Japanese Garden.  What an entrance!

It is so amazingly beautiful and peaceful in here:

Although, it was rather busy and hot right by the bridge, so we snapped a photo a bit further from it.

So many koi fish!

Such a cool tree for a cool photo op :-)

Funny how Graham and Charlie were actually posing for that photo.  And I didn't even have to give them any instructions on how to.

Into the bamboo jungle!

Very cool "dry landscape" garden.  Maybe I'll just make one of these in Illinois and call it a day :-P

There were so many amazing bonsai here:

Look how huge this one is!  I can't imagine how old some of these could possibly be:

There were some of these interesting rocks too.  Don't touch the one that's in the sun.  Hot! Hot!!

Circling back around the bamboo jungle:

We are now heading into the Chinese garden.  It's a lot busier here, so mask on:

I love the way these tiles are laid out:

The roof tiles are interesting too.  I guess I never really paid attention to any of those Chinese buildings back in Malaysia or even in China when I visited the country:

While we're waiting in line to get some snacks, boys are quick to be on the phone playing video games or watching YouTube videos:

I had Charlie take a quick photo of me :-D

Yay for snacks!  And some cold drinks.  It is so warm!!

Chinese Garden is so pretty too:

Interesting looking flowers:

LOVE!!

More interesting tiles on the floor.  Maybe it would be good bathroom tiles??! :-D

Spotted some peaches!  But too bad it's not ripe yet ;-P

I still can't get over how huge these grounds are within the Huntington Library.  Charlie is having too much fun with this boba and straw:

Ok, last photo of another tiled floor :-)

I love how Graham is using his phone to take lots of photos too:

There is a greenhouse on property and oh boy, it is warm and muggy in here!  And look, it's the stinky flower plant and unfortunately (or fortunately) it is not open so there is no bad smell:

This other plant is really interesting as well.  It's actually one whole leaf??!

But it looks just like a tree??!!

Some interesting looking flowers:

And interesting looking plants.  These are called Cobra Lilies.  Kind of does look like a snake:

This tree almost looks like a HUGE turnip!

Check out these cute manicured trees.  I think I see a pineapple??!  Ha ha!

Before going into the Children's Garden, we take another break.  Yup, back on the phone for these two monkeys:

Awwww, it's a turtle!  Well, it looks more like a turtle in person than it does in the photo:

Cute little door:

This water bowl is actually vibrating!

I love this little house all framed out with greenery:

I think this is actually the flower of an artichoke flower.  It's so pretty!

There's so much in this Children's Garden!

Okay, heading back to the main entrance - to the gift shop of course:

But on our way there... oh wow, it's a garden with statues!

Charlie was throwing a small pebble and his bracelet ended up flying into the bushes.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find it.  Bummer:

Well, we told Charlie he could get another bracelet and so our tour went on.  

Here's Graham imitating the fish that's on the fountain.  Ha!

Something just doesn't seem right with this statue.  He's holding a man's head??!

Another amazing fountain.  This one with horses but the horses have mermaid tails???  Graham called it a Sea-horse.  He is so quick with his words!

Almost back to the main entrance:

More water to touch.  Graham loves fountains!

What a fun day at Huntington Library!  The gift shop was good.  We "contributed" to the Library of course.  We didn't even get to see the Desert Garden or the Australian Garden or the herb garden.  Maybe next time, although we're running out of time here in L.A.   The movers are scheduled to come by the house at the end of this week.  YIKES!!

We take the bus back to our car and headed out for dinner in Pasadena.  We found a little pizza place.  Yum!!

And these dessert - sugary donuts and the tiramisu were super yummy as well:

What a fun birthday!  I'm glad the Huntington Library worked out today for a cheaper price since we needed that extra money for the desserts.  Ha ha, I should have asked if there was anything for free for my birthday!  Next year I guess :-)