34 Big Ones

We spent my birthday in Santa Monica today. Lyman had a tiny bit of business to do there, and I wanted to escape the smoke and heat near our home. We had a great time eating lunch out, riding the century old carousel, messing around on the boardwalk (I didn't have a great time in the arcade, but it was tolerable watching M have a great time) and enjoying mostly clear skies and cooler weather (it's 25 degrees cooler there!). As we were starting to head back to the car, M was confused why we were not going down to the water to swim. He seemed satisfied that we didn't bring his shovel and bucket, and we would come back when we had his gear. So, it looks like I need to make good in the next week on that. We all were pooped when we got home and enjoyed a family nap. I great end to a great birthday.

Birthday Blooms

Oh, I do love fresh flowers! Lyman brought me this gorgeous bundle!
My good friends Lesli and Ivan brought these when they came for dinner and cake.
Aren't they outrageous? I love how exotic they are!

Final Cake

Saturday was the final cake class with my girlfriends. A couple of girls are going on to the next level to make sugar flowers and learn the basket weave technique, but this is enough for me for now. It was really fun to take the class with friends, but I don't know how the teacher felt about it! She was polite enough to wait for our chatter to stop and ignore the potty mouth when the our icing bags exploded or flowers fell on the floor. I think our final products are quite nice! I stole this chocolate design from another friend who had taken the class too- I can't wait to taste it later at my birthday dinner!

Summer Clean-Up

It has been way too hot to enjoy our balcony this summer, so it had gotten really nasty, dirty out there. Anxious for cooler, fall weather, one afternoon Milo and I went out to scrub it down. It looked super nice, from the open window, since it was still too hot to sit out there. However, now, with the fires nearby still blazing, I am sure it will covered with ash, and we will have to redo the cleaning. I don't think Milo will mind though!

More brokem stuff...

Finally, I think we have things under control around here. It sure seems like things come and go in waves of problems and thus expenses. I forgot to mention in my last lament about broken vacuums and washing machines, that poor Murphy had a bad time this summer. After a trip to Petco for grooming, he got mange/mites. He had to go three times to the vet, had several medication treatments but now he's healthy and happy again.

We had our double ceiling professionally painted five years (!) ago when we moved in. For the past five years, I have been using the leftover paint to patch , but it ran out. After an unsuccessful attempt to match it, it has all been redone again. So, knock wood, this is the end of things breaking and/or looking crappy until the next wave.

Madeline's Sixth

Yesterday we helped Madeline celebrate her 6th birthday! I can't believe she is that old! No more babies *sigh*. It was a great party with jumper, arts and crafts, delicious food and cake, and all our best friends. Here is the birthday girl in the jumper.

This is m friend Carrie and, of course, Jenny at the party.

To match the arts and crafts theme, all the little ones got an apron with their name on it. Cute! Milo had a such a great time! I thought he would put up a fight since we some of the first to leave, but he must have felt how tired he was. When we got home, it was too late for a bath, but he was happy to sit on the edge of the sick and let me wash all the sand, juice, cake, grass, chocolate, glue and marker off before heading to bed with no complaints.

More Birthday Pictures

Louis captures Lyman telling a joke
Milo loved his crown Maddie made for him- he wore it up until bed time.

Kerplop!

In the sandbox

Many of these boxes yielded many dirty diapers today!

More Cake!

Some girlfriends from work wanted to take the cake decorating class this summer. I already took this class, but, in an effort to refine my skills and hang out with friends playing with sugar, I signed up again. I am MUCH better the second time, and it's a lot of fun with so many friends along. Here are our first cakes with the rainbow theme.

Here are our second cakes. Some did clowns and others did drop flowers. We have one more class. I'm going to go out of my comfort, style wise, and indulge my comfort, taste wise with chocolate and pudding. After all, this final one will also be my birthday cake. Yum!

Farm with Friends

Jenny and her two ladies invited us to come with them to a family farm about 45 minutes away. Always up adventure and a new play place, we were happy to come along. The farm was very charming, affordable and clean (for a farm). I am always a little sad for animals on display, but these all looked happy and healthy. In LA, I'm used to poor animals being brought in for the day to be mauled and poked, but this was a real farm with its animal residents.

Milo and Sophie feeding through the chute.

Goats walking above the play space.

Milo was really into the wooden train and trucks in the sandbox. Maddie was trying to coax him into one of her activities. He will go anywhere with her!

Cho Cho

Milo had a great time playing on this wooden train.

Fun on the Farm

Pony Ride

I was a little surprised that all our kids wanted to ride the ponies. Sophie doesn't even enjoy a carousel horse, and Milo looked a little apprehensive until Maddie said she wanted to ride. I think Milo will do just about anything fearless Maddie will do. He was very serious the whole time not smiling until he was off the pony. What you don't see are two nice college kids walking along with our little ones. This was a great summer morning!

They just don't make em like they used to...

What's new? Obviously I haven't been taking many pictures, but I loved those that Lyman posted last week. Milo is really enjoying spending lots of summer time with us, and I feel like we have a lot more before school starts. This summer has spoiled me; I don't know if I can ever teach summer school again! Having said that, this has been one expensive summer with all kinds of stuff breaking and chores to fix or replace it all. Right after school ended, my vacuum broke, so I had to get a new one (those of you who know me well, know I don't last long without a great vacuum). Then, when we got home from IN, my car needed all kinds of work: new tires, breaks and some kind of belt. I was going to buy a new car at the beginning of the summer, but we couldn't strike a deal, so now that I have sunk a ton of cash into my car, I'm going to drive it a while longer. Then after fixing the car, my washing machine broke. So, a few more hundred dollars later, there is a new one. Some people love to hunt, shop and buy anything, not me. So, with my birthday fast approaching, I am looking forward to taking that tiny amount of money left from replacing all the broken s*&t from this summer and buying something fun!