I know I'm behind a bit in my blogging duties of late, but, let me tell ya, summer with a six-year-old who is used to the structure of a regular school day is definitely not for the weak of heart. Yikes…it's been one big, crazy event after another since school got out in May. Crazytown!
Anyway, in the spirit of finally getting back on track, here are some of the best pics from Greta's Father's Day weekend dance recital. Enjoy!
Filed under Greta stuff, Holidays
With an Oscar party a birthday party and a cloud of sickness hanging over our home pretty much all month long, as you can imagine, March was a total blur. And with April having been pretty much more of the same, all I can do is apologize ahead of time for the lag time between posts. Sorry!
As you can see from the pics, Greta's sixth birthday party — and her first party with actual school friends from kindergarten — was the coolest My Little Pony party in Equestria and even Canterlot for that matter!
There was Apple Jack cider, Rainbow Dash cupcakes, pony-tastic pepperoni pizza, candy, arts, crafts, pin the cutie mark on the pony games and a killer Pinkie Pie piñata for the ages! And best of all, thanks to the handiwork of the very talented Mrs. Yeti, each of the kids went home with their very own handmade My Little Pony on a stick. It was awesome!
Filed under Food, Games, Greta stuff, Holidays
I know Record Store Day actually took place a couple of weeks ago now, but, I had such a blast celebrating it this year, and I took so many cool pics, that I simply had to share them again here. So, bear with me…Facebook friends.
Unlike in previous years, Record Store Day 2014 fell on Easter weekend this year, and since we always spend Easter at my Mom’s place in San Diego, we got to check out a couple of different record stores this go around. So, yay for us!
First up was a cool little place in the grungy-hip North Park neighborhood called Off The Record. And though the selection was pretty decent — but nowhere near the awesomeness of our local Amoeba Records in Hollywood! — the prices were fantastic, so, I would totally hit them up again. I bought a brand new Nina Simone CD for $5.99 and my brother-in-law walked away with a handful of very cool used CD’s for around $10-$15 bucks for the lot of them. Not bad.
But our next stop was even cooler. San Diego’s M-Theory Records has been rated one of San Diego’s Best Record Stores for years and it’s not hard to see why. Although their selection seemed much smaller than Off The Record’s, the depth and quality of M-Theory’s inventory was amazing. I’m not kidding, man…they had some really eclectic shit in there.
Even more surprising than M-Theory’s artfully curated vinyl stash was the totally disarming coolness of their staff. Friendly, smart and totally knowledgable, the clerks at M-Theory seemed determined to dispel the myth of the surly hipster record store clerk once and for all. And all I can say to that is: “Amen, brother!” Record Store Day or not, I can’t wait to spend more money in that joint next time we’re in town!
And even though I wasn’t able to find that David Lynch record or the Original The Muppet Movie Soundtrack vinyl reissue I was looking for, I still had a blast. So, rock on, San Diego record stores…see ya next year!
Filed under Daddy stuff, Holidays, Music, shopping
Just when you thought LEGO had reached the pinnacle of coolness with the recent release of their fanboy-tastic “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” LEGO playsets, they take things even further by adding the Disney Princesses to the mix as well.
That’s right, brick lovers, the Disney Princess LEGO sets are here. And though several of the bigger name Disney Princesses like Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel have appeared in hugely-popular DUPLO playsets over the years, this is the first time Disney royalty has appeared in a “big kid” LEGO set and the results are freaking awesome.
Seriously, even if I didn’t have a Disney Princess-loving daughter, I would want some of these sets. Beautifully detailed with rich, subtle colors you don’t often find in the LEGO universe, the sets are far cooler than you’d expect, especially considering how totally lame and borderline sexist the company’s previous girl-themed efforts have been.
I mean, no offense to the toothy lasses in the LEGO Friends collection, but, girls can do much more than run an ice cream shoppe, beauty parlor and/or brush their horse’s plastic hair all day long. Say what you will about Barbie, but at least she has career ambitions, while even the best of the LEGO Friends sets feel a marketing scheme that never really took off.
Whereas the new Disney Princess LEGOS are so cool and character-specific that they actually breathe new life into a franchise that most parents I know feel has lost a little steam in recent years. And, by focusing on the strengths and unique skills/talents of each of the Princesses featured in the LEGO sets, the powers that be present girl characters that, you know, actually do things.
