Suburban Homestead

UK Trip - Day 6 - The Making of Harry Potter at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London

 

It's a Happy Halloween at Heath Ceramics

Last Friday, when we took a studio tour of Heath Ceramics in Sausalito, I noticed a small counter space up against a window. Through the glass, bright morning light came in and danced on the most unusual assortment of colorful ceramics. I couldn't quite make it out (probably because my vision is going south). It appeared to be a hodgepodge, really, and yet, I was drawn closer, squinting the whole way. (I mean, I had to figure out what the heck was going on on that counter). Turns out it was a recently assembled collection of Halloween ceramics, crafted by Heath employees. I was told this is part of an annual tradition there, and the result was adorable. For a relatively reasonable price ($20-30/each), you could pick-up one-of-a-kind Halloween themed ceramics, often made with the recognizable forms of popular Heath products. We were all so smitten with these characters, that we each ended-up picking one to add to our Halloween collection. I mean, really - do they not just put a huge smile on your face?

The Renaissance Faire

Last month, when I realized we would actually make it to this year's Northern California Renaissance Faire (I haven't been since I was 13), I began peppering our home studies with books and audio that touched on the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods. This is how I like to approach travel and other areas of interest, from all angles. To be able to oversee this with my own kids, has been an incredible gift. I've realized that while the world is full of subject matter that kids might not necessarily gravitate to on their own, almost all of it will interest them if presented in the right way. Is Shakespeare *the man* really interesting to a child of seven? Methinks not, my lady. But what if that child learns about the playwrite's impact on history, and the English language, by way of crafting 500 year old housewares, creating new words for the English language, or listening to his plays, modified for young, modern ears? One of the many things I love about homeschooling is that we can do this, in depth. We focused on this period in history for an entire month, and then we put on our tacky costumes and topped-off the whole thing with a day at the Renaissance Faire. I LOVE my job!!!

I had big hopes of crafting our own costumes, starting with Beanie's. I might have even made OVERT suggestions that we could "CRAFT IT OUT OF PAPER!!!", just to be super nerdy and annoying. But she didn't bite. So instead we threw a couple cheap Halloween costumes in our Amazon cart and called it a day. I, myself, had big dreams of being Bottacceli's *Flora* (the goddess of flowers + the season of spring), as she was depicted in Primavera, but time was not on my side this year. 

Moving on. The *rides* were a huge hit with the kids, of course.

These guys were amazing with their show on sword fighting. Informative and hilarious, I now know more that I ever cared to about swords. 

 

My kids are now begging to take rock climbing lessons. Weekly. :-/

 

The highlight of everyone's day was the magic and fire-eating show by Broon. 

 

And this guy... what was going on with this guy?? He was our favorite faire-goer, and we were lucky to keep running into him again and again. 

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody WY

Cody, WY was such a treat. The chuchwagon cookout, the rodeo, and The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, had us all wishing for a covered wagon and our own pairs of cowboy boots. We stayed at the Americinn, which was ideal in that it had an incredible display of taxidery to entertain the kids, an indoor pool, and on-site laundry!

 

The day after the rodeo was dedicated to the museum. You might remember me mentioniong that the whole reason we came to Cody was because my MIL said this museum was said to be great. She was so right!

I'll let you in on a little secret about me that you probably didn't know: before last week, I knew absolutely nothing about Buffalo Bill, other than his name. I couldn't tell you who he was, or why he was famous, with a giant museum dedicated to him. 

But now I do! And if YOU don't, I highly suggest looking him up because he has an INCREDIBLE story that we will most certainly be digging down deeper into,.. I'm thinking this might be a good next step. 

Above is a shot of Annie Oakley, displayed in the firearms museum. This museum was by far the largest of the five museums housed under one roof. And it went on...

...and on...

...and on. It literally took me some work trying to find our way out. 

Have you ever seen a walrus head mounted? I sure hadn't! Found this one in the firearms museum, along with tons and tons of other taxidermy. 

Above, Frijoles stands in the cabin of a famous artist who has a lot of work in the art museum. I just loved how the light fell on her face in the dark room. 

We weren't planning on taking the time to walk through the art museum, based on our packed schedule and long drive ahead. But we were easily pulled in, and ended up staying a while. 

The Many Textures of Yellowstone's Geothermal Features

To  truly get a feel for Yellowstone’s geothermal features, one must get up close and personal to each one. This might seem obvious, but I was guilty of appreciating many of them from afar at first, somehow believing I was having a full experience. It can be deceiving. On an overcast day, when the air is cool, all around you the ground appears to be smoldering, and that alone is a phenomenal experience. But rain or shine, you have to get out and hike into each one and see the incredible differences each one holds. There are no two alike. When the sun is out, the pools are brilliantly colored. On cloudy days, the colors are less intense, but the steam that rises above them is more intense. For six days, these wonders had me both entranced and inspired. Sometimes I felt like I was in someone’s psychedelic dream, other times I felt I was viewing a war-torn landscape, but every time, I was inspired to make art.

Grizzly Bears, Wolves, and The Mountain Man Rendezvous

I'm still churning-out the Yellowstone posts, even though we've since blazed through Wyoming, and are now in South Dakota. I miss posting on a daily basis and in chronological order, as I have on past trips. There is something very satisfying and comforting for me when I do. Oh well...

One of our Yellowstone excursions, as a traveling family of ten, was a morning of horseback riding. No, I haven't posted those pics yet, but I will soon. I figure we've all seen pictures of people riding horses through meadows and forests, but have you even seen the inside of a Mountain Man Rendezvous?!?

We just happened to drive by this on the way to the stables, and while the tiny white tents from the roadside didn't spark too much curiosity, the big tee-pees we've been seeing all over these parts did. I wanted so badly to check it out and see what it might hold. 

What we discovered was just incredible! It was a tiny celebration of 19th century fur trapping and trading, run by die hard enthusiasts, all eager to share their knowledge and know-how. Turns out the name *Mountain Man Rendezvous* is "trapper jargon" for the annual gatherings of fur trappers and mountain men, between 1825–1840. It was at these rendezvous' that participants could trade goods, replenish supplies, and socialize. 

The kids each picked out a memento. The 9yo desperately wanted a coonskin hat (which he's worn everyday since), Frijoles picked a beaded necklace and rabbit fur pouch to wear around her neck, and Tiny Buns picked a leather pouch which he filled with some hand selected beads and stones. You can see all the items here:

As if horseback riding and the Mountain Man Redezvous wasn't enough thrill for one day, we also managed to check-out the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center on our way back into the park. 

Now we can say that we actually got to see a real live grizzly while at Yellowstone!

And Frijoles can say she actually go to pet one too! ;-)

Getting Road Trip Ready

When I woke the kids up at 5:45 this morning, Frijoles put her arms up for a big stretch, smiled and boasted, “I’m so happy today!!!”

We are on day one of a two-week road trip starting with six days in Yellowstone National Park, and ending in Souix Falls, South Dakota.

Along our route, we plan to visit museums that pay tribute to our pioneer roots, and the history of American Indians. My kids will likely lose their minds at the Wyoming State fair, before we head to The Black Hills. I will FINALLY make it to Mount Rushmore (lifelong wish), before driving through The Badlands, heading eastward to visit the homes and graves of my paternal ancestors.

Many months in the making (we booked our Old Faithful Inn accommodations 18 months ago, the day they opened-up AND sold out), the kids are like mini geysers at this point – just ready to explode from all the excitement.

Here is how we got our family *road trip ready*:

I found these two series of highly rated books on Amazon. Both are about families traveling America and visiting its most famous landmarks. They have been a great way to capture the kid’s interests of things still unseen. I really believe that hearing theses stories first will make them appreciate what they are going to see that much more.

We checked out lots of books about Wyoming and South Dakota from our local library.  It never ceases to amaze me, the incredible wealth of free information we all have access to through our public library. 

We LOVE audio books! For all the time we spend in the car, moving from one place to another, audio books have been an excellent way to keep the car calm, while maximizing learning. These five books all tell the stories of pioneer children, and young adults, growing up in the Great Plains at the end of the 19^th century. While we’ve read out loud the first five books of The Little House on the Prairie series, we are making a mad rush to finish the series on audio before our visit to the Wilder homestead in De Smit, SD. 

My mom inspired me to have our kids journal during their travels, as she does during hers. I’m super excited about this gadget (!!!) which I just picked up for our journaling purpose. Instant pics, stickers, colored pencils, pens, and glue sticks for gluing down things like ticket stubs and brochure pictures – we’ve got it all packed in. 

I came across this old book in our collection and I love the old school illustrations. Not quite sure how it came to us, whether it was a hand-me-down, or something from my childhood, but it helped give the kids a general flavor for the life and times of the first people living on the Great Plains.

So much to look forward to! It’s looking like we will have little to no internet access while in the park, so I might go dark here for a while. But trust me when I say I will be AMASSING a gallery of photos to share once we depart the park and get reconnected to the real world. 

The Big Time Festival: A Celebration of Coastal Miwok at Kule Loklo, Point Reyes National Seashore

I've been meaning to drill down into the history of our local Indians. If I learned about the Coastal Miwok while in grade school, I've not been able to retain any of it. As we get ready to embark on a long roadtrip from Wyoming to South Dakota, I've been researching the many stops along our route where we can visit points of interest in relation to American Indians. That said, I randomly came across information this past week for the Big Time Festival, while exploring hiking trails in the Point Reyes National Seashore. The timing of the event coincided perfectly with our upcoming summer plans, and so we took a couple hours and checked it out. 

The Kule Loklo site is a short half-mile walk from the Bear Valley Visitors Center. We just discovered the center recently, and were amazed at how much it had to offer. It never seizes to amaze me just how much there is to explore here, in our own backyard.

Along the walk to Kule Loklo, the kids kept themselves entertained exploring the terrain. The boys love to look in holes and lift rocks and logs in hopes of finding lizards and snakes. Beanie Love prefers to skip around, daydream and experiment with plant textures and touch.

When we reached our destination, we were immediately greeted by an older volunteer who was eager to teach us all about bull roarers - wind turn sticks used in Indian ceremonies. The boys loved it. Tiny Buns is always swinging stuff over his head, so to do it and have it make a cool sound too, just put him over the moon. 

The highlight of this little festival, at least for the kids, was the crafts. We made necklaces of abalone and beads, while listening to a member of the Miwok tribe tell a wonderful story about how man came to be. We hand-drilled into soap stone, making beads that we then polished and strung-up into another necklace. We observed basket weaving, explored huts and the sweat lodges, and even got to watch some traditional dance ceremonies. 

Don't be fooled by her shy expression - she loved every minute of it!

After the festival, we made the short drive to The Farm House Restaurant in Olema where we indulged in a late lunch of organic, local fare. West Marin never disappoints. :)

Beanie Goes Abroad - All in a Day

These pictures show one of our busiest days in Paris. Sometimes we'd get off to a late start, a few times we'd miscalculate travel times and miss out on something by the time of our arrival. But this day, we hit it all right. Beanie was such an incredible trooper! She powered through absolutely everything and barely ever peeped a complaint. She seemed to just instinctually know that this whole experience was an incredible treat. Here she is with a tummy full of croissants, getting creative with her pose!

