Jack and Sadie

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-13T21:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all our loved ones! We miss you so. Sadie and Jack have been talking about Valentine's Day since Christmas. They made these drawings and paintings for all their wonderful grandparents a few weeks ago, but I never found time to make it to the post office. Sorry :( Fortunately through the wonders of digital photography we can preserve the Valentine's Day creations forever and share them with our many loved ones. We hope that your Valentine's is filled with lots of love and good things to eat! xoxoxo

Hazel's First Birthday

2012-01-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Hazel (Tatum's little sister's) first birthday a few weeks back as well. Meghan and Andrew threw a lovely first birthday party for Hazel in their backyard. I was accompanied by Fireman Jack and Princess Sadie. Fortunately we were right at home, as Tatum was also wearing her princess dress.

Point Dume

2012-01-30T20:55:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we decided to pack up the van and head to Point Dume in Malibu for the morning. It's been a beautiful mild winter here and we enjoyed a gorgeous walk on the bluffs of Point Dume on this morning. We even got to watch rock climbers climbing the bluffs, which Jack was adamant that he will be doing when he is older.

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year!

Delaware

2012-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas we loaded up and headed to Delaware. We had a wonderful time visiting Pud, spending time with Uncle Tommy, and seeing Mum and Pup in their new home at Forwood Manor. Everyone at Forwood Manor was quickly acquainted with Sadie and Jack, as they were about 100 times louder than anyone else there. We spent one evening having dinner with Aunt MaryAnne and cousin Laura. On another day Pud and I took the kids to the "Please Touch Me" museum in Philadelphia where the kids were quite taken with the Alice in Wonderland exhibit and the indoor carousel. It was wonderful to see so much family and we already miss everyone.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T20:40:00.001-08:00

We have had an absolutely wonderful Christmas! We celebrated Christmas Eve last night with a lovely dinner with Sadie, Jack and our friends Tamarind and Eddy. After the kids were snug in bed we laid out all the family presents including two Jeeps from Pud. The kids slept well and did not get up until 7:00am this morning. They were very exited to see their Jeeps and then the remains of Santa's cookies and milk. The dove in to their stockings with a vengeance and were not disappointed. Santa brought Jack a Peter Rabbit stuffed animal and a red teddy bear. For Sadie, Santa brought a talking baby doll and a Rudolph stuffed animal. All the toys were quite a big hit, but the highlights were the Jeeps, a cash register from Momma Su, a fairy costume from Grammy and Papa for Sadie and a lego set for both the kids, a tent from Uncle Tommy, a pirate ship, tree house and silk pajamas brought home from Hong Kong by Uncle Craig. The last photo here is of the kids in their beautiful silk pajamas.

We finished up with opening presents around 9:00am and suited up (Sadie in her fairy costume) for our first trip in the Jeeps. While the kids were over the moon about the Jeeps, I must say that there is good reason that states keep raising the driving age. J. and I were scrambling to keep the kids from driving into parked cars along the sidewalk. Not that our endless cries of "Steer!" and "Look where you're going!" slowed the kids down one bit.

We spent the rest of day playing with toys and finished up the day with dinner in front of the fire. Now the kids are fast asleep and we're getting ready for our big trip to Delaware tomorrow morning.

Thank you to everyone who showered our family with love today. While we're far away, all of our family was close to our hearts today. We hope that you too had a very merry Christmas!

Eagles Fans

2011-12-25T20:22:00.000-08:00

These are some much belated photos of the kids in their Eagles paraphernalia provided by Pud. While neither J. nor I can actually explain to the kids what the game of football entails, the kids nevertheless were thrilled to don Eagles wear and ham it up for the camera.

Cookie Party

2011-12-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

Jen, Jay, J., and I hosted our now annual cookie decorating party earlier this month. Jen and Jay provided the party and we brought cookies, frosting and sprinkles galore. After decorating enough cookies for an army the kids were visited by Santa. Jack asked Santa for a red teddy bear and Sadie asked for a Rudolph toy. The kids were also quite taken with the piano. A good time was had by all.

Pony Bliss

2011-11-30T21:44:00.000-08:00

Grammy and Papa took Sadie and Jack for a day out on the town on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. From the photos it sure looks like the kids had a good time at the pony rides!

Bungee Trampoline

2011-11-30T21:29:00.000-08:00

We spent the Friday after Thanksgiving enjoying the Santa Monica pier with all our guests. We visited the carousel, kiddie rides, and Jack went with Grammy and all his cousins on the ferris wheel. The big hit of the afternoon was the bungee trampoline. Because of the bungees the kids were able to jump a good 15 feet in the air off the trampoline, which resulted in many squeals of excitement and joy.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-30T21:22:00.000-08:00

We're settling back into our routine after a wonderful Thanksgiving visit from Grammy, Papa, and cousins Beth, Karen, Dani and Nyko. It was very special to be able to host everyone in our home for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving night itself was a bit stressful, as the kids made it very clear that they did not appreciate us focusing on cooking all day instead of them. Thankfully we had many other wonderful times while everyone was visiting. It's always very special to have Grammy and Papa visit, and Sadie and Jack loved spending time with their cousins.

HomeWalk 2011

2011-11-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

The kids participated for the 3rd year in row in the United Way's HomeWalk to end homelessness in Los Angeles. This was a very special year as we walked with Jack and Sadie's friend Lilella from their preschool and her mother. It was very special to share our value of being of service to the community with another family.

It's quite an experience walking the 5k (or 3.1 miles) with the kids. This year it took us a little over two hours to finish the walk. I was pretty amazed when we ran into Sammy Squirrel. I've have used a charter called Sammy Squirrel to explain homelessness to Jack and Sadie over the years. I have no idea where this Sammy Squirrel came from and I was too tired to ask, but it was a happy surprise to see this plushie during the walk!

We are so grateful to all the family and friends who supported our participation in the walk. I feel very grateful to be able to do things like HomeWalk with the kids!

Bunk Beds

2011-11-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

The big day has come. Jack and Sadie are sleeping in their own beds tonight. J. and I were a bit terrified to have move on from cribs. Sleep is so tenuous as it is. We were prodded on by the cribs beginning to fall apart from so much wear and tear. It was a bit frightening when J. had to demolish the cribs to be able to get them out the door of the nursery. Then the beds were so hard to put together they were not ready for bedtime last night, but tonight every thing was in order and the kids went to bed (after some fighting and pleading) in their new beds.

Jack (AKA the Climber) had to have the top bunk of course. It took a bit of convincing to help him to understand that it was best to use the ladder when climbing to the top bunk. The ladder makes it a bit too easy for Jack, but for tonight at least he humored us by using it. We're crossing our fingers for a restful night for the whole family. We'll see how it goes...

