California Report

We recently returned from our annual trip to California. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

One of the first things we got to do was meet up with my mission buddy, Jenni and her 2 cute boys at the Los Angeles Zoo. We never served together, and we never even lived together, but somehow we came to be friends and I just love her to pieces. Lexi was chosen to help out with the bird show. You may recall that she was chosen last year, also...


Our next trip was to the Skirball Museum to see their giant Noah's Ark exhibit. It was basically a huge indoor playground based on Noah's Ark. All of the animals were made out of pre-existing materials (i.e. rats made of croquet balls, a rooster from a red boot etc). Lots of activities to do, things to play with, and places to climb. Lexi also participated in a drum circle.


We visited Olvera Street in old downtown Los Angeles, near City Hall & Union Station. After lunch at Phillipes, we explored the little street which is also the location of the oldest home in Los Angeles & the first Fire House. Lots of teeny tiny gift shops selling leather goods, random doodads and Lucha Libre masks.


We took our first trip to Hollywood. In all the summers we've spent in California, we've never gone down to Hollywood. Saw the Chinese Theater, El Capitan, Capitol Records and attempted a *walking* tour that we found on about.com which turned out to be NOT a walking tour AT ALL, but something you would definitely not do without a car.


The Museum of Natural History where we examined the insect zoo, saw a *real live* dinosaur and also dug for dinosaur bones, and walked through the butterfly garden.


Dodgers v. Rockies. Dodgers won! Thanks to our buddy's father, we had incredible seats in the shade on the field level. And after a day game, kids can go out on the field and run the bases! We didn't find out about that until it was too late to go, but otherwise we would have done it. Being a New Yorker, Lexi kept asking when the Yankees were going to play. That, coupled with the Yankees hat I was sporting, probably did not put us in the best light with the surrounding fans, so we made sure to cheer loud for the Dodgers. After all, they were the home team, and if they don't win it's a shame.


The rest of these photos are just miscellaneous from all our time with family and friends. We were able to see 5 out of Matt's 8 brothers, my grandparents and 2 of my cousins who have transplanted here (we missed another cuz due to scheduling conflicts- still bummed about that, K!), the Smiths, and the Russells, who made a huge effort to come down from Oregon for a few days to be with us (they rock).


Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for hosting us (and all our friends) and for taking such good care of us!!

Going Home

California Highlights

Things we've done that I need to post about:
*Spent the day at the zoo with Jenni (my mission buddy!) & her adorable boys
*Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball
*Time with the Russells (long-time friends of ours)
*Visit Downtown Hollywood (Chinese Theater etc)
*Lots of time with family & friends
*Eating at In-N-Out
*Swimming at night

Things we're still planning to do:
*Dodgers game
*La Brea Tar Pits
*DisneyLand (?)
*Swimming
*More family time!

We only have 1 week left of our *vacation*....

Lexi says....

I've been really lazy about recording Lexi's recent observations on life. Here is one, though....

Grandma & Grandpa have a storeroom out in their backyard. We've been storing some of the food that doesn't fit in the freezer in the house out there as well as lots of non-perishable foods. We've had to go out there several times a day to access many different items. Yesterday morning, Matt went out for some more paper towels and when he returned, Lexi asked, "Why do Grandma & Grandpa have a store at their house?"

California, Here We Come

Headed out for our annual trip to Southern California. Be back in a few weeks!

Weekend Upstate

Last weekend we had a wonderful time visiting my family in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. We did all sorts of fun things. You'll find some photos of our trip below. And things I don't have photos of? Our swim across Seneca Lake. Uncle Doug estimates that it's about 1.3 miles wide. Liz & my mother swam the whole way, while Aunt Barbara and I took turns watching Ella in the boat. I probably went about 3/4 of the way, though. And then? I waterskiied! For the first time in about 3 years. I was so tired from the swim, though, that I didn't last as long as I would have liked. Thanks for a most wonderful weekend "in the country."

Alexis helping Pop-Pop in the wood shop:
"It's a wonderful place!"
In this photo they are creating a *forest* with nails,
but their big project was building & painting a birdhouse.
We plan to set it out on our fire escape.

Liz, Alexis & Dad at the fountain at Elmira College:

Ella & Dad walking on the campus of Elmira College:

Frosting & decorating cupcakes with Great-Grandma:

Ella & Dad hanging out in the hammock:

Aunt Barbara and Lexi exploring the backyard:

The baby birds! Born a week or two before we arrived:

Lunch at the Ithaca Farmer's Market:

Riding on the boat on Seneca Lake:

Ella walks across the backyard. Nothing spectacular, but I realize I haven't posted any video of her walking since she took her first steps. She's quite the mover and shaker now!

