T is braver than I am!

Today was the last summer event at the Santa Monica Library. They sure have kept us entertained every Monday, and today was no exception. This awesome lady came and showed the kids all sorts of crazy animals. Talmage was chosen to pet a hairy armadillo and when I asked him what he felt like T said, "Um...kind of hairy."

At the end all of the kids got to take turns petting the boa. Evie and I kept our distance, but T was front and center with that bad boy for quite the long time! Brave, brave, brave that boy. And no T, we will not be buying a snake for a pet in your lifetime!

Speaking of Ev, look at his new trick! He can't quite do it by himself yet, but with a little help he is standing!

Read More

Ahoy! I'm a Sailor! I Sail! I'm Sailing!

For some odd reason, James likes the movie What about Bob. He thinks it's hilarious, I think it's stressful. Just thinking about it makes me feel a little anxious. There is one scene, however, that we couldn't help but quote over and over again on Saturday while we were sailing in the ocean. Bob is extremely proud of himself for overcoming his fear of water and is literally tied onto the sail yelling, "Ahoy! I'm a sailor! I sail! I'm sailing!" None of us knew any sailor-lingo, so we pretty much repeated those simple phrases for four hours!  

James' firm took us on this adventure, and we were SO grateful that they allowed the whole family to attend. They split the attendees into two groups and we sailed on boats like the one above (two pictures above). Luckily our group was super accepting of our crazy children and were so gracious. Coming out of Marina Del Rey was beautiful. I loved all the houses and colors.

As soon as the boat started backing up Talmage wanted treats! I bribed him with all sorts of goodies in exchange for him not embarassing his father in front of all of his co-workers. It worked. Both boys were excellent (and ridiculously full of junk) by the end of our trip.

While our Captain, Ash, was fixing the sails, he asked me (and T) to steer the ship. At first it was easy peasy and I was doing my best What about Bob impression.

But soon we started really moving. The water got a little more choppy and the sails were definitely doing their job and I'll be honest, I questioned Ash's judgement in assigning me and T to take the wheel (it probably didn't help that I had watched a 4 hour mini-series on the Titanic the night before!) Luckily, Ash said we did a great job and resumed his duties.

The glasses-on-Evie pictures never get old! For some reason my glasses are way cooler to him than his own glasses are!

Before long, the little love had been rocked to sleep by the waves. What a treat! It was about this time that Talmage started to get a little sea-sick. He layed in my arms for a little bit before downing a whole sleeve of ginger snaps and proclaiming that they made his tummy feel much, much better!

By the end of the trip, Talmage was at the wheel again and Ash was so nice to let T steer! We saw lots of birds, seals and even dolphins. They were beautiful!

Again, we are so greatful that Jim's firm invited us to such a lovely outing. We loved it, loved it, loved it!

On the way home, we hit up Tito's Tacos. His co-workers were raving about it, and I seriously am disappointed that I didn't find this place sooner. The line was atrocious (we waited more than an hour) but the shredded beef tacos topped with freshly grated cheese and super fine salsa made it all worth it...not to mention mug root beer from the tap. Yum! Such a good Saturday.

Read More

Noah's Ark

We finally scored tickets to the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Museum on a free Thursday. I've been trying for weeks but the tickets are literally gone moments after they are put on the website. This week I got lucky and I'm so glad I did--this place rocked. I'm going to compile a list of LA things that we loved doing (and kinda liked doing, and didn't like doing) before we leave--and this will be one of the top things on the loved-doing list! It was incredible.

I wanted a picture of the three of us by these amazing animal creations at the front of the kidzone...but between an awful camera angle and a Talmage that saw the ark and wanted to get inside it was less than successful! Oh well, here we are.

Here is the front of the ark. Museum lighting is the worst for picture-taking and this seriously does not do the ark justice. It was beautiful! There were life-sized animals EVERYWHERE and it was so noisy--thunder and lightning and wolves howling and lions roaring--it was exactly how I imagined the ark to be.

 The stuffed animals, two by two.

Everett was a wee-bit overwhelmed by all of the animals at first, so we took it easy with the stuffed frog and some other little toys. He thought they were funny, but he DID NOT want to touch them. He made that perfecly clear.

The details in this exhibit were just perfect. Animals perched everywhere, grains and food in buckets, snakes slithering around. Animals on the walls, animals on the floor, animals on the roof--that boat must have been CRAZY!

Talmage really, really liked the mini (kind of, it was pretty big!) Noah's ark with all of the animals. He would sort them and then put each of them in a compartment...and then roar like a lion when other kids came and took them out of their home. Yeah, still working on that.

This little one is becoming more and more confident about pulling himself up. He's always extremely proud of himself when he's successful.

After a while, Evie and I went to hang out with Mr. and Mrs. Walrus to drink some milk and enjoy some downtime, while watching brother...

climb around like a crazy-brain on the rope bridges, tunnels and rooms. He ran himself ragged in that jungle gym and was so sad when our time was up. Seriously Skirball, bravo! Don't be suprised if you see the Wiggy family again...maybe even next week!

