dylan hosts a construction worker party and turns three

it's been birthday week here at dylan mac and cheese. dylan got to celebrate his birthday not once but twice, a school party and a construction workers' party. dylan has lately been obsessed with bob the builder, handy manny and general contractor work--and loves tools, building, fixing and tearing things apart. so what better way to celebrate this third birthday than with a construction party? we set up the scene at california science center, where dylan and his best buddies helped build a house, donned hardhats, got home depot aprons, and ran around scavenging for tools. everyone seemed to have a great time and of course, the girls loved the pretend play as much as the boys.

sydney hard at work lifting buckets of bricks up to the second level.

...while tika supplies bricks from down below.

of course, there was a fair amount of sharing (pulling and taking and pushing) from the crew. 

so much hard work! everyone took a break for lunch. 

while the adults posed for silly pictures.

john as manure pile bulldozer driver. 

sometimes eating pizza is hard work indeed, thinks arriel.

fun times ahead! dylan got a dump truck full of 'compost cake' made with yummy chocolate buttercream frosted cake layered with worms, cigarette butts and dirt. 

the party and the cake seemed to be a huge hit---at least dylan's harmony, linda, and charles think so (who ate all the gummy worms? are there more chocolate pretzels? why are we digging around for crumbs?)

happy birthday dylan! we love you, our little guy. we hope you had a blast. 

love, mom and dad and harmony (construction crew)

scenes of summer 2010

it's a lazy summer so far, filled with lemonade, ice cream, modern american art, first day of preschool, picnics, and going up and down angel's flight downtown! we love downtown l.a.: even those nifty, self-cleaning public toilets right on the street! 

dyl captures the seaweed at redondo beach...

we go CRAZY over ice cream at the park, or anywhere, really.

arriel and dylan hold tight to those fruity helados... but enough fun and games! it's time to head into the city, to peruse  some art. 

Dylan's first visit to moca downtown. I give the little one (dyl) and the big one (John) a lesson about modern, influential American art, namely frank stella's 'cstesiphon 1.' 

Of course, we're here for the cafe culture as well, so we try the cupcakes and lemonade at Lemonade Cafe inside MOCA.

Roy Lichtenstein "Man with Folded Arms"

and Andy Warhol's "Telephone"

Angel's Flight is back! Dylan's favorite 'train ride' so far! We're so happy Angel's Flight is up and running to take us up from Grand Central Market to MOCA and California Plaza downtown. We are such tourists. 

Gotta Go Daddy! We are happy to report that these public toilets that we spotted up in San Francisco, are also up and running Downtown. And after all that lemonade, dylan fancies these automated public-toilets downtown or APTs as they are known.  Dyl liked these so much, he kept wanting to wait in line to use them. Click on the video below to see how these toilets work. And remember to mind your place in line. These toilets draw quite a crowd. 

Also on view at MOCA's permanent exhibit is this work by Barbara Kruger. The untitled work says it all for this tired, worn-out mama... sometime's it's all about a woman's work...hard work...and lots of it! we're absolutely pooped here in dylan-mac-and-cheese-land!

But it's been a happy summer so far!

a little bit of paris in l.a.

this is not the cote d'azure in the background--but django and sophia like to strike a pose and pretend they're hiking the rugged trails of the south of france--when we're really in the palos verdes peninsula (can you see catalina island in the distance?).  

we love to travel here in dylanland, but it's not always the best or economical thing to fly to 'get away from it all.' so we explore, we hike, we like to play tourist with our little guy. 

downtown or tijuana? we visited olvera street downtown, and dylan and dad got to order flautas and dylan got to play street busker singing balladas romanticas. (notice: john is a sucker for cheap souvenirs and is always willing to drop some good dough on touristy tchotchkes. that means our kid gets outfitted in souvenir t-shirts emblazoned with names of places we've been; and instead of real toys, dyl has to play spindly 'guitarras.' the list of souvenirs is endless: caps, magnets, t-shirts, mouse pads, mugs, what have you. could someone please tell john to watch an episode of 'hoarders' couldja? ... sigh...). 

c'est pas paris! it's not paris, but that sure looks like a crepe de la france. it's dylan's favorite and he loves to watch the lady with the beret make his weekly crepe. made on an authentic crepe pan (just like on the streets of paris!), the one dylan orders has spinach, tomato, swiss cheese and his favorite topping, mushrooms. 'mushrooms, mushrooms,' chants dylan when the crepe lady--in her breton striped boatneck shirt--spreads the batter, lets the edges brown, flips the crepe over, spreads cheese and goodies, then a little sizzle, sizzle and voila! une crepe--straight outta brittany.   

cheaper than a flight to paris. and complete with a real beret-wearing french chef making your crepe. c'est bon! 

