Adventures in Hollywood

During Spring Break we decided to get out of town and spend a few days in that land of the stars - Hollywood. We hoped for stardom!

It didn't take long to get discovered! Before we even walked into the front gates of Universal Studios we got our chance behind the camera - no kidding. Some filmmakers pulled Alex and I aside and wanted us to do a little bit on camera for ABC Family TV. They asked Alex to tell why his mom was "mommalicious". He said I was mommalicious because Alex is the oldest of 6 brothers, and that mom does taekwando with them all and is almost a black belt. I just stood there and smiled, of course. It was such a fun and unexpected way to start our Hollywood adventure. The mommalicious segments will air during the commercial breaks of the movies about moms during Mother's Day weekend. Look for us!

We had a fun day at Universal, but it was SO crowded! We have passes, so we didn't mind too much. We'll be back.

Shark Attack! (It happens every time we come here.)

Since we were celebrating Nathan's birthday, we bought him some pins for pin-trading. He had fun trading them for better ones all day. Dennis was the big winner at the basketball booth earning a huge stuffed frog for Caleb, our resident frog-lover.

After Universal Studios our adventures took us to what we really came to LA for - the food. And that gastronomic adventure began, of course, at Pink's, the world famous (and rightly so) hot dog joint. The line, as always, went down the street and around the corner. We waited for more than an hour for our dogs, and when we finally got them, Nathan had inhaled his before we even sat down. They were that good! I got the Martha Stewart Dog - a plump 10" dog topped with kraut, tomatoes, bacon, and sour cream. HOT DIGGITY DOG!

We made our way back to our hotel right on the Hollywood Strip. We enjoyed a bit of the crazy nightlife, and I did my best to practice my low-light photography (I didn't have my tripod, so it was really hard!)

Hollywood is a crazy place. You can run into anyone! Even several dead rock stars.

Dennis and I snuck away to a little dessert date at a 50's diner.

More deliciousness!

And more fun low-light subjects to shoot.

We had an awesome view from our hotel room. It gave me a chance to try one of those moving headlights/tail-lights night shots. Without a tripod it was tough because the shutter has to stay open for several seconds, but I finally got a decent one.

The Rennissance Hollywood, where we stayed was very nice, with a funky retro feel. We had fun exploring it the next morning.

I loved the colorful retro furniture...

and the kids dug the huge free M&M dispenser in the lobby.

Then we decided to hit the star-studded strip - Hollywood Blvd! It was every bit as wild and crazy as it had been in the night, and was crawling with even more Hollywood icons.

And the center of all the madness is the home of the Oscars - the Chinese Theater where the stars through the ages have left their hand and foot prints.

The kids had fun trying to fill their famous shoes.

The old theater was really cool on the outside...

so we couldn't resist catching the feature - Clash of the Titan's 3D - so we could experience the inside. What better adventure could you do in Hollywood that to take in the latest blockbuster at a theater from Hollywood's hayday?

I couldn't help but wonder what famous movie stars have sat in my seat.

Hurray for Hollywood!

Then we decided to hit the beach at the Santa Monica pier. The water was cold and full of sticky tar. Yuck! But that didn't stop the boys who are always ready for more adventure.

I opted out, and took pictures instead.

The twins were so funny laying for the longest time with their faces in the sand. Not sure if they were asleep or not, but they weren't moving.

While everyone else was swimming, Nate and I went to explore the pier.

Adventures at the hat stand.

And the amusement park.

And the pier.

Nate was facinated by the fishermen and spent a long time watching them work.

It was fun spending a little one-on-one time with the birthday boy!

Then, more food. I have no pictures, but we had dinner at our other favorite LA world-famous food stand, Tito's Tacos! I cannot come to LA without a stop there. Best salsa EVER! That's why there is always quite a crowd in line in front.

Then, just to finish our Hollywood adventure with desert at another local favorite - Didy Riese in Westwood, where you pick out the huge handmade cookies you want and your favorite ice cream flavor to have your own custom ice-cream sandwich - all for only $1.50. No wonder the line went out the door and down the block!

(This post s making me hungry!!!)

We have a policy of only eating in places with long lines going down the block!!!

Good policy.

Sticking My Neck Out

Recently, I have been really sticking my neck out when it comes to my photography hobby.

For one thing, my sweet man bought me, out of the blue, the Canon IS 100mm 2.8 Macro lens that I have been wanting. It allows me to get close, real close to even the smallest objects and capture every detail. But if I get back far enough, I can also get some fabulous shots of regular stuff too.

I have been having a terrific time taking my new lens out to the Living Desert with Luke, and I have taken some great shots.