I will never forget the squeals Little Miss made running back and forth behind my sister and nieces during this photo op. Jumping up and down and making bunny ears, she was so happy to just be a goof.

My sister read about the Parisian sewer system and wanted to go. It was walking distance from the Eiffel Tower and so we strolled along the Seine until we reached our destination. The sewers were...interesting. You really are down there in the thick of it, if you know what I mean. 

You can just see the horror on Beanie's face. The grid flooring we are standing on has us about ten feet above the flow of waste. We saw and smelled everything.

On our way out, we had the opportunity to buy a souvenir sewer rat. Instead we kept our hands over our mouths the noses, and walked ran back up to street level. I'm not familiar with the story of Les Miserables, but after touring the sewer, and having the connection drawn between the two, it's definitely on my short list. 

The Pompedieu! We read up on this crazy building a bunch before taking off, and so Beanz was super excited to finally get there. We were equally excited for her to have the opportunity to take one of the art workshops the museum offers after school on Wednesdays. The guide books said that they were taught in French but that they could be attended by non speaking tourists. We got a different story when we arrived, and so she was turned away. She was crushed and so was I!    

 

Stay tuned - tomorrow I will post pictures of Parisian food porn!

Beanie Goes Abroad - Taxidermy, Macaroons + Musee d'Orsay

Last Tuesday was THE BEST...or was it...Wednesday?? I have this seemingly unattainable goal to keep all posts on-time and in chronological order, as if that matters to anyone else in the universe other than moi. But unless you pull it together and post religiously, every day, it all starts to get a little blurry after about the twelfth hour. Which brings me to my original thought - last Thursday was grrr-eat!

Somewhere, somehow, I came across a tip to visit the nearly 200 year Deyrolle. I guess you would call it a store of taxidermy, which also sells some animal and plant art, gardening supplies, etc. It is just incredible - like a petit musee d'histoire naturelle!  I told my son that I would absolutely grab him a souvenir from Deyrolle, because of course, why wouldn't you do that for your animal loving son?  But with a single bug running upwards of 70 euros (the stuffed lion above was 30k euros), he was forced to get happy with a $4 postcard instead.

Down the street from Deyrolle was Laduree, home to the original macaroon and what has to be one of the city's most exciting window displays. We shoveled out an exorbitant amount of money for sixteen bites of heaven to-go, and then headed over to meet my mom at the Musee d'Orsay.

We didn't make it to the Louve this trip, but the Musee d'Orsay was one I made sure not to miss. I knew there would be more recognizable art here for the four-foot tall art lover. The fact that it's in an old train station made preparing her for it a breeze - anyone heard of a little old movie called or Hugo?

 

 

Walking through the top floor, we got to see the museum's cafe, which I loved. More that the lighting or the orange wire space dividers, I loved, loved this large, Art Nouveau piece that hung above the dining room. {Eugene Grasset, Harmony}

Drool-worthy, no?  My mom treated us to lunch in the main restaurant, a space she was really wanting to see. We had a great meal, and while watching Beanie sketch the ceiling above her, my mom talked about how she now prefers to sketch her travels more than photograph them. She says this way, the visual information is imprinted in your brain and never leaves you!

Beanie Goes Abroad - Busting Out at Château de Versailles

I've always had a thing for busts. I'm sure there is a clever joke in all this, but I'm actually being quite serious. Hundreds of years ago, these men and women were once significant enough to have had a bust carved of stone and presented in their honor. And yet...and yet...we no longer know their story. With each one I pass, I am silently curious: "What was your story?  Did you live with integrity? Were you good to your children and spouse? How did you like your eggs?" After walking past over a hundred or so busts in the palace that triggered my intrigue, but not my photo-taking action, I decided to start snapping photos of all my favorites going forward. 

This guy is devilishly handsome - I need to know more!

I am completely intriqued again, but for all the wrong reasons. 

Potentially handsome.

Unfortunate hair.

A likeable chap.

Reminds me of my dad in the '70's.

Curls,

curls,

curls!

I'll let the collar speak for itself.

Beanie Goes Abroad - The Ticket Office at Château de Versailles

I have to believe the subject of this post is one you won't find easily on the internet, if at all. I'm curious to know how many people schlep to the palace of Louis', and get hung-up in guest services by choice, snapping shots of the newly remodeled ticket office and bookstore. I'd be happy to take the prize for such madness - I for one, thought it was all done brilliantly in its own right.

Had we been organized enough to buy our tickets ahead of time, or tricked into buying them early, down the street at the third party seller near the train station, I would have missed this magical space tucked quietly away off the front entrance of the palace. Once inside, I had to walk in and out of every room designated for sitting and waiting, purchasing tickets, and obtaining tour information. It was practically empty and I couldn't help but just fall in love with all the decor and how seamlessly modern touches were brought to this lavish and ornate palace. 

There were so many different wallpaper patterns that I lost count. I was curious to hear the story of their creation. Were the patterns new? Or were they in some way inspired by antique patterns already found inside the palace walls?

Each royal family that lived at Versailles was represented by giant, black silhouettes above the doorways. Anne D'Autriche had the most unfortunate profile of them all. 

I don't know the significance of this chicken graphic. Then again, I'm not sure I need to!

I just LOVE how Europeans fearlessly mix the old with new. In America is seems as though we are always aiming to preserve architecturally what little historical value we can scrape together. But not the Europeans. They take no issue in cutting holes in the tops of 100 year old buildings and installing glass domes, to give just one example.

King Louis XIV, the one most responsible for the expanse of Versailles, called himself The Sun King. You'll see lots of references to this throughout the palace, above are some modern graphics doing the same.

Beanie noticed the bathroom signage which caused us to give a collective, "Awwww!"

