’07 September

September 13

Back from the Big Six OH! You can click here for omg SIXTY!

September 21

Rome is TWO! And all the animals want to say Happy Birthday!

Her mommy and daddy got her a perfect little doll house. It’s on a lazy-susan so you can get that whole Wizard of Oz thing going.

Nora and Katie came by to work on Sunday’s Big Event and the girls had a tea party.

Nora and Rome are having a joint birthday party at the beach and it was set for Saturday, so I got my ticket for Mexico to leave on Sunday, and then the party had to get changed to Sunday so I won’t be able to make it, but I did get to be with Rome for her birthday dinner!

Angela and Darryl have been working on this cake for maybe a couple weeks now? Angela has made, what, half a dozen of them? It’s quite a project to embark upon for one’s first fancy cake!

They’re still fine-tuning the decorations but it is mighty dang cute and yum DeLicious..

Happy Birthday dear Rome, Happy Birthday to YOU!

September 18

Driving back from Napa, through Napa Valley last week I was dragged into a right hand turn by the spell of a sign that said ‘Bothe-Napa Valley State Park’. And it looked like this.

Less than a mile from the chateau and hacienda of Napa Valley we find this magical campground. And that’s why I want me a camper van, because waking up here in the trees is just too beyond gorgeous.

September 17

My poor little sister injured her back and she can’t sit for more than a few minutes and Sandy is recovering from her foot surgery, but we four are still standing!

September 16

D&A went out for Date Night and Rome and I got to fool around in her Mommy’s shoes!

September 15

Marija was hosting a wedding shower for Melinda and she asked me to come for moral support. It was all just Lovely and now I’m waiting for Melissa’s photos so you can see the happy future bride.

Melissa was in charge of a lot of it including the activities which she managed most successfully, with charm and organization. Don’t we just love handing over to the young ones?!

Among many useful gifts, Melinda got a crock pot and a George Forman.

Here’s a little collage I made out of Melissa’s pictures. Mothers and Daughters and getting Married, and sisters and cousins (and that baby who does not belong to any of them…but someday…).

September 14

I walked down to Ocean Blvd. this evening and met Ken at the tres chic I Cugini where we ate many happy hour appetisers which we can both recommend highly – tasty and well priced. But then we hung around for a few hours…and we weren’t taken with the happy hour beverages…so it got expensive anyway! But worth it.

September 7

A grey-ish, overcast day and an HDR photo. I’ll be messing around with this again…from a long, step-metered walk with Sharon, and a visit with the voyager Carol! returned to land for the hurricane season.

You can tell maybe that this is an HDR photo by the detail in the area under the pier while the colors are still bright.

September 6

I went downtown for lunch with Robert. It was great fun. We ate a monstrous and tasty Chinese meal for like 16 bucks with enough left over for tomorrow.

Then we went for a walk because…

…when I drove past this sight I thought, yikes, I don’t remember you can see the cathedral from here. Robert likes photos too so he was kind and patient and went with me. He’s going to teach me about HDR next.

Remember from before, My Photo-shoppin’ Guru.

(ps My plans with CC got changed to an even better idea!)

Oh yea, this is L-A and when we say cathedral we’re thinking…I don’t know. It is much cooler than it seems from here:

Faabulous organ…Internationl visitors…Cool etched glass…The iconic entry.

These shots are from an older camera, older photoshop, older computer, and isn’t it the way that I want to re-do Everything!

September 5

‘Hey Granny, check me out! I’m sitting in My Baby’s stroller!’

Oh you Are too cute. Angela can hardly wait for those eye-teeth to pop out, preferably before Rome’s upcoming 2nd birthday. Wow, two years from HERE to here.

September 3

We just never know what we’re gon’na eat! Then for dessert we had two kinds of ice cream and two kinds of cookies. Fiesta! OLE!

(oops…wrong color on one of the arrows…and the whole thing is spinning-eyes-messy…Oh well, live and learn…and apparently I’m too lazy to redo it.)

September 2

I had a lovely day with Sharon. Not the day we expected, but lovely none the less. We were to go watch polo and hike a little around Will Rogers but although the website said polo would be there, it was not.

Plan B! We drove up to Pepperdine College for a wander. All the views are like this, and that’s the blue Pacfic out there. It’s View Town everywhere you look. We walked many laps on their gorgeous track and then…

…had a look at the campus chapel. Oh yea.

Stauffer Chapel was dedicated in 1973 soon after the Malibu campus opened in the fall of 1972. I actually thought the stained glass was plastic – but no, according to their website, it’s all glass.

From outside the chapel. What are these? They are always so grand.

From Brigitte: “They are called CANNA and here is the explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canna_(plant)

It can be beautiful, when the flowers are flowering, but look a little messy when too many consecutive flowers have wilted. Love the ones with the red leaves. Always thought the leaves looked like banana leaves, well, read the definition.”

I saw this picture sitting on Sharon’s counter and I Neeeded it! Here is Betty, from this year’s ‘Team Kauai’, and Sharon’s daughter-in-law. This is just too dang charming to miss.

I got to meet Sharon’s daughter-in-law and her mother and sister who were visiting from Japan. I’m waiting (patiently) for one of them to send me the picture of that lovely dinner. I got to attempt conversation in Japanese and they were all kind enough to try and understand!

sp.

Then also last week we (me, Sharon, Sandy, Nancy D) got together for Nancy A’s birthday and again, No Pictures! Sandy had taken this majorly adorable photo the night before…Nancy wearing her gift from Roger: a Sherpa hat. In case it gets cold here or somethin’.

Happy Birthday Nancy!

sc.

August 31-September 1 (because we got home laate)

The daddy has a lady bug on his finger and the little girl is taken by her.

What a great evening! Darryl got free tickets to the Hollywood Bowl and I got to go too! We ate (and ate!) a deelicious picnic at my favorite picnic place at the Bowl and then walked up to get our seats…

…at The Very Top. Our assigned seats were a few rows down but we thought, heck, let’s stay here so we can have easy-out if Rome needs to talk during the concert.

It really was perfect and many other families with children ended up here too.

We heard the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, Gabriela Montero on piano, and the USC Trojan Marching Band.

It was an all Tchaikovsky all the time program including: Festival Coronation March; Piano Concerto No. 1; Suite of Dances; 1812 Overture including of course Cannon and Fireworks as required by the 1812 Overture.

I got that inset of the conductor from the internet. I have no idea of his reputation but all the music sounded great to me, and he was good with the audience too. The soloist was Hot and that jumbotron of her hands was Really hot.

Once the 1812 Overture starts you’re actually just waiting for the cannons. But the thing just goes on and on and every time a slow quiet part comes in you think, man, more waiting for the cannons.

And than BAM! Cannons! It’s loud!! Rome hung on to her mommy’s neck and the whole time she was peeking out at the excitment.

There were not a lot of those ‘flowers in the sky’ kind of fireworks; mostly the action stays close to the Bowl and maybe for obvious reasons as cars are parked everywhere, people are wandering around, and they do it more than a dozen times a year.

Here you can see The Trojans standing up front to augment the orchestra for the 1812 resulting in some serious brass action.

Wow!