Seriously, my husband is a saint. Not only does he somehow take care of and entertain the rest of us, he’s a real trooper when it’s HIS turn to be pampered. We have a busy month beginning early May (Mother’s Day) through late May (my birthday) to early June (Bart’s birthday) and mid-June (Father’s Day). Though Bart claims it’s his “birthday month”, we girls do our best.
But before we celebrated Daddy, we attended a Kidz Bop concert at the Hollywood Bowl, a gorgeous outdoor venue – and Bart actually BOOKED those tickets, so maybe this WAS for him?! For those who are not familiar, “KIDZ BOP records kid-friendly versions of today’s biggest pop music hits sung by kids, for kids.” In other words, they destroy good music by morphing or removing the “gritty” parts of songs (oh, and they’re all sung by kids who do NOT sound like the famous artists, just sayin’).
Anyway, ironically earlier that same day Ella’s friend Scout had a birthday party with face painting, and that worked out perfectly:
The girls had a blast at the concert (and we had a blast watching them). Ironically, the show started super early BUT had technical difficulties and ended up starting 45 minutes late. You’d think that would mean a whole amphitheater of rioting children but nope, they ran music videos on the huge monitors while they arranged the stage. Apparently kids are so enamored by technology that VIDEO is just as good as the real thing. Plus, we had a camera and tiny Oreos:
For Bart’s birthday he started the day with random gifts from Bed, Bath and Beyond which the girls picked. See image above for the awesomest pancake flipper ever – and yes, they tend to buy things for Dad that benefit them. They also bought him Piggy Pop, a pink silicone mold you fill with pancake batter and half a hotdog to make pigs in a blanket at will. Just what every Dad needs!
As I mentioned in last month’s post, I snuck home a special, engraved bottle of Bacardi rum for Bart, which he also got (but did not open) on Birthday Morning:
And at his request, we took him BOWLING for his birthday at the local bowling alley, followed by some time at its arcade, where Bart loves to rock out on Guitar Hero (and apparently so does Ella):
The following weekend Bart and Zoe headed to Portland to celebrate his brother Greg’s 50th birthday with most of his family flying in for the event. Ella and I held down the fort, but Zoe got to spend time with her cousins Lola, Hank, Signe & Aneira in a fun-filled, not-sure-any-adults-are-watching sleepover weekend:
This last picture is the one I think best represents Zoe’s (and possibly Bart’s) experience. In the meantime, Ella and I headed to Palm Springs for a girls’ weekend with our friend Karin and her daughter Sky. We spent HOURS in the pool and had a relaxing, there’s-not-a-minute-when-adults-are-NOT-watching time:
The Friday before that weekend, Ella’s school had their annual Spring Sing, the last one she’ll have since next year (GULP) she’s headed to KINDERGARTEN. No more preschool for this one, and for the first time ever, she and Zoe will go to the same school (Zoe will be in 4th grade – what?!). But back to the Spring Sing – because, why rush things?!
I wonder if they showed the kids the real Karma Chameleon music video? For some reason, I doubt it.
Anyway, the NEXT weekend was Father’s Day! Another chance to celebrate Bart, our patron saint. That Friday Ella’s school hosted a breakfast for the dads; he got a shrinky dink keychain and some lovely original art:
Zoe provided a handmade small bowl for holding paperclips (seriously, that’s how it was explained, and I don’t have the heart to tell her that paper is on the way out…) Regardless, it really is the thought that counts.
To further celebrate, we took Dad out to a nice dinner at a new place that had just opened in LA called Five Leaves, and one of its original investors was Heath Ledger. Bart’s always amazing at finding interesting places, and this one was delicious. And equally interesting, it was literally right beside a huge Scientology building, which made for a great photo backdrop on the way back to the car:
To wrap up June, I went to Italy with my sister for a week, which will be another post entirely, but while I was away, our sweet Ella graduated from pre-school.
I can’t guarantee that I’ll be any better at timely blogging for the second half of 2019, but I can proudly say I’m ALMOST caught up (minus an Italy post and a 4th of July one). That’s something! And with both girls at day camp this summer and two more family vacations with grandparents planned (can’t WAIT!), we should have plenty of content!
Happy June+!
Emphasis on Joy 