Then there was the gift store. With five rooms of creatively designed interiors, we joked about never wanting to leave. The kid's room was the best! I am personally a big sucker for books and, like my mom, love to wander through museum gift stores. I drooled over the collection of never-before-seen children's books on history and felt jilted when I couldn't fine them in English! ;)

We picked up this book for Beanie. It shows Barbie and Ken in couple costumes from Adam + Even, all the way up through history to modern times. Who cares that it's in French!? She loves the photos and even tries to decipher certain key words here and there. 

I have lots more to share on our day at Versailles. Stay tuned!

Beanie Goes Abroad - Wordless Wednesday

 

Beanie Goes Abroad

Beanie-Love, she will always be the middle child.

But this week...

...she gets to be the only child. :)

 

Beanie and I are in Paris this week. Three generations of women in the City of Lights: my mom, my oldest sister and her two daughters, plus Beanz and me. It all came about under dubious circumstances. *Someone* was pretty sure she had "three to five years to live", and so we did what you dream of doing with women of blood-relation, when you think someone is one their way out - we planned a blow-out trip to Paris. (As it turns out, said person was wrong in her self-diagnosis, but that good news didn't cause us to cancel our trip, our celebration of life, with three generations of women. No, no. We were all in.)

These photos were taken yesterday, on our third day here in France. Beanie and I were on our own. We had just broken away from a less-than-thrilling visit to the Musee de Cluny where we didn't learn as much about medieval life as we had hoped. After thirty minutes of artifacts and tapestries, we blew across the street to Luxembourg Gardens for some seriously memorable playtime, as well as some cake for dessert. Marie Antoinette would have been proud!

Parlez-vous français?

My Ideal Homeschool Day

Let's be clear: homeschooling is awesome/easier-than-you'd think/a gift/the best kept secret 95% of days.

The other 5% can be terribly taxing.

But that's kind of like anything, don't you think?

We actually just came off a hard spell. Right before Christmas break I would have been THRILLED to send the 9yo back to school, had he wanted it too.  Oh, and trust me when I tell you, I gave him the option multiple times. It was never a homeschooling issue as much as it was a personalily conflict issue. He's so happy these days (isn't that great!?), he's acting on that new-found joy (yeah!!). He's been exerting his happiness, independence and willfulness often (uh-oh). And it's been driving me nuts. So it came to the point where I boiled over and crumbled in the face of his adolescent determination.

I told him in no uncertain terms that our sweet arrangement would be no more. The fear of returning to school temporarily paralyzed him, and I must admit, I thought this a good thing. I didn't really mean it, I just wanted him to sit alone with the thought for an hour. I wanted the fear to guide him back towards the light. And it did. He came around and apologized for being difficult, I apologized for ruining eveyone's Christmas Eve morning. ;)

But this Monday was perfect(!), and so I had to share just what a perfect day of homeschooling looks like for us. 

My son typically wakes up around 8:30 in the morning. He's low energy at this point. He usually opts to sit on the couch, wrapped in his comforter and do nothing more than do a little inhale and exhale exercise. Launching him from this point has never been seamless until I realized how well he transitions from here to joy just from the simple act of being read to. We are three days into this little trick of mine and it's going so well. He loves the dynamic, and I love that I can basically read him anything I want him to hear and get away with it because at this point, he's just grateful not to have to do anything beyond listen. Monday morning we started off with Oliver Twist, Tuesday I read him two articles out of Smithsonian magazine, and this morning I read to him various things from National Geographic. 

But back to Monday and Oliver Twist. I have always wanted to dive into Dickens before going to The Dickens Fair each Christmas, but never seem to pull it off. This week, we dove into the life of Dickens, learned all about his childhood of poverty and how it influenced the stories he wrote. We discussed how the man's work brought light to the horrific conditions of the English poor mid-nineteenth century, and how his popularity helped to bring about reform to English labor laws. In the context of our recent experience at The Dickens Fair, it made it all incredibly relevant and exciting to take in!

Dickens Fair 2013

OK - so at this point we are riding high on the whole Oliver Twist experience, we've talked about Dickens in depth, and I'm feeling good about all our learning coming full circle, and the connections being made. It's about 9:30 in the morning now and we are ready to move on. The kid builds a lego kit with his little brother. 

Next up, the kid did a self-directed art project. I should mention that my son was never really into creating art until we homeschooled. I have been taking him to museums and plays since day one. I have been exposing him to art and architecture at every chance possible, but when I volunteered in his public school art class, a program I happen to think is incredible, he could have cared less. I was OK with this. I was happy just to know he had an appreciation for the arts and so I didn't push him creating the art as well. Then I just happened to find an incredible program locally where an artist and naturalist teaches whoever wants to show up, how to draw things like water birds and birds of prey, mushrooms and shore birds. I asked him if he wanted to give it a shot and to my surprise, he did. I sent him with his artist grandma and DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!!! He's now into drawing. Why? Because he's gaining skills to create what is important to him. He doesn't want to create abstract art. He doesn't want to play with mixed medias. My kid wants to draw birds. And now he does. (10:30 - 11:15)

I sometimes feel my job as a homeschooling parent is half the work that it could be, not because I'm organized or sourcing out all the big stuff, but because my child is a ferocious reader. This is so huge in my book. When I need to do something and can't be with him, I tell him to read. Sometimes he picks out what he wants, sometimes I tell him what he needs to read, either way, he's taking in meaningful subject matter. If I were a little more type-A and a little less me, I'd have him write about it. But at this point, he doesn't want to write. And so I remind myself that I should just be happy my kids is a crazy reader with interests in history and science. The rest will come soon enough. 

