Museum Day

Last Sunday was just so darned Africa hot.  We were trying to figure out where we could go that had air conditioning.  We decided against a mall since that never ends well with little Johnny Bipolar.  Since we live so close to Museum Row, we decided to visit the George C Page Museum.  For those who don't know about it, it's the museum that is directly behind the La Brea Tar Pits.

Maureen told John we were going to see dinosaurs.  There are no dinosaurs at the George C Page Museum.  It's basically a museum that has woolly mammoth, sloth, and saber tooth tiger bones.  Anywho, we only had to pay for one adult entrance since Maureen had her teacher's id with her.  John wasn't terribly impressed and Nicholas was just freaked out.  John liked the moving mammoth, but he was a bit put off by the moving saber tooth tiger attacking a sloth.

On a funny note, there was a movie playing that gave details about the flora and fauna of Los Angeles during the Ice Age.  We thought this would be harmless; however, there was a rather graphic scene of a horse getting trapped in the tar pits and being attacked by the saber tooth tigers and wolves.  I tried to distract John and we left shortly thereafter.  Nicholas didn't like being in the darkened theater and was whimpering.  Note to parents with small children, avoid the movie at the George C Page Museum.

After our visit, we decided to walk over to LACMA for lunch at The Plaza Cafe.  They have a great cafe with delicious food.  John was a good eater, but Nicholas just ate cheechas, chips, and milk.  As we finished, we headed into the courtyard at LACMA and discovered a wonderland of art.  There were activities for children and John took part in making two great works.  It was so much fun that we decided to become members of the museum.  It's not like our names will be on any building anytime soon, but it gives us a place to go and see fun things.  John really liked the Tim Burton exhibit.  Actually, he liked the little model carousel that was in the room with the black light.  He just wanted to hang out there the entire time.

All in all, it was a great day and now we know about all the fun things we can do at LACMA!



Yes, I was inspired by the museum scene in To Sir With Love to add the music.

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt

Our John enjoys going to the Tutti Frutti across the street from Ralph's.  He calls it the orange ice cream shop since the decor is mostly orange.  He still doesn't know the difference between frozen yogurt and ice cream, not that it's all that different.  Anywho, we asked him if he wanted to go to a different orange ice cream place (at the Fox Hills Mall), but he freaked out and wanted to go to his "regge" (pronounced "reh-gee") orange ice cream place.  I really think he has some level of OCD.  So, while Daddy went to do the grocery shopping, John, Nicholas, and Maureen went across the street to enjoy some frozen yogurt.  All's well that ends well.

World Champion

Little did you know that our John was a World Champion wrestler.  As you can see, he's very tired from his last match defending his title.  He believes in saying his prayers and eating his vitamins.

Fun in the Sun

There was a time my mother would have been horrified if we had run through the sprinklers like this.  I suppose she just likes the boys too much to say no.  Plus, it helps that Maureen gave John the ok.

He said, "I can't touch the sprinklers." which usually means, "I want to touch the sprinklers."  Maureen told him that he was ok and he just had a ball.

The Zoo Zoo Zoo

Yesterday, I asked Maureen how she felt about going to the zoo if the day wasn't too hot today.  She thought it was a grand idea.  Actually, she was thinking of taking the boys to the beach, but I put my idea forth prior to her talking to me about hers.  That teaches us the following:  If you snooze, you lose!

So, we made the mistake of telling John that we were going to the zoo and we basically had to sell the idea to him.  How do you ask?  We told him there was a train.  After he heard that, he just wanted to talk about the train at the zoo.  Nicholas was just happy to be going anywhere.  He's a good little guy like that.

On our drive over, John asked if we were going to drive by the big fountain and the red train.  The boy has the memory of an elephant.  He forgets nothing.  We drove by the fountain at Forrest Lawn and then we drove by the red train at Travel Town.