But where I have really been sticking my neck out, so to speak, is in my photo organizing and editing. I have always used iPhoto by default, since that is what came on my computer. But I have found that the editing abilities are extremely limited, and unfortunately, it is almost impossible to use those photos in almost any other program, like Photoshop (which I own, just can't figure out - perhaps because I can't get my photos in there without a lengthy process.)

Anyway, I have decided to make the jump and change my entire "workflow"(as they say in the photography biz). I now load all my photos into Lightroom, which is a bit more complicated to organize and import initially, but once the photos are in there, I can do SO much more with them, and easily move them in and out of Photoshop, etc. It is a good move for me, just a time consuming one, and there is still a ton of stuff I need to learn!

But for me, the most exciting thing about switching over to Lightroom, are the fantastic editing capabilities that are now at my disposal, the most exciting being "presets" - editing combinations that someone else created that I can apply to my own photos with a click of the button. I had a grand time this week downloading some fun presets I found, then applying them to this batch of photos from the Living Desert - just for the fun of it. I did some other fun editing as well, just to try a few things out.

I am thrilled with how some of them turned out!

I had such fun sticking my neck out and trying new things. I am learning that having the right tools, and then taking the time to get out and practice using them are really paying off. I might just get the hang of this photography thing after all!

Which are your favorites?

At The Science UNFair

This is supposed to be one of those posts where I report on some accomplishment my kids made, the kind that you probably don't bother to read because it is just Rachelle bragging again... yadda, yadda, yadda. (But the thing is, this here blog is my documentation - I have to, and want to, post it all, for my kids' sake. You understand. And remember, I also mention, often enough, when they are dirty and stinky, and that is all part of the package of a houseful of boys.) Anyway, this is supposed to be one of those "medal count" type of posts. But it isn't, not exactly. It is one of those Rachelle-rants-about-an-injustice-done-on-her-children type post, unfortunately, which makes for more interesting reading on your part, but is not the post I am supposed to be writing right now.

So here goes.

Last night was the county science fair - four counties put together, actually. A big event, and to my kids a big deal. For the elementary school division, the awards ceremony was a very early 5:30 pm, which meant we had to leave at 4pm to drive all the way to San Bernardino to the Orange Show Fairgrounds in time. Of course grandma came, and we had to arrange for a ride to scouts for our older boys- you know the usual arrangements. Nothing is ever easy, is it? But it was worth the trouble, because Derek and Dylan did a good job (no thanks to me) and deserved all the fuss just to hear their names and watch them walk across that stage, right?

Of course right.

We arrive at the fair just before the awards program started. We did not have time to go over to the other building where the projects were displayed, so we never got a peek at their boards, or anybody else's, for that matter.

So the awards began. We sat way in the back - there were a lot of people there - and looked through the program to find the twins' names. There they were - correct and accounted for. We listened through all of the names for the sound of your own kids names (or in our case, some sort of approximation of something that sounds remotely like "VanBuskirk"). First came the bronze medals, fourth grade. The twins are fifth graders, so we weren't anxious. Then they called the fifth graders. You must understand that everybody who participates gets a medal, gold, silver or bronze - because all the projects are good - they all had to win their districts even to be there. You must also understand that the awards are all called in alphabetical order, a group at a time - so "A-G" names will be called, then they all will go on stage, get their medals, and pose for a group picture, etc. Since we are at the end of the alphabet, we had to sit through several groups of names before they got to our group. Finally they finished up the 5thgrade bronze list. When they got to "W"s, we knew we were in good shape! That meant they must have won a silver or gold!

Then we had to sit through the 4th grade silvers, and through all the groups of 5th grade silvers. A when they got to the last group we listened carefully to every name. When they got to the "W"s we were pretty excited! That meant they won gold! We were congratulating them and they were feeling pretty darn good. Of course, we still had to wait for their names to be called as a formality, so they could walk up on that stage and get their medals, and we could take pictures and whoop and hollar, right? So we sat through all the 4th grade gold medal names, then FINALLY, all the fifth graders, group by group. They got to "R"s, then that group stopped and took a group shot. "This is it! We are next!" The very last group of the whole evening. We waited in anticipation, and then the announcer got up and announced that they would now announce the sweepstakes trophy. Huh?

We were confused. Did they forget to read off the last group? What was going on? Surely someone would catch it and quietly lean over and tell the announcer that he missed something. But that never happened. The announced the sweepstakes winner, and it was all over and everyone was leaving. I was bewildered. Maybe I was wrong about them giving everybody a medal. We're their projects so bad that they were rejected at first sight and no medals were given. Who knows?