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Halloween tonight! Jack and Sadie were amazing - they were very excited to be Little Red Riding Hood and Snoopy. They were more excited to collect candy rather than eat it. They managed to not try one piece of candy until we got home. This was a big change from last year, when Sadie felt she had to sample the candy from every house we trick-or-treated at. They said "thank you" at every house we went to and were just generally amazing kids. Happy Halloween to all!

Our Amazing Levitating Children

2011-10-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Not a foot on the ground between them.

Riding the Horsie

2011-10-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

We are so lucky to live near a beautiful old carousel. We took the kids over to the Griffith Park merry-go-round again last weekend. We all love it there. Here are the kids riding the mechanical horse in front of the merry-go-round.

Pumpkins

2011-10-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

We went out to Forneris Farms in Mission Hills yesterday to pick out our pumpkins. Jack and Sadie went non-traditional with white Lumina pumpkins. Forneris Farms puts on a big harvest festival all October with pony-rides, a petting zoo, and games. The kids had a great time feeding the goats and chasing ducks around.

Key West

2011-10-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful trip to Key West earlier this month. Sadie, Jack and I traveled on our own to Key West because J. could not take the time away from work. Traveling alone with 2 three year-olds is no piece of cake, but we survived the cross country flights and overseas highway drives without any horror stories. The kids could not have been happier to spend time with their Grammy and Papa. The extended swimming season also made them quite happy. They are both totally comfortable in the water, including underwater. This trip they took to jumping in with noodles (floatation devices) and no one to catch them. It was pretty amazing to be able to sit on the edge of the pool and watch as they jumped in, went under, and then popped back up with big smiles on their faces.

Family Values

2011-10-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

This past year I've been dedicated to bringing the community of families around us together. A few weeks ago we gathered many of those families together for community service project. Each family brought a different household item and then we put all the items together to build a "welcome home kit" for a person experiencing homelessness who will soon get a home. To help the kids get into the spirit of what we were doing I told them the story of Rocky Raccoon, who lost his home in from a lightening strike and would also be getting a new home soon. Each kid got a kiss from Rocky as they gave away their contribution to the kit. It was a really wonderful morning and an introduction to a family value that I hope the kids will learn to cherish.

Mimi's 3rd Birthday Party

2011-10-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Also in September was Mimi's 3rd birthday. In addition to their good friend Mimi, the kids got party down with their friends Tatum, Hazel, and Birdie

Pud's Visit

2011-10-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

We have so many wonderful memories of late that have not made it on to the blog. I'm going to play a little catch up. We had a wonderful visit with Pud in September. She came just in time to help us take care of two sick kiddos. She was a humongous help. Fortunately the illnesses passed pretty quickly and we were able to take advantage of the warm September days at Pud's pool. I think the kids swam every healthy day of Pud's visit. They are both becoming very adept in the water and will be swimming soon.

First Letters

2011-09-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

Sadie wrote her first letters today! While she was at school she drew this picture and wrote these "A"s. She's quite taken with the letter "S", but it's a lot harder to write. The second letter in her name and the first letter in the alphabet is a very a good place to start. We're, needless to say, very proud of our big girl.

Uncle Craig

2011-09-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty quiet weekend. The big excitement was a visit from Uncle Craig this afternoon. The kids had a great time visiting with their uncle. They also had a play date with their school-mate Gabriel and his little sister Lucy. And that was all post-nap. Before the nap they had swim lessons. Maybe quiet weekends aren't that quiet.

Lacy Park Riders

2011-09-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos J. took while being a super-dad. J. watched the kids two weekends in row while I went to weddings in New York and San Francisco. He did an amazing job taking care of the kids and the house while I gallivanted all over the country. From the photos above it looks like the kids didn't suffer too much during my absence.

Water Games

2011-09-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well, my new computer has not made it faster to upload photos to the blog yet. It looks like I need a few lessons to get this down. While I figure this out I wanted to share some summertime photos of water fights in the backyard. Uncle Tommy gave the kids these great fireman water packs that provide some serious drenching action. The kids love them, but J. and I have to hide while they use them because they don't quite understand the "Don't shoot the adults" instruction yet.

East Coast Vacation Part 4

2011-08-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

My posting to the blog was slowed by getting a new computer and a trip to New York for 36 hours. I've lost count of how many times I've traveled east this year. The computer turned out to be defective, which is good news because now I feel super-fast on my new MacBook.

So, back to the vacation. We rounded out our trip with 5 days in Maine. 5 days felt luxurious after we'd been on the road so much. The kids loved Momma Su's farm, although even picking vegetables for dinner was not enough to get the kids to eat vegetables. I'll just have to keep dreaming. The highlight of every day was a trip to the chicken house to collect eggs. There was much discussion about which chicken was Sadie and Jack's favorite.

On Saturday we had a fantastic lobster bake! My good friend Nora brought her son Wheeler and another friend from high school, Sarah, came as well. The kids had lots of fun pulling each other around in wagons and Sadie had a love fest with Momma Su's friend Robin.

We spent an amazing amount of time swimming. We went to three different beaches and a gorgeous pond. It was swell being able to drive 5 minutes to some of the best swimming spots in Maine. The kids could have lived on the beach.

We also had a wonderful visit with all my Verrier cousins. Jack and Sadie had the red carpet rolled out for them with a kiddie pool, toys, and endless arms to hold them.

The hardest part of the trip was saying good bye. We're happy to be home, but so many people we love are just too damn far away. I'm ready to start playing the lotto to raise funds to live bi-coastal. It's time that I raised my sights beyond just the kids eating vegetables!

East Coast Vacation: Part 3

2011-08-13T22:15:00.001-07:00

After lovely Bethany Beach our clan hit the road for the three days. On our first day we drove from Bethany to Brooklyn, with a pit stop for lunch at Mum and Pup's in Pennsville. Our first day of driving was probably our roughest, but we fortunately made good time and arrived in Brooklyn in the afternoon. Our wonderful friend Lisa welcomed our weary clan with open arms and quickly escorted us all to a nearby playground. Jack and Sadie loved the playground with its great sprinkler play area. We spent the night at Lisa's and got a little time to get to know her new son, Lee.

The next day we met up with a big group of friends from J.'s days in Boston and explored more of Brooklyn's playgrounds. We took to the road around noon and headed for Brockton. Our second day of driving was a lot of fun and arrived at uncle Alex and Aunt Gladys' house around dinner time. Gladys knows a thing or two about young kids and was amply prepared for Sadie and Jack. There were toys galore, and things really got rolling when a whole band of cousins arrived. Sadie was absolutely smitten with her cousin Amalia, and Jack got lots of love from the whole crew.

