Paddle to the Sea

(the pictures in the post are not mine, but I am grateful to use them in my post.)

My dad was a fifth-grade teacher for 38-ish years. One of his favorite books to share with his class was Paddle-to-the-Sea, about a Native American boy (who is I'm sure called Indian in the book) who lives in land-locked Canada and carves a man in a canoe, who travels throughout the country.

Hosting Flat Stanley for Oscar's friend Nicky reminded me of Paddle. My dad carved a Paddle of wood, about two feet long, with some lead ballast. Whenever one of his students went on a trip, he'd send along Paddle and they'd float him in the water and mark where he'd been on the bottom of the canoe. Paddle was a little big, so sometimes people would just bring some sea water home to splash on him. It was Dad's version of the journal teachers would assign when their students go on vacation.

I can't remember if I brought back water from the Mediterranean on my year abroad.

The last time I saw Paddle was on my folks' back porch in Pawling, and thinking about Flat Stanley has made me buy a copy of Paddle-to-the-Sea for my kids and think about asking my dad if I can bring him home the next time we visit. Doesn't Paddle want to retire in California?

And if any of you want to know where I got my do-it-yourself crafty side, now you know. It's all John Brockway -- Mister B to his students, Brock to his friends, JA-HANN to his wife, and Dad to me.

Thanks, Dad.

Bye-bye, Flat Stanley!

Oscar's old pal Nicky sent us a Flat Stanley about 2 months ago. If you don't know who Flat Stanley is, you're probably not related to a 2nd grader. He's a book character who makes himself flat so he can travel the world for the price of a stamp. Kids make their own Flat Stanleys and ship them off to unsuspecting friends and relatives. I remember my niece Kendall sending hers off with my in-laws when they were crossing the world for Jim's job, and thinking that THAT would probably be the best-travelled FS ever. (Having travelled with Loretta and Jim myself, I can assure you that FS was well fed!)

We finally took Nicky's Flat Stanley to Hollywood, assembled a little album, and made him a little "I LOVE LA" tee-shirt and sent him back to New Jersey. I'm currently assembling a post about our darling Robyn's visit, but since I know Flat Stanley is safe at home, I thought we'd share his California adventures with you. 

Here's Oscar and Flat Stanley in front of our house. 

In front of Bret Harte School. 

Everyday life in California: visiting the farmer's market and shopping for local 50¢ avocados. In January.

 To the beach!

 Buried in the sand with Oscar.

 On the lifeguard structure. Please note: palm trees in the background!

 Please note the Santa Monica Pier in the backyard, from the CRV Ferris Bueller commerical, Forrest Gump, Iron Man, but not, as I previously thought, The Lost Boys. (That was the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Santa Monica is LOUSY with vampires, however.)

To Griffith Park!

Now, if it was Arlo who was showing Flat Stanley around, we would be spending all our time at Travel Town and Live Steamers.

We did stop outside The Autry, but didn't go inside. Next time we'll go in and pan for gold and listen to awesome live music on the third Sunday of the month when they hold their jamboree. 

 But the Autry is across the parking lot from the Los Angeles Zoo!

 Reggie is the zoo's mascot. Reggie was tossed in a lake--after he outgrew a backyard pool--by a former police officer who was later arrested for raising illegal animals. He was captured after many attempts and now lives a happy life eating chickens and rats and soaking up the sun at the zoo.

 Dinosaur garden, with dino sculptures and plants from the dino era.

 Flat Stanley taunts the man-eating seals.

 Aww! Koalas!

Komodo dragons! I'm pretty sure that this is the same one that bit Sharon Stone's husband's toe off.

To the Los Angeles Natural History Museum!

 Flat Stanley and Oscar flee the polar bear!

 Under the microscope. Flat Stanley has great pores.

To Hollywood! We actually only live about 7 miles away from the Kodak Theater and the famous intersection of Hollywood and Highland. There's just a big, um, mountain in the way. A big mountain that has a big sign on it.

 There's that pesky mountain. Look where Oscar's pointing at the top of the mountain. (It's much closer and impressive in real life. My crappy photo doesn't really do it justice.)

 This is the Hollywood and Highland center, which includes lots of overpriced mall stores and chain restaurants, the Kodak Theater, reproductions from D.W. Griffith's Intolerance, and is roundly considered to be the tackiest architecture in Los Angeles. It is seriously ridiculous and awesome and I love it.

It's also the best place to park for the Times Square version of Hollywood. Six bucks for three hours, and you can walk to all the dopey places that you have to see.

 Here's Oscar and Flat Stanley hanging out on Hollywood Blvd, behind the risers for the Oscars (taking place a week from the day this was taken). 

Dileri, Nicky's mom, wondered which star Nicky might recognize. Evan and i came up with the same idea immediately.

Can I just say that every single time someone calls Kermit "Mr. The Frog," I totally lose it?

We found another one Nicky might recognize!

 Behind that silver car is the section of Hollywood that will be the red carpet.

 Flat Stanley decided to have a Party of One.

We put the soundtrack of American Graffiti on the jukebox and felt very meta.

We sucked down a couple milkshakes and made our way to the Grunmans Chinese Theater. It was playing Journey 2 Mysterious Island, a completely awful and totally entertaining movie I'd already taken the kids to.

