Happy Birthday Daddy!

i love you!

In Loving Memory

So today was a very tragic day in the world as earlier in the morning Farrah Fawcett lost her battle with cancer and later in the afternoon Michael Jackson passed from a cardiac arrest.

I personally never had much of a connection with Farrah Fawcett as she was not really my era but I was aware of her battle with cancer and how she was nearing her end. It is sad that her death seemed to be surpassed by the death of Michael Jackson so I felt the need to give her a little tribute here on Tyson's blog as well.

Michael Jackson on the other hand has been very saddening for me. He was just so HUGE in the world and has had an influence on a substantial amount of people, myself included. I completely remember my mom having the BAD record and waking up and taking the record and playing it really early in the morning. It was and probably still is one of my favorite. I also remember watching the movie moonwalk repeated times. I have always liked Michael Jackson and always stood by him through everything he ever went through. I was completely SHOCKED by his death and I still feel a little bit of denial as if he is going to come back.

Thinking about his influence, I can not think of any other person who has inspired and influenced so many people. EVERYONE knows who he is. Even kids who were born way after he was a big deal. He is the one musician that has completely TIMELESS music. And the main thing is that ALL OF HIS MUSIC is timeless. Not just one or two tracks. There are other artist who do have timeless music such as the Beatles for example but I personally do not feel that even they have inspired such a WIDE range of people and genres. Michael Jackson touched every age, race, culture, genre, and creed. and it is amazing that through everything he's been through people still stand behind him 100%.

I just felt the overwhelming need to show my respects and be apart of honoring his death. Also being that I actually live in LA, I am a fan, and have the opportunity more then others, I wanted to go somewhere and show my respects. I never really venture into the LA/Hollywood area that much but being that Friday (the day after his death) we had a mommy group in west LA not too far from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, we decided to go visit Michael and Farrah's star.

It was MADNESS down there. We stopped by Farrah's star on the way b/c we parked right near it and it was on the way to Michael's. Hers was easy bc there were not so many people blocking it. Michael's star was INSANE. There were media and cops everywhere. They had completey blocked of near his star and they were only letting people walk down the street one way. There was a group of people in line to walk past his star and pay their respects. Only a few people were allowed to walk by at a time so it took a while for us to get through. Tyson was in his small stroller too so it was hard bc it got so crowded not counting it was probably over 100 degrees outside. Towards the end Tyson started crying and trying to get out of his seat and he was getting crowded over thatI had to get him out of seat while holding my HUGE purse/diaper bag, my camera, adn his stroller. I lifted him up and some nice people helped my fold his stroller that then had to hold as well as Tyson was crying his head off. But were were so close to the front I was NOT going to turn back. We finally made it through and I was able to put Ty back in his stroller before my arm was about to fall off.

I wanted to take a picture of Tyson during all of this so when he gets older and he hears about how big Michael Jackson was, it'll be great for him to have a picture knowng that he was part of his memorial and tribute. I mean I would love to have a picture of me at Elvis' memorial, i think that would have been a cool picture to have BUT then again, I wasn't born when he died. :)


Here's Tyson next to Michael's Star.... even he looks sad... Or just hot!

Here is a picture of all the news trucks and media in front of his star

Here is a closeup of just the star and all the flowers and notes and pictures

Here is the picture of Farrah's star and all her flowers and pictures.

REST IN PEACE MICHAEL JACKSON 1958 - 2009

REST IN PEACE FARRAH FAWCETT 1947 - 2009

Mommy Group: Play

Today we did some messy art at Play in West LA. This was a very fun place. There was a room set up with easels and paint and all the kids got little smocks and got to go to town. Tyson LOVED it. He loves getting messy so he got in right away. He was mixing paints and paintbrushes, painting all over his paper. He kinda stayed to the right side of the page and it started getting really thick with paint that after a while I had to rotate his paper so he could the other half done. He ended up making two paintings then he was done. He kept trying to go to other easels to paint on. Play also had another room that kids could play in so we could wait while the paintings dried. This was a new group I hadn't gotten to meet with yet so I again got to meet some more new mothers. It was fun and I'm sure I'll meet up with them again sometime soon.

We now officially have Tyson's first painting on our fridge. I LOVE IT!

Dr. Suess

This was so cute... i looked over and Tyson had grabbed his book, sat down, and started reading. Or acting like he was reading. He loves books as he has so many and he loves when I read to him. Now he's trying to read himself

Happy Birthday Alex

a


Today we went on a play date for baby Alex's first birthday. It was at Katherine's house and was so much fun. Of course her house is totally baby proofed so it was safe for all the children and she had tons of fun toys. All the babies were loving the play house. They kept crawling in and out of the door and climbing all over it. Tyson was interested in all the food. He kept flirting with whomever was eating trying to get some food. I was funny b/c without food he wasn't paying them any attention. We spent a couple of hours here which was nice b/c all the moms got to totally hang out while the kids played and we didn't have to watch them TOO close. I think I like indoor play dates and want to try to do them more often.