The next day Gladys took us to wonderful lake in Sharon, MA. We had a very pleasant morning of swimming and then hit the road for the last leg of trip to Maine. We got to Maine in the late afternoon just in time to pick peas for dinner. The kids were super excited to finally make it Momma Su's farm and had a ball exploring every last nook and cranny of the farm. More on the farm to come in our last installment...

2011-08-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

East Coast Vacation Part 2

2011-08-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

After Wilmington and Pennsville we headed to Bethany Beach with Pud. The top two photos pretty much sum up this trip to Bethany - extreme highs and lows. You know it's bad when even an ice cream cone can't cheer up your kid. The kids love the water, so we expected to have nothing but fun in Bethany, but things turned out a hair different. While there were lots of great times on the beach, at the pool and on the boardwalk, we also struggled with some serious crankiness, sleep deprivation and many a tantrum. Thankfully we had lots of support from Pud and a Sesame Street video we watched a gazillion times. The kids loved the rides at Rehoboth Beach, which are so fantastically old school that you have to remind yourself that it's actually the twenty first century. We ended the Bethany leg of the trip with a wonderful birthday dinner for Pud at a restaurant overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. That evening was one of the highlights of the trip.

East Coast Vacation Part 1

2011-07-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

We're home from our epic odyssey up the East Coast. We started in Wilmington and made our way north to Maine over a two-week trip. There were many high and lows over those two weeks, but we'll focus on the positive for the sake of posterity.

Most of highs came from seeing so many people we love dearly and do not see enough of. J. and the kids spent the first three days in Wilmington and Pennsville with Pud, Mum, and Pup while I went to D.C. for work. There were lots of adventures including crabs, swimming and the zoo. More pictures of the extended adventures to come, but here are a few pictures of our happy visits with the two best great grandparents two kids could have. The bottom photo is Sadie in Pup's police chief hat.

Happy Summer Vacation!

2011-07-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

Happiness is chocolate ice cream cones on a hot summer day.

We're off to the East Coast for two weeks tomorrow. See you in two weeks!

Diaz Crew Party

2011-07-11T22:26:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th of July with the Diaz family at our friend Qui's house. Jack and Sadie decided to help Qui with yard work and were quite content tending the garden (that is other than when ice cream was being served).

The Party Bug

2011-07-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

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Jack and Sadie love a good party. The crowds and noise do not dissuade them at all. We've heard stories of kids who just want to hide at their own birthday parties. Not our kids. On Saturday we went to a birthday party that featured something called "Bubble Magic", which appeared to be a very bored college student placing kiddie pools of bubble solution and bubble wands around the party's backyard while he texted his friends. Jack and Sadie were on those bubbles faster than you could snap your fingers. Before we knew it they had stripped off their respective Spiderman cape and ballet dress (no, it was not a costume party) and were half naked splashing around in the bubble solution. While all the other kids at the party stood on the sidelines debating whether to engage in this activity at all our kids whopped it up. Would I be kidding myself to hope that this might mean that they could get the party bug out of their system before adolescence?

Summer Hike

2011-07-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

The kids and J. took a dry summer hike this morning while I went to yoga. Here are some photos from our much loved Audubon Center.

A Bubbley Start

2011-07-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July weekend is off to a bubbly start. We broke out a bubble machine yesterday evening and the kids had oodles of fun in the backyard. LA's delayed summer weather seems to be a producing a summer euphoria around here.

Summer is here!

2011-06-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Our June gloom is finally giving way to a beautiful summer. We took advantage of the first warm weekend day this month by going the pool at Pud's condo. Jack and Sadie could not have been more excited to take to the water. They loved being in the pool and Jack even went under water a few times. Hopefully this is the beginning of many happy days at the pool this summer!

Sadie's House

2011-06-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

For weeks Sadie's big insult when she got mad at anyone was "You can't come to my house." After mentioning a few times to her that it was actually "our" house, we learned that Sadie has her own house. Sadie's house is a purple underground house with a pink roof and wind sock out front, which happens to be in Pasadena. When we ask about how large this house is we're told that it has "too many rooms." I'm not sure what it says about Sadie that instead of an imaginary friend she has an imaginary house, but I'm pretty impressed by it.

Little Rider

2011-06-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

I have been horribly remiss in posting. We have not been taking many pictures lately somehow. The past two weekends have sadly been dominated by a nasty stomach flu, which hopefully has now run its course. We have made it out for a little exploring. J. took this photo at Lacy Park a week and half ago. Jack is an expert on his trike now. J. and the kids made it around the park's loop, a whooping 3/4 of a mile. Okay, there were a few pit stops, still it's an impressive ride for 3 year olds.

More Ballerina

2011-05-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

We're working our way towards Sadie's big dance recital in a few weeks. The highlight of dance class continues to be getting dressed for the class.

Our Painter

2011-05-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Uncle Tommy sent Jack and Sadie a fantastic easel for their birthday. We broke it out for the first time last week and had a wonderful afternoon painting. Thank god for backyards where kids can get messy!

Our Trip to Mars

2011-05-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Break out your 3-D glasses! We were able to have a 3-D photo of us taken in front of the Santa Maria Crater, as photographed by the Opportunity rover. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories hosted an open house this morning. Space dorks from all over Southern California flocked to JPL for the action-packed weekend. We learned all about the different missions JPL is working on. Jack and Sadie are now schooled all about the red planet (did you know that there was once water on Mars?). Our little astronauts are ready to explore the final frontier!

Olvera Street

2011-05-02T05:21:00.000-07:00

We had a family outing to Olvera Street with Pud yesterday morning. We got Jack and Sadie guitars, the first step towards their becoming mariachis. All was good until we waited too long to have lunch, and we had double melt downs waiting for a table at a restaurant. We had to abandon that plan and make a beeline to the closest fast food restaurant instead. Despite the poor end to the trip, it was a fun morning of LA history, shopping, traditional dancers, and mariachis.

The Ballerina

2011-05-02T05:15:00.000-07:00

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Sadie had her first ballet class on Saturday. Or, it might be more appropriate to say that Sadie witnessed her first ballet class on Saturday. She spent 95% of the class standing stone still. Sadie was in absolute awe and did not move until the very end of the class when she raised her hands. That move alone seemed like a triumph. After the class she said that her friends were dancing, but she couldn't dance because her body was tired.

I'm excited to see if next week she might move up to moving her feet. Despite her lack of movement, she loved the class and is very eager to go back to Miss Donna's class next week.

Easter

2011-04-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

3rd Birthday Party

2011-04-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely birthday party for the kids on Saturday. We had such a great time at Lacy Park last year that we decided to go back again this year. Sadie made it absolutely clear that she was going to wear her new ballet dress. Jack dressed up as a cowboy. As per their request, we had lots of balloons. Jack and Sadie each wore two balloons on their wrists and each of their guests got a balloon.