There were tons of people milling about but we were able to find one set of footprints that Nicky might get a kick out of, since Oscar and Nicky played a LOT of Harry Potter Lego on the Wii.

 The Kodak Theater! Home of the Oscars! Which, in case you were wondering, Oscar thinks was totally named after him. Here they are across the street. That gold curtain is really gorgeous and dramatic in person. I'd noted it at the Oscars and I was thrilled to see that it's actually there all the time.

Here's O and FS in the entrance of the Kodak Theater. Those lit up columns are engraved with the names of each years' Best Picture.

At this point, I was feeling really bad for all those movie stars. They haven't eaten in five days and then they have to walk the red carpet and navigate those steps in their heels. True story: I read in the People Awards show issue (I was getting a pedicure; don't judge me) 

about four well-known actresses that seem like normal and sane humans and every single one of them, when asked about their pre-awards show preparations, said that they go on a juice fast for at least five days before the show. So these poor women are starved, delirious, and wearing 4+ inch heels. Think about that on Sunday when you watch them try and have playful banter with those reporters on the red carpet.)

Scenes from an LA parking garage. Sometimes I miss NY a lot, but this week, I really like being in LA.

This was our final Flat Stanley photo -- what everybody experiences in Los Angeles. Flat Stanley, meet the 110 freeway.

Showing Flat Stanley Los Angeles was a great way for Oscar and I (and the rest of our family) to seek out fun things in LA. We were thrilled to have him and we hope that Nicky enjoys out exploits -- and we hope we can show Nicky and his family all these sights in person someday soon.

Hosanna Hey Sanna Sanna Sanna Ho!

My sweet husband is home!

The night before he came home, the kids and I sat down at the dinner table and decided to make him a bunting to welcome him home. I cut the flags, the boys wrote the letters, and The Goose drew pictures of Daddy on the extra flags. I think we will have to repurpose the flags when my darling Robyn visits in a week.

Robyn is one of my best friends, a sister of my heart and married to another one of my best friends. When people talk about the village that raises our children, Robyn is the mayor of that village for half of South Orange and Maplewood. Her mom is my Local Jewish Grandmother and she and her wife are The Goose's godmothers.

Robyn planned on a quick visit early in the year and it turns out she'll be here for the Oscars!

Evan and I have had a family tradition for years for all the big award shows -- we TIVO them and after we wrangle the kids into bed, we eat paté and antipasto and hunks of good bread for dinner, quaff some bubbly (usually prosecco but sometimes, if I get lucky, we have Cava) and we revel in the awards. In the past, we were on the East Coast so Robyn would some over after wrangling her own three kids into bed and we'd drink and coo over gowns and clap with glee every time Kate Winslet won something. So it's a BIG FRICKIN DEAL that our Robyn is going to be here for our first CA Oscars.

Local folks: Our Robyn has never dipped her Jersey Girl toes into the Pacific, so the beach is at the top of our list of things to do. I'll bring her into Hollywood for a touristy day and Evan will bring her on the WB Lot for a tour. What else should we do? I'd love your suggestions.

(The title of the post refers to Jesus Christ Superstar, one of my favorite unappreciated movies that is on in the background as I write this.)

Valentine's Day

This is the remnants of the last bit of crafting done for Valentine's Day -- a scrapbook the kids and I made for Evan and FedExed to his hotel. See those roses in the back? My husband rules.

Today was the first day back to school since Evan left. The Goose and I dropped off the boys and took off to Glendale for her four-year check-up and her first appointment with our new pediatrician. I have spent more time with our new pediatrician in the past two months that I spent with our NJ pediatrician over seven years. We are on a path that will mean lots of appointments and assessments for our kids, but I feel like it's the right path, and I also feel like we have the right people guiding us on the path. It sure helps that our pediatrician is a pretty, funny Indian woman that looks a heck of a lot like my friend Mona and sounds just like her when she's doing her parents' accent. 

I stuck all the kids in the den to watch TV while I whipped up a special meal for Valentine's Day.

Heart-shaped meatballs!

I set a pretty table with the juice glasses we bought at Target earlier. I called the kids into dinner and their reactions were: FIRE! and EWW! (that was the Goose's reaction to the fact that there was MEATBALLS touching her plain pasta).

Even though my picture of my fancy table shows presents at the place settings, I;m sure every parent looked at that picture and said "How is the kid going to eat when there are presents to open?" And indeed, after I took those pictures, I whisked those presents way and called them into dinner.

They scarfed down dinner and we actually sat and talked about why we loved each other. Arlo: "I love Oscar because he's an IDIOT and I love Lucy because she's SO CUTE." Whatever works, folks.

They cleared the table OF THEIR OWN ACCORD (that must have been MY present) and I brought out the presents. They each got a little Lego set from Evan and I, a lovely little present from Gretta and Papa Jim. Cousins Kendall and Hayden sent a box to Evan's office and our dear friend Dave dropped it off after work. They loved their wee little mailboxes and treats!

Tonight I am so grateful for our three fantastic children. How did I end up with such lovely human beings in my life?  Well, I could probably point to our three sets of loving grandparents. I could also point to our lovely siblings and their kids. But mostly I must pinpoint my husband, the best spouse, the best dad, my best friend. I am lucky to call him my Valentine, even if he is thousands of miles away at &#<%* Toyfair. Hurry home, sweetie!