The Merida set highlights her archery skills, Rapunzel’s set focuses on her skills as an artist and even Ariel — who many consider to be the most offensive and weak-willed of the bunch — gets a chance to focus on her skills as a “collector of human artifacts” in one of her two LEGO sets. OK, maybe that’s a stretch, but, it’s better than nothing.
But the biggest surprise of all comes in the largest, showiest set in the series, Cinderella’s Romantic Castle. If you ask me, Cinderella was always the first truly modern-skewing of the Disney Princesses, but, rather than showcasing her skills at sewing and cleaning (both of which she obviously excelled at) Cinderella’s LEGO set goes out of its way to highlight her cheeky sense of humor by sneaking all sorts of hidden treasures into the castle. Her bed features a “secret drawer” containing a mysterious envelope (a souvenir invite from the Royal ball that started it all perhaps?) and another “secret room” upstairs hides a treasure chest behind a door that is only opened by a key hidden behind a trick bookcase downstairs. Forget romance, this castle is downright magical!
And in case you were wondering how long it takes to construct a 646 piece LEGO castle, I can tell you from experience — Greta got the castle from her Grandma Linda for Christmas — it takes forever. Just kidding. I didn’t actually log the hours, but, it took us a good two or three days to do it right. But, Greta and I had a blast building it and luckily, all of the big new LEGO sets come with very detailed instructions, so, we had lots of help.
And with my new “Lord of the Rings” Battle at the Black Gate LEGO set (yep, Santa heard my pleas as well!) due to start construction sometime this weekend, I forsee much cross-movie franchise bloodshed and turmoil in the land of LEGOS. Poor Cinderella will never know what hit her!
Filed under Cool toys, Daddy stuff, Holidays, Movie Stuff
What’s better than driving two-plus hours to San Diego in the dead of night on the heaviest traffic day of the year? Doing it with a raging head cold. Urgh…I suppose it could be worse, but, man, colds are just so fucking annoying…especially during the holidays!
The upside is that no one will let me near the food prep tomorrow at my Mom’s house, so, I guess I’ll be watching the parade with Greta all day on the couch. Yay! Oh yeah, the other upside is that Greta keeps asking me if I’m sad — apparently I look as good as I feel — and when I tell her that I’m just not feeling well, she hugs the shit outta me and whispers: “It’s OK, Daddy.” So cute!
Of course, it won’t be so cute if she gets a cold too…but, hey, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Happy Thanksgiving, amigos, hope it’s a good one!
Filed under Daddy stuff, Good Baby, Holidays
As promised, here are the pics from our handmade Halloween 2011. As I mentioned before, Greta went as an adorable Blue Fairy and Grandma as a forest nymph, or, Mother Nature. Either way, she looked appropriately woodsy and totally awesome!
Mrs. Yeti went as Little Red Riding Hood, and though it might not register on first viewing, I was supposed to be the Wolf. Unfortunately, every wolf mask I tried on scared the hell outta Greta, so, I ended up making my own mask out of brown felt and some corduroy scraps I found in Mrs. Yeti’s sewing closet. I think it looks a little woodsy owl-ish up close, but, hey, at least the girls looked good!
Filed under Good Baby, Holidays, Mommy Stuff
I know I’ve been away for a while and I should probably explain myself, but then, anyone who has kids knows that the month of October is a total fucking blur. And if you know that, then you also know that blogging is the last thing you have time for when holiday insanity hits. So, sorry for the lag in writing, but, I’m back!
Anyway, we had an awesome, handmade Halloween season (I’ll post the costume pics soon, I promise) with friends, family and enough candy to feed a small village. We’re actually still working on the candy, and believe it or not, I am totally, insanely sick of candy corn at the moment. Wow, I can’t believe I just wrote that, but, it’s true…I’ve had my fill till next year. Yikes!
Oh, and speaking of candy, I have to share with you what just might be the best Halloween quote ever. This gem was uttered by my mother one morning when Greta demanded candy for breakfast (again). Tired of trying to force her to eat something healthy, my Mom stood her ground and simply uttered: “Greta, candy is not a food group!” Ha…classic!
Filed under Daddy stuff, Good Baby
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Stay-at-home-Yeti 