We had lots of friends at the party, including a number of families from the kids' school. And, of course, our VIP guests: Grammy, Papa, and Pud. The highlight of the party were the two chocolate cakes (my best yet, if I do say so myself) and the gift of a play castle, which kept all the kids entranced for the last half hour of the party.

It was a beautiful California spring afternoon, perfect for celebrating two very special three year-olds.

THREE!!!

2011-04-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

Let the birthday begin. My lovelies are three!!! Jack and Sadie celebrated this momentous occasion yesterday with an action-packed day. Grammy and Papa flew in from Florida Tuesday night to be here for the big day. We started out the day with a trip to the Long Beach Aquarium, where Sadie squealed, "Mama, that biggest string ray I've ever seen!" She was right, it was also the first string ray she'd ever seen. Jack had the most fun conquering a fishing vessel, which he immediately climbed and was at the bow before any of us could blink an eye. Fortunately it was landlocked. The big highlight was Grammy's communion with Australian parrots who crawled all over her hands, arms, and shoulders.

In the evening we took the kids out to dinner including ice cream sundaes. Thankfully many of the patrons at Twoeey's were won over by Jack and Sadie's birthday zeal and did not ask to have our boisterous crew thrown out.

After dinner we opened birthday presents. There's nothing quite like a three year-old in a room full of presents after having eaten a ice cream sundae, or make that 2 three year-olds. It was a big day to wind down from and it took a LONG time for the kids to get to sleep, but it was a great birthday and we're all excited for the big birthday party on Saturday!

My Little Koala

2011-04-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

Three years ago Thursday I gave birth to a koala.

Sugar Salon

2011-04-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

We've been struggling for some time to get Sadie a good haircut. I had dreams of growing her hair out and being able to try lots of different hair styles, but Sadie's hair was not cooperating. So we decided to give up on the kiddie barbers and just take her to the place where J. and I both get our haircut. We had no idea that going to an adult salon would be the most exciting experience of Sadie's life thus far. Sadie was over the moon about the experience of her haircut and the result. She sat through the entire hair cut with this blissed-out giant grin on her face, as if at two weeks shy of three years old she had arrived. She then proceeded to talk endlessly about the haircut and ask to look in the mirror a few hundred times. I guess our little girl may be a real girly-girl.

The Farm

2011-04-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

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We had an action-packed weekend that began Saturday morning with "The Farm." The Farm is in a nondescript and very suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. It consists of a variety of ramshackle structures that appear to have been completely overtaken by goats. I have never seen so many goats in my life. It's hard to imagine that it is not a public health hazard to have dozens of goats in a residential neighborhood, but we will most certainly not be reporting the farm to the authorities as Jack and Sadie LOVED it. Jack could not get enough of the retired tractors all over the place. Just as public health is not a big concern at the farm, neither is child safety. The kids had the run of the place and were allowed to climb on anything they wanted. Sadie was thrilled with the ancient ponies, who provided pony rides and let us feed them apples.

We met our friends Dan, Ronite, and baby Maytar at the farm. Maytar was a very good sport about the aggressive goats who were much larger than he. It appears that these goats survive by getting food from toddlers, so they were constantly trying to nibble on anything, and anyone, who might have grain.

While it was far from an authentic farm experience, The Farm proved to be a true crowd pleaser.

Griffith Observatory

2011-03-27T22:05:00.001-07:00

We've been spending quite a bit of time at the Griffith Observatory. It's free and the kids love it there. The kids also learn quite a bit about the solar system and planets. They are not so into stars, maybe because we rarely see stars in the LA sky, but the moon is the best thing since M-n-Ms. Jack even attended his first planetarium show today and learned about the potential for life on other planets. The planetarium scared Sadie, so we missed the show, but I hear that Europa is our best bet for extraterrestrial life in our solar system.

Cousin Ross

2011-03-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Jack's cousin Ross and his girlfriend Sarah came to stay with us recently. The kids love house guests and were thrilled to have Ross and Sarah here. Sarah was brave enough to show Sadie how to use her camera, which resulted in Sadie running around with the camera lens glued to her face screaming "Do you see me?" Sadie is nothing if not a ham.

Zoo Pics

2011-03-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

Our babysitter just emailed me these photos from when she took the kids to the zoo last weekend.

Catch up

2011-03-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

I've been delinquent in posting. 2011 has proven to be a very busy year. That smidgen of free time I used to have seems to have evaporated. So this post is a catch up. J. is in Austin this weekend at a film festival, so I've been flying solo with the kids. It has not been the easiest weekend, but the kids are asleep and J. comes home tomorrow so I think that I can safely say that we have fared okay. We had a lovely dinner this evening with our friends Troy and Siri at our favorite Salvadoran restaurant. The kids LOVE pupusas. This was the their second dinner of pupusas this week, but what the heck, enjoy it while they can.

I had to work yesterday, so the kids were with a babysitter who took them to the zoo. They saw lots of animals, but oddly they only wanted to talk about flamingos and how there was no turtle. Go figure.

We stood in line for an hour this morning at a fruit tree give away (I'm a sucker for anything free). Another little girl in line showed the kids roly-poly bugs and they were completely entranced. They insisted on picking up the largest roly-poly bug I've ever seen. Despite the gross-out factor I was grateful for their new insect friends. Sadly most of the trees were gone by the time we made it through the line, but we did get a cutting from a fig tree and some tomato seedlings.

So that's what's been happening around here, nothing too exciting, but we do seem to be emerging from the cold winter days into a lovely spring with the potential for lots of new adventures.

Grandmas are Great

2011-02-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

Happy days are here again - Pud arrived yesterday afternoon and the kids could not be happier. Sadie and Jack have had lots of adventures - from trolley rides to a tricycle marathon, and it's barely been 24 hours!

Mushroom Hunting

2011-02-27T21:38:00.000-08:00

Nothing makes LA beautiful like the rain, and we've had lots of it this year. J. and the kids met up with our friend Nick and his son Collin yesterday for a hike and little mushroom hunting. Nick is an amateur mycologist who has had quite a run this winter having found a bounty of chanterells recently. We've enjoyed a couple of very wonderful dinners thanks to his mushrooming prowess. This trip did not yield many mushrooms, but it was a beautiful morning in the woods.

Montrose

2011-02-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the super fantastic Montrose farmer's market on Sunday. You really can't ask for more than a farmer's market where there are free balloons, jumpers, and a giant inflated slide. The kids can know climb to the top of the giant inflated slide alone, which is very exciting because J. and I somehow often ended up injuring ourselves when we had to go down with the kids.

