Temple Trip

We took another trip down to the Los Angeles temple. It's always such a great experience for our family. Kyle LOVES staying at the "hotel," Kevin and I get to do some temple work, and we usually have a fun little outing the next day.

They have this fantastic tree on the grounds that everyone loves to climb on. And Kyle is no exception. It's so awesome. This time, Marie wanted a turn, too. She's quickly learning that she deserves absolute equality with Kyle.

Marie loved wandering around the grounds. Especially the flower beds. Don't worry, she didn't touch the flowers. Nope, my girl loved the dirt. She'd grab it in big fistfuls and shove it in her mouth. It was lovely.

And Kyle loved the fountains. He's always attracted to the water.

In addition to the beautiful grounds, they have a playground right next door to the apartments. There's nothing Marie likes more than a good ride in the swings. They even had a tire swing that Kyle was crazy about.

But this just might have been the favorite. Afterall, it's not everyday you get to ride on a luggage cart.

The Getty

After the temple, we decided to visit The Getty Museum. Can I just tell you how impressed I was? Well, I was. It was beautiful and fun, and FREE, and wonderful. They even "rent" strollers for FREE, which was awesome since we forgot ours. Our arms and backs would have been very tired.

This place is huge. Many buildings, with every type of art you could imagine. It was amazing.

It wasn't actually completely free, since we had to pay for parking. But you ride a tram from the parking garage, up the hill to the museum, and the kids thought that alone was worth the $10.

They had a building that was just for families, with interactive art displays. We spent half our time in just that little building. Both kids loved it.

Marie followed this poor little girl around the entire time. She didn't bother her, but she was a foot behind her everywhere she went.

I don't remember the specifics about this display, but I believe it's a replica of a fancy french bed of some sort. :-) All I remember is that Marie LOVED it. What could be better than a soft bed with piles of books stacked around it? Two of Marie's favorite things in the world.

This was a replica of a sculpture outside in the gardens. You took water noodles (for lack of a better description) and stuck them into holes in the walls. It created this web-like thing. It was pretty neat.

They had the most beautiful gardens. Unfortunately, we went on a 102-degree day, so we didn't enjoy them as much as we could have. We'll have to go again on a cooler day. It was beautiful and my camera was itching to take some fun outdoor pictures.

This was about the time that Kyle decided he was DONE. All of sudden, it wasn't fun anymore, and he was starving, and he was hot, and...well, he was DONE.

And this was when I told him NOT to smile for the picture. "Please don't smile," I told him.
Works every time.

August 17, 2009

The big guy started 1st grade, and I'm very late in posting about it. We started off with a lot of excitement, but that quickly waned, and turned into concern. I'm carrying a bucketload of concerns about Kyle's teacher and have been stressing about it. But after a whole lot of thought and prayer, I've decided that he'll be okay. So I'm sucking it up and going forward with a good attitude! However, it sure makes you appreciate those teachers that are fabulous!

Kyle, on the other hand, is doing great! He doesn't have quite the enthusiasm for school that he did last year, but I think he's enjoying it. Despite not being a morning person, he arises quite happily at 6:50 a.m. And despite not being a big breakfast kid, he happily eats his breakfast that early in the morning.

He loves the fact that being a 1st-grader gets you visits to the computer lab. He loves having recess, and a recess after lunch. The only bad thing is having to sit in his seat for "so, so, so long!"

So here's to a great year! At least, we hope it's a great one!

Checkmate

Kyle's found a new accomplishment and obsession in the game of chess (or "chest," as he likes to call it). For some reason, he's always been interested in the game and has literally begged us for years to teach him how to play. We kept putting it off, deeming the game too complicated for a 4 or 5-year-old brain. Kevin finally gave in to Kyle's pleas and sat down with him a couple of weeks ago to teach him how to play. It went well, but he didn't completely catch it all. Completely understandable.

A couple of weeks ago, we left the kids with a babysitter and Kyle talked her into playing "chest." By the time we came home, he had the game down. He seriously knew the rules of the game, had beaten the babysitter in one game (she probably let him), and was ready for some serious competition.

Since that fateful evening, not a day, or an hour, has passed that he doesn't challenge us to a game. Sadly, he beats me about 50% of the time. And no, it's not always because I let him. And while he still has a ways to go with his dad, with the rate Kyle's learning, Kevin only has a few more years of easy victories left.

However, I have a problem with this game of "chest." It's brought a lot of ugliness into our home. You see, Kyle's happy as can be when he wins the game. But when he loses...boy, oh boy! It's gets U.G.L.Y. At the very least, we have a lot of pouting on the couch. And at its worst, we have yelling, screaming, and the throwing of whatever happens to be nearby. It's not good. For about a week, I was beating my head against the wall, wondering what in the world I was going to do.

Finally, after one particularly bad outburst, I pulled out the video camera and got Kyle in all his glory. When I showed the footage to him, he got kind of a sheepish smile on his face, realizing how silly he was. Then he got very serious and said:

"You know why I get mad, mom? Because I have to think. Those other games are all luck. So when I lose at those games, it's just bad luck. But in "chest," I have to think. And I don't like to lose when I have to think."

Simple, but it makes perfect sense. Who likes to put their whole heart and effort into something and lose? I certainly don't. Nobody does.

And so we had a talk. We talked about anger, and how to direct it. We talked about not letting it affect other people. And while the tantrums aren't completely gone, we're pretty much only dealing with pouting these days. And let's face it, even I'm guilty of that one.

A Day on the Town

In preparation for the first day of school, Kyle and I went on a little date. The purpose of the trip was school shopping, but I tried to camouflage it as something entirely more fun. Because shopping definitely wouldn't land on my son's "Top 10 Fun Things To Do" list.

First stop: LUNCH. I told him he could pick whatever he wanted, thinking that it would probably be something like McDonalds. I'm a charitable mom, right? Well, his response wasn't exactly what I expected.

First choice? Red Lobster. Uh, try again.
Second choice? Famous Dave's. Seriously?
Third choice? Olive Garden.

At least he has good taste, even if he is a little spoiled.

Next stop was Old Navy, where he got to pick out his very own outfit - mom wasn't allowed to veto. He very dutifully looked at the tags of every pair of shorts, but there were no size 7's to be found. Bummer.

But at least he found this awesome Star Wars t-shirt. This coming from the kid who told me he "just wasn't into Star Wars anymore" less than a month ago. I knew it was a brief phase.

Next, it was on to Target for some serious school supplies. I'll just say that California's budget crisis is definitely affecting the schools. But I'm kind of a school supply junkie, so it actually wasn't too painful.

After he picked out his Star Wars lunchbox (are we sensing a theme here?) we took a brief pit-stop in the toys section, where he tried to convince me that the new school year warranted a new toy. Unfortunately, he didn't convince me. But I did remind him for the 2,199 time that his birthday was coming up soon.

We searched again for shorts, and this time we found them. But not the beloved plaid ones he wanted. They were all so hideous that even HE didn't want them. So we settled for denim instead.

I knew our trip had come to an end when he started climbing on the clothing racks and running circles around the cart. So we called our date a success and finished it off with a delicious McDonalds sundae. It was a great afternoon - I think we've found a new tradition.

And so it begins...

I found this on Kyle's bedroom door today:

Apparently he's had enough of his little sister and her destructive tendencies.

If any of you are confused, the stick-straight pigtail and "M" on the shirt are a dead giveaway. I'm not sure what to make of the lack of arms. Perhaps a secret wish? I know the house would certainly stay cleaner without those cute little arms.