We hopped up and made our way through the exiting crowd to the officials at the table by the stage. Dennis explained it to some ladies that were processing through all the paperwork. They looked on their list and said that the twins names weren't on the list. OK, so they got overlooked somehow, right? I mean, their names were in the program. We had to wait while they went and checked their computer. Turns out that both of them were marked as "no-shows" because their projects never arrived. I rushed over to the building where the projects were displayed. Sure enough, their projects were not there!

The middle school students bring their projects themselves to the Science Fair a few days prior and meet with the judges, etc. But for the elementary students, they simply drop off their projects to the district who delivers all the projects, then show up for the awards ceremony.

Well, we delivered both projects on the right day, to the person in charge - the very lady listed in the paperwork. She even had short conversation with the boys, asked them about themselves, their projects, etc. The we left her with the projects, assuming, of course, that they would get to where they needed to go.

Apparently not.

All the other elementary school projects from our district were there and accounted for. Just not ours.

UNBELIEVABLE!!

So then we just all stood around not knowing what to do. It apparently wasn't the fault of the science fair, since the projects apparently never arrived in their care. They felt bad, but weren't sure what to do. It was all over, and their projects were never judged. That was it.

The looks on my boys' faces - wide eyes, bewildered, and forlorn - were just heartbreaking!

Finally the officials decided to give them bronze medals by default. So they climbed on stage, right before the middle school awards were about to begin for their lame photo op, so I could take this picture. They were sweet to force smiles for the camera.

And that was it. Bronze by default.

Dylan's expression says it all.

So we went home. We stopped for dinner at Bob's Big Boy, and the hot fudge sundaes seemed to help a lot (unfortunately, I am trying to lose weight, so no hot fudge therapy for me. That's probably why I am still fuming.)

I tried to say things like "In a way this is better than just getting bronze medals, because there is at least the possibility that you could have won a silver or gold." Yep, it sounded lame coming out of my mouth. I wasn't much help.

Dennis was better, telling him it was no big deal, that they were winners in his book, that they had worked hard, and that is all that mattered. I went along with it, but inside I was fuming. I have a huge issue with injustice toward children, especially MY children. We had already gone through all this with these same kids a few months ago with their Lego robotics thing, remember? These poor twins seem to always get the shaft! I steamed all the way home.

Then, to top it all off, Alex calls to tell us that at scouts they announced that 11 year-olds (that would be the twins, of course) would not be allowed to come to scout camp, this summer like they were planning, even though 11 year olds have ALWAYS gone in the past, as long as the father comes with him. But our by-the-book scoutmaster insists that it is, and has always been, church policy that you must be twelve. Now I don't know if that is a rule or not, but if it is, then up until now it has either been overlooked or unheeded, apparently. But not this time. Period. Even so, it made for a double-whammy blow for two boys that were already pretty down.

We finally got home at 10pm. I didn't sleep well of course.

This morning Dennis and I went down to the school district, hackles up to try to get some answers. (Why does it seem like every time we go down to the school district we have to prepare to put up a fight? Anybody else feel that way?) Well, as soon as we walked into the office, the receptionist knew exactly who we were. She explained that the woman responsible, the very woman we had handed the projects to, was in Chicago (how nice!) and that the person who works with her was also out on an emergency, so there was nobody we could talk to. Maybe next week. Ugh!

Do you think by next week they can locate our kids' science projects?

But really, what does it matter? There is nothing that can be done. The science fair is over. That's it.

I think about those stories like at the Olympics where the athlete was given the wrong schedule so they show up for their race that they have been preparing for their whole life and it is already done. It is not fair, but what can you do? They can't re-run the race.

But these are little kids, and they deserve a fair shake. This shouldn't have happened. Someone messed up big time and obviously a system was not in place to catch the mistake. They really need to check and double check everything, so some other kid doesn't have the same thing happen to him.

The worst part for me is that my boys really thought they had won gold medals. They were SO excited! Then to see their faces go suddenly from joy, to confusion,to dejection - that was the worst part. After all the work, and rework, and paperwork, and long drive, and long wait for their names... nothing. And it was entirely not their fault.

That's what I call a Science UNFair.

A Perfect (mostly) Easter Sunday!

Easter Sunday was really quite a perfect day, and, as per tradition, it began even before the crack of dawn as the boys and I all made our way in our PJs and blankets to the top of the play thing in the backyard where we read the accounts of that very first Easter morning out of the four gospels as we waited for the Easter morning sun. We sang a hymn and discusses the glorious things that occurred on this morning so long ago.

So how, do you ask, do I get my children to willingly get out of bed so early on a weekend? I entice them with this:

Yep, that sticky, gooey coffeecake is really that good - good enough to rouse a sleeping teenager! The recipe is super simple, and you can get it on my creative blog here.

