Rant: Not being able to choose what goes on my wall next!
Rave: Mommy group therapy.
Rave: Mommy wars.
Rave: It's finally fall! Hooray for changing leaves and Halloween decorations.
Rant: The 30 degree difference in temperature from the morning to the afternoon. How am I supposed to dress my kids?
Rave: The election is less than 3 weeks away...the campaigning is about to end.
Rant: I'm not overly thrilled with our choices and the one proposition I feel strongly about has a good chance of losing.
Rave: Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins are back at Starbucks!
Rant: Still no drive-through Starbucks anywhere near here.
Rave: The Amazing Race. How cute was Phil's dad?
Rant: Desperate Housewives. I need No-Doz just to get through an episode.
Rave: Being back in Mommy & Me with Brady, a few nice moms and an awesome teacher.
Rant: Listening to "I go to school today?" a thousand times each day that we don't go to school.
Rave: Julia's soccer team is doing great, they made the playoffs, she scored a goal last week (!!!!) and Ethan finally seemed to get it together in his last game.
Rant: Too many of their games are scheduled simultaneously and I hate missing one. Plus his games are WAY TOO EARLY.
Rave: Sweet 3rd grade girls who hold hands and giggle and don't even know why.
Rant: Mean 3rd graders who shove, threaten and bully, and then break the rules knowing that the other kids are too scared to tell. It's too early for this stuff.
I figured it was time for a good, mindless post about what we've been up to lately, not that it's particularly exciting.
School is going great. Both kids have great teachers and love going. E still has a hard time getting up in the morning but he loves being a kindergartener. I absolutely love working in their classes. Kindergarten is way more fun than 3rd grade, however. I continue to be impressed with my kids' school and the teachers there. Educating children is a hard business to be in and I admire those who do it well despite countless challenges.
Julia is turning back into a human being. I'm not talking perfection, but she has become noticeably more sweet, polite and responsible. The backtalk and arguing have decreased dramatically and she's much more pleasant to be with. I will remember this when she turns into a teenage troll.
I think I've gotten my election ranting out of my system. There's nothing left to do but sit back and wait for Election Day. Is it too late to put Tina Fey on the ticket?
Bunch and I are having a great time in Mommy & Me. Our teacher, who is a friend and was also Ethan's teacher, rocks. I love the time I get to spend in class with him, especially since it brings back so many memories of being there with Ethan three years ago. Brady was with us then too, but he was just a belly baby, raising hell from the inside.
I'm busier than I would like with school activities, but I enjoy being involved with all the happenings at school. I like selling ads for our newsletter and raising money in that way. I like the school administration and staff knowing that I am around and involved in my children's school. I like having my younger kids practically grow up at our school. Brady is quite a hit with the office ladies who hug him and kiss him and give him chocolate. It's like having 3 extra grandmas.
We are a soccer family and we love it. Between the two kids, we have 3 practices and two games each week. Both teams are coming along nicely, but they can both be so frustrating to watch. It is a big commitment for our whole family, and can be a big pain at times, especially when Bunch isn't cooperating. But this is so good for our kids. They are learning about trying hard and teamwork and listening and working for a common goal. And they're running their tails off and loving it. Ray is coaching Julia's team and refereeing for Ethan. We're both surprised by how much he's enjoying it. And I got to make puple, white, and black ribbon ponytail holders for the team. Soccer is a good thing.
I'm having a great time with Uppercase Living. I've gotten a lot of exposure lately and am waiting for some of my prospects to start panning out. I have high, high hopes for this business, especially in the coming months.
Still with me? That's pretty much all that is going on here. Sounds mundane, but I actually like that now and then. I like my routines and I like the everyday things that make our lives feel cozy and safe. Maybe it's the fall weather that is (finally) starting to come around. But I'm feeling like I just want to hole up in my house with my family, light a cinnamon candle and make soup. Although I'm not a fan of the cold weather (such as it is in these parts) I'll begrudgingly trade in my flip flops for shoes-that-must-be-worn-with-socks if it means I get to make soup.
Thank you arbreed for the gorgeous photo which is proof that we really do get fall in southern California.
For those of you who still check in despite my sadly sporadic posting, thank you. I'll try to do better, really I will.
It seems strange to be posting about summer on what is the coldest Memorial Day weekend I can remember since we moved back to southern California from Seattle. It has actually rained (I think most of the rest of the country would call it drizzling) for the last few days. News directors all across the Southland had a very difficult decision for last night's evening newscast: do I lead with the high speed chase dujour (which was made all the more dramatic by the slick streets, spraying water and fishtailing. Boo YA!) or Storm Watch 2008? Decisions, decisions. Of course the live feed of the chase won, and the bastards had the nerve to go to commercial and make us miss the end, which is usually the best part, and have to watch a replay. Amateurs.
