Moision Madness

We’ve been wanting to check out Debs Park in L.A. — or more specifically the Audubon Center at Debs Park — for a while now since some friends went and had a great time. Sadly, the Center is closed on Sundays, so we thought we would give the park a try. It was a bit of a bust for Bruce and me, but I think the boys had a pretty good time. After a short hike up to a creepy green lake and back, we let the boys roam around a forest-like area by the parking lot. We came across what looked like some kind of debris catch and the boys’ imagination took off. They pretended to be firemen sliding down the poles at the fire station and ran around the area (making siren sounds) looking for and putting out fires.

Finn liked writing an F in the dirt with his “writing stick.”

Ezra found part of a tree branch that he thought looked like moose antlers. He also found a string with a hook on the end, so he hooked them together and called it “Moosey.” He was very proud.

Then we cleaned up and had snack time at the car. Everyone say Bananas!

The Heffs can throw an impromptu party like no one else! Great food, drinks and company including eleven kids five years old and younger and everyone got along swimmingly.

Things got started with Otter Pops for the kids and for some reason (his magnetic personality?) everyone crowded around Bruce.

There were squirties.

And more squirties.

And, obviously, Lucy, Charlie and Finn decided to have an underwear party. Ezra kept his clothes on, and had fun with the fan in Lucy’s (very pink) room.

All in all, a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon/evening!

We had Bob, Vanessa and Thomas up for a 4th of July celebration (and to celebrate their move to the El Segundo area — woohoo!). We improvised a delicious barbecue dinner and the kids had a great time playing in the backyard — giraffe pool, zip line, gardening tools, etc. They all ended up filthy, and Finn was bruised after his run-in with the shovel, but it was a good time nonetheless.

No small miracle that no one got hurt at this point in the evening.

Finn complained that the safety “googles” didn’t fit.

Earlier in the day, Finn attempted to put a shovel through his foot. Here he is with the Lightning McQueen ice pack.

At dinner, Thomas took on the watermelon. His technique of indiscriminate chewing of the red, white and green parts followed by spitting out the pulp was unmatched.

After dark we headed over to see the Rose Bowl fireworks display from a bluff above on Armada. I don’t have any good pictures because I was in charge of Ezra and he was a little worried that we were going to get hit by them and he didn’t like the noise. But he didn’t want to leave either, so we wandered around some and caught bits and pieces of the display.

I did get a shot of Ezra atop Uncle Bob’s shoulders while we waited for the display to begin.

Saturday afternoon we got a quick visit from Lori and the kids, who are in Temecula/San Diego for a few weeks and made a day trip up to Pasadena to visit the hometown crowd. The kids got reacquainted quickly, as kids do. Here are a few shots.

Trevor tried out the zip line. Devon (8-1/2) was too tall for it.

Lori and Claire (“Baby Claire” is a baby no more!).

The bigger kids in the sandbox.

A few shots from the last couple of days.

First, we went to the Arboretum yesterday and I lined up this nice shot of Finn running down a dirt path. It was going to be a great image … until he tripped over a huge tree root right as I took the picture. I guess it’s still a great shot.

He laid there for a few seconds, and I thought he might actually be hurt. But that kid is tough as nails — no tears at all, he just brushed himself off and got back to his friends.

This afternoon we had Jerri, Lucy and Charlie up for slip n sliding and pizza, and Finn put this ensemble together after he changed out of his swim trunks. I particularly love the chainsaw. Jerri said he could be one of the Village People.

And lastly, Ezra donned his dragon costume and proceeded to play chess with Lucy. It was pretty cute.

The boys got their first exposure to the Slip n Slide this weekend — first at the Bannings’ and then at the Heffernans’. They were a little unsure at first, what with the water shooting up and all, but it didn’t take long before they were slipping, sliding and totally soaked. They preferred to be dragged across the strip:

I also really like this picture of Finn running. He had so much fun this weekend.

The boys were in desperate need of a bath last night (which is almost always the case) and after washing their hair and faces, I left them to play and soak off the rest of the dirt. When I peeked in a few minutes later, they were both in the same tub, which I thought was physically impossible. But, they were having a grand time, so I ran for my camera.

… until the plants get smashed.

Sometimes this whole testing limits thing the boys do drives me insane. This trampling was the result of a four-minute lapse in supervision on my part, before which I had green-lighted digging in “nature” (our front yard) with the caveat that they be mindful of the plants. Perhaps my direction was unclear.

Otherwise it was a lovely day — play date at Alex and Kyan’s, nap time, watermelon on the porch. Is it bedtime yet?

This weekend Bruce and I got away together for two nights (for the first time ever) and Erin stayed with the boys. Emily came for some of the time too, so you can imagine how happy the boys were with all the attention lavished on them. They had a wildly active weekend — bike riding, scooter riding, Toy Story 3 at the theater, swimming at the Altadena Country Club, etc. They also helped Emily and her friends sell 25 bucks worth of lemonade at their lemonade stand — genius marketing plan to have Finn hold the sign. Here are some photos I stole from Erin’s Facebook album.