The M's for the Night

 

Last Saturday Max and Maddie came over for the night while Sam and Jess were hosting a baby shower/game night event for friends.

 

 

 

The sleeper sofa arrived from IKEA just before they came.  The box it came in was the biggest hit, quickly transformed into a cardboard cabin.

 

 

 

 

Then the Lego movie (I finally understood it this third time around-and loved it),

 

 

 

 

and to bed in the new blue pull-out.

 

 

 

The next morning it was decorating the cabin--tiling the roof with tissue paper,

 

 

 

then painting pictures of Hawaii in the studio (Toby catching a wee nap).

 

 

 

Packing up and walking the 4 blocks home.

Activity in Burbank!

We no sooner arrived than things happened--

Sam and Jess and the kids took a long-anticipated week's vacation in Hawaii--here they are back home, tanned and relaxed and happy.

 

Toby was hospitalized with pneumonia for three nights--but a week later we made it to the Alzheimer Association's "Memory Morning"--  the specialty this week was chocolate tasting.  Not bad at all.

Max and Maddie both tested for new belts in karate--Max for his orange 

and Maddie for her purple.

Max in full fighting gear

and Maddie with exuberance,

and Jess' snazzily dressed for a concert at the Staples Center with her friend Aarin.

Fun Photos From Gamboa

Sweet shots from our week and a half in Panama--

Grown-up Gwen, watermelon slushie and bat cookie,

 

Adult Simon, perusing toy catalog in car seat.

the Gwen-Eric dance performers,

 

Simon, the monkey, and Isa, Graciela's granddaughter,

 

watching the banana-eating monkeys,

 

 talking to a bombero,

retrieving one of the many balls that disappear down the backyard ravine!

Late afternoon cheese and wine on the deck:  the family plus, of course, Eric.

Delightful, relaxed, and wonderful.  We loved our time with you all!

.

The BioMuseo--Panama's Latest Extravaganza

One fantastic building that looks like many--

Tropical rooftops? Containers on ships coming through the Canal? Origami?  Haphazardly gorgeous.

Frank Gehry (who has a Panamanian wife) designed it.  It's taken 10 years to build so far and is yet to be finished.

Great view from the front steps across the water to Panama City's burgeoning skyline.

Inside, before watching a riveting video about Panama's natural resources, we picked out the various creatures that live in Panama now--especially happy to see Rachel's tracops bat at the top, above the monkey Gwen is pointing at.  And there's the dragon-like Harpy Eagle to the left.

 

The Bridge of Life:  an exhibit of enormous 

and tiny and in-between creatures that have lived in and crossed the Panamanian Isthmus over the eons. 

All touchable.

This was my favorite part of the museum.

But then there was this small room which showed Gehry's original squiggly design. 

A museum came from this?  I'll never throw away a doodle again!

 

And Gwen's interpretation of Gehry's masterpiece.

.

And Toby and me, me especially, quite in awe.

Monkey Island

 

On Sunday we took a boat up the Panama Canal to Monkey Island--

 

 

 

exciting to be motoring on the Canal past the dredging boats that are widening and deepening the Canal

 

and past large cargo ships.

 

 

 

 

 Snack en route.

 

 

 

We pulled up to shore right under the trees and the monkeys came to us.

 

 

 

This is a gentle Geoffrey Tamarin, very sweet, but others were much more aggressive, leaping on the boat, trying to come after what we had in our hands, nerve-wracking!  Didn't get photos of them, too busy ducking.

 

 

 

Thoughtful faces,

 

 happy faces,

 

 

 

and conversations

on the return trip.

Bedtime Stories

 

lulling at least one person to sleep.

Gamboa Halloween

 

 

 

 

 

Yet another wild Gamboa animal--a fierce leopard.

 

 

 

And one of Gamboa's finest--the fearless, friendly bombero!

 

 

Along with the backup gang:  a Viking, FlyGuy, a human pumpkin, and bat woman--plus Ironman Eric who lives next door and rarely misses an occasion at the Page/Bethels.

 

 

 

The neighborhood Halloween send-off party -- a group photo before the young set hit the streets to trick or treat..