Mommy Group: Hansen Dam

Today we went to Hansen Dam Aquatic Center in Sylmar. It is a huge wading pool which is perfect for the little ones. Sorta beach like, it's very shallow around the edges and gets deeper in the middle. Tyson loves the water and being that this was pretty shallow, seemed like a fun opportunity.

When we arrived most of the mothers were already there and had tents set up with blankets and food. It was a very nice day to be outside. We had a little picnic and ate lots of snacks. One mom had a wagon there and Tyson fell in love. He wanted to play with the wagon all day.He was climbing in and out of it, pushing the other babies around, and he even took a ride in it himself. We didnt get in the water for too long because it was really cold and it he didnt really want to get in too far but he was splashing around in it.

I am in about 4 or 5 mom groups and 3 groups were at the dam this day, one in which I never got to meet with before this so I got to meet a few new mothers whom were all really nice.

Overall we had a fun day and it was so fun Tyson took a 4 hour nap when we got home. So maybe we'll do mroe things like this more often. :)

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Dad!

(and grandpa Alfonso and Neal, great grandpa Frank and Jerry)

Mommy Group: Kidspace

Last Wednesday Tyson and I met up with the mommies and kiddies at Kidspace in Pasadena. It's like a discovery museum for kids. They have different areas geared towards certain ages and I think it's very cool they have sections for children 4 and under. Most places like this are usually only for bigger children but this was perfect because even the little kids had some fun stuff they could do.

When Ty and I got there, I wasn't feeling too good. My allergies had gotten the best of me and I was a dripping mess. I could not stop sneezing and dripping fluid from my nose. Also, I didn't wear a belt that day so bending over every couple of minutes to pick up, move, or stop Tyson wasn't that easy either way.
We started in this playroom that was for children age 4 and under. It was perfect because it had soft mats on the floor and tons of things to play with the baby. Plus it was only for smaller kids so we didn't have to worry about the older kids getting in the way. This was only the meeting area for the moms so we only stayed there for a little bit. We then moved on to the main area that was the exploration area for all ages but I found that it was most interesting for older children. The babies were just too small for most of the areas in this section but they did have some pretty cool things. They had this huge bee hive and there was this tube that came from outside, so the outside bees would fly in the tube and into the hive and you can see them making honey. You can also point out the queen bee. They also had these cool stairlike things that were suppose to be clouds that you could walk up all the way to the top of the building and look out. Tyson and I tried this but I had to hold him the entire time because there were so many children running up and down so fast, i didn't want him to get hurt, although I hit my head on the top of a "cloud" more then once. This section did have a lot to do but like said, it would be something more interesting as Tyson is a little older.
We then moved on to a new section that was geared towards the smaller crowd ad where we stayed for a long majority of the time. It was a little water playground. It was kinda chilly outside but the kids were still having so much fun playing in the water. This part was easier for me because I didn't feel like I had to bend down so much to watch him or move him out of the way from older kids knocking him down. There were bridges and steering wheels, and a play house... and a big area with buckets and slides that carried water. Tyson of course loved the water part because he thinks splashing is so fun.
It was so cute to see him playing among all the kids. He gets along with other kids pretty well. He's at the stage where he kinda plays by himself because he is so busy exploring the world and learning how everything works. When he does come up to the other kids, he usually tries to hug or kiss them. With the babies I have to watch him, because sometimes he can grab on too hard. At this time, my eyes had begun watering and I had blown my nose a million times. I had to continually carry paper towels on my back pockets because of my dripping nose and sneezing. I was starting to get a little annoyed and the trip was becoming a little harder for me. It was just hard watching Tyson because of all the bigger kids running around. Not counting how many kids were there in the first place. There must have been like 10 field trips that day.

After the water area, we all decided to head back to the playroom. There was a lot more to see but I definitely rather save it for a better day. We headed back to the playroom and Ty loves the slide. He kept climbing up the stairs and wanting to slide down this mini little slide. With my help of course. Well at one moment he was NOT playing with the slide but with these blocks and balls so I decided to run into the bathroom really quick to grab some toilet paper for my nose. OF COURSE I come out and I see like 4 mommies in a crowd around Tyson crying. "OMG WHAT HAPPENED?" well turns out he tried to go down the slide again in that 1 minute that I was gone and he fell and hurt himself. I felt like such a bad mommy at that moment because as m child is crying, I'm in the bathroom and all the other mommies were probably thinking "why did she leave her child". Probably the last time I do that without making sure someone could watch him. Was good to know though that the other mommies were so helpful. And Tyson is so cute how could anyone resist that cute crying face