Regardless of the weather, signs abound that summer is almost here, and as sad as I am to see Julia's awesome year in 2nd grade end, I'm ready for a break from frantic mornings and busy schedules. Those of you have been with me a while might recall that for the last couple of years, I and some others declared it would be The Best Summer Ever. The first time we did this, the summer really lived up to it. There was ice cream, a new swing set, more ice cream, trips to Disneyland and Legoland and fun and relaxation all over the place. Last year, I thought, it would most definitely be the BSE. I mean, how could it it not? We had a new house with a pool for the first time ever and we couldn't wait to spend every waking minute in it. Well, I'll tell you how: start the summer by literally losing your mind to the point that you don't want to get out of bed or even know which end is up. Add a flood to the entire downstairs of said house that takes 2 months to clean up from, hole up in your steaming hot upstairs (in the dark for most of a week, as it turned out) and add a half-assed air conditioner and asbestos in your ducting. That's how.
While we've recovered from the effects of last year's summer fiasco, I'm not thinking I want to jinx things this year by setting up some crazy unrealistic expectations. So, my friends, I hereby declare the summer of 2008 A Very Nice Summer. That's it. I still plan to send my kids to camp, do a lot of fun things, go to the beach, grill, swim a ton, and eat a lot of Shave Ice. But I think I'll be a lot more content hoping to just have a nice time than to pressure all of us to make things the BEST EVER. I'm all about baby steps right now and this seems to be a good one to take. Maybe in a couple of years I won't be as gun shy. For now, let's make it a nice summer.
In other news, I'm having a great time with my Uppercase Living business so far. Every day I think of new ways to use the expressions and lettering. The possibilities are endless. I had a party at a friend's the other night and it was nice to see the positive response I got across the board. I have some high hopes for this company.
In other other news, Ray's mom is coming to spend next weekend with the kids so he and I can spend a couple of nights away. Even though we're just staying at a hotel down the street, we have a massage and a nice dinner scheduled and we plan on just relaxing for a couple of days. We so need this.
The following weekend, I'm going to my hear Stacy Julian speak at my scrapbook store, Treasured Memories. I'm really excited to hear her talk and hope to get motivated inject some sanity into my overwhelming pile of to-be-scrapped photos. Treasured Memories is a great store and the owner, Christine, is lovely and generous. Definitely good people. If you're ever in the area, stop by and spend lots of money.
Hope the weather is sunny where you are and that you have a great weekend.
I hate not blogging for a long time. Stuff piles up and then I never get around to telling (all 3 of) you about it. Here's a quick run-down, with hopefully more to come someday soon:
The Good
We went wine tasting a couple of weekends ago and had SUCH a great time. I'll definitely post about this soon!
Ethan's dinosaur party was a great success and may someday be its own blog post. There were, ahem, quite a few kids but they had fun and I loved all the activity. Boys are a whole different breed when it comes to group-think, aren't they? I'm not quite mentally prepared.
I got carded! I didn't have my kids with me and the waiter was wearing pretty thick glasses, but who cares?
I'm going to see BonJovi & Daughtry tomorrow night and will also get to meet my good friend Jacquie IRL for the first time. Can't wait!!!
My mom is sleeping over so I can do the above. She rocks.
I registered Ethan for kindergarten and now must pray nightly that he won't end up with the mean teacher who yells.
My first Uppercase Living open house is next week. I'm really excited...and nervous. But also really excited.
Brady seems to be getting cuter by the minute. Come visit him. Or call him. He'll totally talk to you on the phone.
Juji got her first hit and scored her first run in softball. I didn't think this would happen for another couple of seasons. Her team has won its last two games!
The Bad
Passover starts next week and I have not done one thing to prepare.
Julia's attitude is getting worse by the day. Is it me or is she completely psycho, going from sweetheart to complete pain instantaneously.
I have wasted my entire evening playing games online.
The Bruins broke my heart for the 3rd straight year, coming home empty-handed from the Final Four.
Ray's work sucks right now. Period.
My kids can mess my house up way faster than I can clean it.
My asshole neighbor's asshole dog got out today and came nose-to-nose with poor Brady, who was terrified. I heard myself scream primaly to the neighbor to get his dog away, which he did. He did apologize, at which point it occurred to me that that was the first time he'd talked to me the entire YEAR we'd been living here. He needs to make sure that dog never ever gets near one of my kids again.
Our friends who were going to BonJovi with us had to cancel, so I'm taking my sister and her friend. This isn't all bad, as now I can act like a much bigger dork at the concert and sing and dance to my heart's content. Ray will pretend not to know us.
The Odd
I really did have some odds, but now can't remember any of them. Must be time for bed. If only I hadn't wasted my whole night online, I'd head straight to sleep without the mandatory pit stop in the kitchen to clean and make Julia's lunch. Damn internet.
My family's love of the Wiggles has been well documented here. Although they're no longer front-and-center favorites, all three kids still enjoy Wiggling fairly regularly, though they don't always admit to it. A few months ago, just as I was thinking how much my kids would like to see the Wiggles live, I received an email alerting me that they would be coming to LA. It's like the internet read my mind! We (actually, Grandma Goob. Thanks Goobie!) got the tickets and Saturday was Wiggle day. Who knew I would learn so much from one kids' concert? Lucky for you, I'm willing to share the knowledge:
The Nokia Theatre at LA Live is a great place to see a concert. The whole complex will be awesome when it's finally built out. On the day that we were there, there were 2 Wiggles shows, a King's game and a Dodgers exhibition game at the Coliseum. It's really great to see Downtown LA growing this way. Go developers!
