’12 July and August

August 25

My last day at home and since I’m going to miss their birthdays Rome and I decided we’d have an un-birthday party and make it a surprise for Lilly.

We had My Little Pony decorations, a fabulously delicious bbq, and games and prizes .. and Presents.

Our first official activity was to watch a giant video of A Very Merry Un-Birthday from Alice in Wonderland. What a kick.

We liked it!

And somewhere in the midst of all our activities the girls got to read their un-birthday books.

What a good day and how lucky for me to leave in the wake of such a fine event.

August 21

It’s my last Tuesday with the girls until mid-October. Yikes! I wanted to leave them with their birthday present so we went to Build-A-Bear at the mall.

You choose the animal you want, get it stuffed, and then you put in its heart. They do this drill with the kids and the little fabric heart:

Rub it on your funny bone so it’s silly. Rub it on your heart for lots of love. Rub it on your hair so it never has a bad fur day. Rub it on your ears so it listens to all your secrets, then rub it on your lips so it doesn’t tell. Rub it on your muscle so he’s big and strong. Wave it around your feet so it runs really fast! Spin around in a circle one time so it never gets lost. Put it on your side, so it’s always by your side! Put in on the person next to you so it will have lots of friends. Put it on your head so it’s super smart like you! Put it on your knee so it ‘needs’ you! Do your best dance move, so it dances as well as you! Put it on your cheek for lots of smiles, and your other cheek for EVEN more smiles! Hold it up in the air so your bear grows tall!

Make a wish: “squeeze it tight, close your eyes, and make a wish!” Kiss your heart on both sides to seal in the wish!

And then you start buying accessories. Wall to wall floor to ceiling everywhere accessories.

Rome’s bear is named Lovey and Lilly’s Hello Kitty in a Tinkerbell costume is named Kittybell.

Next we had a yummy frozen yogurt treat and then we were passing by the Disney Store on the way back to the car. We decided to just stroll around for a few minutes, have a look, we weren’t buying anything.

Coincidently they were starting a free animation class where they taught the kids to draw Nemo and then passed out souvenirs.

We had fun!

August 20

I went to the LA County Museum of Natural History with Angela and the girls today. I hadn’t visited there since the museum re-did the dinosaur exhibits and they were Fabulous, really, impressive.

If you remember coming here on a field trip waaaay back then, way back when you were a kid, it’s totally worth another trip down to see what’s new and what they’ve done with all your old favorites.

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I asked the girls to choose who they wanted in their picture. Rome chose the monkeys…

…and Lilly chose the rhinos.

August 19

I spent the day with Ben and Bonnie which leads me to mention this book once again. I’m a little more than 1/3 through The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig and am still amazed.

You might want to check it out on amazon and see if it appeals to you too.

August 17

The entrance to Merlyn and Hilda’s house. I usually just take a picture of the view (a panovistic view of the San Fernando Valley) so this time I thought to go for a change of pace.

After lunch with M&H I did a load of chores and then met the Shutmans for dinner in celebration of Gideon’s 14th birthday. What a nice day.

August 15

I drove from Santa Monica up to Ventura and Nancy drove from Santa Barbara down to Ventura and we met for a lovely lunch. How lucky we both feel to have the resources at hand to keep up our friendship in person.

Nancy’s photo, of course, because it features a shoe.

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August 14

The park around the corner from D&A’s new place.

We went by in the afternoon with the across-the-street neighbor girls and their nanny.

There were something like 15 kids there and 5 nannies. These are all I could wrangle at the time. My overall impression was really very positive – everyone played together, everyone shared, no one hit or cried. Johanna, the nanny from across the street said that in the mornings between 11 and 1 you can often find 25 kids there.

August 12

Happy Birthday Muriel is Right!

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We had lunch in The Restaurant at the Getty, the restaurant with the table cloths and the reservations.

Muriel, JoAnn, Nancy, me, David.

Cheryl got back from her month in Zambia with Mindy and I got to visit with the fam, see all the pictures, hear the stories. Cheryl had one amazing adventure, squatty toilets and all!

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Boban and MaryJo with the kids, older Jordan, and younger Cheyenne on their summer vacation in Tahoe.

Check it out: Dragojlovics in 2006. The kids grow-up while the parents live in a time warp.

it makes me cry

No kidding. I’ve watched it 20 times but it’s a solitary pleasure. I can play it only when I’m alone since every single time it makes me cry.

August 11

Liz came out west today and we walked 10,000 steps, which we know because Liz was wearing a pedometer.

We walked to Bergamot Station since Liz had not yet visited there. This is not a photoshop distortion project but rather us reflected in ART from one of the galleries.

Then we walked back and enjoyed a visit in my backyard, admiring the birds.

August 10

Sharon is leaving on the August 12th to be back on September 3rd and I’m leaving August 26 to be back October 17 so we’re not going to see each other for almost t.e.n weeks. Nancy and I are wishing Sharon Bon Voyage.

And by the time I get back Nancy will have a Brand New Grandbaby for us all to snorgle and sniff. Oh goodie!

