Summer

I really, really love summer right now. Maybe it's because it hasn't better warmer than 80 or so in the valley yet, (not looking forward to the scorching hot days). I don't remember summer being one of my favorite times of year in the past. In New York City it is HOT and humid, and you're in it, and you don't have central air. Your sweaty legs stick to the subway seats and the streets smell like garbage baking. You don't have a car to escape easily to the beach. Summer in LA is wonderful. There is this constant vacation vibe once Memorial Day hits. The beaches are beautiful and some days I can really smell that I live near the ocean - it's right there in the air. I am in love with all the summer cliches right now - watermelon, corn on the cob, barbecues, swimming, lemonade, staying up late, summer movies, long days.

Since coming back from Virginia I have a sort of renew with my kids. I have more energy toward them. In some ways they're getting easier (read: older). It's not a picnic and we have our fair share of tantrums and timeouts, but I don't have to nurse a baby, pack burp cloths, Audrey is fine to sometimes go without the stroller, they're starting to tell me what they want to do with their day, what they want for lunch. Things are feeling free, and I want to give them (and me) that freedom. I can easily stress myself out over little things. Dumb things, like the neatness of my house or mess making, getting somewhere on time. Yesterday I started to stress a little packing everyone's food for the zoo. Then I thought, "Why am I doing this?", and had Audrey and Tyler come in and pack their own lunch pails (with some supervision of course or their entire lunch would be fruit snacks and juice boxes). They loved it. And it was easier for me. I'm so used to doing things for them that I don't realize they're ready to do it themselves. Tyler especially thrives when I give him these sorts of jobs. I'm trying to open my eyes to that, make a conscious effort to de-stress, relinquish control a little. Summer is a great time to do it. No preschool drop-off, I'm trying for minimal activities so we aren't running all over town. I just want to enjoy each other and have a chance to regroup. Slow down a little before the craziness of school, and juggling mommyhood, music class, and apartment managing begins (not to mention being a wife, and fitting in a few things just for me... whew!).

Having said all that, here's a list I've compiled of things I'd like to do this summer. We won't be doing all of it, but when I'm looking at our week and wondering what to do, I'm gonna come back to this list:

Noah's Ark at the Skirball

Butterfly Pavilion at the Natural History Museum

Getty Center

Swim Class

Beach - Zuma, Venice, Santa Monica, Seal Beach

Huntington Gardens (if we can grab tickets fast enough for the free day)

Hurricane Harbor

Hit Pinkberry and Yogurtland a lot

Science Center

Story time at the library

Farmers Markets

Long Beach Aquarium

Day trip to Laguna

Walk around Universal City Walk and play in the fountains

Art projects - like making homemade play dough, finger paints

Travel Town - a usual for us

Chinatown on the Metro

Teach Tyler to read

Hike Fryman and Runyon Canyons

Music Class and guitar practicing

Hollywood and Highland, for bumming around, playing in fountains, and visiting Adam at work

Mooch off our friends' pools

Cook - try out the bazillion recipes I have bookmarked

Picnic at Shane's Inspiration and other favorite parks

Mornings where we just stay in our pjs, play, and be lazy

Pony rides in Griffith Park

Wait for Nate Berkus to come makeover our bedrooms

Visit Babycakes Bakery and SweetSalt Food Shop

Shakespeare in Griffith Park

See a bunch of summer movies

Please let me know what you love to do during the summer. Maybe we will have to add it to our list (or tag along...).

This Is Summer In Virginia

When I was little I remember chasing and catching fireflies just like this. It was so cool to watch Tyler, Audrey, and Clara have fun doing the same. All we needed was the ice cream man to come round the corner, and a crazy "game" of croquet in the front yard to take me back to being so small. That and some Big Wheels in the driveway, neighborhood kids riding bikes, and maybe my dad's classic fireworks show. These are Virginia summer night memories.

Virginia Lovers

Here is our Virginia trip in pictures. We...

Climbed trees.

Found catepillars and chased fireflies.

Took a wagon ride or two.

Had a Father's Day barbecue with my dad, his wife Liz, and cousin Jay.

Took turns with Clara on the back yard swing.

Chased pigeons on the mall in downtown DC.Swam in G-Mom's pool.
Talked and talked and talked with my mom.
Made mud, and did projects galore with Pop-Pop in the yard.

Rode the plane back to California.