If the music thing doesn't work out for the Wiggles, then they can always look into being aerobics instructors. Those guys have some serious stamina!
There is seriously nothing cuter than a theater filled with preschoolers dressed in Pirate hats, Wiggles skivvies, and Dorothy tails....until those preschoolers start singing and dancing.
When attending a Wiggly concert, it is proper form to bring roses for Dorothy and a bone for Wags.
Some children, who are way too used to watching the Wiggles on TV, WOULD NOT turn away from the giant screen where the concert was being shown to the stage RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM to see the actual show live.
My two year old must not be that smart.
That one Wiggly dancer who is always way too excited on the TV show is just as "energetic" live.
It really is possible to pay $6 for an Uncrustable, a juice box and a few apple slices. Ah, capitalism.
That last remark makes me sound really old.
Just because you are seven and a half years old, it does not mean that you cannot sit on your daddy's lap and sing along the entire show. It also does not mean that you will not be the first to ask. "Can we come back next year?"
I canpoint my fingers and do the twist.
If you want a t-shirt for your kid, get it when the lines are short before the show and don't wait. And just because you said you want a shirt, and don't have a ton of money on you, don't assume that someone else will offer to go buy the shirt.
These guys really must love the kids to do this day in and day out. They were warm and sincere and just as you'd want them to be.
Three adults to three children is a manageable ratio for a Wiggly concert.
Snacks are essential.
Just because there is a damn Wiggly concert going on 8 rows in front of you, and your (grand)parents purchased these tickets and dragged you and your siblings to the concert, it does not mean you will not fall asleep eating grapes on your grandma's lap.
If you are two years old and your mom takes you to see the Wiggles and you finally turn around halfway through and notice the Wiggles and squeal "It's Giggo Mommy! It's Jeff," she will turn to mush, and forgive you for napping later and declare that you must be the cutest and most intelligent toddler in the whole place.
A Wiggly concert is just slightly louder than Ethan.
I'd do this again for and with my kids in a heartbeat. I know I had at least as much fun as they did.
With blue skies (finally) and gorgeous weather, not to mention blossom-covered trees everywhere, spring has arrived at last. This point was brought home to me last Sunday, when my family participated a number of spring traditions all in one day.
Our day started out at a local Purim carnival. I love living in an area of the country where my Jewish kids have plenty of other Jewish kids around. When I lived in the Northwest, it was very isolating to not be part of a larger Jewish community. I either felt really lonely, or like an animal in the zoo as I was subjected to the fascination of several people who had never met a Jew before. So our trek to the carnival took all of 5 minutes and we played, bounced, jumped, rode a poor, sad pony and ran into lots of friends we knew.
From there we had lunch and headed to our former neighbors' home for an Easter bash. It never occurred to me just what a pretty holiday Easter can be. While the religious meaning of the holiday is completely lost on me, I love the pretty pastel colors, the flowers, the signs of spring everywhere and little kids dressed in pretty clothes running around in the sunshine. Besides, who doesn't like bunnies, especially the variety who bring chocolate. Our friends went all out: each child got his or her own half-dozen eggs to dye before heading out to hunt for 350 eggs! I think we adults had as much fun hiding them as the kids did searching for them. Brady LOVED sidewalk chalk and Julia and Ethan rode their sugar high well into the evening.
Just as the party started to wrap up, we headed home to get read for Julia's 3rd softball game of the season. Their coach says they are steadily improving. Their score has gone from 4-0, to 12-2, to 13-0. I don't see how allowing the opposing team to score more runs in each successive game is an improvement, but I'm not a math major. That's right friends, Julia plays for the Bad News Bears. The games are not only boring, but just bad. We have games each Saturday and Sunday, and Ray and I trade off going so as to not subject ourselves and the other spectators to Brady's incessant screams throughout the game. While it's quite an occasion when our pitcher manages to throw a strike (rather than pitching the ball behind the batter) there are small signs of progress. Besides, sitting outside watching a ball game definitely feels like spring. And the score isn't all that important, right? I know this because after every game Julia has asked us hopefully, "Did we win?"
Another spring occasion is upon us today with the celebration of Noruz (nowrooz), the Persian New Year. I wrote last year about how much I love celebrating a new year in the spring instead of in the middle of dark and gloomy winter. Being spoiled, lazy and overwhelmed with the rest of the chaos in my life, I've left the work to others this year. My sister made the traditional sabzi polo because she enjoys spending an entire day to make one pot of rice. More power to her. We will be celebrating at my parents' tomorrow night, and the eggs my kids dyed at the Easter party will be adorning Goobie'shaft seen.
It occurs to me that I've gotten away with doing very little work for any of these holidays this year. No matter, I don't feel guilty. Someday I'll be the grandma or the hostess or not nuts and go all out. For now I'm happy to enjoy the fruits of others' labor, happily buy my carnival tickets and transport my family from one location to the next. However you celebrate, I hope your spring is lovely and full of sweets.
Many thanks to macieklewfor his stunning photo. Check out his other work; you will not be disappointed.
