The P3 had a busy Sunday. While Chris stayed home to record music in an otherwise quiet house, Kirsten and Riley began the day by attending the
Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Kirsten's co-worker/boss Deena and her two children.
They saw seven short films, the best of which was
The Mantis Parable -- a story in which a caterpillar trapped in a jar seeks help from a praying mantis to no avail. The mantis later finds itself in the same situation but is rescued with the help of a butterfly(presumably, the former caterpillar). This was a truly impressive project, especially since it was the director's first film and he did all of it by himself (story, animation, music) in his spare time over 18 months while his wife and children slept. (Echoes of the P3 household?) He won numerous animation and short film awards for it. Riley loved it, but he already has an affection for caterpillars based upon
The Little Einsteins movie.
After lunch with Deena and the kids, Kirsten and Riley enjoyed some great music at the
Tar Fest. This festival took place on the grounds of the
Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits adjacent to the LACMA museum and within close proximity of a large bubbling tar pit.
The Tar Pits are a common field trip destination for LA schoolchildren. The Page Museum has fossilized mastodon, sloth, and sabertooth tiger skeletons on display which were found in the tar pits. These extinct mammals were entrapped in the tar pits and their remains were preserved somewhere between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago. The tar pits remain active and excavation of the pits is constantly ongoing.
An interesting fact about the tar pits is that there is a huge petroleum lake underneath the surrounding neighborhood of
Hancock Park. Periodically, asphalt, a byproduct of petroleum, bubbles up to the surface of local streets, into sewers and under buildings.
Riley is too young to appreciate the fascinating historical aspects of the Page Museum and the Tar Pits, but he did discover the joy of rolling down a grassy hill. First, he tried lying down on the hill on his stomach feet first. That didn't work. Then, he tried reversing that position so that he was going head first. That didn't work either. Finally, he figured out that sideways was the way to go, and he was off and rolling!
The day closed with the whole family having dinner al fresco at the
Yard House in Pasadena, a brewpub serving countless numbers of beer on tap, by the glass, pint, half-yard and yard. Riley opted for a custom kiddie cocktail of lemonade and cherry syrup, while Kirsten enjoyed a pint of Harp. Chris drank only iced tea, as usual, but he did indulge in their gourmet mac and cheese entree. After dinner, Chris had some more recording to do, so Riley and Kirsten spent an hour or so at the bookstore reading many a children's book.
Riley went to sleep babbling happily about his fun-packed day.
New "Blue's Clues" pajamas!
Riley went to a birthday party on Saturday for his friend Ben. The lucky birthday boy had two bouncers in his backyard. One of them even had a climbing wall. Riley didn’t attempt to scale Mt. Bouncy, but he did have lots of fun jumping around inside with his little friends. He also took his first crack at a piñata. Too bad I didn't get a picture of him actually whacking the darn thing.
Riley is going through an independent phase. He wants to climb into the car by himself, feed himself messy stuff like soup and birthday cake, push elevator buttons, turn on/off his bedroom light, get in/out of bed, and spell out his own name on his computer games. Woe to the person who tries to do one of those things for him. He will cry as though the opportunity to do that particular thing will never come again in his lifetime.
Before the day was over, it seemed like Kirsten had driven all over the city, what with going to Deena’s house in Westwood, to IKEA in Burbank, back to Deena’s house in Westwood, then home to Pasadena, and then to Melissa’s house in Sherman Oaks. She was worn out, but Melissa made all sorts of comfort food (ribs, homemade mac and cheese, broccoli, cornbread, and pumpkin pie!), and there was plenty of good wine. All of Kirsten’s road weariness just evaporated!
The P3 had a busy Sunday. While Chris stayed home to record music in an otherwise quiet house, Kirsten and Riley began the day by attending the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Kirsten's co-worker/boss Deena and her two children.
The Tar Pits are a common field trip destination for LA schoolchildren. The Page Museum has fossilized mastodon, sloth, and sabertooth tiger skeletons on display which were found in the tar pits. These extinct mammals were entrapped in the tar pits and their remains were preserved somewhere between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago. The tar pits remain active and excavation of the pits is constantly ongoing.
An interesting fact about the tar pits is that there is a huge petroleum lake underneath the surrounding neighborhood of Hancock Park. Periodically, asphalt, a byproduct of petroleum, bubbles up to the surface of local streets, into sewers and under buildings.
The day closed with the whole family having dinner al fresco at the Yard House in Pasadena, a brewpub serving countless numbers of beer on tap, by the glass, pint, half-yard and yard. Riley opted for a custom kiddie cocktail of lemonade and cherry syrup, while Kirsten enjoyed a pint of Harp. Chris drank only iced tea, as usual, but he did indulge in their gourmet mac and cheese entree. After dinner, Chris had some more recording to do, so Riley and Kirsten spent an hour or so at the bookstore reading many a children's book.
I've been haunted by Chris's account of a recent dream in which a boy standing at the foot of our bed suddenly jumped on top of him. His reaction awoke us both.