Ella was really fascinated by Cassie the cat. She would just follow her around and pet her and want to snuggle with her.

Just Another Typical Day

A film shoot in the cemetery across the street from Lexi's school:

And a chicken on our fire escape:

What?! You don't see these things in your neighborhood?

How 'bout them Yankees?

We attended another Yankees game... this time without our kids and with some friends from our ward. This was a good one- the Yankees won 8-2, and we even saw Bobby Abreu hit a home run.

My First Race

On Saturday I ran in my first 5K race (that's 3.1 miles). I have been running now for about 3 months and hoped to be able to run the whole thing, but ended up walking for a small portion. I finished in under 34 minutes, which I was happy about (my mile average being just under 11 minutes which is better than when I ran a mile in gym class in Junior High, so I was thrilled about that). I am starting to really enjoy running. I'll find another 5K (maybe in October) and aim to run that one without stopping, for sure.

This one was so much fun! There were over 600 people there to race:

including Larry the Lighthouse (the mascot for the New Jersey Marathon):


The race was at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey (a small regional/business airport). We got to run on the runway, which was really exciting, and there was even a pace plane leading the racers:

It was HOT & the clouds had dispersed by the time the race got under way. I had the company of 6 other women from my ward which made it really fun, also.

Carol, Celeste, me, Kelli, Jessica, Miggy & Emily
July 18, 2008

Drums on the Hudson

On Friday we spent the afternoon & evening down in Battery Park City. We went to the Skyscraper Museum (which would have been more interesting if we didn't have restless kids in tow- thank goodness we had a free pass to get in!), rode the Staten Island Ferry, ate ice cream cones at McDonalds ($1.50 down there!), and then we headed over to Robert Wagner Park to have a pizza picnic with our friends (The Fugals) and participate in an African Drum Circle. There was a man who taught us how to play the drums (correctly) and taught us some basic rhythms and then we had a good time jammin' with the sun setting over the Hudson River & a beautiful view of Lady Liberty herself. It had been scorching hot in the afternoon, but as the evening wore on the weather was quite pleasant right there next to the water. Thanks, Cori, for organizing a wonderful evening!

Ella on the Ferry:
Ella amid the drums:

Ella & Alexis experimenting with some percussion sounds:

Alexis (looking thrilled) and Mom:

Our fearless leader:

Ella & Dad with the Statue of Liberty behind:

Alexis
Dad & Lexi "playing" a giant mandolin:

Gorillas in the Mist

July 4th found us enjoying another day at the Bronx Zoo. This time, we had a wonderful experience in the Gorilla exhibit watching all the gorillas play together, entertain us (some of them walked right up to the windows & touched the glass & posed for photos), and eat. They are amazing creatures and transfixing to watch.

in the words of my grandmother:

HATS OFF! IT'S INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Our country may not be perfect, but it's ours, and I love it!

First Steps

On Sunday, while my mother was here, Ella decided to really test her walking skills. She's been taking a few steps here and there over the past couple of weeks, but no more than about 2 or 3 at a time before she wobbles and collapses. But on Sunday, she really had some good series of steps- 10 to 12 or maybe even more. She seemed to be back to crawling for much of Monday (maybe it was the calming presence of Grandma that urged her on?) But now, 3 days later, it seems that she is spending more time on her feet than her knees. Every day she gets a little stronger, a little better.... and a little faster! I am happy, though, that she is finally developing this skill- the ground at the park has been very hot for her little hands to crawl on and she has been easily frustrated that she can't move as much as she could during the *cooler* weather. We bought some Teva sandals years ago when we were expecting Alexis, but she never fit into them during the summer time. I was hoping so much that Ella's little feet could wear the cute little sandals, and yesterday they took their maiden voyage through the sprinklers at the Hippo Playground. Photos from that excursion are on my friend's camera, so I'll get them up here in a few days.

Guest Post: Aunt Allie

(Note from Kendra: This post describes the day Lexi spent with Aunt Allie & *Uncle* Zac a few weeks ago- Saturday, June 14)...


Hey Everyone! Kendra has asked me to contribute a "guest entry" to her blog - which I am more than happy to do, since Alexis, Zac (my boyfriend), and I had one of the best days in Central Park.

We had been wanting to take Lexi on a field trip for quite some time now, but with everyone's busy schedule it has always been hard to coordinate. Miraculously, we all had this past Saturday available, and so a decision was made to take her to lunch, the Central Park Zoo, and then some ice cream after. Another miracle, when my mom e-mailed me telling me she had free passes to the Zoo the very day we were planning on going! Que dicha!! (that means "what happiness" in Spanish).