For some reason, I got a wild hair up my butt to make, instead of buy, Valentines this year. I think the reason was that I just couldn't stomach another trip to Hallmark while I try to throw whatever inappropriate card is within reach into my cart (my Hallmark has carts, do they all?) as quickly as possible while Brady screams at me yet again. Although I'm practically immune to the stares of the other shoppers by now, I knew that somehow I'd grab the wrong thing and my in-laws would end up with an "On The Loss Of Your Pet" card in Spanish for Valentine's Day. So I decided that I don't need any more gray hairs this week and went for the home-made variety.
The first part of this endeavor was getting them to clean all their crap off the dining room table. The next day, I pulled out stickers, cards, scrap paper, die cuts, stamps, ink, punches, markers, glue and probably other stuff and let them go to town. There was a lot of attraction in using Mommy's supplies and Ethan, especially, was quite the enthusiastic little stamper. Unfortunately for him, he was not allowed to use every color ink simultaneously. Anyone who knows him will not be surprised that he would want to.
Other than try to salvage what's left of the finish on the dining room table, I stayed out of their way and just let them create, keeping my opinions to myself (yes, Tannaz, it is possible). Therefore, we ended up with a rainbow of colorful cards in addition to plain old boring red and white. I bet you didn't know purple and yellow (together) were Valentine colors.
What I loved most was watching them create together. There was an interesting give and take in their process. They had to make some decisions together, like who the next card was for and which color it would be, and even though they disagreed, they quickly compromised and got on with it. It was like they subconsciously knew not to ruin their fun with pointless bickering. There was also an unspoken division of labor: Julia did all of the writing (though Ethan signed his own name) and most of the punching while Ethan was the main stamper. He had some great creative ideas and I was glad to see Julia follow his lead. Somehow the age difference between them disappeared and they cheerfully cooperated and created together.
They were more enthusiastic about the first card than the fifth, but we all had a great afternoon together. I'd like to think they got something out of the process. I certainly did and hope to make this yet another tradition. Hopefully the recipients of those Valentines will be able to sense some of the joy and cheer that went into creating them. Especially the green one.
As a rule, I'm not a fan of tags. But I'm a lazy blogger and I can't ignore my sweet little Meghan, so here goes:
MOUTHOLOGY Q: What is your salad dressing of choice? A: Poppy seed Q: What is your favorite fast food restaurant? A: Ew Q: What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? A: The Cheesecake Factory Q: On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? A: 20% Q: What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? A: Potatoes Q: What are your pizza toppings of choice? A: Pepperoni Q: What do you like to put on your toast? A: Butter, or peanut butter and my home made apple butter.
TECHNOLOGY Q: What is your wallpaper on your computer? A: The tropical island in the middle of the ocean. Q: How many televisions are in your house? A: Three
BIOLOGY Q: Are you right-handed or left-handed? A: Right Q: Have you ever had anything removed from your body? A: 3 babies, one who didn't make it, and a pyogenicgranuloma. Q: When was the last time you had a cavity? A: I refuse to answer on the grounds that I will not jinx this. Q: What is the last heavy item you lifted? A: Ethan. Q: Have you ever been knocked unconscious? A: Other than by the smell of Brady's diapers, no, but I've fainted a couple of times.
BULL[CRAP]OLOGY Q: If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? A: No, but a general range would help me obsess even more. Q: If you could change your name, what would you change it to? A: OK Mommy. Q: What color do you think looks best on you? A: Pink or red. Q: Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? A: Probably but I'd rather not think about it. Q: Have you ever saved someones life? A: You mean not counting the three I carried around in my body and gave birth to? Q: Has someone ever saved yours? A: No
DAREOLOGY Q: Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? A: Quick kiss on the lips...sure Q: Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? A: No Q: Would you never blog again for $50,000? A: Where's my check? Q: Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? A: No. And anyone who'd pay to see me naked would be one sick puppy. Q: Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000? A. How hot? Q: Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? A: Do I get to pick which human?
DUMBOLOGY Q: What is in your left pocket? A: Lint. Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie? A: There are worse. Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house? A: Hardwood downstairs, carpet upstairs. Thanks, flood. Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower? A: stand Q: Would you live with roommates? A: Only if his name was George Clooney. Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own? A: Several. But I wouldn't mind some new ones. Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops? A: When the helicopter was circling overhead as my crazy-as-a-fucking-loon neighbor was taking a leak in my bathroom and hiding from her husband. Still wondering why I couldn't wait to move?
LASTOLOGY Q: Last Friend you talked to? A: Julie Q: Last person who called you? A: Kim Q: Last person you hugged? A: Julia Q: Last person to stick their foot in your face? A: Brady
CURRENTOLOGY Q: Missing someone? A: Yes Q: Mood? A: Sleepy and annoyed at today's UCLA basketball game. Q: Listening to? A: Steve Tyrell. Q: Watching? A: Nothing Q: Worrying about? A: Nothing much. It's a miracle.
RANDOMOLOGY Q: First place you went this morning? A: To my mom's to drop off the kids. Q: What can you not wait to do? A: Go to bed Q: What's the last movie you saw in theater? A: Can't remember. Pathetic. Q: Do you smile often? A: Absolutely Q: Are you a friendly person? A: Yes
On the second to last day of 2007, we took a little excursion to Santa Barbara along with my parents and my sister. After a lovely lunch we headed to the zoo. The day was not only fun but also educational. Being the giver that I am, I thought I'd share with you some of the things I learned:
Santa Barbara is too close and too cute for us not to go more often;
When I grow up, I'd love a little cottage near the beach there for weekends away from the hustle and bustle of the suburbs;
Just when I think I have the three most hellacious kids in the world and question my own sanity by taking them to a restaurant where innocent people are trying to enjoy a meal, they can completely surprise me by acting like human beings;
My family and I are just not animal people.