We have not been taking too many photos because we've all been bundled up when we go outside due to a cold snap here in LA where it's been in the 50s for a week (east coasters don't laugh). Hopefully it will warm up and we'll be able to shed our coats and capture more photo-worthy moments again.

Some new firsts

2011-02-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Sadie and Jack had lots of "firsts" over the President's Day weekend. First dance party: The kids got down at a dance party hosted by the Echo Center. The Echo Center provided the music, lights, hula hops, scarves and face painting, and Jack and Sadie provided the moves (mostly a lot of standing and starring at others on the dance floor). Sadie did dress for the occasion in her ballet outfit (her ballet at this point is primarily running in circles).

First movie: The kids went to their first movie in a movie theater - Gnomio and Juliet. The doomed romance plot line was a bit over their heads, but they loved the popcorn. They sat through the whole movie and reported that it was "funny," although they gave me blank stares when I asked if they liked the garden gnomes in the movie.

Goofballs

2011-02-12T13:55:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist posting these goofing pictures of the kids with their buddy Tatum. We met up with Tatum, Meghan, and Tatum's brand new baby sister, Hazel, last weekend at Descanso Gardens. The kids now understand posing for photos, but when you ask them to smile for the camera you tend to get these incredibly goofing expressions. I guess that's what parents who routinely stick a camera in their children's faces deserve.

Downtown

2011-01-30T21:11:00.000-08:00

We took the kids for a urban adventure yesterday. Due to their love of trains and animatronics, we decided to blow their minds by taking the Gold Line to Clifton's Cafeteria in downtown LA (yes, that is a small film shoot behind Sadie and I). Clifton's is as authentic as they come - a true 1930's cafeteria that has operated consistently and been owned by the same family for 80 years. It doesn't not get much better for a 2 year old than eating mac and cheese next to a man-made waterfall and life-sized plastic deer. We were a bit too distracted by trying to keep the kids out of the waterfall and multiple trips to the not-so-nice public restrooms (we're potty training) to take photos,so I grabbed the top two photos from the net.

Nothing Like a Good Laundry Basket

2011-01-30T21:04:00.000-08:00

The kids love laundry baskets. One of their favorite games is to load up their "boat" with all their stuffed animals and blankets for a long ocean journey. More often than not, they take their boat to Maine. We have a number of children's books about Maine and many involve the sea and boats, including, of course, Titus Tidewater. Not to mention photos and video of our last trip to Maine and going on John's boat. I can't even imagine how excited they will be for our next trip to Maine. Let's just hope we can convince them to leave the majority of stuffed animals and blankets at home.

I'm a Climber!

2011-01-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

We do have two climbers on our hands. You might not be able to tell from the angle, but Jack and Sadie were about 10 feet off the ground in this photo. Jack, in particular, is fearless and was swinging from the bar above. While it is a bit terrifying to see them scamper above my head it was hard not to enjoy the beauty of the crystal blue sky and this unusually warm afternoon at our beloved Lacy Park. January in LA sure can be nice.

Delaware - NJ Trip

2011-01-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

Another delayed dispatch from the holidays - Two days after Christmas we hit the skies and headed east. We also hit travel delays, but managed to survive the long days in the airport and in the air on either end. The kids were thrilled to see Pud, Mum, Pup, Grandpop, and whole slew of family. As you can see the big hits were the snow and Mum and Pup's house. The snow did start to melt towards the end of the trip, but that did not stop the kids. There was plenty of time to warm up at Mum and Pup's, where it is always tropical. Inspired by their great grandfather's legacy the kids tried out a little crime fighting - or at least some mugging for the camera. They might not strike fear in the hearts of criminals yet, but just give them a few years.

A belated Christmas Post

2011-01-10T21:46:00.001-08:00

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We have been pretty focused on settling back into our normal lives, but I am aware that a much belated post on Christmas is due, so here goes:

We had a nice quiet Christmas eve at home. J. made dinner and we sat down as a family for a wonderful dinner including my first rendition of figgy pudding. The kids were very excited to be given cloth napkins and taught to toast their glasses. Once the kids were in their Christmas PJs and snugly in bed we sent to putting out the presents, which had been hidden away up until then.

On Christmas morning the kids woke up at 5:00am. We have no idea if it was due to Christmas (they did not ask to go open presents) or simply a fluke. After fruitlessly trying to get everyone in the house back to bed, we gave in at 6:00am and decided to have a very early Christmas. At first the kids were most excited by the fire in the fireplace, but quickly noticed the presents, presents, and more presents. We started with their stockings from Santa. Santa was kind enough to fulfill Sadie's Christmas wish and bought her purple chocolate. After a few pieces of chocolate we managed to pry the chocolate out of the kids' hands and move onto the abundance of presents.

There was a lot for the kids to be excited about. They spent a good 20 minutes going around on their inchworms from Uncles Craig and Ken. Their were many wardrobe changes as they opened presents with clothes in them. Jack had to wear the Curious George t-shirt also from Uncles Craig and Ken, which he then accessorized with a beanie from Momma Su. Sadie was most taken by a ballet dress from Grammy and Papa. It took us about 4 hours, but we did manage to open all the presents by 10:00am. At which point we all went down for a long nap.

We spent the afternoon making calls to our family far and wide, and then headed over to our friends Jay and Jen's house for a big Christmas dinner. We had a wonderful dinner and didn't have to clean up! We were home and settled in by 8:00.

It was our first Christmas in our own home, and hopefully the first of many wonderful Christmas' to come.

COOKIE!!!

2011-01-05T21:17:00.001-08:00

Happy 2011! In the world of photos we're still back in 2010. January will be dedicated to trying to sort through the bazillion Christmas photos we have. Our Christmas festivities began with a cookie decorating party at Jay and Jen's with some of Sadie and Jack's friends including Mimi, Tatum and Zev. The kids were gaga over the endless cookies, frosting and sprinkles.

The all-you-can-eat cookies could only be topped by one thing - a visit from Santa! Even the parents at the party were surprised when Ol' Saint Nick dropped by. He'd dropped a little weight and may have been recovering from a hangover, but that did not dampen the kids' delight one bit.

Trimming the Tree

2010-12-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Pud's visit this weekend and our anticipation of our first Christmas at home by getting our first full-sized Christmas tree. Our living room smells amazing!

The kids had a great time running around the Christmas tree lot while J. and I meticulously inspected every tree they had. Thankfully we were able to convince Sadie that we did not need a pink Christmas tree. We found a beautiful tree that barely fits in the living room. Just wait until the kids wake up Christmas morning to their tree surrounded by presents!

Bubble Princess

2010-12-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

This cowboy only likes pink balloons

2010-12-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Papa and J. took Sadie and Jack to the Montrose farmer's market, where despite his macho cowboy get-up Jack was very clear that he wanted a pink balloon.

