Making Friends at Torung

And after our little jaunt to the Pasadena Mall, we stopped by our fave Mom-and-Pop Thai place, where Athena made a friend enjoying the indoor fountain.

At the Pasadena Mall

I have a confession to make. I'm not very good at shopping. At least, I don't enjoy doing it serious more than once or twice a year. (Excepting bookstores, of course.) Sally, on the other hand, is a season pro. So one reason I'm glad for Athena (and soon, Zoë) is I now have a useful function to perform in the shopping process. Namely, watch the kids. Here's Athena exploring a sculpture at the Pasadena Mall.

At the O.C. County Fair

Here's some pics from our trip to the Orange County County Fair. Although much of the fair has been given over to carnival rides and pushing the boundaries of what foods can be deep fried, there's a still some space dedicated to the traditional raison d'etre of County Fairs, displaying produce and livestock. Here's Athena in front of some prize pumpkins.


And who can resist the kitsch of one of those stick your head into the humorous tableu displays? Not Athena...


Still, there's only so much championship squash Athena can endure before wanting to get on with the overpriced rides. Here's some kindly girl helping Athena through an obstacle course:



And Athena insisted I accompany her on the kiddie bumpers cars, despite the fact that I can't actually fit inside the bumper car.




All in all, it was fun, but expensive. They really lure you in with those cheap ride tickets, where it usually takes 6-8 tickets to get on a ride. All in all, we spent about as much as we would have on a day at Disneyland, but then, no one at Disneylad is deep-frying Krispy Kremes.

Martin's Birthday Party

Among my earliest memories is going to childhood parties given by friends of my parents. It was oddly disorienting bringing a gift to wishing a happy birthday to some kid I barely knew, but thrilling as well, as if I got to sneak into a party, with all its attendant benefits, on a technicality.

So, the tradition continues, as we took Athena and Zoe to the first birthday party of Martin, the second boy of Michael, a friend in my writing group.

Athena and Zoë were thrilled at the prospect of meeting some kids their own age. Here Athena learns that Michael's oldest Morgan shares her love of and fascination with birthday cakes:





Here Zoë makes friends with the birthday boy Martin and even plants a big, wet birthday kiss on his head when he wasn't looking.




Morgan, however, was less than thrilled with having to share the spotlight with yet another one year old.



All too familiar with sibling rivarly, we made sure to get a little something for non-birthday boy Morgan. Here he is enjoying his new toy, a bubble gun, and wherever there are bubbles, Athena is sure to be close by (although not always in a cowboy hat).





Here Athena and Zoë enjoy free access to their hosts' toys:





And Michael was kind enough to introduce Athena to their pet bunny.



And here Zoë displays her natural and (never ending) curiousity. This time in Mommy's drink.

At the Little Gym

Prior to starting school, we had Athena in a movement class at The Little Gym. Athena's favorite part was when they inflated the bounce track.








The teacher was very nice and let Zoë join in as well.

Riot Ballerina

Here's some pics from a trip to Kids Concept. Usually, Athena is all about climbing, sliding, and general running around, but this time show showed some interest in the dress up corner. Not sure why she settled on riot gear ballerina, though.






For Zoë's part, she spent a good part of the day in the tube leading to the ball pit without ever venturing into the ball pit.. I guess she was acclimatizing herself, since the next time we went, she pretty much went into the pit and refused to come out.

4th of July

And here's two pics left over from our 4th of July, when we went down to a park. Here's Athena blowing on a dandylion



And climbing a tree.

Athena and Zoe in the car

And here's a nice pic of Athan and Zoë in the car.

Hollywood Farmers' Market

During one of Nana's visits this summer, we took the kids to the Hollywood Farmers' Market. The biggest attraction for the kids is a Rastafarian who does a percussion jam session for the kiddies. Here's Athena on the tambourine






And the bongos








Even Zoë got into the act.


The Market also gives out one of Athena's very favorite things, balloons.

June 2007 - The Grove/Farmers' Market

The current writers' strike gives me some time to catch up on this blog. These pics were from the summer, when we'd often go The Grove/Farmers' Market.

The Farmers' Market has been around since the 30s. It boasts a large eating area where we can usually find something for even our most fussy eaters.


Right next door is The Grove. By contrast, it's only been open a few years, but it's great for families hoping to wear out their kids so they can get some sleep that night. There's an American Girl store Athena loves to patrol.


A sculpture of kids selling lemonade with a functioning hose. Athena takes a drink, then pretends to feed the metal dog.


(Don't worry, we brought a change of clothes.)



And here's a few shots of Paul Mangan when he came to work in L.A. Here's Zoë wondering who the hell this strange guy is...


And then deciding he can't be all that bad.

Father's Day

Okay, still catching up on old pic. These are from Father's Day. I'm still getting used to the idea of being a Dad, but it is nice having a new holiday, like getting a second birthday.

This year, they took me out to a Mexican restaurant looking out over the water at Marina. Here's Athena enjoying one of many, many tortilla chips.


And here's Athena checking out our pics.


Me and Zoe enjoying some chips of our own.


And here Zoe is just looking adorable.

Athena and Zoë's Birthday Gala

Athena turned three and Zoe turned one last week, so we decided to splurge for a nice birthday party at an indoor playground in Torrance called KidConcepts.

As the guests trickled in, they enjoyed the general play area, with Ann's baby Cooper enjoying the toddler area.




Although he appears to be deeply ambivalent about the ball pit...


Nearby, Zoe enjoyed playing with knobs.


Meanwhile, many of the older kids liked playing in the kitchen area.


Everyone gathered around for a selection of imaginary food.


The party started in earnest when got to spend a little time in the private gym area, where the staff had set up a toddler obstacle course.






Here's Morgan and Athena crawling into the tunnel.


And Athena emerging from the tunnel to a slide.


And here's Morgan's younger brother Martin coaxed out of the tunnel by his parents.


And Jerry climbing up the slide while Martin and Avril watch.


There was also a rope swing for the older kids.




And a nice big rug for younger kids Rex and Cooper to crawl on.






Then it was on the dining room for pizza and juice boxes.


Athena's old enough to know she loves pizza.


Then it was time to bring out the cake.




We lit the candles and sang Happy Birthday twice, once for an excited Athena...






And once for a nonplussed Zoe.


After the party everyone was welcome to stay and play but a lot of kids had had a very eventful afternoon.


But we were lucky enough to get some pics of a few of our guests before they left.






Thanks to everyone who came. You helped make the party a memorable and fun-filled event.