On Monday, he read The Brick Bible. I am proud to say my son is addicted to this series. I find this fascinating and all together exciting mostly because we are in no way religious. He picked out these books and reads them cover to cover, over and over and over again. My son has never stepped foot in a church but our willingness to discuss religion and spirituality have made him curious about Jesus and God. I love this as this is a part of all of us and our history in some way. I love that he can now talk about the stories of The Bible, more so than I ever could despite going to ten years of catechism. And BTW - these books are just incredible! Look on Amazon for Brick Bible and see all the other options available - Brick Shakespeare and Assassination! need a place on our bookshelves, I'm thinking!

After a bit of reading while I folded laundry, the kid and I played a game of Prof. Noggin's Civil War. I love this series of games and we have about five. He kicked my butt 11 to 7(!) and so I thought to reward him with an episode of Ken Burns' Civil War. There is so much great programing on and I am not above using tv and movies to educate my kids. In fact, it's been a great way for us to share in the learning. 

KB's Civil War documentary opened up to imagery too graphic for the four-year old, so we quickly changed it to an episode of The Liberty Kids. We will get back to it again soon, perhaps when Dad is home and the younger ones are in bed. 

Our day of "official learning" finished at about 1, when we headed out to run errands. Homeschooling never really ends in my mind. Once we decided to make the change, we found ourselves rising up beyond our norm and turning every experience into one that is meaningful in some way. Running errands has taken on a whole new meaning to us and I absolutely love it (95% of the time). 

At the end of the day, the 9yo told me that our day together was the best day of homeschooling he'd ever had. I'd silently disagreed, personally believing that we've had many just as good as this one. But he's right, it was as good as we could ever hope for. 

Wordless Wednesday

Washington DC - Day 4

The first (and last) time I ever set foot in the National Air and Space Museum, I was ten years old, and we had about an hour to explore. If you've ever been to A+S, you know how ridiculous this sounds. You can literally spend days in any one of the Smithsonians, A+S is no different. Back in 1983, I barely scratched the surface of its collection, but all the incredible machinery hanging overhead left such an impact on me. My dad bought me a pouch of astronaut ice cream from the gift shop, and we dashed-out, deflated we couldn't stay longer. Flash forward thirty years, and I was so eager to get back with the big kid. I had set aside an entire day for us to roam, a full seven hours to just lap it all up. We came early, we launched ourselves in full-throttle, and then we kind of fizzled-out mid-day. Turns out neither the kid, nor I, are terribly interested in machines that fly. Birds of prey, yes, rocket ships, no.

It's not that I didn't find anything interesting, I just found myself gravitating more towards the culture and design of flying, rather than all that technical stuff. And the kid liked everything else.

There were definitely some highlights for the 9yo - an exhibit on the science of flight, which pertained to a block of study he just did and enjoyed. Through that, he had also read about the Wright brothers, so seeing their exhibit also helped to bring everything full circle.

All in all, we probably clocked about four and half hours at A+S, before walking across the mall and finishing the last hour of our museum day at Smithsonian's American History. The absolute highlight of our Thursday though, was dinner at Teddy & the Bully Bar.

Where to begin!? The recently opened sister restaurant to the popular Lincoln (where we ate the following night), Teddy was a spot I thought would be fun for the kid after the president's appearances in this book and this mini series, which we've enjoyed together. We had also heard a funny story at The White House about Teddy and his installing of animal heads in one of the rooms, and how Mrs. Taft had them promptly removed upon her arrival. Having enjoyed these stories about the former president, we were feeling well prepped for our upcoming night out.

When we were walking towards the restaurant I ask the kid to guess what we might see at the new restaurant and he said, "There'll probably be animal heads on the walls." #proudmama

When you first arrive in the Bully bar, there is a textured wall that looks vaguely familiar. You can't quite figure it out so you walk over to get a closer look...

...and then you realize - it's a giant wall filled with mini Mount Rushmores!

As soon as we ordered (Buttermilk Bully Rings, Teddy Clam Chowder and Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin), we were served a basket of warm bread and biscuits with salted butter and BACON JAM. We just about lost ourselves right then and there. The menu was a hoot to read with all its nods to our heritage.

I have to give up total control when I hand over the ordering of dessert to the kid. He's never going to order anything that sounds go to me. He's just not much of a fan of dark desserts. This cheesecake wrapped in phyllo dough had all sorts of weird sounding stuff in it, like rosemary. But it was delicious and so fun to eat with the flaky outer crust.

Rifle sconce.

Last but not least, I always have to check-out what's going on in the ladies room. Sometimes the greatest details are hidden behind bathroom doors.

Washington DC - Day 3

I can't help but feel the need to apologize when I have to post crummy iPhoto pics to my blog. I'm sorry. We had an early tour of The White House Wednesday morning and they have a no purse/backpack/camera/explosives policy. All you can bring in the gates are a wallet and cell phone. It was pretty freeing in that I lugged around four-and-a-half less pounds of camera gear that day, but of course, these pics stink.

This is the only pic we have of our visit to Barack and Michelle's pad, but it was still worth it. I loved seeing all the family photography through the various terms, and the secret service men on staff in each room were incredibly knowledgeable! I learned a bunch of fun facts, but my favorite was that Madison stood only 5'2 and weighed just 98lbs! (Taft goes down as the presidential heavyweight champion, coming in at 330lb., and 6'3.)

After our tour, we set out on foot towards the Newseum. I took the above of some construction zone posters. I love how everywhere you go in DC, you are surrounded by references to either history or politics.