Grammie & Papa's Visit

2010-12-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

Nothing made Thanksgiving special for Sadie and Jack as much as Grammie and Papa's visit. The kids were over the moon to have 5 days with Grammie and Papa. Ever since the visit Sadie has been walking around the house picking up toy phones and having the following conversation:
"Hi Grammie and Papa"
"I'm good"
"I like my purple jacket" (Grammie and Papa bought Sadie a purple winter jacket that she is very fond of)

This conversation takes place about five times a day.

The kids had an amazing time going to toy stores, riding trains and carousels, going on pony rides and out for ice cream. It was an action packed visit that left kids all smiles.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T21:22:00.001-08:00

HomeWalk 2010

2010-11-20T21:31:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who supported Jack, Sadie and I at HomeWalk last weekend. We had a great time at the United Way's 5K walk to end homelessness in LA. Thanks to our many supporters the three of us raised a total of $1,100 for the cause! There were thousands of people at the walk and I was very grateful to have the kids participating with me. HomeWalk is always a nice opportunity to connect my two lives as a mom and a community activist.

Sadie and Jack enjoyed cruising around in their new wagon for the first 15 minutes, which is pretty good for the two of them. The rest of the walk was spent trying to cajole them to either keep moving forward or get back in the wagon. The photo at the top is the three of us at the end of the walk. It took us a bit longer than most walkers, so we pulled up the end of the walk. I learned just how much there is to distract a couple of toddlers on a 5K route. As a result we were very excited to reach the finish line. Sadie and Jack could finally run around with out me saying, "This way! This way, guys. Keep moving forward!"

Veteran's Day

2010-11-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

Schools, including preschools, were closed for Veteran's Day last week, but of course none of us parents had the day off. I decided to take advantage of many hours of sick time that I have accrued at work and take the day off to take care of kids. Since I was going to be home with the kids I offered to also watch Sadie and Jack's pal, Tatum.

We spent the morning baking cookies and riding tricycles and other contraptions on wheels. It's so much fun to watch the kids emerging friendship with Tatum. They've all known each other since birth, but it's really only in the last 6 months that they've come to enjoy playing together. And, boy, do they enjoy playing together now. The kids get super-excited when we have a date with Tatum. On Veteran's Day Jack could not stop hugging and kissing Tatum when she arrived. I had to finally have a talk with him about giving girls some personal space.

We followed up the morning with our weekly Tatum date at the Farmer's Market. You couldn't ask for a nicer Veteran's Day!

Everybody poops

2010-11-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

...that is everybody poops, but not everybody poops on a potty. Jack surprised us all, not least of all himself, when he pooped on the potty on Saturday. The kids often ask to sit on the potty, which can be extremely frustrating because they insist on taking off every single piece of clothing, sitting for 2 seconds, and then abandoning the idea completely. But Jack showed us and skipped peeing in the potty and went straight to pooping. We were all pretty excited by this advancement and, as you can see from the photo, I don't think laying a golden egg would have been as exciting for Jack.

Happiness is a birthday party with cupcakes

2010-11-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

Jack and Sadie were living it up Sunday morning at 10:00AM at their friend Zev's birthday party. While all the groggy parents tried to make small talk, the kids tore up a local indoor playground.

Lately I've become very fond of staged photos of groups of toddlers. Nothing brings out weird facial expressions like asking a group of toddlers to sit or stand together for a photo. As you can see from the photo above the older kids get the concept of smiling, but the younger kids often look like they just ate something bad. Sadie later decided to liven up this photo shot by trying to get her neighbor's dress off.

Fall 2010 Voter Guide

2010-11-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

I am hijacking Sadie and Jack's blog to post my local election picks. For those of you not in California, please disregard, other than to remember to vote tomorrow. For my California friends and family here are my recommendations.

Propositions:

YES!
Prop 19 – Legalize marijuana
This one is a no-brainer. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and
tobacco, and probably more accessible for minors as an illegal
substance than any legal drug. Additionally, legalizing pot would
bring in a new revenue stream to a cash-strapped state and drastically
cut down on criminal justice costs associated with current laws
against pot. While it is highly unlikely that it will pass, this prop
has the potential to do more good than any other prop on the ballot.

NO
Prop 20 – Expanding citizen redistricting to congressional seats
California votes just created a citizens’ redistricting commission
only a few elections ago and it has yet to function. It seems
extremely premature to expand that power of that commission before we
have any proof that it is better than the current system, which does
suck, but so could the citizens’ commission.

No Recommendation
Prop 21 – Taxes vehicle registration to fund state parks
I’ll be voting for this prop, as it restores the vehicle registration
fee levels that Schwarzenegger slashed only to get elected and which
created huge deficits in CA. The restored revenue would fund state
parks. This tax will most likely be restored at some point and I’d
rather see those funds go to parks over, say, prisons. That said I am
not making a recommendation as I respect the argument to vote against
this measure, which is that ballot-box budgeting is bad for the state
and taxpayers.

YES
Prop 22 – Keeps local tax revenue local
This initiative is in response to the governor and state legislature's
previous move to balance the state budget by taking local
transportation and redevelopment funds. In general, I feel like tax
payers have more control over revenue when it is spent locally versus
at the state level. When was the last time you wrote a letter or
testified at hearing at the state level? Sacramento politicians tend
to be very cut-off from their constituents and thus the argument that
local dollars should be protected from state raids. Being in the field
of affordable housing, I also know how important redevelopment funds
are for the creation of low-income housing. When the state raided
these funds previously not a single dollar went to housing.

NO
Prop 23 – Delays implementation of previously approved environmental laws
This is a fight between big oil and environmentalists. The state
previously passed AB 32 to limit air pollution in CA. Now big oil
companies want to take advantage of the current economic climate to
dupe voters into delaying implementation of AB 32. Personally, I feel
strongly that going green is the best thing for our economy. Had we
gone green 30 years ago maybe Ford would have come out with the Prius
instead of Toyota.

YES
Prop 24 – Closes corporate tax loopholes
This prop would restore corporate taxes to a level that they have
always been at. It repeals a law that was passed by the state
legislature that would cut corporate taxes by $2B starting next year.
Do we really need to cut corporate taxes while the state is broke?

YES!
Prop 25 – Eliminates the budget super majority (otherwise known as the
Republican stranglehold on the state budget)
In 1978 CA voters passed prop 13, which lowered property taxes, but
also created a 2/3 majority requirement to pass the state budget every
year. As a result the minority party (Republicans) have inordinate
power in budget negotiations because rarely is the state legislature
2/3 democrats. Practically every year Republicans refuse to pass the
budget until democrats make major concessions like the corporate tax
loopholes mentioned above. Prop 25 would change state law to allow a
simple majority to pass a budget, which by the way, is how budgets are
passed in almost every other state in the country.

