Day 3: JANE

Old Town Pasadena. I love living 10 minutes from Old Town Pasadena. It's basically 3 long blocks of stores. That's it, but it's quaint and I like those stores. On day 3 though, I wasn't feelin it. By the time we got there, I sort of wanted to hurt my girls. I just didn't want to walk around Forever 21 and Urban with teenagers and especially my teenagers. Kate and I needed some peace. So I dropped them off while the babes and I went to the.....

Norton Simon Museum. Wow, I really liked this museum. It is the perfect size and has the perfect mix of artists, styles, paintings and sculptures. My favorite painting today was The Ragpicker by Manet. I also like Bust of a Woman by Picasso, because it didn't look like his typical work. I remembered stuff from my college art classes that I tend to forget over and over. Van Gogh was fascinated with peasants. Degas liked the female form doing just about any mundane thing like "wiping her leg" or "washing her arm." He isn't just the ballerina guy. I love the warmth of Rembrandt. The best part of the museum was the outside. I can't explain it, just look....

"The Dance"

I walked around this beautiful lake where there were sculptures, waterfalls, etc. So peaceful. Just what I needed.

Dot's Cupcakes. My two picks were almond coconut and dark chocolate with cream filling. We each got two minis. Very very nice.

Amoeba Music. This was the place we missed a few days ago due to no GPS. Well, I found out that Crowded House was playing there yesterday. This was one of my favorite bands in high school and I still love them today. I couldn't believe my luck! Yipee. I drove into Amoeba by myself and made it fine. I walked in and stood right next to the little stage. 1st row. I listened to Crowded House play for free for an hour, then I got their autographs and drove home. I returned home and talked to Brett about his trip to Santa Barbara. Cool picture coming..

Sleeping on the Tramp. Older kids, Kate and Jane slept on the tramp last night. I am so appreciative to Kate for giving my kids such a great summer here. I'm grateful that Jane and her family bought her a ticket out here. She unfortunately has seen as many tears as happy laughs, but it is what it is. I'm grateful she's here. Jane's favorite thing to say is "Tender Mercies!" any time any positive thing happens whatsoever. It's way funny.

Day 2: JANE

Manhattan Beach. I'm so glad we went to this beach today. There are a bunch of factors that go into having a good beach experience. Toys, not getting too red, actual waves. Surprisingly, waves really vary from beach to beach, even ones close by each other. Manhattan Beach has good waves. The girls were boogie boarding the entire time. Also, traffic to and from the beach is a huge factor as well. There is a carpool lane all the way there and I never had to get on the 10. Trust me, that's good.

Bagel Sandwiches and FroYo Yogurt Shop in Montrose. Julianne made these bagel sandwiches for me once and we've been loving them ever since. Take a bagel, slice it in half. Put ranch (not mayo) and mustard on top. Sprinkle shredded cheese. Melt a little in microwave. Layer good turkey, salted tomatoes and avacado. Voila. Very good. Montrose is the cutest little street with cute shops and food. We just needed a little somethin somethin after our easy bagel sandwiches.

Shredding the Gnar and Santa Barbara. If you don't know what shredding the gnar is, you really aren't from California. That is actually Spencer's day surfing and Brett's for work. Spencer is going surfing tomorrow too. He is having so much fun this summer. Too bad we haven't been in any place long enough for him to have a full-time job. I hope he can remember how to STUDY and WORK at BYU. Brett is in Santa Barbara watching NBA players exercise. Well, he is watching a doctor analyze how NBA players use their muscles and knees, ankles, etc. Research for work. Oh and he's there with Tony Horton. I feel badly for him that he has to do that. That's ok. Jane's here so we're good.

Little Manhattan and Toddlers and Tiaras. After the beach, we all needed a little rest time, so out came one of my favorite movies. Cutest movie ever: Little Manhattan. Now, I can hear the dumbest reality show ever from the other room, Toddlers and Tiaras. I'm blogging instead. I feel like graham crackers and milk, but I'll be good and not act on that craving. Goodnight.

