Art Walk with the Chou Chous

Art Walk is a day when they open all the museums on Miracle Mile to the public for free. We met up with Maude and Eve and my new friend Vanessa (a mom from Bastien's kindergarten class) and her two boys at the park by the La Brea Tar Pits.

They had some interesting things going on...

This is the Giant Iron Snail from the Garden Of Vulcan. It's name is The Golden Mean.

Obviously, the kids love it. But what is it?

Well, a blacksmith's wife had a dream about it and she told him he had to build it for her. So he did. Isn't that beautiful?

I had a dream about a Swiss Family Robinson type treehouse. Do you think I can get Jason to build me one of those?

I didn't get the story on this one, so I'm not sure what it was about. Isabella says it's Spiderman. I'll go with that.

Cool mural. This is what it looks like on the way to Lake Piru. I miss Lake Piru.

One of the great things about this park is that it has the perfect hills for rolling...

That's another mom Julie and her son Noah that we ran into from West Hollywood Elementary. It was turning into a real party...

What are those pink things, you ask? Those are Chou Chous.

And what are Chou Chous?

You'd have to ask the guy in the ewok/friar/executioner outfit. That's the artist Gary Baseman. You may recognize his work from the Cranium games.

Of course the kids loved it...

They got to sing and dance with the Chou Chous and the Tar Pit Girls and do ring around the roses. You can see someone's video of it here. About a minute in you can see Eve, Bastien, & Isabella.

Later, we hit the crafty area where I learned how to make lavender blueberry sorbet while the kids made their own hats.

Then, it was time for some ice cream...

...where I had an awesome (for me) celebrity sighting. Check out the guy with the blue hair in the background...

It's Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers!

L.A. can be so fun.

Good nike, bathing soup.

These are two things that Isabella says right now that crack us up. "Good nike" for going to bed and when she swims, she wears a "bathing soup". Here she is in some kind of strange get-up...

Did you notice the foot?

In other news....

it was Eve's birthday June 11th and here are some cute photos of our celebration...

And, finally, just a cute picture of Bastien...

He said something funny the other day too. He misheard the name of the book/movie Diary Of A Wimpie Kid as "Diary Of A Whoopee Kid".

Totally different.

Or not?

Super Grover!!!!

I just love this outfit. And Super Grover.

and my little model.

What A Stud

Wearing his dad's glasses

and his dad's watch.

Her Royal Pink Highness...

This was an outfit Isabella got for her birthday. Her she is showing off her bling...

Bond. James Bond.

Hilarious.

Why are these guys hanging out together?

Ahhhhhh.....Texas

Ok, it's been forever again since I've posted anything. This "getting my act together" thing is not working out so well. But, I'll keep dreaming...

Anyway, we had the best vacation a couple of weeks ago. I didn't take as many pictures of events as I wish I had, but it was a beautiful trip. I got to spend some real quality time with all the people I adore and the kids were in heaven.

We took a trip to Moody Gardens in Galveston. They still need some time to fix the place up from the hurricane, but they did have a pretty awesome bug exhibit that we all really liked. Then we headed into the rainforest which was actually hotter and more humid than Galveston itself. I wonder how often that happens....

Yes, early May is a perfect time to visit Houston. As much as the summer heat sucks, it's pretty awesome to be able to go swimming outside in a real pool at this time of the year. Luckily, my friend Stephanie has one in her backyard!

This is Stephanie's son Riley. I love Riley, he's crazy! And ridiculously cute. As you can see, Isabella came over without a bathing suit, but that didn't stop her.

We spent the next day with our friends from Dallas, who did the unthinkable and drove to Houston for the day!! I didn't have my camera but you can read about it and see pictures here.

The next day was my 40th birthday. I don't have too much to say about that, except how did that happen? Anyway, the kids helped Grand Ma Ma make me a cake (lemon curd and coconut - incredibly delicious)....

Again, Houston at this time of the year is pretty awesome. Especially when your little brother has the coolest boat ever. And he's willing to take you and your kids out for a joyride. (And he even finds little life jackets to fit them!)

This tube/boat/float thing was a total blast. I took Bastien first, then Isabella, then all three of us went. Wow, it was so much fun!

And my brother isn't too far removed from childhood to remember how cool it is to steer the boat by yourself.

The rest of the week was full of wedding activities for our friend Geoff Bay. I think I'll have to do another little post for that one...It was really, really lovely.