But before we dove into the that warm gooey, nutty pile of butterscotch goodness, we first have to see what happened to our Easter Story cookies that we made and sealed in the tomb (oven) the night before. The oven is unsealed and the meringue cookies are waiting for us inside. For the whole recipe and scriptures to the Easter Story cookies click here.

After our early breakfast it was time for the Easter baskets followed by the consuming of vast quantities of candy until our house looked like a candy wrapper jungle (I think Dennis swept at least ten times that day!)

Of course, one thing that made Easter so perfect was the fact that is also happened to be General Conference, and I just love Conference! The kids somehow all managed to settle down so we could watch and listen to the words of our church leaders. Some took notes, some worked on their packets, and some played conference bingo (they are very skilled at that game after all these years!) We were all together and doing our best to hear everything. (I have since re-listened to the whole conference when I had more quiet moments. It has to be that way. It was even better the second time through!)

Conference was wonderful, and so many of the talks spoke straight to my heart! I think the highlight of my whole Easter Sunday was when the Prophet spoke the most beautiful and moving Easter sermon I have ever heard, followed immediately by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "He is Risen!" It was so inspired, and had me in tears of joy and gratitude for my Savior!

In between conference sessions, while I was busy baking cakes, pies, and the yummiest, butteriest dinner rolls ever, and decorating for our Easter feast, the boys were busy enjoying the perfect cool, sunny outdoors - like picking flowers for the table and when that was done, catching bees.

Yep, they were catching the bees that were buzzing around the lavender. A wonderful Sabbath activity. Brilliant children. First they were catching them in zipper bags until Caleb learned from hard experience that bees can sting right through a plastic bag. That's when they switched methods, and started catching bees with in their plastic Easter eggs. Quite clever, really. No chance of being stung - once they are inside the eggs. Um, except it doesn't make the bees very happy and there is still a good amount of danger before they get in the egg and after it is opened. Luke was the second victim. I'm surprised there weren't more, frankly.

My dear sweet perfect child Dylan handed me an egg, said it was a gift from Derek, and told me to open it. How generous of him!

A word of advice: Never open an egg offered to you by one of my boys, especially if it is buzzing.

Then, just after conference was over, the Lord decided to shake things up a bit for Easter and send a pretty strong earthquake our way. Scrambled eggs! I was not actually home at the time, but was at my friend Shari's house dropping off something. The windows started rattling and the ground started rolling. The water was sloshing back and forth in the pool! I rushed home to find everything well there. It was apparently a 7.2 on the Mexican border, quite a large shake, but since it was kind of out in the boonies, there was not too much damage, luckily. I thought of how it had just been mentioned earlier that day in conference about "earthquakes in diverse places" in the last days, and thought that they surely will be in the not-so-diverse places as well.

Needless to say, I have spent the past week revamping my 72 hour kits, and redoing my whole food storage rotation system. There is nothing like a good earthquake to get you to implement immediately some of the things you learned from conference.

Shortly thereafter my sister Lisa's family came over. They were driving and couldn't believe that they missed the whole quake.

But the kids were ready to continue with the Easter festivities and kids wanted to waste no time getting to the egg hunt - everyone except Luke, that is, who refused to participate. He had fallen asleep (probably because I woke him up so early that morning), slept through the trembler, and had to be woken up for the egg hunt. This did not put him in a good mood, poor kid, so he opted out of the hunt. Oh well, more eggs for everyone else.

Ayden was so funny, insisting on carrying two baskets, just in case one got too full. I don't think it was the best strategy, because hauling two baskets kind of slowed him down.

After the egg hunt, everyone had worked up quite an appetite. Easter dinner was wonderful! Honeybaked ham, strawberry spinach salad, asparagus, homemade rolls, jello eggs, and deviled eggs! So good!

And for dessert, cupcakes, a lamb cake, and Italian Easter pie (for the adults - the kids wouldn't have appreciated it's subtle flavor and the $20-per-pound pine nuts the recipe called for -yikes!)

Lisa's deviled eggs are amazing!

But for the kids, I think the jello eggs are the favorite, hands down!

Once all the food and festivities were done, the cousins just enjoyed what remained of the beautiful day while the adults talked. The kids stated playing egg toss, which wasn't too exciting with hard-boiled eggs, so the game sort of transformed into a lemon toss, using the readily available lemons all over our yard, which they found much more exciting.

When life hand you lemons... have a lemon toss!

What a perfect Easter Day (minus the earthquake, candy wrapper messes, bee stings, and a grumpy 4 year old) to spend listening to our leaders, enjoying the company of family and the beautiful spring weather, eating yummy food, and remembering our Savior and why we are celebrating this perfect holiday!