Museums and Fossils and Canters … oh, my!


This weekend, our 3 nieces and nephew get to spend some quality time with us. Last night, our oldest nieces Kendall & Jordan got to spend the night at our house, and then we had an action-packed day planned for them. We have been waiting for such a long time to take the big girls to an art museum … and then we decided to hit up the La Brea Tar Pits, too!

However, no time spent at Uncle Ed and Auntie Carrie’s house can go without a little Guitar Hero. Check out these rocker-girls in action!

After a fair amount of rocking ensued, we headed off to LACMA for an introduction to some modern art!

We were particularly excited for the girls to see the “Happy Happy” installation in the Your Bright Future exhibit. Basically, Happy Happy is bunch of brightly colored kitchen items from the 99 Cent Store, all hung from up high. It’s huge! You can walk through it, play in it – its fascinating for both adults and kids alike. I think the girls were really surprised to see how art isn’t just a painting on a wall or a drawing in a sketchbook.

We bought the girls sketchbooks and colored pencils so they could draw at the museum if they were inspired, or they could simply write how they felt about a piece that they saw. I was excited that they really got into it:

Kendall and Jordan also got introduced to some of our favorite artists – Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Wassily Kandinsky!
Learning about Warhol …

Intrigued by Jeff Koons’ “Balloon Dog” …
koons_balloondog
Inspired by Kandinsky!

After exploring the museum, we walked around to the back, and noticed that the Happy Happy artist also had another similar exhibition that allowed the public to participate in!

The girls were really impressed by this, and we checked out all the random objects people incorporated into the piece:

All that art worked up our appetites, so we decided to hit up Canter’s to show Kendall & Jordan how all the cool kids do lunch in L.A.!

Matzo Ball Soup, Pickles and Bagel Chips … yep, we’re at one of the best Jewish Delis ever!

We were feeling good after lunch, so it was finally time to check out some fossils and Ice Age skeletons at the La Brea Tar Pits

Once inside, there was lots of cool stuff to see – including lots of bones! Just a few of the monsters we saw …

They even have real volunteers in the Paleontology Lab cleaning up the bones and fossils right in front of you! The museum said that after all this time, they finally found a Woolly Mammoth with tusks intact. This is the very first time they have been able to salvage a full Mammoth! Inside the lab, they are calling him “Zed”. Here is part of Zed’s tusks:

Pretty cool stuff:

Everyone enjoyed the visit, but the girls were surprised at how strong the smell was. Here is Kendall’s summary:

And finally, the perfect end to a perfect day – we made a stop at Sprinkles for Kendall & Jordan’s first “original” gourmet cupcake. Only the best for our girls!

Check out the album for more awesome pics!

Kendall and Jordan visit
August 2009

Tomorrow’s agenda: Another big day out with Mikayla & Ethan!

Facey Kids Weekend, pt. 2

Today’s adventures with the kids took us to the El Dorado Park Nature Center, which is literally steps away from where we live. It’s always a good time and we knew the kids would enjoy checking out all the birds, bugs, turtles and squirrels we’d see there! We checked out all the artifacts in the center, and then took a stroll on the 1 mile trail.

Some highlights:

P.U.! Kendall finds the skunk pelt.


Mikayla was all about the skeletons of the tiny creatures and insects.


Ethan is a giant compared to the bugs!


So am I!


Uncle Ed finds the jaw bone of an unidentified animal!


Jordan grows antlers.

It was a really nice day to stroll the trail. We saw a squirrel REALLY up close … thanks to some sunflower seeds somebody left for him!

It was a really great weekend and we miss the kids already! Be sure to click the thumbnail below to see all the wonders of nature!

Facey Kids Weekend – March 2009

Facey Kids Weekend!

The Facey kids haven’t spent a weekend with us in awhile, so we made plans to watch the girls’ softball game this afternoon and then we would bring them (plus Ethan) home with us to spend the night. We know we’re biased being their aunt & uncle and all, but they are such good kids, and we enjoy our time with them so much.

For Christmas, Ed & I promised them a cooking lesson, and we bought them aprons that they could decorate themselves to wear to the class. The schedule has gotten pretty busy for them with softball now, so we decided to just give them an introductory lesson ourselves, and once softball ends, we will take them for their real class. The plan tonight was to make homemade pizzas.

The kids did pretty well with their first cooking lesson. They did a great job on the aprons too (as seen above). But of course, Uncle Ed got a big kick out of Jordan’s statement:

“Jordan Rocks … Star Wars Rocks too”. Nice, Jordan!


We taught them the 1st step – “Wash Your Hands”, and after the 2nd step – “Preparation”, we got all the ingredients on the table to begin step 3 – “Execution”. They mostly stuck to cheese pizzas with pepperoni, but Jordan and Kendall surprised us by being adventurous and trying a touch of garlic on their pizzas, with a little bit of Auntie Carrie’s Green Peppers.


I even got to make mine without cheese!


Kendall was in action after the 4th step, and a rule that their Dad & I both learned when we were growing up: “Part of cooking is cleaning up” (Isn’t that right, Mom?)


Yum!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventures … word on the street is we may hit up the El Dorado Nature Center!

(Click the thumbnail to view all the pictures)

Facey Kids Weekend – March 2009

Jedi Jordan’s 9th Birthday!

There are few movies I love more than Star Wars, so hearing the news that my niece Jordan wanted to have a Star Wars birthday party got me truly elated beyond all imagination. But I never expected just how amazingly elaborate this party would be! This party was truly one for the books. Before I go any further, we have to give serious kudos to Shirley for handmaking all of the costumes (yes, really!), Lora’s sister for doing all of the face painting, and Eric for really going the extra mile in terms of getting into the spirit of things (you’ll see in a bit).

So to start things off, here’s a huge 3D Star Wars movie theater poster from the theater that Eric and Shirley both worked at back in the ’90s. Eric saved it, probably not knowing just how handy it would come in years later!

And here’s me with the birthday girl, Jedi Jordan Facey, age 9! Can you believe the costume?

And all of the Facey kids and Taelor! How awesome are these costumes! We’ve got Mikayla as ’70s Princess Leia, Ethan as a clone trooper, Ella as Queen Amidala (SOO cute!!), Taelor as a Jedi, and of course Jordan as the bravest Jedi in the galaxy! And then below, Kendall as Padme.

All of the food was linked to Star Wars in some way. This was one of our favorites: Vader’s Veggies. Don’t you dare even think about not eating your vegetables!!

And no Facey birthday party is complete without one of Larry’s amazing cakes. He just keeps outdoing himself!

We were amazed. EVERY kid came dressed up to the nines! I mean, look at this!! It was so amazing that I had to run to Target to get myself a Star Wars shirt – after all, how could I – a true Star Wars geek – NOT dress up in at least some way?

I unfortunately got gored by Darth Maul (Megan)!

But the biggest surprise of all was when Darth Vader himself arrived!!!

Jedi Jordan did a fine job fighting off the dark side of the Force.

I, unfortunately, didn’t fare so well.

Happy birthday, Jedi Jordan!!!

Many, many more pics here! We encourage you to check them all out; there are some really great ones in there!

Happy Birthday, Ella!

Today we celebrated Ella’s 2nd birthday with an EVE Party, from the movie WALL-E. The birthday girl was very charming! Of course, Dad make the cake and he didn’t disappoint. Shirley & Lora even made little candy Eve’s for the cupcakes!

Here we are with the birthday girl …

To see more pics of the awesome cake & the day, check out the album here:

Ella's 2nd Birthday