Audrey didn't sleep one wink on the plane. At one point we were getting frustrated with her and Adam said, "Audrey I'll give you ten dollars if you go to sleep". Tyler heard this and quickly said, "I'll do it!". He went right to sleep. It's true, bribing does work. We gave him a little money to spend at the dollar store by my mom's house.All four of us love spending time in Virginia. It's always one jam-packed week full of all our favorite things and people. Until the holidays... (Is it sad to already start counting the days?).

Happy Father's Day

What? Father's Day was last weekend? Oops. Well, we are doing a little belated celebrating since we were on the road from Massachusetts to Virginia last Sunday, and I sort of dropped the ball. We're making this greek yogurt parfait for breakfast, and croissants. Grilling for dinner. We went to the store and stocked up on a few of Adam's favorite things:

A&W Rootbeer
Heath Bars
Tickets to see The A Team Monday night
Some free music downloads for our new iPod
A Monster Energy Drink stash
Ice cream sandwiches in the freezer

He deserves to be a bit spoiled. Adam truly is a fantastic dad. The best thing I ever did for my kids was to pick the very best dad to be their dad. How lucky are they? Here's to celebrating Father's Day any (and every) day of the year.

Night Out

We're going to see In The Heights tonight. Can't wait! I've been waiting for this show to come to LA since it won the Tony in 2008. Lin-Manuel Miranda just joined the cast again here, too. I am really excited to see him live (even though I pretty much see him perform every week on Sesame Street, since that's how often they repeat "Frankly, It's A Habitat"). Should be a great date night with Adam.

Toy Story Threeeeee!

We saw Toy Story 3 this morning. I think Adam and I were almost as excited as the kids. Audrey and Tyler had a blast, their first time going to the movies. The movie was wonderful (I think I cried at least three times though). We walked around Universal City Walk afterward, enjoying the perfect LA weather. What a great way to end our vacation week!

Heading to the movies.

Decisions, decisions.

In their seats, eyes glued to the screen.

Post-movie chocolate mouth.

Like OMG. I'm, like, touching Bella's truck. Like her real truck. It was on display outside of the theatre. Now all I need is my vampire.

After the movie we bummed around, playing in fountains and enjoying the sunshine.

Back

We're back. Always feels so good to be home. Always so hard to leave my old home. We are jet lagged. I can feel it big time. I have a headache and some looming nausea. We're all extra sleepy. I do love the day back from a trip. The kids are so happy to be home in their own beds, with their toys. We watch TV, play, and stay in pjs all morning (even though I had to run to music class training early today, which is probably why I feel a little blah - my body doesn't want to work yet). I will post pictures asap. In the meantime, here is some stuff that happened on our East Coast trip:

Good Stuff

Successful airplane trips with two crazy kids.

Tyler helping Pop-Pop with about a million yard projects.

The kids having the best time ever with G-Mom and Pop-Pop while Adam and I were away.

Fantastic road trip with Adam (especially thanks to our new iPod).

Dinner in Queens with Adriana, Jen, and Miles, followed by a walk around our old neighborhood, and a sleepover.

A wonderful hotel room on Cape Cod with the most comfortable king size bed ever.

Laying in that bed, ordering movies.

Anne's rehearsal dinner.

The beach at night on the Cape.

Anne looking absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress.

Tyler and Audrey playing with their cousin, Clara.

Girl talk and watching The Bachelorette with my mom and sister, Stephanie.

A Father's Day Barbeque with my dad and Liz.

Watching the kids catch fireflies in the yard.

Swimming with the kids at my mom's pool.

A visit to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaur bones. We saw the Hope Diamond there, too. Very cool.

Family outings, walks, shopping trips. Spending time with family, family, family.

Bad Stuff

FOOD POISONING, FOOD POISONING, FOOD POISONING. I woke up on gorgeous Cape Cod at 6:30am, the morning of Anne's wedding, and I was sick. Dreadfully sick. The rehearsal dinner was lobster, clams, mussels, clam chowder, and my body completely rejected it. I will spare all the gory details, but through my sickness I managed to put on my bridesmaid dress and make it to the church (so I did indeed get to see beautiful Anne in her dress), but sadly I did not make it down the aisle. Adam had to put me back to bed, where I proceeded to be even sicker still, and he went to the reception solo. I know that Anne had a wonderful wedding day, but it truly was heartbreaking to not be a part of it. I felt a little sorry for myself that day, and had a good cry.

The good news is 24 hours later I was in much better spirits, we enjoyed our road trip back to Virginia, happily hugged our kids, and spent two more days of fun with my family. Photos coming soon...(of the good stuff only, of course).

