Reunion!

 August is our month for reunions. The first one one was with one of my best pals J who moved to the East Coast a while back. Thanks to our blogs and talking on the phone, seeing her again was as if she never left. That didn't keep me from crying though!  We had two weekend of fun with them and all our other pals in common. Before one playdate, Milo had his last game of this season complete with a new trophy.

 Look at us!  We ever dress alike! 

 M and J by the lake in the park; they are alike too with the same front teeth missing.

 Here is an old friend's son who was Milo's age when I met him; and now he is at University. He was a big hit with the kids, putting them in and out of this tree, piggy backing them around and the ultimate, buying them all ice creams from the truck.

After that park, we went to another park across town (these were all Maddie's fav. spots that needed to be revisited). There the kids rode horses. Maddie rode a big horse for big kids and then the medium horse with Milo too.

 For a finale, we rode the train!  We had so much with our old best friends. Someday were going to see their new town. I imagine it won't be long since I am missing them so much already.

Come along Partner

Summer Wedding

 Well, I hate to say it, but you haven't really lived until you have been to a wedding in Malibu overlooking the Pacific on a summer night. What a beautiful wedding for Steve T's daughter, and my date was so handsome! 

Lyman Sings

Summer's End

 Our summer has ended with a bang!  Milo was a super reader in kindergarten and got a free ticket to Six Flags. $100 later, mom and dad had tickets and parking too, and we spent six hours of fun there.

 Milo was tall enough to ride a lot of rides. Thankfully, he was not as brave as he was tall and declined several bigger coasters for the smaller; our backs and necks were grateful!  Our favorites were the Gold Rusher and The Flash as well as everything is Looney Tune land.

 On another day, we went on a hike in a canyon near Pasadena. I use the word hike lightly; imagine a two mile hike with five kids!  There was a waterfall at the end of the trail; we'll make it there someday!

 At the end of this hike was ice cream!  That's better than a waterfall to me!

 My pal Wendy's little guy had his 2nd birthday, and boy was it fun!  I have to brag on her because she is so amazing; she made all these treat bags, cupcakes with liners and the cake.

 And she made his shirt!  It was super a fine time and great finale to a wonderful summer. I have mixed feelings about the summer; it feels like it flew by, but then it also feels like forever ago that Kathy and Charlie were here and we took our trip to Galena. Either way, school starts this week and we'll be back in our fast paced routine.

Pinata

Around Town

Summer break is running out, but it's not over yet!  We have been making the most of everyday to do something fun together. Lyman played an outdoor concert at the LACMA again this year, so of course we came along. Milo is a lot of fun in the art galleries. He runs (almost literally) into a gallery room, scans for his favorite artists (Picasso, Pollock, Matisse) and pulls you over. Then he might make a comment about it before wanting to dash into another gallery.

This was my favorite at LACMA; it's called something-or-other-metro and it's amazing. Dozens of cars zipping around creatively designed buildings. You could view on all four side and above. Mesmerizing.

Milo pulled off a new shirt, and his sweat make a lint armpit hair patch! 

Milo really likes to make his own helmets. Actually, he would love to have store bought masks and helmets in all character designs, time periods and shades of metals, but since he doesn't he uses his imagination well to make his own. There is a fair amount of assistance from me, but the ideas and design are all his.

This past year, we have been enjoying our annual pass to Universal Studios, but it's expired now. We went one last time last week to do all our favorite things. Thankfully, our favorite things are all the shows and play areas and not the rides with 50+ min wait times. Milo's favorite is the George water land which this picture does not do justice. It's a super water play area with buckets, jets, water guns, faucets, sprays and this big rocket that launches tons of water without much warning!