Our county provides limited free entries to a variety of museums through something called Culture Passes available at your local library. My amazing friend Linsey and her bucket list of activities for her family to complete has inspired me to seek out more interesting and cultural activities for us to do, and the Culture Pass seemed a great place to start. When we popped into the library last week there was one available for our local contemporary arts museum, so I snached it up and Gabe and I went on Saturday.
Gabe really loved the plant beds out front and their great colored rocks.
He also loved the horse sculptures on the stree before we got in.
And he did reasonably well in the small but very nice three room museum. Perfect size for his attention span. All in all it was a great little outing for us and a nice introduction to the world of art. I always dreamed of taking my kids to museums (a dream only the childless would think of!)
Gabe is growing and saying funnier/sassier things every day. He learns quite a lot at preschool that isn't strictly on the curriculum. The other day, I did something he didn't like and he told me "If you don't stop that right now I'm going to tell Brooke (school friend) to come and put you in a cage." ok. apparently Brooke has been threatening the other kids with cage time and they have been impressed with the idea.
But then he came home yesterday and told me "mom, The Lord is my friend and I need not be afraid, it's in the Hebrews book." I LOVE LOVE LOVE his Lutheran preschool.
The other day we were walking home from preschool and he just stopped on the sidewalk and sat down and told me "I just need to sit a minute, and then when I get up I won't be angry anymore." He hadn't manifested anger, but apparently was giving himself a little timeout.
He sometimes likes to say the prayer at meals, and always gives thanks for his cousins, the horses, the cows and ropes. The other day Mario told him to say the prayer in Spanish and he said "I can't, because then I can't pray for the ropes." I guess ropes aren't part of his Spanish vocabulary.
He calls cow horns "corns". He loves the movie Flicka and the cartoon Dora. He is completely sweet and completely terrorizing, in equal parts, with his little sister. He likes to be in charge of everything, and no matter what you offer, he will say no, just to let you know he's not going to be pushed around. It's very tiring finding creative ways to make him think he came up with every idea. When I start to get exasperated he'll say "mama, I love you." and I totally love him back.
Saturday after he got out of class we went to the Getty center. I forgot how amazing it is. The gardens, the architecture, and after all that, massive amounts of great art as well. Better yet, Friday's after 5pm you get in free. 
Mario as art outside the Getty Center.
I perused Montana Road and oogled everything in Jonathan Adler.
And I hiked in Palos Verdes. It's so beautiful there, how had I never been there before? looking back up from the bottom.
I started at the top and hiked down to the water. (Catalina Island in the background)
We also drove past the little house I lived in on Overland when I was young and single.
And visited the Oakland LDS temple.
