The Beach Again and a Bounce House

We went back to the beach the day after Thanksgiving. The other times we have gone, Eleanor has been somewhat cautious when it came to the water. This time not so much. We have several pictures like this:

We took off her pants shortly after we got there because they were soaked. After over an hour of playing on the beach and in the (cold) water, Eleanor fell in the surf and requested a blanket. We had dry clothes for her in the car, so all was well.
Eleanor thought this rock was a house made just for her.
"Wow!" --Eleanor upon seeing all the sea creatures.
Our last day of playschool for the quarter was Tuesday. Eleanor and I have really enjoyed it. For the final week, they had a bounce house and other fun things. It was hard for Eleanor to wait for the fun to begin.

E Decides to go Potty by Herself

Peepee! She announced after taking off her shirt, and ran to the bathroom. I found her there pulling down her pants and climbing up onto the toilet.

Thanksgiving in California

First came the "Orphan's Dinner" at Ford Place Community. Simply wonderful.

Then came the evening bohemian, "Turkey Party" at Melody's brother Josh and Ayumi's new and very nice rent-house in LA. Most of the conversation was in Japanese but what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than with cross-cultural table-fellowship?

Newport Beach at Sunst

We drove out to Newport Beach to visit Melody's cousin, Cherri, in town on business. Eleanor had a blast with the tidepools. We'll be back soon.

more pics here:

Newport Beach

Coffee and the Zoo

This morning Eleanor was talking on her "phone" (a calculator) while drinking her "coffee" (herbal tea). I'm not sure where she learned such behavior.

Yesterday we went to the LA Zoo. I bought a membership online, but didn't pay for it. The website had a bug and gave me a free membership. I decided to be honest and did pay for it when we got to the zoo. The cashier was grateful for my honesty and gave Eleanor a purple gorilla that is a piece of junk. And this is how one's house fills up with stuffed animals.

So we set off to the zoo in the morning. It's only about ten miles away, or about 15 minutes. I had my google map printed out and felt very confident in my ability to get us there. Unfortunately, California highways have signs a little past where they would need to be for one to see them in time have them influence their lane choice. When the highway I was on combined with another highway, I ended up going north into the heart of LA instead of south to the zoo. Google hadn't warned me of that. Not wanting to get lost in LA (again), I took the first exit and ended up in the parking lot of what I imagined to be some studio. Carefully examining my maps helped in no way, so a nice man walking by explained how to get back on the highway going the right direction. It was very simple. Eleanor made a point to tell Matt, "wrong way. Man say that way."

After we got to the zoo, we enjoyed all the animals. The gorilla exhibit happened to open yesterday. There were news crews and mobs of people, but other than that it was fun. Eleanor liked seeing the baby gorilla named Glenda who is actually only a couple of months older than E. She also liked the giraffes and the kangaroos. It was a quick trip, but since we have a membership now, we can go back often. Next time I'll remember the camera.

Play-Doh Babies and Walruses

We went to the park one morning. Eleanor enjoyed swinging, sliding, and sitting in the grass. Matt enjoyed a new lens.


I know this picture is blurry, but I wanted to show you one of Eleanor's favorite pasttimes, reading. Here she's reading the phone book.

Eleanor's imagination is running wild these days. Yesterday a blue pillow became a walrus. She likes to pat it and say, "Good boy walrus." Once a rolled up blanket became a dolphin that she was riding. A ribbon was a fish, a suitcase, and a bunch of grapes, all in the span of 15 minutes. Eleanor is so much fun to be around these days.