NO!
Prop 26 – Would expand the 2/3 super majority to the passage of fee increases
As if Prop 13 was not bad enough, the original backers are at again
and trying to expand the 2/3 super majority requirement to fee
increases. While we all don’t like fee increases, super majorities are
bad for taxpayers and good for republicans for all the reasons listed
above.

NO
Prop 27 – Eliminates the citizen’s redistricting commission
As mentioned under Prop 20, voters just created this commission. This
prop seeks to disband the commission before they even get started.
Before we disband the commission we should find out if the new system
is an improvement.

Candidates:

I did not have time to write about all the candidates, so I am passing
on Peter Drier’s candidate picks. Peter is an Occidental College
professor and very active in progressive circles. I agree with his
take on all the candidates below that I am familiar with, and trust
him on the ones I’m not familiar with.

Governor of California – Jerry Brown. (Brown is the obvious choice
over Meg Whitman, who often didn’t even bother to vote, is a huge
hypocrite about immigrant reform, and has spent $140 million of her
own fortune to win this race so she can run California on behalf of
big business and the very rich).

Lt. Governor – Gavin Newsom (Newsom is in a very, very close race
with the extremely conservative Republican, Abel Maldonado).

Secretary of State – Debra Bowen (She’s done an excellent job and is a
real progressive).

Controller - John Chiang (He, too, has done an excellent job)

Treasurer - Bill Lockyer (Ditto)

Insurance Commissioner – Dave Jones (The insurance companies are
pouring in lots of money to defeat Dave Jones. Insurance Commissioner
is a critical position in California State government, especially in
terms of implementing the new federal health care law)

Attorney General – Kamala Harris (Harris is in a dead heat with Steve
Cooley, a long supporter of the death penalty)

State Superintendent of Public Instruction - Tom Torlakson

US Senate - Barbara Boxer (Boxer is one of the most liberal members
of the Senate and an effective advocate for the environment, women’s
rights, jobs, and other important issues).

29th Congressional District – Adam Schiff (Schiff has become an
effective member of Congress who has been a strong advocate for many
liberal causes, including his strong support for a “public option”
during the health care battle).

44th Assembly District – Anthony Portantino (Portantino has been an
incredibly responsive and hard-working legislator, and a major
advocate for public education).

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge
Office 28 – Mark Ameli
Office 117 – Alan Schneider

Thank you to everyone voting tomorrow!

Best,

Molly

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T22:54:00.000-07:00

Halloween Preview

2010-10-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

We are sooo excited that it is Halloween. Sadie woke up this morning talking about candy. We'll be heading out for trick-or-treating a little later, but in the meantime I thought that I would post these photos from the Halloween parade at the kids' school on Friday.

We have a big painting of an owl (courtesy of my mother) in our dining room and, as a result, the kids have always liked owls. So for Halloween this year I made a snowy owl costume for Sadie and a barn owl costume for Jack.

Stay tuned for more Halloween photos...

Holiday Spirit

2010-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Jack are INTO Halloween. They are thrilled by pumpkins, ghosts, bats, and all things Halloween. All this and I don't think they even know what trick-or-treating will bring. It looks like the holiday season is going to be very active this year in our household.

Joy of all Joys

2010-10-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Jack got a special treat while I was away. J. took the kids to the Eagle Rock Street Music Festival and there was a fire truck there!

Good Hair

2010-10-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

I've got admit that despite my dislike of skater kids, I am digging Jack's shaggy skater hair. It was not a look we were going for - I've simply had a hard time mustering up the energy to spend $32 to get the kids hair cuts, but I realized recently that Jack's hair is really working for him. He's, of course, naturally very good-looking, which helps when trying to pull-off the disheveled look. Looks like I'm going to get to hold on to my $32 for a little bit longer!

Big Kid Beds on hold

2010-10-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

We've been going back and forth about whether to try to transition the kids out of the cribs and into beds. Jack's done some serious damage to his crib mattress, but the thought of trying to get the two of them to stay in beds until they fall asleep strikes terror in us. Bed time with twins is a unique experience. Every other parent of twins I've talked to has talked about the horrors of bedtime. Jack and Sadie are good sleepers, but they have their days. We've had a few experiences of naps not happening at all because they get each other going throwing all their blankets out of the bed or finding ways to crawl under the crib flat sheet (who knew that that was even possible?). So, at least for the short term, we're probably going to stick with cribs. Hopefully the courage to make the transition will come to us in the future.

Chalk Board & Fro Yo

2010-10-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

I'm going to play catch-up and post some pictures from the last few weeks that did not make it up. During our brutal September heat wave my sweet tooth got the best of me and the only cool activity I could think of was to take the kids out for ice cream, so we headed over to Menchies Frozen Yogurt where they have fantastic flavors like Red Velvet and Chai Tea. Sadie insisted on eating green ice cream so the kids had green apple yogurt (I do not feel the need to explain the difference between ice cream and frozen yogurt to them). After their yogurts the kids discovered the giant chalk board on the wall and went to town. I ended up spending less than $5 and keeping the kids occupied for more than an hour, which is a pretty darn good ratio.

Reunited

2010-10-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

After being away for 4 days, my longest stint yet, I'm back home with my beautiful children and amazing husband. J. was a super-dad taking care of the kids while I was in Maine. Here are Sadie and Jack this afternoon with their presents from downeast. We had a lovely afternoon reading every book we have that features a moose.

Heat Wave

2010-09-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

Despite the fall equinox this week, summer is having a hard time letting go in LA. It's 105 here today. Fortunately the kids had swim lessons this morning, so we got a reprieve from the heat at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. Both Jack and Sadie love the water. They are both comfortable going under water and are always thrilled to be in pools or the ocean. As is their Taurus-nature, following instructions at swim lessons is not so easy, so it may be a while yet before they master the doggy-paddle. Hopefully these early swim lessons will at least prevent them from inheriting my inability to enjoy water. As long as my kids don't show up to pool parties with giant snorkeling masks on their faces I'll be happy.

Catch Phrases

2010-09-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

Phew, I'm glad that I posted a slug of photos around Labor Day, because it's been a lean period for photos since. The kids both caught colds immediately upon returning to preschool, so we have not been doing a whole lot on the weekends. Their incessant snotty noses also don't make for the cutest pictures. We did manage to get this photo of Sadie at the playground last weekend and I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of Sadie's favorite phrases.

Sadie is very fond of saying the following:

"I got it." (Which means, "Stop trying to help me, I'm doing this on my own whether you like it or not."

"Look at me." (Whenever Sadie is proud of something she has done or is doing, such as in yesterday's case when she picked up an apple and started taking bites of the whole apple for the first time.)

