A couple of weeks ago I went to the Grease sing-a-long at the Hollywood Bowl with some friends from high school in lieu of a traditional 25th reunion. (Ugh, 25th, really?) There weren’t many of us there, but it was a very fun evening.
Here’s the group: Mary, Lourdes and me in the front row; Kendra, Julie, Linda and Christine in the back.
I really missed Paige, especially given all of the sing-a-longs we did when we were little girls. But she was in France, the lucky duck.
We’ve had lots of activity with the Little Free Library and it’s time for an update. First, the bad news. Someone stole the Lego R2D2 we used as a door handle. It’s pretty lame, but luckily they didn’t damage the door in the process and the little platform he was sitting on was intact as well. So we looked around in the Lego boxes and talked with Ezra about what to use to replace it. Ezra wanted to use Ninjago Jay, but we really liked the Star Wars idea better because it’s more universally known. We tried a Storm Trooper but it just didn’t have the same effect. Finally, we realized that we still had two R2D2s so we asked Ezra if we could use another one. He agreed.
Bruce pulled out the big guns to affix it this time and R2 is back up.
So far, so good.
Before we realized we had extra R2s, Bruce and Ezra made missing posters (Ezra’s idea) and taped them to the library.
He hasn’t been turned in, and we’ve taken down the posters, but I think it was a good idea anyway.
Now, for the good news. We got our sign and we’re officially Little Free Library number 2397.
We took a few more pictures in order to register on the LFL site, so I’ll share those here as well. They want a picture of the location.
A closeup.
One with people.
And we sent them one of R2D2 as a unique feature.
I also took some at night.
It’s been hot here lately and yesterday I let the boys do some water play to cool off. It was pretty tame in the beginning — we gave some of the non-native plants a little extra water (I’m not sure my gardenia is going to make it …) and then the boys wanted to wash their truck.
Then they pretended to be firemen putting out a fire in the old lemon tree. (They were too late.)
That led to Ezra spraying Finn and it was all crazy from there.
Another craze is currently taking over our house — the Moomins. The boys had a fabulous time making the garden Hattifatteners. Ezra can’t get enough of the comic strip and is starting to read the books. Everyone pretends to be the Groke.
On Sunday, once the Hattifatteners were in the garden, the boys pulled out our art box and made some Hattifatteners of their own. Finn put his in the ground right next to the big one.
Bruce and I went shopping at the local antique mall a few weeks ago and came across a box of hands. Yes, hands.
I walked right by, but Bruce had a vision! Hattifatteners!
So he set about making a couple to put in the garden. He cut out long pieces of wood and had the boys help him paint them.
We even enlisted Riley, an old Cottage friend who had come with his mom and brother to see the library.
Once the paint was dry, he attached the hands and got ready to put them in the ground.
Ezra was a lot of help.
And so was Finn.
Ezra had a good time pretending he was a Hattifattener, even going so far as to get in the hole.
Finally, in the ground it went. (And the boys really were helpful at this point.)
Oh, did I forget to mention it’s a bird bath?
Pretty fun.
The second one isn’t a bird bath yet, but it will be. It’s in the back yard.
The boys tolerated (Ezra) and enjoyed (Finn) the fact that I co-opted the TV during the Stanley Cup Finals, but both were excited about the championship and asked for t-shirts. They came in the mail last weekend and a hockey craze ensued. All of our old equipment was dragged out of the basement, we ran to the sporting goods store for more sticks (not easy to find in July), and the boys played for hours.
Ezra likes to play goalie; he’s got a good crouch.
This weekend we upgraded from cardboard box goals to wood goals with built in puck blockers to make the driveway chase less likely.
I love that they’re so enthusiastic about playing because it’s such a fun sport. And I think they look pretty awesome in our gear.
A couple of weeks ago there was a story in the L.A. Times about a “nationwide movement” called Little Free Library. Basically, people put up a small structure in their yard somewhere, fill it with books, and welcome neighbors to take a book, bring a book, or both. We were hooked right away and got started planning our own little free library. We mostly used materials we already had, and it came together incredibly fast — less than three weeks. We put it up yesterday evening. Already, people have come by to use it; several books are gone and new ones have appeared.
Of course, I documented the process.
Day one, making the box.
We used some of the boys’ old wooden blocks as cladding for the sides.
Next were some embellishments and a roof.
For the front, Bruce used some pieces of mahogany that he got from Janice’s dad’s workshop.
The metal roof was left over from the playhouse Bruce built for the boys way back when we lived over by the Rose Bowl.
Next it got a couple of coats of finish.
And a red door.
It also got a light inside.
Then we needed a door knob. We didn’t have any laying around and didn’t really want to buy one, so I asked Ezra if he wouldn’t mind making one out of his Lego. I explained he’d be sacrificing the pieces because they’d have to be permanently glued together. He was very excited and came up with this.
So they glued R2D2 together with this platform.
It looks great!