Day 1: JANE

LACMA Museum in L.A. I liked the pop art floor, the HUGE bright red artsy elevator, the light garden outside, and the Rodin sculptures. I didn't like the parking ticket, because my wallet was in Brett's car and I only had 99 cents (actually Jane had 99 cents) which only lasted an hour and I didn't make it back in time. grrr.

Randy's Donuts. We met Larry, the owner. His brother, Ron, is the other owner. I have no idea who Randy is. I told him that seeing the donut rolling down the street in the movie 2012 made me want to eat a donut at his establishment. He was happy and said their lovely shop was also in IronMan 2. Ali was embarrassed that I talked to him, but she saw in the end that he ended up liking us or at least getting a kick out of us and our randomness.

Beverly Hills. I finally drove through Beverly Hills and saw how beautiful and incredible those houses are. We drove through on accident, because my iphone died and I lost my GPS abilities. I can't drive in L.A. without it. We were two blocks away from Amoeba Music, where we had planned to go and I turned the wrong way on Sunset Boulevard unknowingly and went on an hour detour through Beverly Hills.

Tight Rope Challenge at the Park. Kate picked up the girls and took them to a park, where she tied a cord around two trees and saw who could walk across it the farthest. She has really saved my kids this summer. I like her.

Asian Flank Steak Salad from Si's blog. It was really good. When school starts, I am doing a 30-day Julie/Julia experience. My friend, Si is the Julia Child character and I'm the Julie character. I am going to make something off of her cooking blog (abountifulkitchen.com) every single day for one month. I am doing this, because A-I am going to be lonely lonely lonely without Spencer in this house or state, without my girls all day long, and without a husband until 8ish at night. I am worried about myself a little. B-I want to keep improving my cooking skills and add more variety to my same stuff I get used to making. C-Food is good. I like food.

Deep Thought

When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven,

choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it's not, mmmmmmm, boy.

Happy 20th Anniversary Brett.

A Recent Quote:

In Order to Be Happy and Enjoy Life you Need 3 Things:

1-Something to Do

2-Something to Look Forward To

3-Someone to Do Those Somethings With

Husbands are good that way, aren't they? Thank you for the last 20 interesting, crazy, fun years.

Here's to the next 20. Cheers. Clink.

Santa Barbara

Harry Connick Jr. with Dave and Bobbi Jo at the Hollywood Bowl

L.A. Temple with the "fruit" of our labor if you will. Love this tree.

Bear Lake part 2. Never let a Scorpion in your Shoe.

I had to share these photos. What is this game called?? When you shake your face back and forth vigorously and then snap photos to capture your warped face? Enjoy.

How cute are these pictures of Sydney? She tried and tried until she got up. yeah!

This is kind of cold and awkward..

This is harder than it looks.

Dad to the rescue.

VICTORY!!

I did my ritual "get-up-for-a-total-of-two-short-runs-where-I-can't-seem-to-keep-my- wakeboard-pointed-straight-thus-tending-to-go-out-of-the-wake-which-I-don't-like-and-getting-scared-so-let-go-and-get-back-in-the-boat-and-then-am-sore-for-a-week." And don't think it didn't take a long time to put dashes in the above sentence either. Remember, I don't have a lot to do here yet...

Thanks for indulging me. Got to have these for future blog book. e

Bear Lake Takes the Cake. Don't hit a Snake with a Rake.

We went to Bear Lake this summer with Chris and Darcy's family. It was so nice to be up there with them, but way too short. We have missed the boat, especially since we didn't go to Lake Powell this year. My favorite thing is feeling the wind in my hair as we drive on the lake. There is nothing better than sun on the skin and wind in the hair. This might go down as one of my all-time favorite things. I had the same feeling when I used to have a convertible in college. (Thanks dad :)

Here are some pictures that only begin to capture the magic called summer on the water.

Kate driving the boat. She always insists on driving.

Cutest picture ever...

Two cousins.

Beautiful all the way around.

Maddie's getting really good on the wakeboard.

Chris and Darcy, the all American couple. I don't know why I wrote that. It just sounds good. Who wouldn't want to be the "All American Couple?"

Spence and best cousin, Jace. Yes girls, they're both single..

I love when my Ali smiles like this.

We always just hug on the boat like this. The whole time.