Some giraffes seem quite enthralled by drinking the urine of other giraffes;
Being 2 feet away from a lion is creepy regardless of the 6 inch thick glass separating us;
Regardless of the fact that the Santa Barbara Zoo is cute and small and perfect for an outing with kids, it still smells like animal poop;
Those animals there are residing on some prime ocean side real estate;
The crappy gift shop at the little zoo train has quite a selection of train-themed (even Thomas!) items.
It's never too early to start shopping for Brady's birthday;
Just because you can legally fit 8 people in an SUV doesn't make it the best idea;
Souplantationhas a great concept but they can sure work out the logistics better;
There is no day that can't be improved by a train ride (if you're 4) or a trip to Starbucks (if you're me);
There is nothing cuter than grandparents interacting with their grandchildren;
Time spent enjoying family is always time well-spent, even when you have to miss a football game.
As far as I'm concerned, it's not summer until I've been to the beach. From the time I was little, I remember family beach trips where my dad would bury me in the sand up to my neck. As a teenager, there were many spur-of-the-moment beach trips with my friend Susie. Just one phone call and we'd be on our way to pick up our favorite deli sandwiches (which we had to guard from the seagulls), put the top down on her convertible VW Bug and head down to Zuma. From Hawaii to the Virgin Islands, I've spent a lot of happy moments at the beach and love going back whenever I can.
Now, with a family of 5 and a husband who doesn't share my love affair with sunshine (to put it mildly), we don't go very often but still manage one or two trips every summer. Usually our favorite spot is Paradise Cove which is a little more secluded and has parking right there, a restaurant and a pier to explore. When we showed up yesterday, however, it felt like the rest of L.A. had gotten there first. Not only was the weather hot hot hot but the beach was crowded and the restaurant was a madhouse. As we sat there sweating and waiting endlessly for our lunch I started questioning the wisdom of leaving my quiet, sand-free backyard pool for the heat, sand and chaos of the beach. We must have looked like some pissed-off Orthodox family, sitting there with our clothes on, huddled in the shade of our umbrella.
After we ate, Julia wanted me to help her get some water for her sandcastle and that's when everything turned around. It was a case of "just add water" and all of a sudden the fun started and the day was perfect. The breeze at the edge of the water was cool and refreshing and it was so hot that the normally icy Pacific water felt positively pleasant. My kids, who until yesterday, steered clear of the cold water eventually made their way closer (after a couple of cold and traumatic waves hit them and hysteria had to be abated) and couldn't get enough. Poor Brady was a little confused for a while. There were a lot of new sensations for him to take in. But by the end of the day even he was having fun playing in the sand with his brother and sister.
I was finding it hard to imagine that a day at the beach could actually turn out bad and I was happy that my predictions were unfounded. My happy beach memories remain intact and we added a few new ones. It doesn't look like we'll be making it back this year. It's just too hard to coordinate with the little one and all our junk and needing an extra body there to help keep an eye on everyone. But I look forward to spending much more time at the beach as the kids get older. The ocean is such a wonderful part of living in California and I'm thrilled that my kids have taken to it and love it as much as I always have.
This week is Ray's long-planned vacation. We didn't think it was wise to spend the money to go out of town somewhere, so we had planned on staying home, eating out a lot, going to local attractions, spending time in the pool and going to the beach. We had not planned on having our floors ripped out and our furniture piled in a corner underneath drop cloths. Nevertheless, the flood gives us additional motivation to get out of the house so yesterday we took the kids to the new Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
The exhibit is comprised of a practically life-size ark and all the animals you could imagine. What makes it phenomenal for kids, however, is that the entire exhibit is interactive. There are buttons they can push to create the storm and the ensuing flood. They can load the animals on the ark, two by two, of course. There are puzzles, lights, stories and all kinds of things for them to play with and discover. The animals have been created out of everyday objects, like our friend the hedgehog, above. There is a zebra with a piano mane, tire crocodiles, and a polar bear whose body is an overflowing bathtub. And much, much more.
Everything has been designed with kids' exploration in mind and you never have to say "Don't touch!" On the contrary, they are encouraged to touch, and peek, and poke, and play, and climb. That's right, climb! There is a climbing room where kids (and parents....and grandparents) can go up rope ladders to explore the ark and make the elephant move his trunk and trumpet. While it took Ethan 3 tries to finally muster up the courage to go all the way up the ladder (having come back down after climbing halfway up the first two times) there were other kids who were able to get up but then were scared to come down. Luckily, the gallery security guard is a good sport and climbed up to get each of the little ones who would otherwise have been stuck up there indefinitely. When the kids have had their fill of climbing and searching, there is a rainbow room where they can relax and color their own set of animal cards. The down time is great after the excitement of the ark.