Read More

Can I be honest?

I was definitely underwhelmed by Sweet Lady Jane's. The buzz about this bakery is intense (lots of celebrity's have this bakery make their wedding cake/birthday cake/etc.), so I made sure to add it to my bucketlist and was super excited to check it out. But after our visit this week my overall opinion is, meh. I'd take a Sprinkles cupcake a-ny-day instead of the cake we got. Anyday.  

Beautiful? Yes. Talmage got to pick out the cake for all of us to share. His choice--yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. This combination is my all time favorite, so I was proud of his choice and couldn't wait to sink my teeth in, I mean, fork in.

Here are the things that I didn't like: the cake is served cold, like out of the fridge cold, and so the whole thing was hard. I usually love the textural difference between dense, moist cake and fluffy, creamy frosting (obsessed with cake much?) but this was just hard. No likey. Also, the cake was crumbly and tasted old maybe and the chocolate frosting was much, much, much too bitter. MUCH too bitter. I seriously took a few bites and then let T go for it...and if you know me then you know that's saying something.

These pictures crack me up! In every one T is trying to eat the frosting rose with the fork and Evie is trying to eat the frosting rose with his fingers. All along I'm saying, "Boys, look at the camera. Smile. Come on now!" and as usual, they go on doing what they want.

It wasn't a total waste because Talmage was happy as a clam! That boy can pound sweets like nobody's business! Everett ended up terrorizing the bakery with his pterodactyl screams so we left soon after this picture. I asked for a box but T was so worried that he wasn't going to get to bring the cake home that he picked up the whole piece with two hands and started shoving it in his face. What a goof!

Read More

It's Monday

It's feeling like a Monday to me.

A 13-minute-drive home from the beach took me 90 minutes today. Everett screamed the whole way because he was hungry and tired. Talmage screamed because Everett was annoying him. I opened the windows and blared the music but it was no use, I could still hear them screaming. Near the hour mark I think all three of us were in tears, and at some point during the trip we started making ridiculous phone calls to family members--singing, screaming, whining and pleading for help. Remember how people say LA traffic is ridiculous? It is.

It's almost 11 pm and that drive from 6 hours ago is still making me feel grumpy. I'm going to blame the grumposity on it being Monday. And my husband still being at work. And the residual ringing in my ears. But since I don't want grump-mares tonight, I better end the day on a happy note. Here's what we've been up to this weekend.  

Finally, a sippy cup that Evie will take! He LOVES this cup and has been drinking whole milk like a champ. I can see my life getting easier before my eyes!

On Saturday the boys and I went to Southern California Live Steamers for some free rides on their mini-trains. This organization "borrows" land from the city in exchange for offering free rides twice a month--score for us! I found out that each of the steamers cost $250,000! I got lost on the way there and the area was a little sketchy, but the muchachos thought riding on the trains was pretty much the coolest thing ever, so it was worth it.  

 Everett loves corn. And I love watching Everett eat corn. He inhaled that whole cob!

Trouble-makers X 2. Here are the boys getting caught jumping on the bed, again. Everett gets on T's air mattress and Talmage jumps on it--shooting Evie across the room. I'm in trouble.

Heebie and Jeebie show at the Santa Monica Library today--so entertaining! Talmage got called up on stage for their "rock" song, and instead of doing the moves they were teaching Talmage decided to break dance through the whole number--at least I think that's what he was trying to do.

T knows his way around the city enough now to know that the library is only a few blocks from the beach. He asked if we could stop by "just real quick" and he ended up tearing his shirt off and running right into the water! I love that beach boy!

Read More

GNO: Kelli Pickler at the Grove

I heard that Kelli Pickler was giving a free mid-week concert at The Grove so I got a couple girls together for a little night away from home. My only other night out all summer was when I went to the temple and both Talmage and Everett screamed the WHOLE entire time I was gone (and a little while after I got back, just so I knew how mad they were that I had left!) I was a little nervous to leave, but the boys did great and we had SUCH a blast. We had so much fun, in fact, that we are thinking about hitting up the free concert this week too...and maybe next also!

We weren't the only ones enjoying some free country music. We spotted Steven Spielberg rocking out also. Anyone know who he's with? I totally recognize her but I just can't figure it out. Let me know if you know!

 Tyler Hilton performed first, followed by Gloriana. They were both good.

But Kelli Pickler, she was more than good. She was AMAZING. Seriously, TV and radio just don't do the girl justice. She can SING! I loved hearing her strong singing voice and then hearing her sweet southern belle talking voice. Just too cute.

We finished the night with shaved ice cream in Westwood. It was really good and light, and I had mine covered in mochi. Yum! I got home and both boys were sleeping soundly--ahhhh, a successful girls night out!

Read More