PAUL on Pennsylvania. This was a FIND! I first tried a Beignet au Chocolate at a PAUL in the Paris airport last fall, while on a stop-over. I have never lost sight of what that chocolate and hazelnut donut did to me, and was always sad to think I'd have to fly back around the world if I ever wanted to indulge in one again. But Tuesday night, while heading back to our hotel on the bus, I spotted one - right here in 'merica!!! We made a point of going the next morning and it was absolute heaven to come in from the cold to a hot coffee and one of these:

The baker said the filling is their own blend of hazelnut-chocolate. Your first bite into the donut is pretty manageable. But each subsequent bite gets more and more explosive until you're groaning with pleasure while blobs of nutella-esque goodness are dropping on the table, running down your chin, and melting on your fingertips. It's a rare experience and one that every good child deserves. So when in DC (or France) get yourself to PAUL.

The Newseum - we LOVED it! I didn't have it on our original itineray but I'm so glad our DC based family recommended we go. Just incredible! My favorites were the Kennedy exhibits (there are two), one specifically on how the Kennedys were the first to use the media to their advantage, allowing the public insight to their family life.

The Newseum bathrooms are tiled a simple white with occassional glass tiles showcasing awkward newspaper headlines in our history. So fun!

There was an entire room dedicated to the ORIGINAL front pages of world papers through the centuries. Here, we have a look at one on the Salem witch trials!

Stuff interesting to boys.

My son learned about 9/11 at The Newseum. (sigh.) It was something I knew would be there, but at the same time, I wasn't really ready. We walked over to the wall of newspaper covers and in he marched to the movie room before I had a chance to think. I followed and asked him if he was ready for this and he said yes. The feature was more about reporting on the event, and how emotional it was for the reporters to remove themselves emotionally from the event. It was less about making us, the viewers, emotional. So in that sense, the video wasn't as heart-wrenching as it could have been, but there was still the imagery of the planes crashing, the buildings falling and people running for their lives. All of these things still make me very emotional, which I was. He was quiet afterwards, visibly affected, and so I pulled him to a quite corner and asked him if he was OK and if he had any questions. He said no. I asked him if he thought it a mistake for me to have let him see it and again, he said No. It was just really, really sad, Mom.

And all I could think to do was agree.

The Newseum was close enough to The Capital and The Library of Congress that we could walk over. Not that we actually did...we took a cab instead because by this point our legs ached something fierce. I think I mentioned that we are both walking 5-10 miles a day here? Lots of leg work going on this week!

Our tour at The Capital wasn't great. I think it was just the guide we got (her nervous laugh did not help matters from my end). To start the tour was a short film about the building and its history and that was great. Beyond that, our guide didn't seem to have any great little nuggets of information - like the guys over in The White House did. :) 

Across the street at The Library of Congress we finally understood why everyone kept telling us to Go to The Library of Congress!  It's just beautiful! We tagged along with another tour group already in motion and learned some great stuff, especiallyy about Thomas Jeffereson's prized book collection, which is on display right now. I do regret not having a complete tour of the entire building as I was told their is a lot of wonderful symbolism in the interior details. Next time.

Washington DC - Day 2

Once again, this will be an abbreviated post of quick notes due to timing and overall exhaustion. This morning started off with an 8:45 tour at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Very cool experience, and quick too. The best part is tours start here long before the other museums open at ten. So if you like to maximize your time like me, this one is for you.

I estimate we walked between five and ten miles today and a lot of that was in freezing temperatures with the wind blowing, albeit lightly. We are not conditioned for any of this but whenever we start to feel sorry for our sensation-less toes, I remind us both that this is NOT a winter in Valley Forge - we do have shoes for goodness sake! Oh, and God bless all those tough, brave men who fought for our independence. Good lord! With all I've (re)learned about American history in the last several months I'm beginning to think we've grown quite soft.

Per the kid's request, Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. Of all our planned stops this was actually the one I was least excited about. Strange to admit that now because it really was incredible in so many ways. 

I know - right?!? I totally want one of each too!! You are looking at a Chinese Water Deer above, and a Pink Fairy Armadillo below!

I loved the human origins section. We had fun with an interactive photo booth that showed what we would have looked like as Neanderthal. (No, I will not be posting those.) Above I'm standing with my favorite - Homo floresiensis - and yes, her head is at actual height!

The room of bones. Clearly an older exhibit but one of my favorites! Hundreds of skeletons displayed on a gorgeous color palette made more of an artful statement to me than anything else.

Need. This. Rock.

My little birder loved the incredible collection of native DC birds we discovered while walking down a quiet hallway... looking for the elevators... after leaving the basement cafe. :-/

We visited with family tonight in DC and after cooking us a wonder dinner they toured us all around the city for a taste of DC at night. Light or dark, rain or shine, Lincoln's Memorial never disappoints.

Washington DC - Day 1- Veterans Day

We had a phenomenal first day in our nation's capital and are exhausted from all the walking, emotional moments and heavy food. So I need to keep this short. But here is what I know about today:

Ted's Bulletin on 14th is the kind of breakfast joint you want to accidentally stumble upon on your way to Starbucks. Jaws on the sidewalk, we drooled over all the homemade pastries in the window, and so we invited ourselves in for a sit-down coffee and pop-tart at the counter. With the most exciting menu imaginable - yes, it does say Peanut Butter Bacon Burger - we headed back for a dinner of sloppy joe and spaghetti with meatballs.

Arlington National Cemetary. I knew it would be the ideal place to spend Veterans Day, and was eager to take my son to his great uncle's grave. What I didn't realize is that besides all the usual points of interest, we'd have a chance to see our president. We two stood on the curb while Obama drove by, waving at us, a small crowd of unsuspecting tourists. He was literally ten feet away! Here is the evidence as well as video shot immediately after of the guards leaving post.

 

 

It must be mentioned that we saw too many young women today, crying alone at headstones. I saw parents camped out in folding chairs, staring at their child's headstone. I saw a mother lying down on the lawn and grabbing at the grass her son lay beneath. A beautiful morning in a peaceful park, but I left, and took with me, a heavy, heavy heart.