Reservations are recommended, but we got in without one after a long wait, which we spent having lunch. If you go, you might consider bringing your own snacks because the snack bar pickings are a little slim (decent salads and sandwiches but nothing other than PB&J for the kids) and the snack bar doesn't take credit cards.
My older kids both expressed their delight at the exhibit and have already asked to go back. Brady was just excited to be out of his stroller with so many new things to explore. I was thrilled to find out that this exhibition is now permanent. We will definitely return with our kids and I look forward to showing out of town guests one of the newest things L.A. has to offer.
You know what's awesome when you feel like something the cat threw up? Being told that you rock. And that is exactly what has happened to me.
It turns out that I am a Rockin' Girl Blogger! I never would have thought! My buddy Meghan, who is quite rockin' in her own right, has tagged me. I'd like to thank all the little people, particularly the three who provide me with so much blog fodder. As stated in the rules, I must now tag 5 others. Of course, I can't narrow it down to just 5 so I'm throwing in a bonus at no extra charge:
Of course, my curly little Tannazie of All Kinds of Yum. Even if you don't appreciate her meandering posts about the most arcane food news and information, you'll love her photos, including the occasional very cute child model or two, and her blog is sure to leave you hungry and itching to visit her cute neighborhood in L.A. Stay tuned for her big blog remodel. It is gonna look great. Now we just have to bring her over to the dark side and get her scrapping.
The lovely Rambling Tara herself of Tara's Ramblings. This girl is a military wife, has 5 adorable kids whom she homeschools!, and still manages to crank out gorgeous detailed scrapbook pages. Amazing!
Tara Whitney, who I'm sure doesn't read my piddly blog but is still rockin' nevertheless. She is a mom of 4, a photographer whose family pictures have been made to make even bitchy me teary, and a really awesome scrapbooker whose emotions for her kids come through in all of her pages and photography.
My darling Just Nicole of Nik's Notations. Truth be told, Just Nicole hasn't posted in a while but she just turned 30, started a new job and is traveling this weekend so we'll cut her some slack. Her blog treats us to a slice of her life in Australia and when we're lucky we get pictures of beautiful scenery, her lovely lovely scrapbooking and awesome Indi, her precocious and foul-mouthed daughter. Hmm...wonder where she gets that from.
Speaking of daughters, mine is certainly rockin' at All About Me. Certainly, she would post more often if she wasn't so busy feeding her Webkinz or devoid of computer privileges for the infraction of the day.
Finally, sweet Lissa of Life's Reflections. She has such a lovely way with words that even when her posts don't include cute pictures of Dalton or her gorgeous scrapbook pages, her blog is a treat to read.
There are several other blogs I read daily who are definitely written by rockin' girls (Kim, Jax, Beth, Teri-Lynn, and others). However, I believe those have already been granted official rockin' status. Hope you enjoy the ones I mentioned here. Tell them I sent you and thanks again Meghan!
A lot of notable people are celebrating their birthday today:
One is Orville Redenbacher, which is interesting, since my husband and his dad have this weird love affair with popcorn. The gene has been passed down to my kids and therefore our trips to Target now have a singular focus.
Next is Will Ferrell, who if he wasn't funny enough on Saturday Night Live, did this crazy video with Pearl the drunk landlady from hell.
And then, there's my sweet friend Meghan, whose amazingly cute little boy, Ethan, was born on my mom's birthday last year. Click on over and wish her a happy one, would ya?
Of the infinite number of things one could be doing on a summer night, seeing The Police play at Dodger Stadium is right up there near the top. I mean, hello? It's The Police. And they haven't toured in 20 years. And they're here. In L.A. And I got tickets. Good ones. And it's The Police. With Sting. At Dodger Stadium. Is there anything about this scenario that could possibly be less than amazing?!!!
My regular readers (all 4 of you) know by now that I'm not usually at a loss for words. But in this case, I'm having a hard time describing just how great this concert was. My brain seems to be fixating on words like "awesome," "so cool," and "phenomenal."
The evening's entertainment started out with the opening band, The Foo Fighters. Not being an enemy of Foo, I don't quite understand why it needs to be fought, so I'm not a big fan. Still it was pretty good, high-energy music and the FF fans in the crows were really into it, so it must've been great. At one point the lead Fighter jumped off the stage and waded through the crowd to the back where he climbed up some equipment and played his guitar while we all screamed. Cool stuff. Still, by the end of it we were all ready for The Police to get started.
They definitely didn't disappoint. The cool thing about seeing a band that hasn't recorded anything new in 20 years is that you don't have to sit through the crap off the new album that the concert tour is promoting. Every song is an old favorite. It was such a treat to hear hit after hit after hit with Sting's distinctive vocals. Plus, he's amazing to watch on the jumbo screen. Stewart Copeland was amazing on percussion. Drummers are just cool, and he was great (even if he is a year younger than my dad). Plus he played this strange cymbal/xylophone hybrid instrument that I'd never seen before on "Wrapped Around Your Finger". Extra cool. Andy Summers was also cool, doing his thing on the guitar, kind of not into the whole thing, just cool and aloof and sounding great. It was great to have just the three band members and nothing else onstage: no backup singers, hokey dancers, crazy acrobatics. Nothing but three great musicians playing awesome music. Here, take a listen:
Because this is a pseudo-review, I'll stick in a couple of token criticisms. First, it could've been longer, especially for what the tickets cost. A couple of songs were just missing and I was bummed. But I got over it. Second, I'd rather have heard more songs and less meandering guitar solos. Again, I'm over it. While I've been to concerts with better music, or a more elaborate stage show, or cooler lighting (that didn't cause you to practically have a seizure), everything came together so well here and it worked beautifully. Ultimately, each song sounded so good that I wished they'd play it again.
