Exploring L.A. :: John Anson Ford Theatre

Earlier in the summer (like in August) we attended a performance at the John Anson Ford Theatre. The theater is across the street, well the "street" is the 101 freeway from the Hollywood Bowl. It is an outdoor theater that does music and drama performances during the non-rainy months of the year. Its much smaller than the bowl, but the setting is beautiful.

The theater was originally built to host a single performance, The Pilgrimage Play. The theater was originally constructed in the 1920s, but then burned down, and it was reconstructed in 1931. As the theater only had a single production, the new theater was designed to reflect Jerusalem architecture. So its pretty interesting. Eventually the originally play stopped its run (after 30 years) and the theater became owned and operated by the County of Los Angeles.

The performance that we attended was one of the family friendly performances. During the summer the theater hosted family friendly events each Saturday morning. And family friendly also meant friendly on the budget. Adults are $5 and kids under 12 are free. The theme over the summer was Big World Fun! and the intent was to expose kids to music and dance from around the world. Each Saturday was centered around a different country and culture. The performance we attended was themed around Mexico.

 

However, before the performance the theater hosted a craft activity for kids which pertained to the performance. The craft activity the day we went was to decorate fans. Of course we got there as soon as the doors opened and Ellie was one of the first kids to start making her fan. She picked out her own fan and decorations. We helped a little bit with the glue, the design was all Ellie.

Then it was time to grab a seat for the performance. The performance by the dancers was amazing. It was so much fun. Ellie loved the clothes and especially the pretty dresses. She was very well behaved during the performance because she was obviously engaged with the music, dancing, and the visuals up on the stage. All three of us had a great time and enjoyed the performance which lasted just over an hour (without an intermission).

After the performance there was a meet and great with the dancers. Ellie was so happy to see the dresses up close. Everyone was so nice and kind to Ellie. 

Overall the experience was terrific and we had such a great time. Unfortunately the performance we went to was one of the last ones of the season. But...it'll be back next year! And it will definitely be on our agenda next season. The Ford is a nice, small, family friendly theater which is outdoor and has great views. Perhaps we will even look at their season next year to see what they have that isn't on Saturday mornings and meant for little kids and families!

100 Stickers!

When we moved cross-country and into the temporary apartment, we moved with few toys and to a totally new environment for Ellie. New school, new bed, new town, without her toys, new friends, and no Aunt Susu. For the most part she dealt with it better than we could have expected or hoped. She didn't fall out of the twin sized bed, she adapted well and quickly to her new school, played well with the few toys we did bring, and got used to her new neighborhood and restaurants. When we moved to the house 6 months later, again her world was shaken. Another new room, another new bed, etc...

She stopped sleeping the night we moved to California. And things only got worse when we moved to the new house. Bedtimes were nightmares for us often lasting late into the night. Hardly a night went by when she stayed in her own bed; she would crawl into bed with me around 4am most nights.

So we started a sticker chart. If bedtimes were smooth and she stayed in her bed she earned a sticker. After 10 stickers she would get a little trinket or ice cream.

Then she got hooked on Playmobil figurines and she got ahold of the Playmobil catalog. We told her after she finished a chart, 10 stickers, she could pick out a new little figurine. She wanted the fairy castle she saw in the catalog and asked how many stickers that was. I told her 100 stickers, she would have to complete 10 sticker charts. After completing her first sticker chart, I asked her if she wanted to go get something little or save up for the castle. She wanted to save up.

Several months later and several more Playmobil catalogs she finally reached 100 stickers. She decided that she didn't want the castle, but the little playmobil pool with the water slide.

She actually finished her last chart while up in Santa Barbara at Camp Grandparents.



But when she got home there was a wrapped present on her bed waiting for her. She knew immediately what it was and opened it with gusto!















Nick and I put it together for her (while she looked over our shoulders very intently). Immediately she started playing with it. We put some water in it (it has a functioning shower) and she played for the rest of the after noon. This pool is her new favorite toy and she plays with it daily (without water in her playroom).















