Bella is 10

Note: I've been happily working on a multitude of design projects. So, I've been a teeny tiny bit behind in my blogging. This means that there is a blitzkrieg of design-oriented posts on their way. In the meantime, here's another personal post.

Sunday July 20th
I trekked out to the O.C. for my niece Bella's 10th birthday party. (Bella was a Jr. Bridesmaid and Reader at our wedding last year.) Rob had to work. So, I was on my own. Bella's mom, my cousin Janine had planned an Ice Skating party. I was stoked. I haven't ice skated in years. As I was getting dressed and frantically searching for a pair of jeans, my oh-so-brilliant husband said to skip the jeans. He added , "It won't be that cold at the rink. You'll be fine." For the sake of argument, I put on a pair of shorts. Bad idea.

When I arrived fashionably late courtesy of L.A./O.C traffic, my hopes of landing a triple axel were dashed. (Okay, I exaggerate about the triple axel. It's more like my hopes of circling the rink were dashed.) It was freezing - teeth -chattering, lip numbing cold. Thankfully, I keep a hoodie in my car for such occasions. The hoodie helped a little, but not enough to prevent hypothermia. So, I huddled with the other "grown-ups" in the party room, which was a couple of degrees warmer. There would be no ice skating for me. I would have cried, but the tears would have frozen onto my cheeks.

I have no culinary photos to share. Contrary to popular belief my whole existence does not revolve around food. Besides, this was a kids' party. The food spread consisted of every kind of pizza imaginable, cake, chips, dip, and the politically correct fruit tray. I was in heaven. I am not too high brow to appreciate the deliciousness of junk food.

Bella - the Birthday Girl & Me

Bella in action

Janine lights the candles

Cake Carnage

Bella's Birthday from Anne K. on Vimeo.
I love the way kids sing "Happy Birthday". Their level of embellishment cracks me up.

After the party, I hung out with my relatives at their house in Rancho Santa Margarita. We watched Bella open her gifts. The rest of the night was spent with catching up and goofing around. For those that don't know, I come from a family of comedians. If you're not quick-witted and thick-skinned, you have a rough time. I had a great time and snuck in a little after midnight.

Legomaniacs Unite!

Rob and I were legomaniacs growing up. We even paid homage to this shared love of Legos at our wedding by having a Lego cake topper.
When the nephews expressed interest in going to Legoland in Carlsbad, we were secretly thrilled. Who wouldn't want to go to a theme park with Legos everywhere? This was our perfect opportunity to check the place out. We hadn't gone on our own because the place is definitely geared towards the 3-12 crowd.

Franky and I had gone to Legoland 4 years ago and had a blast. We both knew it was going to be fun. This was Rob's, Cathee's, & Ethan's 1st Time there. The place did not disappoint. Even though the place was a tad bit crowded, we were able to ride some rides. Getting the nephews on rides is a HUGE deal. They will snowboard all day, but are completely terrified of the simplest amusement park rides. These are the same boys that were freaked up by the tram ride on the Universal Studios backlot. I have a sneaking suspicion that the temporary newfound courage was brought on by the presence of "Uncle Rob".

The highlights of the day were not the rides, but all the goofy portraits we took amongst all the Lego statues and dioramas. I think I have created monsters. For years, I've been a photo hound. Now, Cathee is also a picture-taking fool and my nephews are hams. Add Rob to the mix and you get some really silly pictures.

For your entertainment, I present these:

Typical Tourist Photo of Rob & the nephews at the Park Entrance
"F" is for Franky
"E" is for Ethan
Lego Tourists
Ethan with a Lego Spongebob
Ethan going for a drive
Franky going for a quick trip

How about some Lego Mariachis?
Rob trying to blend in with a bear while "borrowing" Ethan's hat
Sir Ethan of Virginia
Sir Ethan in action

Franky and his favorite Bionicle
More Bionicle love

Kids wear me out - Part 2

Day 2 -Sightseeing around L.A.
Rob and I traded tour guide duties. Cathee, the boys, and I had a big breakfast at Foxy's in Glendale and headed out. The boys are both fans of Gundam models. We made a stop in Chinatown at a few stores that I knew had deals of these models. The stunned looks on their faces were priceless. They had never seen stores with variety quite like that. They shopped until they dropped or something close to it. We refueled with some boba drinks or bubble tea. Then, we headed off to Olvera Street. We wanted them to see a bit of L.A.'s history. We took a short tour of Avila Adobe. We continued the buying frenzy with purchases of Luchador masks. The kids were ecstatic. We had dinner at Brownstone Pizza and cupcakes for dessert from Dots Cupcakes. We finished the day by passing out in my living room while watching "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".

Franky & I at breakfast

Ethan & Cathee
Clowning around with the super candy machineChinatown
Toasting with their Boba drinks
At the Avila Adobe
Luchadors!
Dots Cupcakes in Pasadena
Franky enjoying the aroma
Doesn't this pizza look ginormous?!
Franky trying to make a dent in the Pizza

Kids wear me out - Part 1

These are my nephews Franky & Ethan. Franky is 10 and Ethan is 4. They and their mother Cathee (my younger sister) came out here for a visit. Rob & I loved having them here. The boys are hilarious and are quite the little characters. It was such an action-packed mini-vacation that it's taken me a whole week to recover. I kid you not. (Pun intended). They had what my sister and I call a "Mamma Lynda Vacation". When we were kids, my mother would plan our family vacations with as much activity as possible. When we were done with the vacation, we'd need a vacation from our vacation. In the four days they were here, we took them snowboarding at Mountain High, sightseeing in Chinatown L.A., hanging out at Legoland, and dinner in Koreatown.

Here is a recap:
Day 1 Snowboarding at Mountain High - Wrightwood, CA
As always, work kept me from enjoying the snow. So, Rob took my sister and the kids up to the resort. This was Ethan's 1st time snowboarding. According to Cathee, Ethan was crying hysterically because he was afraid to snowboard. She said he cried all the way until the beginning of his lesson. Once he started, he LOVED it and there was no stopping him. This was Franky's 2nd time snowboarding. This put him in a more advanced class than his little brother. It was great for Franky, but sucked for taking pictures of him in action. I got a reprieve from all the excitement and met them for dinner afterwards at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles. Yummy!

All day 1 pics and video were taken by Cathee

View of the Mountain
Franky strapped into his board and waiting for his lesson to start.
Ethan on the "magic carpet" lift for kids
Franky, Cathee, and Ethan

Video of Ethan Snowboarding.