NJ2LA: Art shows, Last Day of School, Memorial Day

So, a couple months ago, Evan was told that there was going to be an art show involving DC characters in honor of their new charity, We Can Be Heroes. He cracked his knuckles, dug out his acrylics, and did a few paintings. The first one was exactly what he wanted to be.

Batman on the Beach.

Evan also did a painting of Swamp Thing that was in the show. It was very heavily curated. The show was a big deal, and we are very proud of Evan. I wasn't able to see it before it packed up to go on the road, but Evan took a lot of pictures and shared them with me. And you.

These guys were made of Legos. Awesomesauce.

Evan loved these six paintings. They are fun, right? I love the Ponyo-ish wave with the eyes.

This image was featured in lots of the promotional material for the show, and for good reason.

This 3-D piece was done by Evan's associate art director, Brian, using their Killer Croc figure. It's pretty frickin awesome.

Adventure Time-ish Aquaman. Seriously? Everyone loves Aquaman.

Gotham woodcut (I think).

Evan said this was one of his favorites, titled "Aquaman is Good with Dogs." Seriously, everyone loves Aquaman.

There were lots of beautiful Wonder Woman images, but this was my favorite. It has the same faceless quality of that Superman piece above that gives the viewer the ability to identify with the hero.

And here's my sweet babboo, in front of his painting. Isn't he fine?

We had some other exciting artist news for the family. A while ago, the editor of Green Lantern Adventures reached out for some fan artwork to fill out the art pages in the back of the book. Oscar and Arlo were agreeable, and a week ago, the issue appeared. Now, Evan and I have both had our names in the credits of comic books, but this was a big deal.

Our sons are published artists.

Arlo's piece -- he decided to cross out his name and put his daddy's, since it was for daddy.

Oscar knows what he's doing -- he introduced a storyline and a cliffhanger.

Needless to say, I am hugely proud of my guys.

This past Thursday was the last day of school. (For those of you on the East Coast that are horrified, we start school August 13.)

Arlo has emerged out of kindergarten with a successful IEP and the happy news that his beloved (and experienced and smart and savvy) teacher will be teaching a combo K-1st class next year, and Arlo will stay with her. He is not a kid that deals with change well, and the move to CA away from all our friends and family has really shocked Arlo down to his core. He is pretty miserable and he takes out his discontent on Evan and I. Arlo thrived in his mixed-age preschool, and I think that another year with this teacher with opportunities to be the "big kid" will be exactly what he needs.

He also emerged out of kindergarten with some good friends, and I will be working my tail off this summer to encourage and nurture his friendships. It's harder out here, and I don't know why.

Oscar was let out a couple hours after Arlo. He was also blessed with a creative, committed teacher this year. I know I say this all the time, but we really lucked out that we landed at Bret Harte.

Friday Evan was off and we puttered about. I finally broke down and got my California license. The written test was agonizing!

Saturday, we hosted the DC Bachelors for a BBQ. Since Evan is one of the few married and settled guys in the chunk of DC that moved out from New York, we feel the need to grill them a good meal now and then, plus we provide a civil service to them by letting our children run ripshod all over the place. Bratwurst, beer, slaw, and birth control in one fell swoop.

Our friends Michelle and Kir brought their kids and they added to the glorious ruckus. After most everyone left, we had a grand chat with some transplanted NJ comics friends. We need to schedule some kind of book club so we can do this more often. Slowly but surely, we are clawing out a village here.

Sunday, we met old friends at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. Betsy and Trevor was in town for a wedding, and we hadn't met their 22mo, Owen. He was, predictably, delicious. He was just the age of The Goose when we celebrated Betsy's sister's wedding a couple years ago in Brooklyn, and Betsy spent the entire time crawling all over the park with The Goose, and I predicted that they would have a kid soon and be awesome parents. I was right on both accounts.

The Market was amazing. Pony rides!

Petting zoo!

There's sweet Owen and his doting Mama.

The goats were pretty friendly, but there were a couple ducks that were having none of it. These were some badass ducks.

They nipped me and ran from the other kids. But it seems like Arlo is the Duck Whisperer.

They followed him around and hissed at the other animals trying to get his attention.

Eventually he made his way to the chickens, one of which had just laid an egg.

The girl running the petting zoo instructed Arlo to crack it gently and leave it for the chickens to eat. It was like an abomination!

There was an incredible band. In between sets, they let the kids play their xylophones. The music was exciting and thrilling and their happiness was infectious. It was the perfect background music.

Oscar manhandled gigantic artichokes.

There was plenty of amazing and cheap food. Oscar and I shared a plate of rice and beans and a mole chicken tamale. The Goose ate a gigantic pancake.

The boys played with a drawing machine.

We sucked it up and got their faces painted. You can only put it off so long. I will just have to keep these pictures on my phone so the next time we're at the zoo or park or where ever, I can prove to them that yes, sometimes we do let them do this kind of stuff.

We walked down to the beach. The road was lined with darling and expensive beach cottages.

The beach. It was another one of those times when I cursed California for being so goddamn beautiful. It was late May, 70 degrees, there was an ocean breeze. People were smiling and enjoying themselves. Stupid beautiful California.