She is one proud and happy kid. The chart did work. Nighttimes aren't battles, she stays in her room, and our evenings are calm.



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Camp Grandparentals Van

Ellie's school typically offers just daycare in August (aka August school). This year not enough kids signed up so they cancelled it. We were able to get her set up at her schools sister school for August daycare for a couple weeks, but we also sent Ellie up to Santa Barbara for Camp Grandparentals Van. Two weeks up in SB with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike. She spent one week at Zoo Camp and the other at SB Natural History Camp.

With Ellie up in SB, Nick and I had a break from packing lunches, bedtime routines, combing out tangles, and grumpy mornings. We were also able to go to a restaurant with white tablecloths on a Tuesday and a movie marathon on a Thursday evening.

While in SB Ellie seemed to get a hot breakfast every morning... such a luxury! French toast, scrambled eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice...on a weekday!



Of course, there was the typical breakfast in the car. And apparently she pitched in with cleaning as well.






Ellie was a veteran when it came to zoo camp. She loved riding the train, feeding the goats and giraffes, and seeing the Dino Show. Apparently the SB zoo now has a show where two people dress up as dinosaurs and there is a baby Triceratops puppet. But ask Ellie and she will tell you that the baby was real, but the other dinosaurs were costumes because dinosaurs are extinct. We are still trying to convince here the Triceratops was a puppet.

Ellie says she likes Natural History Camp better. Based on the reports from her and her grandparents and the daily itinerary, I don't doubt it. The theme for the week was Pee Wee Naturalist. It was definitely up her alley. They climbed in a creek to look for frogs, dissected owl pellets to find mice bones, searched for unique rocks and painted them, broke open a geode, explores the mammal and bird hall, saw all the "crystals" in the gem hall, played in water in a faux creek, went on hikes, learned about California mammals (like the Island Fox), measures trees...and that's just what she told us about.



I hadn't been to the Natural History museum since I was a kid. So, the weekend before she started the museum camp, we all went (Ellie, me, and her grandparents) to check it out and let Ellie get a little familiar with it. The museum had changed so much since I was a kid, it was a lot of fun. Ellie at first was a little afraid of the taxidermied animals in the mammal hall, but though the birds were pretty funny. She lived the giant crystal and all the butterflies in the insect hall. There was also a special exhibit about Tinkertoys which we all enjoyed. And of course the outside area was beautiful. We got to meet a naturalist and her snake. Have some creative play...before she got wet in the little creek.
































And of course no visit to the SB Museum of Natural History is complete without pretending to be swallowed by the blue whale skeleton!










It was a good thing we went and checked the museum out too. We learned that the campers have water play most days and get soaked and very dirty. So, water shoes and a complete set of change of clothes was recommended. So we went and got her a pair of water shoes and a new backpack to carry all her stuff including change of clothes, a lunchbox, her hat, water bottle, extra sunscreen...all the normal things a camper needs.






Her trip to SB wasn't just educational day camps. There were almost daily trips to a frozen yogurt place, fancy Italian dinners followed by chocolate gelato and the development if a new obsession...American Girl Dolls. Susie and I both received a doll the first year they came out and then accrued all the accessories for our historical figure dolls Kirsten (mine) and Molly (Susie's). Well Ellie met Kirsten and fell in love. She has asked when she can have her own, I told her she has to be able to read the books (chapters, lots of words, minimal pictures...second grade level).






And my dad and uncles company had their annual summer picnic. Ellie and I were invited and so we joined in the fun of good food, face painting, and caricatures.









Everyone had a blast. Ellie has been talking non-stop about natural history camp. She even asked Nick to go on a walk with her so that she could look for bugs! Good summer!

Ellie also improved her phone etiquette. We talked to her every evening just before bed and got to hear all about her day.



Most pictures are courtesy of my parents.

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