How Many Cute Dogs are in New York City????

TOO MANY TO COUNT!!!

The Met (also titled "Can We Stop Walking Now?")

Tons of cool stuff to see at The Met, but really only scratched the surface today. Great fun walking around and looking at the art, ESPECIALLY the modern art. Luckily Jessica found Nigel's art lessons to be as amusing as Carroll. Very cranky guards everywhere. NO FLASH, NO FUN!!

New York Central Park

Finally got some time in Central Park without the rain. Jess enjoyed the rocks and the kids ran around a bit.

New York Day One

Good fun all round today, but damn busy. Up first thing this morning and can't help but wonder why Jess went to bed on Los Angeles time, but woke up on New York time. Evil, pure evil. Well, we headed off to visit Donna and stopped at The Barking Dog for breakfast - seemed appropriate for all who know Jess. Then found out Donna was rooming in the Burn Ward. I was worried for a moment that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong during surgery, but turns out there's just a bed shortage. Bummer though, no flowers or deliveries, and NO KIDS under 14. No pics of Donna in the hospital either as that would also be evil, pure evil. Anyway, after a visit with DC, off we went to the Natural History Museum. Did the fabu frog exhibit and Jess did some great photo duties, my favorite included here. Then upon exit from the museum, an amazing storm hit NY in a frenzy of thunder and lightening. No cabs to be found (that would stop for us mere tourists) so we 'rode' across Central Park and then walked back to DC's place. Soaked through and through, but a cool storm and not very cold. Jess and I stopped for smoothies along the way. Then we ran, late, to the Wright's for a family dinner of great NY pizza. So darn good and now wishing I'd snuck (sneaked?) some leftovers home to munch while I do late emails. Night night all. Day two coming up.

Prince Eric Comes to Camp Nash

The Nash family had the pleasure of hosting Prince Eric of Redondo Beach for a few days while his family was away from the kingdom in Lake Arrowhead. To say Jess had a good time was putting it mildly. P-Eric went EVERYWHERE with us. To a softball game at Cheviot Hills, to Starbucks for lattes, to Bagel Broker, to Toppings for frozen yogurt, to Aunt Jerri's house in Pasadena for a visit with Jessica's cousins. We had many walks, lots of sniffing and territory marking (safely outside) and a ton of couch time. Not sure who was more tired at night, Eric or us.

The Room Finale

No pics here yet. The stenciling is still underway. Check back for the big finale shortly.

Room Renovation - Day 629

Note to self - the next time we have a big renovation project, just do it when Jess is IN school. By Day 3 of this project, Jess was no longer interested and it was BORING to paint. So needless to say, we did not finish in a week. We did not finish in two weeks. Detail work still to come this week - stripes and bubbles on the walls. And hopefully the new closet interior and doors. We're waiting to hear back from Eldon on closet timing. Final painting cannot continue until we have WATER at our house. Currently on day two of main line break in our block. Hurrah!

Room Renovation - Day 2

On Day Two we went to buy supplies and got the big stuff moved. Mattresses in the dining room, bookcases in the hallway, platic wrap taped down over the floors. Carroll realized she is now too damn old to move the bookcases on her own.

Room Renovation - Day 1

Adrian flies off to New York, so the Nash ladies decide to spend a quick five days doing a room makeover for Jessica. They do it on TV all the time, surely we can knock this out quickly. DAY ONE was moving everything that was in Jessica's room into the spare room. Even with many boxes to Goodwill, there still seemed to be more than expected.

Another Year in the Can!

In perhaps the strangest graduation ceremony in history, Page Private School Beverly Hills goes out with a whimper instead of a bang. A real shame that the school just seemed to give up halfway through the year. The three muskateers, Jess, Sydney and Ananda are promising to stay in touch over the summer and stay friends from potentially three different schools next year.

On the plus side, Jess is ready to move on, and our Turning Point license plate frame is already installed and ready for school start in Fall '09. Geek mom-of-the-year, table-for-one ready?! On a side note, Jess was fabulous in her new dress and wedgie heels. What I wouldn't give to have that girl's hair!

Only in Los Angeles

So only in Los Angeles do 9-year-olds have birthdays that pick up their guests in a limo. Today Jess went to a bowling party in Hollywood for a friend from school. All the girls were picked up and dropped off in a limo. Many neighbors happened to be out during the pick-up, so I can only imagine what they must think. Needless to say, Jess LOVED it.

Gorgeous Memorial Day at the Beach

Fab day at the beach on Sunday, enjoying the sun and the long holiday weekend. Jess gave up five minutes for a few quick shots, although she is hoping for a modeling fee. Jess and Adrian will be supplying the Holister company a few shots for their upcoming catalogue.

Lucy's Ballet Recital

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The best evening EVER seeing Lucy in her first ballet recital. Very exciting and Lucy was amazing. Back to Jerri and Bren's for pizza post-performace.

Page School Picnic 2009

End of year is here and the three musketeers had their final school picnic together.

Mom's Day 2009 Rocks Muffin-Style

The best surprise EVER on Mother's Day when Sprinkles Cupcakes arrived at our front door. Not sure who was more excited, myself or Jessica. We had a three day cupcaking-eating-extravaganza thanks to Donna Clarke. You rock DC!

The Orthodontics Roller Coaster Begins

So Jess is now two weeks in to her new expander. We had one visit to take 3D panoramic x-rays, another two visits to make molds, and then presto-chango, Jess has a cool retainer looking thing that will expand her upper pallet to make more room for teeth - and fix the cross bite she currently has. Every night we have a special screwdriver that we use to 'turn' the expander. 16 turns this month should do the trick. Once the upper pallet is wide enough, we then get braces on the bottom for about three months to straighten the teeth that have already caved inward a bit to compensate for the cross-bite. This will all be done in six months time and we'll then re-evaluate her teeth in the early teen years to see if she needs more work. We're hoping this work now will prevent heavy duty work when she's older.

Those Naughty Aztecs

A fun school journal entry from Jessica after they had a chapter on Mexican culture and the Aztecs. Mistakes left in. I love the segways.

"In Mexico everyone has something to sell. I think going to Mexico would be alot of fun. They do cool traditions. They have lots of spicy foods in Mexico. I like the dancing people. I think their dances are really cool. I think their mueseums are pretty. I think that because they have so many beautiful things. They take people and put them on top of a Aztec and killed them. They also do rodeos. A rodeo is when you have a bull or a horse and you half to ride on them. And they half to try to get you off by bouncing and jumping.

Does This Wetsuit Make My Butt Look Big??

Lest I forget to brag, I was brave enough to join 11-year-old Jackson in an ocean scuba. After a 1-1/2 hour lesson in the pool (with our hot Argentinian instructor), off we went in a boat (with our also very hot British instructor) for a 30-minute dive. Windy conditions and high waves ALMOST made me chicken out, but the Clark-Kent'esque accountant type who was with our group (complete with pocket protector and pierced nipples - go figure) got me under the waves and over my fear. Or perhaps it was my fear of what I'd say to Sharon if I let Jackson go without me? Either way, I did it! Quite amazing really and under less windy conditions I might try again. I'm predicting spring 2010 in Hawaii . . . any takers?

The Perfect Resort - Dreams Puerto Aventuras

About an hour down the coast from Cancun, toward Tulum. Not too big, not too small . . . just right. Great ocean and marina views.