August 9

Kathleen, concerned as she was about my injury brought over a bag of fantastic grapes and this fantastic bouquet. She even left a fantastic card too. Thank you Kathleen, I’m going to be FINE! (Kathleen, Carolynn, Cheyenne, James)

No picture of lunch with Boban for the second time in a row. Must not let that happen again.

August 8

Hey, Frog Boy is still here. I thought he was going to have to go back somewhere but maybe he’s ours for keeps.

Neither Susie nor I had been to the Getty recently so we thought to see what’s happening up here.

It turned out that the big shows were all set in Vienna during the time of the book I am reading ‘The World of Yesterday’, Stefan Zweig’s autobiography, that is so excellent I can’t believe how fortunate it is that I ran across it before my trip.

What’s a visit to the Getty without yet again ANOTHER shot of the bougainvillea rebar trees.

The Gustav Klimt drawings were wonderful as was the historical setting of the exhibit.

This one “Messerschmidt and Modernity explores the astonishingly modern series of so-called Character Heads created by the German Baroque artist Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736–1783)” was surprisingly entertaining as they had some modern takes on his work too.

August 7

Rome and Lilly had their friends Nora, Lila, and Anya over this afternoon for:

1) Lunch, yum (and taking every book-toy-costume-doll from every shelf for fun upstairs.)

2) Fun with Rhythmic Gymnastics

3) Fun at the park

4) and Tea Time fun.

What a delightful afternoon ladies!

August 5

I had a nice early dinner sushi outing with Celina, Steve, and Ronald. We went to Hide Sushi on Sawtelle and frankly, it was the least delicious sushi I ever ate there but nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves entirely.

Then I hurried home so I could go across the street and watch the Mars landing with Kathleen. But on the way, in her pitch-black driveway crowded with cars and broken asphalt and cement, I went down, hard. Noooo.

The first picture shows me with a coldpack on my head and tons of gauze and a coldpack on my bleeding hand and Kathleen fanning away the faint. I look so pathetic.

Kathleen is a nurse and she fixed me up good. And nothing broke. Oh YAY!! I went to the doctor this morning to check it out and the nurse who unwrapped Kathleen’s bandages thought I had been to the ER. Good job Kathleen!

August 3

Oh MY! What a deLightful 90 minutes at the movies. The photography, the music (I could have just heard the soundtrack and been happy), the characters, the story .. all Too Good.

Moonrise Kingdom: You Won’t Be Sorry!

July 3

I got to visit with Cynthia today on the phone and it was great. I’m sharing some pictures I snagged off their facebook.

A few highlights from The Honeymoon!

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What’s happening around The Cities these days. Some country is nice.

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August 1

Parteee! I invited the Monday Nighters to come out west with as many grandbabies they could rustle up for some fun at the pier. We played with toys, ate, rode the carousel, messed around in the sand at the dragon sculpture, rode the carousel again, and had a great time at the Heal the Bay Aquarium.

Here are most of the kids and a couple of the grand/moms, and here come some of Becky’s pictures!

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Playing on the pier where we ate our lunch.

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Playing at the dragon sculpture.

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Riding the Merry Go Round! A couple of the young ones look like they’re bored? They cried like crazy when they had to get off! Noooo, moooore.

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Everyone went more than once!

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Waaay fun.

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And a concluding festivity at the aquarium. Thanks to all who made it out!

(Julie, Lana, Makaio, Alex, Ben, Jordan, Rome, Lilly)

July 31

It’s Tuesday! We made lemonade out of actual lemons, we made a plate of scrumptious treats, and entirely enjoyed our snack.

Then we went for an outing.

We walked the .4 miles to Ken and Susie’s house, yay. The girls got beverages and snacks, we played with their dog Magic, and Ken took these pictures. Awwww.

July 29

Date night for d&a and Play Time for me and the kids. Here we are at the park right around the corner from their house…

…and it’s plenty big fun.

July 28

On a bluffs walk in the Palisades, they had recently done an abatement project so the aroma from the just cut anise plants was gorgeous.

The view. A hometown delight.

Looking up, more.

July 27

Nancy showing us her garden! At Park La Brea any tenant, for six bucks a month and a two year wait, can get a patch of their own.

We walked down to LACMA to hear Bill Cantos play jazz. It was crowded and noisy, but cool. I admire those lamp posts every time.

And I can’t be at LACMA without a hit of Levitated Mass.

Back at Nancy’s I got to be queen of the tv and run the remote while we watched the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Thanks Nancy.

I should change the background though, to 50 Mary Poppini and Lord Voldemort…

On the way home, one of the Wilshire Blvd freeway ramps under construction. Best to see them in the middle of the night and just hope you never have to see them during the day.

July 25

Happy Birthday BILL!

July 23 and 24

Two days with the kids, lucky me! Rome and I made pineapple upside down cupcakes. YUM. And the kids are digging out dinosaur bones from a block of clay, just like at the Dinosaur National Monument we visited in Utah.

Daddy’s coming home Daddy’s coming home! Watching the street .. there he is There He IS!

When you live close to work you can leave work and then be home at a predictable time later. How good is THAT?!