Photo shoot with Jason

Look at him! He's an honest-to-goodness person! I really like having two kids. I am frequently overwhelmed and snippy and my car is full of trash, but all things considered, I am delighted with these two little people who have been assigned to me. I'm a lucky mama.

Apple Harvest 2013

Anna apple harvest, 7 lbs.

Annual Anna apple tart

Our first Pettingill apple harvest! 5 lbs.

New skill for 2013: Making applesauce and canning!

Field-Trip Saturday: LAX Theme Building & Flight Path Learning Center

For more, see ye old Flickr stream. :)

Assorted Child Updates

Baby Jason is old enough for "solids," by which I mean mushy purees and such. Here he is modeling a couture bib made for him with love by Grandma Luise.

Jackson shows off his eyepatch, which he wears not nearly enough to benefit his intermittent exotropia.

Superman on the first day of Montessori school, last Monday July 15. He ran out of cheeses to smile, so he made this face instead.

Baby Remix: Same Genes, Same Outfit, Similar Ages

Jackson as "Little Tiger" at five-and-a-half months

Jason as "Little Tiger" at six-and-a-half months, with bonus milk-and-carrots spit-up!

Fourth of July Field-Trip: Marina del Rey Waterbus

Beautiful day in Southern California.

This is a MDR Waterbus, but not the one we took. Ours was more like a covered barge.

First stop: Fisherman's Village for lunch! (Look carefully and you can see Jackson at the top of the ramp.) The lighthouse is a folly and totally fake.

Tortilla chips and contemplation.

Jason believes that his big brother may, in fact, be the Most Interesting Man in the World.

Hey this is fun!

Portrait of Jason, 5.5 Months

Ice Cream Date with Mommy @ Scoops West LA

Field-Trip Saturday: Trash Truck Day! (aka Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation West LA Yard Open House)

Playdate: Feeding the Swans at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine, Pacific Palisades

Field-Trip Sunday: Natural History Museum, Exposition Park

Here we go!

Jason came too!

Zooming through the Hall of North American Mammals. I've realized this museum would be more obvious about the primary content of its collections if it was called the Los Angeles Museum of Random Taxidermy.

The new Nature Lab in the basement is my happy place. LOVED IT.

Jackson gets up close and personal with a red-eared slider turtle.

A major mammal in our urban ecosystem? The brown rat! They had a neat multi-level, multi-dwelling cage for the rats to illustrate how they navigate cities so well.

Can't believe I've never been to the "Discovery Center and Insect Zoo" before, but now I know where the good access elevator is, so we'll be back.

Boy + turtle

Boy + crocodile

Baby + polar bear + elk heads

As mentioned, here's the good elevator.

The new nature gardens are fantastic. They gave us freshly harvested oranges to eat!

Checking out an old-fashioned water pump with some big kids.

Family portrait in front of the hummingbird feeders.

jamberry jamble

This was tonight's boysenberry harvest! Tomorrow: jam.

Jackson - "Pike" Swim Class, YMCA

Jackson is in his second week of swim classes at the local YMCA. He's a "Pike" in teacher Jody's class and they're just starting out with the basics. He goes twice a week with his nanny Silvana, but I snuck over there today to videotape and photograph the proceedings for your entertainment.

Please enjoy the photo below of his swimming costume as well as the assorted videos in the playlist:

Jackson, Jason and a Helicopter

I don't know why there is a tiny helicopter outside of YouTube Space L.A., but we had fun visiting it anyway. (For the record, I've since learned that the "landing gear" on a helicopter is called "skids." While we were there we had to call them the "landing sticks." Hee.) Observers will note that this is a Hughes helicopter; YouTube Space L.A. is, of course, located at Playa Vista, which used to be Howard Hughes' personal airport. Anyway, photos:

He ran toward the camera yelling"CLOSEUP!"

Superkid is ready for takeoff!

Field-Trip Sunday: Getty Center

Thanks to Grandpa Jack for providing the free parking pass!

Family Gallery

Family Gallery

Lunch

Jen-Mom: "I want to take a picture with your hat off."
Jackson: "No! I need my hat, because it makes me pretty."

Also, here is a video of Jason growing brain cells: