Mommy and Me Adventure: LACMA

Someone once said to me dealing with a squirmy toddler is like trying to put an octopus in a string bag. I thought that was the perfect description.

My octopus and I had a mommy and me day at LACMA this past weekend. We've gone a couple times with mixed results. Crying babies and quiet galleries are not the best combo, but curious toddlers and modern art seem to mix surprisingly well.

LACMA has a really great program called Arts for NexGen. Anyone 17 years old and under can get a free membership and bring one adult with them. There are also a number of arts programs through the museum that they have access to through NexGen.

It makes for a really great Mommy and Me Adventure Day. Em is partial to the contemporary art. It tends to be bolder and bigger and grabs her attention better. It also tends to be lower to the ground, so exploring the galleries involved a lot of me playing defense and blocking her from touching art under the scrutiny of many museum employees. 

I don't know why but I was surprised by how much she really dug it all. Even the more traditional paintings.

The outdoor courtyards and restaurants are also great for taking breaks. Milkscoops (aka vanilla ice cream) at Coffee + Milk were a big hit.

It was a Saturday, so they also have an outdoor concert on one of the lawns. We hung out there and Em danced to some Latin beats before we headed home. All in all a pretty great day.

Minus, the wiggle tantrums. I don't know if it's possible to spend four hours at a museum without at least one meltdown. I know it's a very normal thing to deal with, but it always feels like my child is the only one not keeping it together. I don't have a problem with her throwing herself on the floor and getting it out of her system (outside of the galleries) but I would be lying if I said I wasn't aware of all the eyes watching her performance art. Maybe that's not a bad way to look at it. She's just adding her own spin to the museum experience. "Octopus in a String Bag" by Em.

Picture Perfect?

I probably have more pictures of my daughter at  20 months than I have of my entire childhood. Every  month when I sit her on the couch to take her monthly photo I have to take 15 of them just to get a shot without a blurry arm or an odd facial expression.

It's obviously easier to craft the way we want to remember something nowadays. We pick and choose what we want people to see and that becomes part of the experience. If we don't like it we just shoot another one. Em is too young to remember these moments herself, so these are the photos that will tell her how things were. Will the toddlers of today grow up to think they truly had "picture perfect" childhoods?

We visited Santa twice this year to get the perfect shot. The first time we waited in line for 30 minutes and just as we were about to go in a family of five came back to redo their photos. That was it - the dam broke and there was no sucking back those tears. She cried on my lap and Santa calmly reassured me that it happens all the time. He said we should just come back every weekend and let her say hello to him until she's ready.

Theoretically this is nice. Just come back and say hello to Santa. But at this Santa you must take a number and that number will just give you permission to get on the line where you will then wait for another hour to grace the Big Man's presence. But we came back the next weekend and this time we got the shot. The perfect Norman Rockwell shot to go with the perfect fluke Norman Rockwell shot we got last year. The pressure is now on to keep them up - year after year. Same Santa, slightly bigger Em.

This past weekend, we went to the LA Zoo. Elmo and Cookie Monster were doing a meet and greet. After waiting 45 minutes for a bagel sandwich at a nearby cafe, then sitting in traffic to then circle the parking lot looking for a magical free spot, I was very close to losing it completely. (Full disclosure, I had actually already lost it at the restaurant, but I managed to get it back together on the way to the zoo.)

But we got in line, the end of which thankfully started in a shady spot, as the sun was really out in full force. And we waited. We could see Elmo and Cookie in the distance. In the time we were there they traded off twice, taking turns to meet the kids. Each time one of them reappeared they were greeted like rock stars - a general hum and cheer rippling through the crowd.

Em would point and wave and told us she was going to hug them when we got up front. But anticipation is not the same as reality. When it was finally our time to meet Elmo - she took one look at this eight foot tall monster and freaked out.

You only get one shot at something like this. Thirty seconds to get it right. That wasn't going to happen. I handed over my iphone quickly and the woman taking pictures snapped a series of my kid screaming her head off, Elmo attempting to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder -just making it worse. And then we were escorted away - the old boot to the face Christmas Story style. An hour for a minute - the end. As we stepped away and Elmo faced his next victim, Em turned back and waved goodbye. Whatever bothered her was in the past. But we'll always have the photo to remember it by.