the crepe lady stand

manhattan beach farmer's market

every tuesday

no number or website, sorry

dylan's guide to trains

dyl is mad for trains. even though he's not yet two, this tot has done the one thing that most l.a. folk still find daunting: taking public transport! he's been on all manner of trains, from amtrak to mta lines to kiddie trains, all over town. he's navigated more public transportation and rail lines than most citizens. phooey on them, they don't know what they're missing.

one of the places to nerd out on a train is at the free rides at wilson park in torrance; one train practically takes you from torrance to lomita it seemed, and challenging too--john had to straddle this long seat, while clutching dylan on his lap. we recommend leaving the texting/iphoning at home for this ride.
and here he is, at dylan's favorite place, well, one of them, at least. travel town in griffith park has got a kiddie train, (seen here, pictured with daddy) old trains to climb and explore, a train museum, and a train gift shop--sort of a train disneyland, with lots of history and education, to boot. going there brings dyl glee to the utmost (as you can see in this picture on the trolley below).
GLEE!
choo-choo! being the 'duck-tor' on the southern railway engine.
wherever he goes, trains sort of find their way to dylan. here he points out the train collection at phillipes french dip restaurant downtown.
keys, keys, keys!! give me those keys, says dylan, so i can hop this boxcar. here, he tries to unlock the freight train at the lomita railroad museum--using daddy's keys. someone must be reading kerouac's on the road---that or thomas the tank engine. more likely the latter, in dylan's case.
i am the 'ducktor' and give me your money and your tickets, says dylan.
the best part about legoland was the mini train ride. we geeked out here too--dylan refused to get off this ride, and rode it umpteen times. john's a good sport about things like this.
the best thing about trains --- all the things to see and hear and experience.

his most adventurous ride to date has to be the metro trip. here, dylan contemplates the funky public art at the green line platform, en route to downtown l.a. via the green and blue lines. the metro was dylan's most 'BIGGen'* ride--and most memorable were the people dylan met in the cars--playing peekaboo with the old jewish gentleman, the little girl who shared her bag of candy (that was the best, says dylan), chatting up the british tourists, thanking people who gave up their seats for us, and looking at the art installations. it's like l.a. was a real city, of all things--with art, even, and courteous people going out of their way to help.

dylan's next stop--the red line, gold? see you on the rails!

*BIGGen: when dylan wants to say something is real big or very large, he says 'BIGGen!'.

downtown days

urban playdate. dylan contemplates the original french dip at phillipes (we didn't order any violet-tinted pickled eggs, but we will one of these days) yet prefers his thomas the tank engine train.
dylan takes a first bite of lamb french dip at phillipes the original. mais oui!

we've been indulging our love of all things downtown these days--once a week or even twice or every other week--whenever we can--you will always find us museum-cafe-park and playground-hoppin' around downtown. whether we're strolling the beautiful rose garden at the natural history museum, roaming the halls of the california science center, dining at the street-chic bottega louie, climbing the jungle gym at griffith, or checkin out the animals at the l.a. zoo, we've made going into the city a priority for kid-friendly adventures. dylan is one happenin' tot and he's sure getting around.

today, after a halloween playdate at zowen's in los feliz, we met up with daddy john at phillipes french dip for a quick supper. it is a place, that i like to call, one of the great equalizers in los angeles---people from all walks of life congregate here, like a big bus terminal and it is as film noir as an old fashioned sandwich counter can get.* you will see big latino families with babies in strollers, truckers sitting on stools watching the game, old timers who look like they've walked out of raymond chandler or bukowski novels, chinese mothers and their teenage sons, black church groups on an evening out, alterna dudes who could double for the band weezer, and then there's us--with dylan in tow. 'hi,' the everfriendly dylan announces--to everyone. 'HI!' and 'hello,' everyone responds, with smiles and chuckles.

for as long as i can remember, phillipes was my first great introduction to downtown l.a. i first came here with my friend lia when i was 14 (thanks lia!)---that was about five years ago, i tell john (ha ha!). and now it is on dylan's list of unique and great and awesome places to go and see with mom and dad.

and like phillipes, our toddler is a great equalizer. he connects with everyone and anyone and is happy to offer a wave and greeting to everyone he meets: pretty ladies, old folks, waiters, the homeless, babies, kids, the handicapped, the chipper and the not-so-happy folk. all are fair game to dylan, everyone is welcome, everyone is kind. he is more social than most people i know, and really knows how to work a room. and that is why we ended up at phillipes french dip, it is as great as l.a. can aspire to be, and as scruffy, well worn and authentic as the chipped cafeteria trays on those long communal tables, as rough as the sawdust on the floor, as ever present as the bottles of nose-searing horseradish sauce, for all to share. here's to more downtown days with dylan!

*you'll be happy to know that a cup of coffee still costs 10 cents. with phillipes, who needs starbucks?