American Heroes Air Show

Helicopters, helicopters, and more helicopters.  Oh yea - and police cars, fire trucks, underwater dive units, mission command mobile units, sheriffs, rescue teams, mountain rescue vehicles . . . a place a family with two little boys should definitely check out.

Garrett sitting in EVERYTHING . . .

Bob pretending to be tough . . . .

Brady getting in on the action . . .

And helicopters galore.

The only bummer was that Bob and Garrett were going to take a helicopter ride - and they cut off the line when they were next - because some fire helicopters landed for the start of the air show.  BUMMER.  G did seem to recover quickly when he got to sit in all of the helicopter pilot seats.  His obsession?  Buckling and unbuckling the seat belts.  Go figure?!

What did he play when we got home from the HELICOPTER show? - scuba diver.  I guess the diving suit, flippers, masks, etc. he touched at the LAPD Underwater Dive Unit truck really made an impression.

Hangin' in Grammy and Papa's Front Yard

Too hot to go too far today, but too couped up in the house . . .

We had fun until Garrett slid down the slide into Brady.  No photos of that - just mommy grabbing Brady and Garrett at once to minimize injuries. . . .

Allergies Suck

Poor little Brady is now nicknamed Mr. Allergic. 

The list:

egg whites
peanuts
hazelnut
brazil nut
cashew
almond
pistachio
dill seed
sunflower seed
bermuda grass
broccoli
green pea
banana
avocado
cantaloupe
shrimp
crab

Next steps:

Blood test to ascertain the level of allergic reaction - e.g. to see if we just need to eliminate these things from Brady's diet and mommy's diet (while still breastfeeding) or if we need to eliminate them from the house and ensure he doesn't have things not only without these ingredients, but not made in facilities with shared equipment, etc.

We're working on helping you little guy - hang in there!

Flock Together!

Another fun afternoon at Los Encinos Park.  We definitely need to help save this neighborhood park from closure - the State is in a budget crunch (as always) and this lovely park is on the closure list.

Not only is it historic, but it holds lots of memories of playing with Garrett and now Brady and Garrett together - and Bob even went there as a child.

Garrett is prouly displaying his "Flock Together" button.  Never too early to start a little activism!

Garrett had fun playing Ranger (again), we fed the ducks (OK - mostly the birds), and we played in the garden.  It was super-hot today, so I don't think there were a lot of visitors today - the birds were RAVENOUS and encircled G.  He didn't seem to mind.  B was with us too (it was a little challenging to take photos of him since he stayed in the Ergo today) - and he seemed to like all of the birds flying around too.

We also noticed they had new signs up - lots of people must have been feeding the ducks bread - so I read G the signs about how we only feed the ducks the duck food - how they eat seeds, etc. and how the bread is empty calories of sugar, etc. and changes their habitat (by changing the water composition).  G seemed to really get it, but then 15 minutes later he asked - what do those signs say? - like we never even talked about it!!?? Oh well.  So much for my little ecology lesson.  I try.

This is Fun!

I think Brady is a lot more thrilled with swinging than the first time we tried this endeavor - I guess he just needed to get the hang of it.  He started going crazy and kicking his legs when we were just walking towards the swings and he saw them, so I guess that was his way of expressing his excitement!

Swing on my friend - enjoy!

It's the simple pleasures that make little ones so happy.

San Fernando Valley Mission

Here's some detail about it:

Mission San Fernando Rey de España was founded 8 September 1797 (17^th in order) by Padre Fermin Francisco de Lasuen. The mission is named for St. Ferdinand, King of Spain (1217-1252). The Indian name was Pashecgna. A variety of problems, including the 1812 earthquakes and the digging up of the church floor by gold prospectors when gold was discovered nearby caused much of the mission to fall into disrepair. Some restored structures include the church, monastery and some quarters around the quadrangle. The church is active (we were there during Sunday morning services).

So nicely restored - why drive all the way to San Juan Capistrano??!

We toured the whole mission and played on the grounds.

The wine cellar was cool - although Garrett kept yelling that it smelled like pee pee (which it kind of did).

The other cool random thing was the oldest organ in North America.

We continue to try and find fun and interesting things in our own backyard . . .

Happy Father's Day

We hit the Studio City Farmer's Market again - this time we braved the petting zoo

and Garrett went on the slide with dad

and zoomed all over the bounce house (note the snazzy wristbands and headband Brady and daddy bought for Garrett while mommy was with him in the petting zoo). 

Of course, we had to do another pony ride.

Brady had fun too.  Who knew parking meters could be so entertaining??!!

Next time maybe we'll even buy some fruit and veggies! (if we make it past the kids' area).  Maybe we'll have to park and enter on the other side next time.  Hmmmm. . .

We also went to a B-Day celebration in the afternoon for Garrett's friend Nico.  I think Brady had a blast too - here he is his first time driving a big boy car.  Garrett played A LOT in the firetruck, but ran around and played with Nico, Bodhi, Audrey, Nola, and Connor too.