We get to the zoo and the boys are all skittish because they don't know what to think.  We rent a double stroller and John doesn't want to ride in it.  Nicholas enjoyed it until John decided to join him.  At that point, he decided that he had to get out of the stroller.  Lesson for the day, get two single strollers.

The first animals we see are flamingos.  All Nicholas could say was, "DUCK!  DUCK!  DUCK!"  Apparently, all birds are ducks to him.  John was a bit more subdued and liked looking at the flamingos.  After the flamingos, he started asking about the train incessantly.  It got to the point where we abandoned all hope of seeing any animals and went to find the little train.

When we got to the train, the ride operator told us that it was closed until the end of the bird show.  To kill time, we decided to see the bird show.  Neither boy appreciated it.  They both were freaked out by the birds flying over the audience.  John was freaked out by the carved wooden bird on the stange.  He kept on calling it the Big Angry Bird.

Sadly, we left the bird show and decided to leave the zoo since both boys were getting restless.  Nicholas did not want to part with his spacious stroller and John was in tears over not riding the train.  The train was you standard carnival ride.  Oh well, it was a good experiment and we plan to try it again when it isn't too hot and the boys are a little older.

On a funny note, John decided that we were going to go to a park.  He said, "We are going to the park.  We'll take our new green stroller and walk there.  Ok?  Is that a plan?"  We had to break the news to him that we only rented the stroller.  Still, it was rather spacious and Nicholas just loved lounging in it.

Summer Vacation

Some of us don't get to enjoy the summer to the fullest.  For those that do, they can take a few days to spend some time at the beach house with their friends.  Fortunately, John has some friends with a house in Newport Beach where he goes for rest and relaxation.  It's tough being a famous international playboy like he is.

John was happy to spend a few days down at the Wiseman house and bask in the sunshine with his friend Aly and Jake.  THere were a few blow ups along the way, but those were few and far between.  As long as he had his cheetos and trains, He was as happy as a clam.

Samples at Trader Joe's

If you want to win John's eternal devotion, give him samples of something. He loves goign to the sample station at Trader Joe's and trying everything. Today, he ate grapes for the first time since it was at the Trader Joe's sample station. As Maureen is telling me this wonder, a clerk offers us samples of the fine Trader Joe's mini ice cream cones. When John sees this, he immediately hands his grapes over to Maureen for safe keeping. I don't blame him, the ice cream was really good. Thanks Trader Joe's!

Mid August Birthdays

We had two very important birthdays on August 10 and August 17, Mami and Papi's.  The boys were so excited to celebrate and take them a fine cake from Hansen's to enjoy.  As you can see from the photo, the boys didn't wait for the birthday boy to dig into the cake.

Traveltown at Griffith Park

We took a trip to Traveltown a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say, the boys were both very excited. We took two trips. On the first one, we went to San Clemente. On the second one, we went to Chicago.

Sorry for the delay in posting, but it took forever and a day to finally get it uploaded to YouTube.

Yakety Sax

Water Taxi Fun

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Marina del Rey for a ride on the water taxi. We went all along the Marina and managed to have a good time even though Nicholas was screaming for the vast majority of the time. After our ride, we got to have dinner at Tony P's where we had chicken and french fries. YUMMY!!

Chilling at Ralph's

We visited the blue Ralph's with an elevator.  In their summer section, they have some garden furniture.  John decided that he needed to rest in the chairs for a little bit.  This boy was born for a life of leisure.

Matinee Idol Good Looks

John's hair had been looking quite shaggy the last couple of weeks, but since he hadn't felt well, we couldn't do anything about it.  Since he'd been feeling well for a week, we were able to visit the Yellow Balloon yesterday.  He behaved like a champ.  I'd say he's learning to enjoy his hair cuts, unlike Nicholas. 
Anywho, as soon as we walked out of the shop, he said, "Time to go to coffee place." in reference to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf across the street.  It seems that no hair cut is complete without chocolate milk and a blueberry muffin from Coffee Bean.