South Coast Botanical Gardens

I read that the South Coast Botanical Gardens limits visitors and is so large that social distancing is easier to do at this garden... and I would have to attest that it is true!  We came to the gardens and were so blown away by the beautiful landscaping, plants, flowers, and sculptures.  It's very close to Palos Verdes so the air quality is really nice and we enjoyed spending time there.  The boys are starting to play Pokemon Go so they liked finding Pokemon while we walked.  When will we visit again???

UCLA Sculpture Garden

 

We decided to head back to a part of the UCLA campus that Jawsh is very familiar with... north campus!  The north campus houses the arts, media, humanities, and public policy whereas south campus houses the math, science, medical, and engineering buildings.  We took a walk through the Sculpture Gardens and Jawsh showed the boys where he spent most of his days as an undergrad in what is now known as the Broad Art Center.  Will the boys want to attend UCLA???

Happy 15

We went back to the exact spot we were married (7-24-05).  15 years!  We are still coming back to Shutters to reminisce but this year was definitely different.  We did not enter the hotel to take a picture up on the terrace as we usually do, the summer boardwalk was quieter, and we did not go inside to dine.  It was still nice to be there but we decided to pick up some cold brew dairy free ice cream for Jawsh and we headed home.  The boys made us appetizers, dinner, and we had the ice cream for dessert.  This was definitely a new way to celebrate 15 years, but I am so thankful to celebrate this milestone with Jawsh.  What will we do for our 16 year anniversary???

Braces

Even through the pandemic, orthodontic treatment must continue but thanks to technology, Noah can now scan his braces from home!  Isn't this crazy? This is how Dr. Waldman follows up with Noah!  What will be next???

Nightly walks

 

We are really lucky to live in Playa Vista because there are over 20 community areas to walk.  Today we walked by Playa Vista's Central Park next to the Bandshell.  It's well landscaped and there are plenty of trails that allow us to stay socially distant from others.  We definitely miss the summer concerts and the sounds of kids playing but it is also a nice quiet walk that allows us to just enjoy the moment.  Where will we walk tomorrow???

UCLA Botanical Gardens

 

As a graduate student at UCLA, I never knew there was a botanical garden on campus!  Jawsh received his degree at UCLA and in his 5 years, he had only visited once.  So, today we ventured to the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden.  It is 7.5 acres of frost free plants organized into themes such as desert, aquatic, mediterranean, and Hawaiian areas.  There were many trails and a small creek running through the garden with many people lounging on the grass or benches.  We enjoyed our time there but there was a Korean unicycle at that was cycling through the trails so we did our best to avoid him.  We had a nice time walking through the garden and it was a nice change of scenery for us.  When will we visit again???

Omelette

 

Back in the kitchen, Micah made an omelette with Chef Yosses.  Micah added jalapeños and onions but he did not like it.  He still prefers a plain omelet with ketchup.  Oh well, we can't win them all, can we???

Black American History

In lieu of the annual Westchester Parade which was cancelled due to COVID-19, we caravanned with the W Family and we drove around the community to look for Black American History signs.  I created a scavenger hunt bingo board and we drove around for about 1.5 hours reading the history of Americans who have made a difference.  This was definitely different than watching Micah walk through the parade with his Championship soccer team or All Star baseball team, but we enjoyed our time.  When will our holidays go back to "normal?"

Smoothie Time

Thanks to the UCLA culinary class, Micah has been learning from the former White House pastry chef, Bill Yosses.  Mr. Yosses showed the students how to make healthy smoothies instead of drinking soda and junk food.  Micah made three types of smoothies:  ginger/turmeric/pineapple, blueberry, and green apple/green tea.  Micah actually enjoyed drinking the ginger/turmeric/pineapple, which was very surprising!  This class has exposed Micah to new flavor combinations and has encouraged him to try new foods.  What will he try next???

Perfecting the cookie

 

Micah has been finding solace in the kitchen.  He is taking a summer school culinary class through UCLA so he finds himself learning about nutrition facts, healthy diets, and much more.  In the meantime, he has perfected the chocolate chip cookie so well that Noah requests that Micah make the cookies!  I try not to feel offended.  Will Micah find a calling in the kitchen???

Happy birthday Daph

Quarantine birthdays via House Party is the new way to celebrate.  It was Daphne's birthday and the cousin's sang to her and wished her the best 10th birthday.  I wonder how long we will be social distancing...  will we celebrate all of the summer birthdays like this???

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my partner in life...  this pandemic has really made it very clear that we are in sync in how we raise our boys, how we view our world, and what is important to us. We gifted Jawsh handmade cards, repurposed flowers (which he really appreciated) and Micah pretended that we went out in the world and bought him coffee beans (unfortunately the bag was empty).  Happy Father's Day to the best Dad...  we stayed in this year... what will we do next year???

Post party

After Noah's Bar Mitzvah, we had dinner and then Noah met with his friends for a post party.  We hired a mentalist, Jon Finch, to meet with the teens.  He did card tricks, read minds, and amazed us all.  After the mentalist show, Noah hung out with friends talking and playing video games past midnight.  We think he had a great time.  How will he feel tomorrow???

Noah's Bar Mitzvah

We are so proud of Noah...  he had a wonderful Bar Mitzvah with family and friends Zooming in to watch and support him. He did such an amazing job going through the service and his speech was so relevant and inspiring.  To say that we are proud of him is an understatement.  Even though we had to celebrate this huge milestone distant from all of our family and friends, we still felt the love and support from them.  How will Noah look back at this time in his life???

Noah's photoshoot

The pandemic has affected all aspects of our lives and yet we still are so blessed... we have our health, our home, our jobs,  and Noah's tallit came in time for his Bar Mitzvah.  We are so fortunate to live in Playa Vista because there are so many beautiful landscaped areas.  We went to the Central Park and took some photos of Noah.  He was cooperative, for the most part, as it was hot and he wanted to get out of his suit.  Will he remember these days when he gets older???

Last day of Hebrew class

Today was the last day of Hebrew school for the boys so they celebrated by making a cookie in a cup.  The kids met over Zoom and microwaved all of the ingredients and then they played games with their teachers.  I am very thankful that the boys have a place to see friends and have a little bit of normalcy during this time.  When will they start Hebrew class again???

BLM

 

The Black Lives Matter movement was important enough for us to come out and support our local community.  It was definitely a large turnout of over 500 people.  We found the corner that was least populated and stood firmly for equal rights for all.  It's been so long since we have been around people that it was definitely making me feel uncomfortable at times.  We saw neighbors, friends, and kids from my elementary school with their families which made this feel like a community that I am proud to be a part of.  We have been reading Stamped with the boys, discussing racism, and hopefully the future they live in will learn from the experiences that we are having now.  When will we all be able to say, Black lives matter???

Face Masks

Noah was assigned to make a face mask by his science teacher.  He constructed it out of Bounty Paper Towels and rubberbands.  He did a nice job creating this although he can't really wear it outside.  We are continuing to social distance, we are wearing face masks, and not going out.  It's been 11 weeks.  Is this our new normal???

Just keep swimming

Micah created this drawing and Jawsh had some fun animating it.  As we head into another month of distance learning, social distancing, and Zoom everything... we just have to keep on swimming.  When will this end???  

Night walk

We have been taking walks together throughout the day.  Night walks are especially fun because there are less people out and we can enjoy the sounds of the frogs from the creek.  Here are my guys...  we are lucky that we all get along.  How long will this last???