Downtown Ain't What It Used to Be

Many people look at having kids as the death of world exploration. While I do know a couple that hiked through Nepal with their 3 year old, for most people these types of trips become great slideshow memories of a by-gone era after baby is born. I don't see any trips to Morocco in my near future, but we still try to visit something new when we can, even when that something is very close to home.

Last weekend, we made a day of downtown. For me Downtown Los Angeles has always seemed a bit like a barren wasteland. Former architectural glories turned into bodegas and tchotchke shops. This is still an accurate description of some areas, but I was surprised to see how much has changed. It's actually becoming an interesting place to be.

One of those places is The Last Bookstore. The name sounds post-apocalyptic and given the state of the bookstore industry, it's probably not far off from the truth. Walking through the doors is a little like I would imagine walking into Diagon Alley feels. It's a total secret hideaway that makes you feel pretty special for finding it. Rooms and rooms of books for $1, true crime section located in an old bank vault and people who actually seem to care about books.

Being the avid reader that she is, Em loved it just as much as my husband and I did.

But it may have been her second favorite stop that day - top honors going to the fountain at Grand Park. This is another thing that amazes me about Los Angeles. Maybe it's because there are so many parks to choose from, but it always seems to me like the best ones are the least busy. Grand Park is kind of amazing. For one, it has its own Starbucks. But better yet, there is a great fountain where barefoot toddlers and their parents can pretend to walk on water. 

Em is a very analytical child, so it took a little while for her to warm up to the concept. But it wasn't that long before she tried to hug the small geysers shooting up around her. Although next time I really need to remember to pack a change of clothes. 

   

Fall is in the air...

Fall has always been my favorite season. There are so many changes to look forward to - cool, crispness of the air, changing leaves, seasonal drinks at Starbucks. One of my favorite Fall traditions is apple picking. Growing up my family always made an annual pilgrimage upstate to pick apples and pumpkins. I've tried to go every time I am back East during the Fall and it's something I really missed living in Los Angeles. Until now. I've done the local pumpkin picking thing here, but it's not the same. Driving 45 minutes to pick up a pumpkin that clearly didn't grow there while wearing a tank top just doesn't capture the same spirit from my childhood trips. That's why I was really excited to realize this year that there are great orchards just a little over an hour away.

So on Saturday we packed up the car and ironically headed towards the desert (and eventually up into the mountains) to pick some apples. Oak Glen has all the best parts I remember from apple picking with my family - and then ten times more. The orchards are so close together you can walk from one place to another without having to drive. Hay rides, petting zoos, general stores, apple donuts, press your own cider, throw a tomahawk, pick a pumpkin, pick some berries - it's amazing!

I wasn't sure how Em would like it, but turns out she was totally into the idea. It probably didn't hurt that sorting is one of her favorite activities right now. What's better than sitting in an orchard with bags and bags of apples that you can move from one bag to the next. It was toddler paradise. And definitely a new family tradition.

The Best Donut in LA

While I wouldn't say that I have a sweet tooth, I have very strong opinions about sweets. I fancy myself an expert on the best of the best in certain dessert categories in Los Angeles. Sprinkles is the best cupcake place in LA hands down (back off Magnolia!). Deluscious chocolate chip cookies can't be beat. But there is one type of pastry I haven't been able to nail down...until now.

I'd like to say I discovered it all on my own, but I have to thank National Donut Day "Best of" Lists. Sharing a car means whoever is home with the baby is stuck home all day, so my husband and I like to bring home treats for each other on days when we have the car. I had it on Donut Day. After seeing SK's Donut and Croissants on a couple of lists I had to try it out.

I have never seen donuts like this before. I have an aversion to jellies and sweets with soft centers. But here you'll find donuts literally stuffed with strawberries and fresh blueberries. Each one is more like a full dessert than a simple donut. I've become kind of obsessed. Plus, it's open 24 hours! Haven't been able to try the maple bacon one yet, but someday.