Back in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California: Y'all will
not be surprised to learn we did not stay in our Portland house for long. Just
like last year, we came home on the weekend, unpacked, had dinner with Renee and
Nancy on Thursday and flew to LA on Friday. Lucy has her ballet recital Saturday and we wouldn't miss it
for the world. No, Lucy is not a prima ballerina. A ballet recital for three year
olds is only well-costumed
chaos.
Happily for us, Alaska
Airlines has many non-stop flights between Portland and Burbank daily.
Unhappily, they are no longer at convenient times for us. The flights are
probably very convenient for all the Hollywood stars needing constant transit between Los
Angeles and Portland (many movies and television shows are filmed in Portland). Dave and I
ended up with a 9a flight to Burbank... which meant leaving our house (as far
away from PDX as one can possibly get while still claiming to reside in the
Metro area) before 7a... which meant rising before 6a.
After touching-down, we spent time with Lisa before going to fetch Lucy from
pre-school. We all went to ice cream and then it was time to get Leo from his
school and then shuttle him off to piano class. Later, everyone gathered and we
went out to Toluca Lake for sushi at Sushi Yuzu. We all love this little place.
Amazing sushi. Teeny restaurant, and always packed to the rafters, making the
restaurant so noisy, no one even noticed we had two little kids with us.
A few photos:

Lucy can eat her weight in yellowtail sashimi, and avocado roll

Leo - looking like his Mom in this photo.
The kids finished their meals ahead of their parents and
grandparents. It was so noisy inside the restaurant you couldn't hear yourself
think. Or talk. Or anything. I decided to take the kids outside to the outdoor
foyer, so they could get some air, have a miniscule space to stretch-out and get away from all the pandemonium inside the
restaurant.
To keep the kids busy, entertained, and quiet, I decided to hold a contest. Who
could sit and not talk the longest? $1 cash money up for
grabs.

I'm not making a sound, Bubbe




Yoo Hoo, if it wasn't fun watching the kids roll their eyes,
puff-out their cheeks, and try to not talk. Lucy had a leaf (from the tree in the
above photos), and tried to focus on the leaf... then poked Leo with the leaf.
He wasn't going to speak, and finally, Lucy said something. Leo was up a
dollar. Miss Poor Loser demanded a re-match, which her Brother let her win. We
had a one-one tie. I had one more dollar note in my wallet.
A "freeze" contest was declared. The kids sat on the bench, and when I gave the
word, they froze in place. This went on for quite a while (especially for a
three year old), and really entertained the patrons coming and going from the
restaurant. Lucy finally moved, and Leo won his second dollar of the evening. A
good grandmotherly investment for twenty minutes of quiet fun.
Seriously, they probably would have been just as happy with shiny quarters, but I
simply didn't have the coins in my wallet... but I'm pretty Lucy later convinced
her grandfather to give her another dollar, so the contest ended in a 2-2 tie.
Not only do we get to enjoy the ballet recital tomorrow, Leo has a T-Ball game!
Until my next update, I remain, your bankrupt correspondent.
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