Mount Vernon was just as captivating as I remember it thirty years ago. Although expanded now, so many of the details that have remained clear in my mind were still as they were even 150 years ago! The newly established visitors center was incredible and I only wished we had more than two hours to explore everything. If you go, give yourself 3-4.

Sentimental Gifts from Friends + Family

When visitors come up to the cabin, they often bring with them something special to contribute to our time together: a horseshoe game, a couple loafs of banana bread, some jars of canned treats from their garden back home. All of them mean something special to us, but I wanted to share my absolute favorites to date - some photos of the landscape, as well as a sweet poem.

The images here were taken over the weekend by our good friend (and former neighbor), Peter G. He loves photography as much as I do but has a much better grasp of the technical side. These images of the river and super moon were taken using a technique called HDR - High Dynamic Range. It's basically when you take one exact shot at varying exposures, then merge them all together so that the best lighting attributes from all images come together into one very intense image. You can see more of Peter's work here.

And then there is this sweet poem from *Vince*, a very special sort of Thank You after a long, Thanksgiving weekend last year:

Heavy traffic and a few winding twisting roads,

Deliver us to a place far away, yet so very close


Warm knotty pine ceilings and cool granite tops,

Sounds of the river flowing and an occasional champagne bottle "pop"


Warm turkey wrapped with bacon and mashed potatoes galore,

Corn bread with mushrooms... who could ask for anything more?


Mornings with strong coffee and cool cloudless skies,

Finding interesting curly bugs and studying a chopper that doesn't fly


Lively discussions and games without personal attacks,

Debates about politics, presidents, and voting democrats


A holiday weekend with family but without the ringing phone,

Far away from work and cities, but certainly not alone


We watched the bouncing kids and few happy wagging tails...

Had some driveway walks and explored where there are no people trails


For me, a rare holiday, that ended too fast and was gone way too soon...

We can't express enough thanks for the family, the food, and the warm wonderful room!

Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West

We returned from Scottsdale on Wednesday night. It was all sooo good - seeing a great new town, checking out an exciting new renovation project (think Melrose Place meets Southwest adobe architecture), having lots of free time to explore, and getting to do it all with my mom. I love coming home after just a few days away and 1.) wondering if my kids haven't each grown an inch and 2.) seeing how much my veggie garden HAS grown!

Our last morning in Scottsdale was a real cooker. At the recommendation of a friend we took a guided tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West (a school of architecture) at 10:00AM and regardless of the timing, it was so incredibly hot! I had thought that I might be able to skip this visit - did I really want to tour another FLW building? Did I really want to learn more about this genius who up and left his wife and six kids?

Turns out, I did!

These sorts of tours rarely disappoint, and I need to commit that to memory. There is just no substitute for all the great stories and details that come with visiting an historical landmark such as this. I could spend hours putting it all down (and I wish I had the time because I will probably forget most of it by next week), but I need to get breakfast on the table now.

I now want to go tour our own FLW masterpiece - The Marin County Civic Center. Even though I've walked through it a hundred times, and driven past it thousands, I know there are some incredible stories about its design and construction that will be well worth the trip. Who wants in?!

The Saguaro Hotel, Scottsdale AZ

So I'm in Scottsdale for a couple days. A little pleasure, a little business. I brought my mom because she likes it hot, and being that it was 100 degrees today, she's in her happy place.

Today was pleasure, tomorrow is all bizniz.

I've never been to Scottsdale before - it's adorable! Hard not to be when you're the spa capital of the world, I suppose. We are staying at the newly opened Saguaro Hotel. We ate at the sister hotel in Palm Springs last year and loved it. Super happy to have learned about this place in time for our visit.  I was needing more rainbows and cacti in my life.

We had a great lunch at the hotel's restaurant, El Distrito. I had the fish tacos, she, the chili relleno.

My mom made a great discovery in the lobby and then again in our room - these vintage Arizona Highways magazines from the 50's and 60's! She remembers the publication and was so excited to share with me the incredible quality of photography throughout. Indeed! Here is a closer look:

*El Sol* Vintage Medallion

When I first made it to Palm Springs last year, I took an hour or two to myself, wandering through stores housing retro wares. My favorite, out of all of them, was a tiny hole in the wall called Bon Vivant (457 N. Palm Canyon). Small as it was, this gem still managed to pack a large punch with a bunch of vintage items offered at very reasonable prices. The man behind the counter was sweet and chatty, and I left with eight stainless steel tumblers that we use for unbreakable kiddo milk and water cups. Last month, when I returned to Palm Springs for the second time, I made sure to go back to Bon Vivant. This time I fell in love with one of the many vintage medallions on display. I call this guy *El Sol* and I wore him on a bright spring day recently. He reminds me of something Alexander Girard might have created, or something my mother might once have worn, in the decade before I was born. :)

Wordless Wednesday (Palm Springs)

Sprucing Up the Cabin

We've been spending the week between Christmas and New Years at the cabin since our family purchased it seven years ago. It needed a lot of cosmetic work at first, but thankfully we were the first people in the months it had been on the market to see through all that and to realize its potential.

Carpet and paint were the first to-do items, hauling abandoned equipment, dismantling the...eh hem, "hidden garden" and rebuilding a failing deck all took priority. Each family contributed furniture from their homes, and Nana and Papa purchased some much needed big items like a sectional couch and new dining chairs. The house is fully furnished, totally comfortable and in need of nothing.

Which means it's time for me to find projects where there aren't any.

It's who am and this is just what I do.