Like I mentioned, our seats were great (notwithstanding the ordeal we went through to actually get to them), some of the greatest I've ever had for a concert, thanks to the gougery of The Police Tour fan club. Our companions, my sister and her roommate, Beth, were tons of fun. Beth, who actually admitted to seeing The Police play 23 years ago, was quick with a song title and album reference when the rest of us may have been a little slower on the uptake. Our section was lots of fun, except for one ice princess that we all despised on first sight. Seriously honey, how do you go to a Police concert and manage to look so unhappy and pissed off? Her poor boyfriend. But other than her, we were surrounded by tons of happy fans, from the drunk guy a few rows ahead that looked like Newman from Seinfeld, to the girl a couple rows back that spent most of the concert giving her boyfriend a lap dance (no wonder he was happy).
This is definitely a fine and fitting way to start the Second Annual Best Summer Ever. For me, it was the fulfillment of a long-time wish to see Sting play live. I'm kind of still riding the buzz and definitely have the concert bug again. This was so worth missing my high school reunion for.
Big thanks to pancho2323 for the great photo and to papitourso for the video footage.
Thank God it's summer at last and The Best Summer Ever at that. Well, the Best Summer Ever since last summer, and definitely The Best Summer Ever until next summer. It's already looking to be a great one:
2 days of summer vacation so far and 2 play dates already. Both involved ice cream. Excellent.
This summer there is an actual pool in my backyard...something I haven't had for almost 20 years. And it's finally hot enough that the water temperature is starting to inch up a few degrees. No more schlepping to other people's pools. No more listening to "Moooooooom, why can't we have a pool too?" Woo Hoo!!
Last year's infant is this year's Toddler-Who-Sleeps-Through-The-Night.
A new house that we're no longer embarrassed to have people visit. Welcome Friends and Family.
Shave It. Heaven on a spoon. If I could afford it, I'd have the Shave It Van parked permanently in my driveway. Since I can't, I'll have to drive like the rest of the riff-raff.
Two kids in school means more friends than ever. And they all want to hang out with us. Hooray!
Preschool starts in July. As much as I love him, I also love that my little bundle of energy (and noise) has someplace to be 3 mornings a week.
Our babysitter, who we love, has agreed to come over one morning a week. Mom's sanity, which is in short supply, will benefit greatly. She's looking to work a lot. Hopefully this means a couple of movie dates too!
My friend around the corner wants to scrapbook as much as I do. I love a good enabler.
The credit cards haven't been rejected yet. Keep the fun coming!
Ah, picture a beautiful spring Saturday at the local neighborhood park. The sun is shining, there is a mild breeze blowing, and the air is filled with the sound of children laughing and playing. A little pizza, a little cake, what could be better?
But this is LA, or at least the LA suburbs, so you know it doesn't end right there, right? That would be boring.
For one thing, it really is a picture perfect day and there are not just one, but two birthday parties going on simultaneously. Two piles of presents, twice as many kids running around and twice the number of Israeli party guests. To entertain all the little cherubs, we have not just Tinkerbell and Peter Pan (and their teeny tiny little dogs which they stopped every so often to hug and kiss) but also Superman, whose pinata likeness ended up being sadly decapitated later in the day.
Our particular birthday girl was adopted from China by her American/Israeli family and, in addition to her school friends, there are a lot of other Chinese girls running around in their princess makeup. While the girls decorate angel wings, the boys create pirate hats. My boy, scary swashbuckler that he is, decided to go all out and put all kinds of sparkly glitter and jewels on his hat. As the kids work on their crafts, they are serenaded by a random guest who sings operatic Princess movie songs a Capella. I am not making this up.
Because this is LA and you can't go out and get your morning paper without tripping over a celebrity, we notice that one of the moms at the party is an actress & director, most recently from ER. Much whispering and pointing ensues as we pretend that we are all so cool and not at all star struck.
Finally, as if all this weren't enough, a guest at the other party provides this:
even without the front view, which would showcase her Cleopatra pony tail which is not quite the same color as the rest of her hair, she has inspired me to start my own civilian version of GoFugYourself, which I would do if I was one iota as good of a writer as the Fug girls and had given up all hope of ever getting into heaven and also didn't mind getting sued.
Where else can you get all this, and birthday cake too? I love L.A.
My husband, who has a Master's Degree and is a Vice President at the company where he works, is also a rabid fan of The Price Is Right. He's watched this show since he was a child and has now turned our kids into fans as well.