Bruce built a stand for the box, dug a trench to wire in the light with the timed lights in the garden, and dug a big hole.
Once he’d attached the box to the stand, we were almost ready to go.
My contribution was the sign.
The boys were pretty excited about our little project.
And here it is on the first night, all lit up.
There are more pictures here. We’re waiting to hear back from the Little Free Library people to get our official sign and number and get added to their map of libraries.
This has been a super fun experience!
Ezra was sleepwalking the other night (not unusual). He wandered around the house a bit and then I said to him, “You can go back to bed now.” (He can hear and understand and usually does as asked.) This is where he went.
I thought it was very funny and ran for my camera. In the morning I showed him the picture and he also thought it was pretty funny (and weird that he didn’t remember doing it). Then I told him the story about how I slept-walked at a friend’s house one night when I was a little older than he is now. I walked around their house until I made it to the family room where her parents were. Then I sat down in an ice chest that was in the middle of the room. After a while, I got up and went back to bed. Needless to say, he thought that was pretty funny, too.
We went down to Temecula last weekend to celebrate Luke and Linkin’s fourth birthday. After the official party, we all got some extra time to hang out at Eli and Nick’s place. Fun ensued. There were fireworks (the tame kind) that Ezra and Finn thoroughly enjoyed. Here are a few pictures.
Always fun to see all seven Moision/Beck cousins together!
Not sure why but I didn’t add anything to the blog this week. Got some catching up to do! Here’s my first post o’ random shots of this week.
First, old-school cool off in the sprinklers during one of our very hot afternoons.
Ninja poses.
Tree trimming.
Sword posing.
Ezra and Lamby, still together after all these (7-1/2) years.
Knot tying with linguini. (Gotta get them started tying their shoes somehow …)
After camp playtime. First, Ezra and Lucy.
And Finn and Charlie on the iPad.
The boys are not fans of the fireworks — especially the local, illegal kind that our neighbors have been shooting off for a couple of weeks now. Tonight was, of course, particularly loud. The boys requested their ear mops during their reading time, and I couldn’t help but snap a couple of pictures.
So, what did you do after the neighborhood party? Ezra sat on a ladder in the front yard, poking holes in styrofoam with a drill bit, while wearing “ear mops.”
Finn swung a rope around.
Our neighborhood has a 4th of July party, which we missed last year because the boys and I were braving tropical storms. This year we’re here, so the boys (all three of them) decorated their vehicles (while I made a dish for the potluck) and headed out for the parade.
The event was well-attended and fun. A tractor led the way for the parade around the block.
After the parade, we enjoyed the potluck lunch. The boys really liked the blueberry muffins that came with little drink umbrellas.
I didn’t take very many pictures, but there were games, a raffle (we didn’t win) and lots of kids loving the fact that the street was blocked off so they could ride their bikes anywhere they wanted. Ezra and Bruce also did some chalk drawing — an X Wing Fighter and a dragon.
The boys requested a night walk the other night, so we went around the block. Ezra took a book to read.
Finn wanted to a) not wear a shirt and b) be the leader.
When we got back, Ezra discovered a dead baby bird on the porch. They gave it a proper burial in the front yard. Ezra got to name it (“Ezra Blue Eye Rifle”).
Yesterday was the final installment of the first set of woodworking classes. (It looks like we’ll be continuing in the Fall in collaboration with the Bannings.) We had to postpone this class (originally set for two weeks ago) because Bruce and Finn were sick. Consequently, we had a smaller group this time with several families out of town, but once again a good time was had by all. The project for this class: tool boxes (painstakingly pre-cut, pre-drilled and labeled by Bruce and Rob).
We got off to a rocky start with many of the kids just home from summer camp. Exhausted, they were much more interested in watching the episode of Phineas and Ferb Ezra and Finn were watching. When I went to collect the kids for class, this is what I found.
But eventually the show ended and they dragged themselves outside for class, which started, as usual, with a “lecture” from Bruce.
And written instructions.
As unruly as they were during the lecture, the kids all settled in and worked diligently on their boxes. There was a lot of screwing …
Which Finn found out is hard work!
The drill press made an appearance. Here Chapin examines his (well, Cari’s, actually) handiwork.
Sawing.
More screwing.
There were some distractions. Finn took a break to check out where the spilled water would go.
And Chapin and Kylie were mostly interested in the neighbor’s sprinklers.
But they persevered! Pounding in plugs to cover the screws …
Sanding …
And finally, painting!
Here’s how they turned out. Ezra decided not to paint his.
Finn went with orange and brown.
After the projects were done, we had our usual dinner and crazytown fun. The kids were starving so dinner was relatively calm and quiet.
Then the water balloons, hose and eventually the slip ‘n’ slide came out.
Finally, it was time to put the water works away. Finn and some of the girls had dinner part 2. (How in his element is he in this [terrible iPhone] picture?)
And then everyone left with damp, happy children who hopefully fell asleep on the ride home.