Bon Voyage

We are ready for our East Coast Extravaganza. First we are flying here:

Then Adam and I are leaving the kids with my mom and stepdad (thank you!!!), picking up a rental car and driving north. Stopping over one night to spend time with friends here:

Then we're driving on to Anne's wedding here:

Cape Cod, Mass. It truly is this beautiful on the Cape. I spent two summers doing theatre in Falmouth. It is New England perfection. I can't wait to spend a weekend there, just me and Adam. Then we'll head back (with a possible stop in Boston for lunch with friends), spend a few more days with my family in Virginia, then home to Cali. Whew! It will be a whirlwind, but we are so excited. Here's to smooth, safe travels, and a fantastic-filled week.

P.S. - Do you think I can check these two at the gate?

Nate Berkus Update: The Dream Is Still Alive!

Another producer, a 30 minute phone interview yesterday (yes, these people work on Sunday), tons of questions answered about our master bedroom and the kids' room, more photos emailed. We are still in the mix! Even though this producer made sure to tell me at the end of our interview that they "get tons of emails everyday, so there's no guarantee" blah, blah, blah, for some reason I feel really good about this. It just might happen. Here is my Nate photo. Can you see him? We have a good ol' chat every afternoon when I start my workout on the elliptical. Because he's right there, so why not? And I'm crazy like that.

THANK YOU to everyone who has jumped on the Nate Berkus bandwagon with us! It's kind of a fun adventure. Keep the well-wishes comin'. Like I said, I think The Secret works with these Oprah folk. The Taits will make it to The Nate Berkus Show.

New Salad

This is hands down my new favorite potato salad (not that I had an old favorite). Isn't it pretty? It's the perfect alternative to the mayonnaise-y, loaded with fat potato salad. I used the big bag of mixed potatoes from Trader Joe's (redskin, purple, and your basic potato). It's so beautiful, too, with the purple potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and grainy mustard. Figured I'd pass it along since it's barbeque season. Definitely a permanent staple in my recipe book.

Friday's Water Play

We busted out the water table this afternoon. We are watching one of our favorite little guys, Jude. His mom was nice enough to trade babysitting with me this week while I trained for music class. It's been a beautiful, laid back, lazy Friday. Great way to kick off the weekend.

How cute is this little guy? And he has the sweetest personality.

Perfectly Audrey... baby doll in one hand, water gun in the other.

These two buddies seem to love each other... most of the time. Torment each other the rest.

Soccer Finale

This afternoon was Tyler's last day of soccer. Nothing is funnier than watching a bunch of four year olds trying to figure out how to play soccer. Seriously. It is hilarious. Their coach had a lot of patience and a good sense of humor. Basically they all just run in circles, not knowing where their goal is, or who's on their team - but they do it with huge smiles on their faces, like they're having the best time. It is adorable. Tyler grew a ton playing soccer these past eight weeks - major confidence booster, learned to listen to a coach, all the soccer skills and coordination. Overall a really great experience. We hope to sign up again next fall. So proud of our little man.

This is what Audrey does during soccer practice. Sits with mom, eats snacks, and riffles through my purse.

Goin' after the ball

High fives after the last practice.

And of course you have to get a last-day-of-soccer treat. Ours was a post-practice trip to McDonald's for Happy Meals and a strawberry milkshake.

Hello Beach!

For the past few weeks Tyler's been saying, "School's almost over - time for the beach!". I had to take him this week. Our first time this summer. It was a little overcast and not too hot, we didn't hit any traffic. Packed our favorite snacks and toys. It was one of those beach days where everything goes so smoothly. (Believe me, that doesn't always happen - just ask my friend Bekah who showed up an hour late because she took the looong way with a crying baby in back). The first Tuesday with no school, spent on the beach. Perfect for California kids kicking off summer.
Remember my Toy Story 3 story. When we got out of the car at the beach the kids yelled, "Toy Story Threeeeeeeee!". I was like, "Huh? There can't be billboards here, too?". But there was Buzz and Woody on every trash can in site. They're everywhere.
This kept them busy for a while. Audrey and Tyler's version of giving a pedicure includes plenty of exfoliating.

There you go. Perfect.

Now we're home. Napping. There will be baths and laundry tonight to get the sand out of every possible hiding spot. Then movie night. We're hoping to hit the beach twice a month this summer - at least. Anyone's welcome. Wanna come?