Culver City Artwalk 2011

It's time again for the Culver City Artwalk. What better way to appreciate art than with a pair of snazzy sunglasses!



Spencer admired the sculptures created by the multi-talented Daniel Stern who is perhaps better known for his performances in "Home Alone" and "City Slickers."



Spencer willingly posed for our annual bridge shot but Nico was less inclined to have his picture taken.

Car Snooze

Sometimes car rides can be absolutely exhausting!

Quickstart Tennis

Spencer has been taking group tennis lessons designed specifically for younger kids for the last six weeks. The instructor, Ryan, does a terrific job of keeping the class engaged and teaching basic tennis skills in a humorous and fun manner. Spencer has learned to hit forehands, backhands and forward volleys. He also knows some of the court lingo. By the end of class, the children have gotten quite a workout jogging in place and running around the court. Nico already wants to follow in his brother's footsteps. Perhaps one day they'll be able to play a tennis match with each other.

Kidspace Museum

We ventured out to Pasadena to Kidspace Children's Museum for our friend Lua's 3rd birthday. She wore a special bathing suit tutu for the occasion.



The boys were immediately enthralled by the water spouts shooting up from the ground.



Nico especially was delighted whenever he was sprayed.



Sheer joy and laughter!



The girls were a little more hesitant than the boys about getting wet.



Eventually, we wandered over to a stream shaded by large trees which during the heat of summer would make an ideal spot to play. As it was, the water was a bit chilly. The boys didn't seem to mind and wandered right in. Spencer made like a salmon and headed upstream. I worried that he would slip on the rocks but he managed to maintain his balance.



Behind this water wheel was a platform overlooking a small pond where we observed koi fish and turtles sunning themselves on rocks.



Nico was having so much fun that he didn't want to come out, letting me know very vocally that he was staying put. The combination of hunger and fatigue led to a bit of a meltdown but eventually he calmed down and joined the group for lunch.



Dora birthday cake makes everyone feel better and makes your lips turn a cool shade of green!



By aiming the water guns towards these drums, Spencer and Nico made different sounds.



Nothing like climbing a rope web, Spiderman-style, to expend some sugar-fuelled energy!

Unleashing His Inner Artist

Our Mommy & Me class arranged a field trip to The Art Zone where children are free to be as creative and messy as they like. Nico began by making a pattern in a square of clay using small beads, a fun way to develop fine-motor skills.



The next activity that captured his attention involved rolling a small truck in a paint tray.



Once the wheels were covered in paint to Nico's satisfaction, he placed the truck at the top of a ramp covered in paper and let it roll.



The trucks left tracks of paint in their wake making a cool pattern.



For his final project, Nico sprayed some windows with watercolor paint and wiped them with a squeegee. We could have spent all morning there but our time was up. I think we may have to return sometime this summer for more art projects.

Song of Nature

This spring Spencer and his classmates were invited to participate in The Colburn School's Spring Choral Concert. Spencer waited patiently in his seat for the concert to begin.



The conductor lead the children's chorus in "Song of Nature" while Spencer and his classmates accompanied with percussion instruments.



Spencer played his maracas to perfection.



He watched his teacher carefully in order to follow her visual cues as to when to play fast and when to slow the beat down. It was so exciting to watch his first ever recital! We all clapped extra loudly as he took a bow.

The Big Drill

Next door to Walt Disney Hall, work is underway to build Eli Broad's latest contribution to the city of Los Angeles, a honeycomb-shaped art museum designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. It will be exciting to watch the transformation of the former parking lot into an architectural vision.



Nico was certainly entralled as we watched the workers send a giant drill down into the earth. The drill would disappear below the surface for a few moments before slowly emerging. The worker next would carefully rotate the cab 180 degrees and spin the drill so that the dirt would fly off in all directions, Nico's favorite part. "Then shake it," he would say. The worker, once the drill had been returned back to the original position, would begin the whole process again. The drill was creating space for giant metal girders, intented to support the weight of the building, to be dropped into the ground vertically and secured with concrete. We look forward to seeing the progress in the weeks to come.

Birthday Sombreros

Nico likes to blow kisses on many occasions but especially on Nana's birthday. We celebrated Nana's special day at Ricardo's in San Juan Capistrano.



Spencer takes a turn in Nana's lap.



Nana was surprised and delighted when the wait staff placed an oversize sombrero on her head, presented her with a whipped cream and churro dessert and serenaded her with a birthday song.



The sombrero suits him, doncha think?



The littlest bambino in a very big sombrero! Happy Birthday Nana!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Daddy came home to find this wonderful birthday cake waiting for him.



The best part of any birthday is the cake. The faster you blow out the candle(s), the sooner you get... cake! The single candle was symbolic for mm-hmm-hmm years.

Bed Head

Comb, stat!

Inside, Outside, Upside Down

A child's laughter is one of the greatest sounds in the entire world. Today I heard lots of laughter when Nico decided that bending over and looking through his legs was one of the most amusing activities ever.

The Missing Shoe

Lately, Nico has discovered how to remove his shoes. He's especially adept at removing his Tom's Shoes. Putting them back on seems to be a bit more difficult for many reasons, primarily lack of will but also lack of dexterity.



While visiting a friend's art gallery, Nico decided this would be the optimum time to be barefoot. Nico was having so much fun playing with his best friend that I did not discover his intent until unfortunately, one shoe had disappeared somewhere within Gallery KM.



We ended up leaving the shoe behind Cinderella-style after a fruitless search. Luckily our friends found the shoe a couple of days later and we had a match once again.

Tom's Shoes

As a diehard Amazing Race fan, I was intrigued when former contestant Blake Mycoskie started Tom's Shoes, a company whose mission is to provide a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased. One for One. I love the philosophy as much as I love the shoes. Not only are they stylish but also extremely comfortable. Recently I bought an adorable pair for Nico featuring koi fish. Spencer and I both have pairs as well, brown for Spencer, red for me. We're Tom's Shoes converts.

Easter Egg Hunts

Easter morning began with an egg hunt in the backyard to discover what the Easter Bunny brought.



The boys checked out each other bags to see what goodies they held.



Looks like someone or something got to this egg before the boys did. A hungry squirrel did some damage to get to the Easter Bunny's candy.



Later that morning we headed over to Dan and Lauren's house for round two. They decorated the backyard with each child's name written in chalk.



Spencer concentrated on dipping an egg slowly and carefully to achieve the right color.



The children listened relatively patiently as Dan explained the rules of the egg hunt.



Spencer proudly displays one of his eggs.



Nico has a full basket.

Nana and Marvin came to our house to finish our Easter holiday with a lovely ham dinner. The boys showed off all their eggs to Nana and were thrilled that she brought chocolate bunnies for dessert. Except for that damn squirrel, what a wonderful Easter! (We're watchin' for you squirrel...)

Whipped Creme Eggs

Grandma & Grandpa sent us some milk chocolate whipped creme eggs for Easter, a long tradition in Mike's family.



It was all the boys could do to wait until after dinner.



Love at first bite!



What a sticky face! Don't you just want to eat him up!