We ended up leaving Kidspace before most of the other mothers because I just couldn't go any longer. My allergies were getting ridiculous. More like a cold. So we said our good byes and headed home and good thing because by the end of the day I felt like I wanted to die. It turned out I was actually getting SICK!!! I have been sick all week, getting better each day but for some reason my snot and sneezes are just dragging along. So one week later, here I am, still sniffling and sneezing and what's worse is now Tyson has a runny nose, and Justin is catching it too! great. i guess that's inevitable though right. Even if you do try to sleep on the couch for 3 days to avoid me ;) This last week we've had to miss all our mommy groups because I didn't want Ty to get the other kids sick and the mommies to be ad at me. Hopefully tomorrow can kickstart a new for us. We have Gummy the Bear indoor playground..... yay!

Mommy Group: Travel Town

On Monday we went to Travel Town with all the mommies and babies. Travel town is a very interesting train museum and they even have a little train you can ride around the park on.
When we got there we first had a picnic with everyone. There were only two walkers, of course Tyson being one, and I think once you have a walker you can no longer have a picnic. Of course Kim and I spent the whole picnic chasing after our little ones and trying to get them to sit down for at least 5 minutes at a time. I have to play hide and seek with Tyson to try to get him to come back. He loves looking for me so I would hide behind a tree so he would come towards me.

After our picnic we decided to ride the train around the park. I'll post those pictures when I get them. Tyson had fun on the train. I think he liked all the movement. He even tried to stick his hands out to touch the flowers, which was against the rules. Already a little rebel on our hands. Besides that, travel town is not really a place for babies so maybe we'll re-visit when Tyson gets a little older and can appreciate the history of all the different kinds of trains there were.

Golf

I think we might have the next Tiger Woods on our hands. Watch out for Tyson!

Santa Barbara

This last weekend we took a trip to Santa Barbara and while we were there we decided to stop at the zoo. Tyson is a little too small to really enjoy it but he did get to see some of the animals and even make friends with a meercat. We saw so many cool animals. Elephants, gorillas, sloths, a toucan, leopards, giraffes, lions, flamingos, penguins, lots of cool birds, and many different types of monkeys. While we were next to the giraffe cage there was this cute little meercat all alone in his tiny cage. The glass from his cage touched the ground so it was perfect for Tyson to walk up to and take a peek. The instantly became friends. The meercat looked like he wanted to play with Tyson. At the end of our trip at the zoo we bought Tyson this little monkey that hangs around your neck so he could have his own animal for home. He loves it.

We'll probably try to go back to the zoo when Tyson is a little older and can fully get the whole experience but this was a fun first time for us. Tyson just loves animals. Who knows maybe we'll have our very own vet. The next zoo we want to go to is San Diego zoo. None of us have been so we're looking forward to it. And Sea World. Until then...

Mommy Group: Creative Leap

Man I hate that I have been slacking so much lately. I actually miss posting little videos and pictures on here almost daily. Now i'm lucky if i get weekly.

NEwho, my friend Sandy was telling me how she joined a mommy group and they meet up often and do things with the kids and have mommy nights out. Well i got pretty interested since Tyson and I stay are at home most of the days. I thought this is a great way to get to meet other moms for me to become friends with and for Tyson to have the opportunity to meet other kids to interact with. Well asked her about the groups and she opened me up to Meetup.com. I joined about two weeks ago and I am now in 4 mommy groups who all do different types of things.
When you go to this site you can look up groups for just about anything. You type in your zip and you get groups in your area. So of course I looked up some mommy groups and found a bunch. The ones I am in are definitely active too.

When you join the group the organizer has to accept you as a member and when they do you are welcome to browse the calendar for upcoming events. So far I have something to do almost everyday for the next two weeks. LOL. It's great to actually get out of the house and meet new people and SOCIALIZE. All of the moms are so great and accepting and I cant wait to do more things together. I have been to 6 meetups already including a picnic at the park, a walk around Lake Balboa, two different music classes, an indoor playgym, and today we went to Color Me Mine and made some art. We have so much more coming up as well. We have Travel Town which is the train museum near the zoo, the Getty Center, Under the Sea (another indoor playground), Kidspace, Fathers Bowling Day (yes the fathers can meet each other too). I am looking forward to all the events. I think its great to meet other people with kids because you can relate on a whole different level. And when your kids are similar in age you can share stories and learn new things from each other. It's also great when birthdays come around so there can actually be kids there :)

Well here are a few pictures of Tyson at the Creative Leap (the indoor playground) from Tuesday. Enjoy!