First Day of School

We have made it through Milo's first week of school, and it was mostly great! We had a nasty complication of having our air conditioner go out three days before school started. I had wanted to have a quiet weekend at home getting organized and rested, but we ended up having to escape the heat of the house and sleeping fitfully through the hot nights. One night, I couldn't take any more and went to my friend Wendy's to sleep; that was much better.

Milo really likes his teacher and class. He can name a few kids who are friends. His classwork came home in a big folder, and he could explain everything they did in class. The first day, I put his lunch money in his bag, and he didn't have it to pay in the line, so now we know to put it in his pocket. He left his lunchbox in the play yard, and I made us go it. He freaked out to see it was crawling with ants, so hopefully he will remember to get it now. By the end of the week, there were a few more tantrums than normal. I think the adjustment from no preschool/daycare naps and the intensity of kinder is exhausting. I am always pooped the first month of school after summer or winter break, so I know he is too. This week should be better. We got that relaxing weekend at home I wanted and the air conditioner is running strong!

Science Center

 We said goodbye to Donna on Friday evening, and 24 hours later our air conditioner died. I guess we can thank only the heat wave and four hot people and a dog in 900 square feet for that. That meant we had to try and stay out of the house for 4 days while waiting for the air repairman to come. Yuck. Of course, the whole city was hot as hell, so finding places to go was a challenge. Sunday, Lyman worked double gigs, so Milo and I went to the Science Center. As you can see, we had a great time. We hunted for dinosaur fossils...

 Stood in a human size kaleidoscope...

 shopped at the market....

 and launched rockets using air and water pressure. This was a very kid and mom friendly place. I have been to other science museums and wished I had my rocket scientist friends in tow, but this place I could mostly decode and explain the signs and exhibits.

Rocket Launch

Funny Guy

Donna's Visit

 After many months of waiting, Donna was here to visit for two weeks. We had a great time!  We swam in our pool, went to Y classes, enjoyed good restaurants, watched silly movies and Milo and Nonna had a sleep over each night in his room. One weekend, we had a real sleep over! M and N went to a hotel with a new pool and movie theatre near-by and L and I went to a cabin with two of our best pals. I think we all had a lot of fun.

The cabin was very relaxing: we were unplugged from Lyman's phone and internet. There was no TV. Just rest, sleep, good food, beach, drinks and our friends.

Universal Studios

 Donna has seen so much of our town, it's hard to think of new things to do. This summer we decided to check out Universal Studios since Milo is now tall enough to do most attractions, and Costco had a nicely price pass. Unfortunately, it was hot as hell there as it was in most of So Cal unless you were standing right at the ocean's edge. Some highlights of the day included... walking through the "House of Horrors" or Horrified House as Milo calls it and ducking out at the first of seven exits. Outside, we saw Frankenstein who would not let me pass to get M's stroller, but posed with L and M.

 Sadly, the Transformer attraction had a 90 min wait. It must have been air conditioned in there!  We didn't want to wait that long, and will go first thing when we go back.

 Inside the Universal Museum hall, there was a set design for the new ParaNorman. Milo is way excited about this movie and looked at every inch of the set design.He could have stood there and looked for hours.  It is really beautiful art work. We'll see the movie opening weekend of course.

Beach Day

 Nonna has never visited on a day that was hot enough for the beach. This trip was perfect weather for that!  We had a nice afternoon of make sand castles, eating our picnic and jumping in the waves.

Nonna's Last Day

 For Nonna's last day- sniff- we went to the Getty Villa. Lyman had never been there!  Neither had Donna, and it was 20 degrees cooler than in our neighborhood. We enjoyed walking around the museum galleries, gardens and eating a delicious lunch. I ate this amazing soup that I will try and replicate at home and an incredible dessert I could never copy. We headed home to the heat only when Milo started snoring in his wheels, and Lyman looks very tired from his back pain.

 At home, we spent the last, long hours talking about all the fun we had and how much we would miss Nonna. Then we went to dinner and drove to the airport. Tears all around, we said good bye after a great visit. Come back soon Nonna!