As long as we've lived in LA, however, he'd never been to see a taping of the show. That all changed yesterday. For Christmas, a good friend of ours was able to get us VIP tickets to a taping. Miraculously, Ray was able to get the day off work, I was able to secure babysitting and rides for the kids and we spent the day together watching the taping, and doing more stuff I'll tell you about soon. Our airdate is February 26th; look for us in the second row, clapping and cheering our little hearts out. Here's what I learned as we watched people come on down:
Bob Barker is a stud! No, really. He looks great, moves well, and is pretty sharp with a comeback. Granted, he probably says the same stuff to audiences every single day, but still...
The Price Is Right Studio is small and FREEZING. Seriously freezing. You'd think once the lights come up it would improve. It doesn't. There were crew members wearing gloves and ski jackets.
You can be a VIP or a contestant but not both. However, in order to get the regular tickets that give you a chance to get chosen as a contestant, you have to camp out overnight. No thanks.
This show moves fast and it's loud in there. It's a miracle people can concentrate on the prizes and their answers what with the noise and the pace and the excitement and the fact that it's FREEZING.
Even though it looks like Bob and the contestants are hanging out on this giant stage all by themselves, there are 4 cameras and a ton of people onstage with them. There's a cue card guy, a guy who tells Bob when the commercial break is about to end and counts him back in, and a bunch of people whose function completely escaped me. Not to mention the beauties, who are actually quite pretty.
The announcer is a hard-ass. If you are a CBS page, don't piss him off. Also, if you are a CBS page, and an audience member spells her name out for you, all you have to do is write the letters on her name tag in the order that she tells them to you. It is not your job to spell her name the way you think it should be spelled.
People exhibit a great deal of originality in order to create T-shirts which they hope will get them selected to Come On Down. Beyond the Barker's Beauties and the We Love Bob shirts, some guy had emblazoned upon him that his wife got spayed and he got neutered. Thanks for the visual, Luigi.
It really is all about the turkey, mashed potatoes and apple pie. Unless you're a kid, in which case it's all about playing with your cousins. And that's how it should be.
Three pies are better than 1.
More really is merrier!
Even the craziest of crazy relatives can be incredibly lucid and well-behaved, long after they've been written off!
Despite what Tannaz says, red Kuri squash is kind of gross and nowhere near as good as butternut.
It doesn't matter who you are, high cholesterol is the universal equalizer.
The secret to my first-ever good batch of mashed potatoes is to totally waterlog the taters when they cook. Who knew? I'm no longer mashed-potato challenged. Hooray.
My mom cooks awesome turkey, breast down, with saffron. It's SO good.
I need more cute serving pieces, not to mention a new dining room table and chairs. And a nice new house to go along with it all.
The best thing about hosting Thanksgiving is a weekend's worth of leftovers.
Pulling off a Thanksgiving gathering is no problem at all, as long as my mom cooks the turkey.
For a different take on our family's Thanksgiving for those of you who just can't get enough, read Tannaz's version here.
Fall is the one season I go into kicking and screaming. Although I like it well enough once I'm in it, I like to delay the onset as much as possible. Give me flip-flops and shorts over sweaters, socks and shoes you have to lace up, especially when I'm responsible for 3 other people to dress. Luckily I live in a part of the country where the start of fall is nice and gradual and isn't really official until towards the middle of October.
But the signs are definitely here. Besides the Halloween decorations everywhere, our leaves are starting to change color too. Mornings are foggy and evenings are cool. Since we declared it the Best Summer Ever way back in May, I thought I'd do a wrap-up and see how we did on our goals to have as much fun as possible.
Grill-did this quite a bit, but not enough. The most notable addition to our grilling repertoire was Trader Joe's Carne Asada, or "spicy steak" as Julia calls it.
Beach-not enough. After Memorial Day weekend, we ended up going just once, and it was cold and stinky. Big bummer, but definitely something to improve on next year.
Swim-We did this quite a bit, whether at friends' homes, Grandma Goob's, or on one of our trips. Julia had a great summer of swim lessons and she's officially water safe. One of these days, maybe we'll even have our own pool.
Play in the Backyard-done! The swing set was a big hit on the days that weren't too hot.
Camp-done and it was a huge success. Woo hoo Julia!!!
Legoland-done!
Disneyland-done!
Read-eh, could've done better.
Clean out the kids' rooms-kinda sorta
Scrapbook-in my dreams.
Picnics and playdates-didn't happen, which is sort of disappointing.
Stay up late-done, but we soon realized that earlier bedtimes are better for everyone.
Sleep in-heck yeah!
Ice Cream-um, yeah.
Popsicles-ditto
Shave Ice-most definitely, although the end of summer won't be the end of that.
Date nights-unfortunately, this didn't happen as much as we'd liked. But my birthday dinner was amazing!
Sleepovers at the grandparents'-sadly, no.
Zoo-ditto
Go to work with Daddy-ditto, but we can do this during the school year, too.
Get Ethan Potty Trained-you know how that went.
Dinner at Paradise Cove-this one we did do but it wasn't as great as it could've been.
There were a few other things that didn't happen. As usual, the summer went by too fast. It was also a lot of work planning all the outings, excursions, etc. and trying to fill the kids' days. I'm hoping that next summer, with Brady a bit older, will be less chaotic and much less tiring. We'll definitely remember these lessons (camp for sure, swim lessons for Ethan, Legoland is not necessary) and hopefully have the Best Best Summer Ever in 2007!
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