The day went fabulously! After my welcome was completely quashed by Zac's presence (Lexi came running down the hall and i got on my knees to give her a hug, only for her to run right past me screaming "ZAC!!!" and jumping into his arms), we set off for the Subway and some lunch at a diner near the Park. We ordered Lexi a grilled cheese, but she was very distressed because she wanted chicken nuggets.... they did not have any. So she refused to take even a bite of her sandwich, and we were very grateful to the kind server who did not charge us for her uneaten meal. On our way out the door we met another little girl named Lexi, and the family was very nice - they were entering upon us leaving, and heard me calling after Lexi.


After lunch, we went to the Park, and Lexi and Zac ran around like crazy hooligans. Lexi kept taking off running, screaming behind her, "Can't catch me, I'm the PORKA-DOT-DOT!"...
"what's a Porka-dot-dot?!"
"well, it's got 100 legs, 100 leaves, and 100 eyes on the leaves. It's kind of like a Centipede."


She played in the playground and in the sand with some other kids for an hour or so, and we continued on through the Park running around chasing the Porka-dot-dot, and looking for the zoo...

Success! We found it! We saw the penguins, monkeys, sea lions, all sorts of birds in the Rain forest section, and even some polar bears! We even ran into Lexi's new friend Lexi (from the diner) - and our Lexi promptly asked said Lexi if they could hold hands. It was so cute!


We left the Zoo around 4 pm, got some ice cream, and then the thunderstorm rolled in - and boy oh boy did it rain! It rained cats and dogs, spaghetti and meatballs, and I swear i even saw a Porka-dot-dot fall from the sky during a loud crack of thunder. We took shelter in a very nice hair salon (I attribute their kindness to Lexi's pure cuteness).... Once the rain subsided, we took the Subway back home to Kendie & Matt's, and called it a day.

We all had such a great time, and can't wait to take Lexi out on another field trip! Next stop, Shea stadium!

The Jimmies

We found a new kids band. And I love it! So does Alexis, thank goodness, because that gives me a good excuse to listen to their music.

The Jimmies were giving a free concert today downtown near Union Square, so we went. They were filming for a DVD they'll be releasing and Alexis got to be right up front. Maybe she'll be in the movie! It was a great rock concert, kiddie style. She got a free t-shirt and rocked out to make her Aunt Allie & Aunt Laura proud!


Here's a video clip of my favorite song, Spanimals:



After the concert we wandered through the Union Square Farmer's Market, then over to Blue 9 for some yummy hamburgers (if you don't already know, Matt & I are always looking for some good burgers!) This was a place we found a couple of years ago, but have just never been back to for one reason or another. Then we did a little shopping at Trader Joe's and loaded it all onto our stroller & shoulders and headed back uptown on the A train. Which promptly stopped due to an *electrical outage*. So we sat at the 42nd street station for awhile hoping and praying that it would be up and running soon, but finally decided (for the sake of our milk) to transfer to the 1 train which took us home without any further delays. I do love the subway system here, but it can be so temperamental and a bit uncooperative at times.

Prospect Park Zoo

(Ella & Alexis checking out the sea lions)

We headed over the Zoo in Brooklyn today with our friend Sheridan. We've never been there before, and in an effort to use our zoo membership to it's fullest, we decided to check it out. It was awesome. I mean, it's really, really small. Smaller than the Central Park Zoo (for those of you familiar with that), but it was virtually empty, so we had up close time with all the animals. We didn't feel rushed at all, and got to spend some serious time with the baboons. The baboon exhibit was in a big room where a glass wall ran from the ceiling to the floor separating us from the baboons. There was a big daddy baboon sitting really close to the window- at one point he went right up and rested his feet on the window. I let Ella out of the stroller to crawl around and she headed straight for the window to get a good up close look. Being only 1, she pulled herself up on the window and then banged her little fist in excitement. Too much excitement, I'm afraid, for Big Daddy. He got quite flustered, jumped up and banged back on the window so hard that it even startled me! I whisked her up into my arms and ran from the window quickly. The zoo keeper there wasn't upset with us, thank goodness. Seems it happens whenever someone taps/knocks/bangs on the window. The baboons feel threatened and act out. Ella wouldn't go near the window after that.

Alexis learned to milk a cow:

And spent some time playing baby chick & spider's meal:

And we saw a black swan. Amazing.

After the zoo, we met up with the VanDeGraffs & rode the carousel & just played in a big green field in Prospect Park. Delightful! Then it was back onto the train to take the hour ride (for only 16 miles!) back to Manhattan.