"No, Jackie Boy." (Not surprisingly Sadie often wants to convince Jack to stop doing whatever he is doing, but we were surprised when she started calling him "Jackie Boy," which we do not call him, but which we think she picked up from preschool. She seems to use this whenever she really wants to get his attention.)

"Here, Jackie Boy." (Used when Sadie wants to distract Jack from whatever toy he is playing with so that she can get it for herself.)

Kiddie Pool Party

2010-09-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Labor Day by inviting some of Jack and Sadie's best friends over for a kiddie pool party. Their friends Tatum (featured at right on the top), Mimi, Charlie and Zev all came over for a little fun in the sun. Sadie and Jack are getting to a social age where they do better with more kids around. Our backyard may be seeing a lot more traffic.

The Wave

2010-09-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Sadie has recently mastered the art of the wave. While she has been waving for more than a year now, she recently perfected waving for the camera. Now when we ask Sadie to smile for the camera her arm instinctively goes up Miss-America-style.

Family Traditions

2010-09-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

Jack has inherited many traits from me, but this one may be the oddest: He is carrying on the tradition of tearing the heads off of dolls. A family friend who stumbled upon the aftermath of one my baths when I was child commented that the bathtub looked like Jonestown. Let's hope that Jack doesn't take it that far.

The Kisser

2010-09-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

Jack is going to be that boy on the playground chasing the girls around trying to kiss them. He loves to give hugs and kisses. We had a wonderful visit with Pud last weekend and, as you can see from above, Jack was not shy about showing his affection for Pud.

More from the Audubon

2010-08-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Most Saturday mornings J.'s responsible for taking care of the kids. Their ritual is to go the Audubon Center at Deb's Park. There are endless things to explore and adventures to be had there.

THIS... is summer

2010-08-23T22:47:00.000-07:00

We have had the most wonderful and temperate summer in LA this year, but all good things must come to an end and the late summer heat wave has set in. To keep the kids cool this weekend we broke out the sprinkler and, as Sadie says, "the fishy diapers." We topped off the summer attire with a couple pairs of sun glasses from the 99 cent store and got this summer pièce de résistance.

Chinatown

2010-08-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

We love street fairs. We hit a street fair pretty much every weekend of the summer, sometimes even two in a weekend. Last weekend we headed to Chinatown for "Chinatown Nights." We got the kids gussied up and took the train downtown. The kids were very excited to take the train. The pedestrian-only streets in Chinatown and free cookies were just icing on the cake for Jack and Sadie.

Arts and Crafts

2010-08-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

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When I picked the kids up at school today they were VERY excited to show me the purses they had made. Jack made the orange bird purse above and Sadie made the yellow duck purse. They talked about the purses the whole ride home and then strutted around the house with the purses once we arrived. I even convinced them to pose for the top picture.

Air Show

2010-08-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

As mentioned previously, the kids LOVE airplanes. J. had recently gotten into showing them youtube videos of air shows, which was a big hit. We decided that we should take them to a real air show, so we found ourselves at the Oxnard Air Force Base this weekend. Military culture feels about as familiar to us as an African safari, but the kids were right at home. They got to see a real WWI airplane with a wing-walker! They also got to sit in a real helicopter and they got to fly on the helicopter ride.

Unfortunately we decided to make the air show into a family vacation that went far a-rye. The kids have been really into hotels lately, so we booked a suit at an Oxnard hotel and thought we'd settle in for a relaxing weekend. The kids had other plans and went on a very painful sleep strike. We cut the vacation short and headed home early and are all very grateful to be back home. Next time we'll find an air show closer to home.

Kids Space Children's Museum

2010-08-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a gift from Grammy and Papa we took the kids to the children's museum this weekend. There was lots to explore and climb. Even Jack, our fearless climber, had to ask to be rescued a few times. By far the coolest feature was a giant any colony that the kids could climb through, including the tunnel featured above. Jack also loved this crazy green climbing structure that I'm sure was built for kids three-times his age.

Up, Up, and Away!

2010-08-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

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Jack and Sadie LOVE airplanes. Not just airplanes, but helicopters too. And "helicopter" is no easy word for a two-year old. As you can see from the photo above they were very excited to ride this airplane at the playground. The photos were aided by a 7-year old boy who decided to "help" us get a good photo by hitting me on the head while I tried to get a photo of the two of them smiling. Fortunately his tactics worked.

Auntie Be-Ba

2010-07-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had another visit - Auntie Olivia from San Francisco. Sadie couldn't quite manage "Olivia", thus we got the even cuter "Auntie Be-Ba". Jack particularly enjoyed feeding Auntie Be-Ba cheerios, an activity that J. and I can't quite stomach. Good thing there are aunties!

Grammy and Papa

2010-07-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

After our trip to the bay area Grammy and Papa came south to spend some time with Sadie and Jack. The kids had a great time being spoiled by their grandparents, and I must say that I didn't mind being a bit spoiled myself with babysitting and some new clothes.

Sadie and Jack have reached an age where they can now really start bonding with people beyond J. and I. They have been talking up a storm about Grammy and Papa ever since they left. It's very exciting for J. and I to see their world expanding every day. It's also exciting to have reached a point where they can start verbalizing what happens in their world when we're not around. For the first time Sadie told me about drawing a picture with their babysitter when we were out last night, and according to Sadie it wasn't just any picture, it was a "pretty picture."

Dani's Bat Mitzvah

2010-07-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

We survived another journey with the kids. Last weekend we drove from LA to Berkeley for my cousin Dani's Bat Mitzvah (Dani's in the middle above with the long blonde hair and blue t-shirt). It's a 6-hour drive each way - nothing to sneeze at with two toddlers. Amazingly the kids were pretty okay in the car. We supplied them with endless snacks and songs and were able to make the drive with minimal stops and only a few breakdowns.

We did decide to forgo the actual Bat Mitzvah ceremony, and instead save the kids' good behavior for the reception. They had a great time racing around the party and trying to ingratiate themselves with the older kids. It didn't hurt that there was endless attention and fun to be had with Grammy and Papa throughout the weekend. I'm certainly liking the 2-1 adult to child ratio.

Mimi's House

2010-07-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts for a few weeks there. It's been a really crazy month. I'm off to DC for work at the crack of dawn tomorrow, but thought that I'd better get something up before I leave. Here's a photo from Friday afternoon at Mimi's house (Mimi is on the far left, and, no, sadly Sadie does not own those sun glasses - although she does wear them well).

DINOSAUR!!!

2010-06-29T20:18:00.001-07:00

I took the day off on Sunday to go hiking with friends, while J. watched the kids. They spent the afternoon at the Natural History museum and got to see the giant dinosaur puppet above, which elicited the reactions below.

From the looks of it, the kids' day with daddy was quite a success.