Noah's Arky Arky

We visited the Skirball Cultural Center in West L.A. for the first time to see the interactive Noah's Ark exhibit we had heard so much about. Kate couldn't stop singing, "The Lord said to Noah, there's gonna be a floody floody..." on the way there. The Skirball's exhibits celebrate 4,000 years of Jewish heritage. This is one of the beautiful gallery spaces. The Noah's Ark exhibit is an 8,000 square foot gallery filled with hundreds of handcrafted animals made entirely from recycled materials. The mane on the zebra is a piano keyboard, and the elephant's trunk is made of bamboo dumpling steamers. Turn the wheel and create a lightning storm! Kate and a little boy pumped rain into the tank and watched Noah's ark rise up. Appa, Kate, and Zebra looking out of the floor-to-ceiling wooden ark.

More handcrafted passengers of the ark.

Storytime by the ark. "The lady was a very good storyteller, Momma. She was talented!" reviewed Kate.

The kids marveling at the rainbow that appeared on the wall during the story.

Kate and Appa exploring the upper deck of the ark.

Mr. Lion with chopstick whiskers.

Kate on her way up.

Kate and Appa resting in walrus chairs. This is usually the expression Chris reserves for such an occasion.

Afterwards, we had a snack at Zeidler's cafe and then visited the other galleries about Jewish culture and history. I was happy to see that Kate was actually interested in it all. She is shaping up to be a fine museum-goer.

32 weeks!

Apparently, the baby is now the size of a large jicama and will be growing rapidly (1 lb/week) as we waddle toward the finish line. I've noticed a big change since coming back from the East Coast -- I feel much heavier and slower and can't eat too much in one sitting (boo hoo). I can also feel the Braxton Hicks contractions more strongly, and Kang-Weyant 3.0 seems to be doing somersaults these days. I'm thrilled that I haven't gotten carpal tunnel syndrome (knock on wood) yet, unlike last time, and that I can still eat ice cream relatively guilt-free. Kate wanted us to do the "tree pose." And again. Me and my big girl.

Kate and Maya

Kate's best buddy from preschool, Maya, came over for a long overdue playdate. It had been a couple of months since they'd seen each other, and they missed each other very much. Kate told Maya she was going to play a song for her on her CD player. "You'll like it. We can dance to it!" She put on Joe Cocker's "The Letter" (aka "Song Number 7") and she and Maya rocked out. They played dress up for the next couple of hours... ...Switching outfits every few minutes. After lunch, Maya's 8-year old sister, Bella, joined them and they all had a ball playing with Kate's toys and running around the house. It was a blissful few hours for me as the kids played on their own. I look forward to the day that Kate and her younger sister does the same.

Down the Shore

Our first morning down the Shore, Kate and Pop-Pop kept with tradition and put out the flag to "start the day." Then we headed to the beach. The shot from last summer. Andrea said Kate looks a lot like me in this photo, which made me happy.

Kate showing Grammy the many clam shells she found.

Kate, Pop-Pop, and Appa.

Kate rushing back to show me the exciting piece of driftwood she discovered.

Kate's "museum of seashellies."

Kate didn't want to leave her museum, fearing it would be gone the next day.

Pop-Pop working the grill.

Grammy preparing lunch for everyone. Everytime we go down the Shore, we are shamefully doted on and cared for by Grammy and Pop-Pop.

Kate and Mom in the outdoor shower.

A little tushy.

The owner of the little tushy.

Appa reading the book Grammy got for Kate.

One of Kate's many camera poses.

Chris took this nice shot.

"Hellooooo, Baby Sister!"

Kate wanted to learn how to play checkers, so we bought a set at the local Five and Dime. Not surprisingly, Kate picked up the rules quickly and resoundly destroyed her father in the first match.

Kate and Grammy playing Go Fish.

Back at the beach, Kate decided to torture Appa with cold water and a sand shovel.

Snow White got her very own sand castle.

Appa and Kate and two umbrellas.

Chris has a fine eye for composition. He must be an artist.

Kate, after being doused by a wave while hunched over. Thankfully, she thought it was pretty darn funny.

Chris' artistic eye at work again.

Kate practicing the crane move for the big tournament.

Kate wanted me to scoop up the hundreds of colorful little shells as the tide ebbed.

Examining our catch -- tiny live clams! And water insects and sea plants!

We put a handful in an empty water bottle and made a "sea-quarium" for Kate to show Pop-Pop and Grammy.

Steamer clams (not the clams Kate and I caught). I'd never had them before, neither had Kate. To Kate's credit, she tried one before saying, "No, thanks!"

Grammy's peach and blueberry pie for dessert. Yum.

After dinner, Pop-Pop tried to wow Kate with a few magic tricks.

Pop-Pop pretending to "see" the side of the die Kate chose in his mind's eye.

The key goes through! It's magic! Kate appreciated Pop-Pop's effort, but was too pooped to be all that impressed.

She liked doing "Here is the Beehive" and tickling Pop-Pop a lot more.

On our last day, Grammy and Kate took an apres-beach dip in the pool. Appa, Kate, and I had spent most of day jumping in the waves. We all slept like logs that night.

We topped off our last evening down the Shore with a trip to the ice cream shop. Kate chose a blue cotton candy soft cone, then wisely passed it to me after a few bites and took mine.

It was a lovely and lazy few days down the Shore. Exactly what the OB ordered. As soon as we left, Kate wanted to go back. Thank you, Pop-Pop and Grammy!