This trip I began to decorate a second refrigerator in the kitchen area that has been driving me CRAZY for years. Its bright white exterior is my idea of an eyesore against the wood paneled cabin walls. I finally decided, and was granted *permission*, to make it an objet d'art. I discovered Cafe Press and was able to find thousands of bumper stickers that spoke to our family's time here together. It's not done, I want it to be completely covered with bumper stickers. But I think it's off to a good start!

Great Dickens Christmas Fair

We traveled back in time again yesterday, revisiting Victorian-era London at The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, this time in costume!





I absolutely LOVE this fair and all that it offers. The food, the games, theatrical performances and music all come together in the most enchanting event. You can read more details in my post last year.



Daddy and Tiny Tim!





Because we entered the fair shortly after opening, we were able to get a family portrait without waiting - something I've always wanted to do. Here we are with my father:





The low lighting makes it difficult to get good photographs, but I was able to grab this one of a great game we played - Boot the Cat. For a couple bucks you can lie on the bed and throw boots at the wooden cats meowing in the window. Knock down all three and win a prize!





Read about our first family trip to the fair in 2011 here.

Orla Kiely Cupcakes

This is a story about two of my absolute favorite things - cupcakes and Orla Kiely - and how one very sweet woman made sure the two were combined into one giant *thank you* for my family and me.

Last August, we hosted my second cousin, his wife and family for two nights while on their cross-country move from Alaska to Louisiana.

They came down and their little family took us all by storm. (I mean this in the best way possible, of course.) At the time, I had only spent a few hours with my cousin Kody over the past 30 years, and I hadn't yet met his wife Rachel, or their two boys. After getting them quickly settled and giving them a caffeine-fueled tour of the best our town has to offer, including a trip to Kara's Cupcakes to pick up the evening's desserts, we had a little mini-family reunion at our house. My sisters were there, all their kids, my mom and dad. It was simple and effortless, and so we just sat around in a big circle on patio chairs talking, just like our shared family members back in South Dakota might have done, middle of the last century.

Could I not have remembered to take some pictures?!

Anyway, I can't remember what I ended-up serving for dinner, beyond trying to keep it all local and fabulous for our Guam->AK->LA guests, of course. I do, however, remember what I did NOT serve - and that was a promised Orla Kiely inspired cake for Rachel, a woman who deserves to have someone bake her a cake for once.

Let me explain. Rachel is the incredibly talented cake designer/maker, and face of Fondant Flinger.  Our entire California contingency had been following her work on Facebook for some time, despite having never actually met her. One day, she commented on this Facebook post of mine:

Now I realize you can't even see all my bags in this modified shot, but trust me - the whole ensemble was thoughtless and I couldn't help but laugh at myself. The point is Rachel loved my bags and because I knew she was coming, I told her I was going to make her a cake inspired by my Orla Kiely bag. I made a big, big promise.

(Thump)

If only I could stick to my word. If only I could have delivered. If only I could sign-up for *just enough* and not *too much*.

So by the time their family arrived on that warm, Monday night last August, my tail was shoved sufficiently between my legs as I leaned my body weight against the entryway closet, hiding all the last bits I'd just picked up off the floor. There would be no spectacular cake for Rachel, her husband or their to-die-for little boys. All I had to show for my idea was a raindrop cookie cutter that I had purchased thinking it could double as an Orla Kiely leaf. "Look! Wouldn't this have worked great?!"

(Cue the trumpet)

And yet, she could not have cared less. She got it. She understood. She knew I was crazy to have made that promise. She knows what it's like to play with fondant. Little did I know, she was plotting something even more spectacular.

So despite all the gifts they gave to use on their departure - Salmonberry jelly, deer jerky, fresh smoked Alaskan salmon, as well as toys for the kids, she still, for some crazy reason I will never understand, thought that she needed to craft cupcake toppers that pay homage to one of my favorite designers, coordinate their debut on top of everyone's favorite cupcakes (Kara's), and have them delievered to our house on cold, rainy, fall night.

Love that girl!

I actually saved one of the twelve cupcakes and am letting it dry out right now. I plan to shellac it and frame it in a shadow box on our picture wall!

SuperNatural Halloween at the Academy

We did something new and different totally spectacular this past weekend when I took a friend's advice and bought tickets to The California Academy of Science's SuperNatural Halloween Party.

Imagine dressing up, being first in line, and getting to sit all alone on one side of the museum, eating ice cream...

...and getting to watch this:

It had been 33 days since we'd last visited the museum and met these baby ostriches, just over a month old. On Saturday, they were 66 days old!

The museum served up great food and activities. We took in the rainforest with just a handful of families, no lines, no fussing...just wide open spaces, eager docents, crafts, trick-or-treating for quasi-healthy treats, live music and choices, choices, choices. :)



























I wonder if SuperNatural is this good every year... or if we just got really lucky because the Giants were playing the third game of the World Series that night? We stayed until almost nine o'clock, and just as we walked out, a great cheer erupted throughout the building and we were told - "The Giants won!"

California Road Trip - Sunnylands in Palm Springs

The recently opened Sunnylands Retreat in Palm Springs was without a doubt, the highlight of my week.

I had been reading a lot about Walter and Leonore Annenberg's west coast retreat in the early months of this year.  There has been no shortage of press surrounding this incredible icon of mid-century design, its expansive grounds and art collection, or its historical significance. As soon as we decided to visit Palm Springs for spring break, I thought of Sunnylands (well actually no, I thought about Trina Turk's flagship store and then I thought about Sunnylands) and so I began making plans to book a tour. At 9am on March 15th, I sat at my laptop and continually pressed the refresh button on my browser until the April block of tickets opened up. I grabbed a midday slot ("Crap! That's high sun!), threw it in my basket, and in doing so, felt about 2 inches taller.