more body talk

we spent the last weekday of the bean's christmas break heading out to the california science center with tickets to the body worlds exhibit courtesy of one of the hub's friends.  they were dated and timed, so although the old lady was really interested in seeing the exhibit, work kept her from coming along.  bummer.

i was a little apprehensive about this outing, knowing that the exhibit consists of real human bodies in all shapes and sizes, shown both in sickness and in health.  i get pretty squeamish about stuff like that, but i knew it would be fascinating and educational and so i just sucked it up and went with the flow.  if you're like me in any way, you may not want to look at the pictures i'll be sharing here.  there, you've been warned.

i was extra glad that we'd had a chance to discuss bodies and body parts and stuff like that beforehand, because the bean didn't flinch when we got inside and started checking things out.

along with full bodies, there were lots of display cases containing examples of different body parts.  as i'd figured, it was a good mix of interesting and squicky at the same time.

the bodies were placed in all sorts of different poses, and the ones with eyeballs were a little freaky.

when we reached the end of the room we received these tickets from a museum staffer so that we could go upstairs to continue our tour.

upstairs there was more of the same, just moving through the rest of the body that hadn't already been covered in the first room.

throughout the exhibit there were lots of placards like this that gave some basic facts about different diseases and disorders and issues.

this part led the bean to pull her daddy aside and ask him to cut down on the cigars (and to his credit, he has done exactly that, by a pretty big margin).

there was a pretty interesting photo exhibit of typical families in various countries around the world showing them with a month's worth (or it could have been a week, i really don't remember) of their groceries.  it was really interesting to see the differences.

this is the digestive tract.  when stretched out, it can reach up to 30 feet in length.  crazy, huh?

i was pretty confused by the 007 poster until the hub pointed out that the bodies sitting around the poker table were featured in a scene from one of the movies.

more bodies in different poses.

we reached the last section of the exhibit that was walled off from the general viewing area, and when we stepped inside the staffer explained why - the reproductive system was explained there, along with bodies shown having sex.  while this was after "the" talk i'd had with the bean, none of us were ready for it to be shown in graphic detail like that.  this elicited a snicker from all of us, though:

the last part was an interactive poster where guests were invited to share something that they wanted to accomplish before they die.  the bean went over and added "become a disney animator" while i stood back and smirked at a few of the other entries.  i think my favorite was a drawing of a potato.  so random.

 although we've seen it before, we headed over to see the space shuttle.  because we could.

hello kitty is errrrrywhere.

we went outside and looked at something we hadn't seen the last time - the gigantic fuel tank.

the bean wanted to check out a few of the other rooms, and we got to see the divers who went in to feed the fish.

we hightailed it outta there not too long afterwards, knowing we'd be dealing with a good amount of traffic on the way home on a friday afternoon.  on our way out we caught sight of the coliseum, where they were setting up for the rams football playoff game the next day.

and if i hadn't already known it before, now i'm completely certain that i'd never survive in any sort of medical-related career.  heh.

having "the" talk

so i'd hesitated about sharing this story because i really just wasn't sure if it was cool or not, but then while i was talking with the old lady about it and she asked "why not?" i decided to just do it.  after all, i wanted to have a way to document it and that's really what i even started this blog for to begin with...so yeah.

it was what seemed like a solid week of movies around here while the bean was on christmas break.  first, she got to see the new star wars movie with her daddy while i stayed home to wrap christmas presents.  then the two of us had a movie date the day after christmas to see "jumanji."  and then the next night, i took both girls and we saw "the greatest showman."  so awesome.

if you haven't seen the new jumanji movie yet, the premise is that the game morphs into a video game that four teenagers get sucked into and become the avatars that they chose.  one of the girls becomes a character played by jack black, and you can just imagine the hilarity that ensues from that.  there's a scene where he hugs nick jonas' character, which the teenage girl inside of him swoons over...resulting in good ol' jack sprouting a boner, which the girl finds totally hilarious.  i mean, i'm pretty sure any of us would be totally amused by something like that, amirite?

anyway, as the whole theater erupted into laughter the bean turned to me and said "i don't get it.  what just happened?"  i kind of sat back for a second to ponder how to explain it to her, because she'd asked me directly and i didn't want to just brush off her question.  so i whispered in her ear "when boys get excited their wieners get hard.  like, it sticks up."  she made an "ew" face and then we both turned back to the movie and kept watching.  phew.

but then, the next day we were out to lunch at a restaurant where there was a tv turned on with full sound.  a news break came on and a reporter started discussing a story about a local teacher who'd been caught having sex with a student.  and so she turned to me and said "huh?  what does HAVING sex mean?"  oh boy.  since we were in a public place, i managed to put her off by telling her i'd explain it to her later, and that was that.

fast forward to last week, when we were both sitting in front of the tv but each distracted by something - me working on my blog, her playing with freshly made slime.  and damn those commercials...because one came on talking about sex toys.  WHAT. THE. HELL.  of course this triggered a memory for her, and she turned to me yet again and said "oh hey, so remember how the other day you were going to explain what having sex is to me?  what is that?"

ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK.  i never really had this conversation with my own mom, nor with the old lady.  it just never happened, and everyone learned everything and all was well.  so i found myself at quite a loss, despite having thought about how this might go when the day came.  hell, she didn't even learn about penises until she saw a naked statue when we were in rome.  heh.

and so the conversation went something like this:

"well, it's what people do when they want to have a baby."
"what do they do?
"well, when a man and a woman love each other and want to have a baby, they share a special hug."  [i was REALLY hoping that would fly]
"what does it look like?  can you show me an example?"  [hands me her iPad] ACK ACK ACK ACK
"no babe, it isn't something i can show you on the Internet."  [big fat lie but no way in hell]
"so can you please explain it to me then?"
SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT
"um, well, it involves the penis and the vagina."
"but like HOW?  TELL ME!!"
"so, um...the penis goes into the vagina."
"huh??  like this?"  [proceeds to demonstrate - quite accurately - with her fingers]
"um...well, yeah, i guess so.  that's pretty much it."
"but how does the baby get there?"  sigh.
"well...the man has a seed and the woman has an egg, and when they come together that makes the baby."
"OMG THE MAN PEES IN THE VAGINA??"  jesus christ almighty.
"no, not really.  the seed does come through his penis, but he's not really peeing." pleasepleasepleasedon'tletmehavetoexplainthispartyet
it all starts to sink in as she ponders all of what she's just heard and then a lightbulb appears.
"wait.  did you do that with daddy???"
"well, you're here, aren't you?"
"EWWWWWWWWWWW, THAT'S SO GROSS!"
[more deep thought]
"so i really want to have babies when i grow up...does that mean i have to do that??"
"well, that's how babies are made, so yeah."
"OMG NOOOOO EWWWWWWW!!  doesn't it hurt??"
"i mean, yeah, it hurts a little the first time."
"why does anyone want to do that if it hurts??"
"well, it's one of those things that you'll understand more when you're a grownup."
"so if my sister wants to have a baby she's going to have to do that too??"
"yes, that's how you make a baby."
"wait.  DO YOU HAVE TO BE NAKED??"
"yes."
"EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!"

and then she demonstrated the act again with her fingers, this time wiggling her eyebrows like a total creeper, and i just could not stop laughing.  and then i asked her never to do that again.  please.  like, ever.

after we'd both calmed down a little and caught our breath again, i got a little serious.  i told her that she couldn't talk about any of this stuff with her friends, because we didn't know what their parents had discussed with them yet.  i explained that it was a serious thing and an important conversation and that we didn't want to mess up anything for her friends or their families, and she seemed to understand and agreed with me.  i also told her that she could always come to us if she had any questions, and that she could ask us anything at any time and we'd do our best to give her honest answers and explanations if she needed them.

now that we're talking about it, i'm reminded of the conversation we had in the car where she asked me what "lesbotins" were and said she thought it had something to do with girls liking girls.  that was pretty comical.

parenting, man.  it's a trip.

final farewells at DCA

the girls and i were super stoked when the annual two-week blackout period on our disneyland passes finally ended.  the bean was still on christmas break, but with her cheer practices and the old lady's work schedule, it wasn't until thursday that we were finally able to head out.

our goal was to hit up the california adventure side, for two reasons - to take some last photos of the paradise pier area before it closed down for its transformation to a pixar-themed area and to use up the sip & savor pass we'd bought at the beginning of the holiday season for the festival of holiday food kiosks.  they're no good once the holiday season is over, so we wanted to make sure we took advantage of them while we could.

it was already pretty dark by the time we made our way into the park, so all of our final pier pictures look like this:

i just kept taking pictures of everything i figured was either going away or getting re-themed.

as much as i totally get the whole "disneyland will never be completed, it will continue to grow as long as there is imagination in the world," i have to admit that i really loved all of the california-themed details in this park.  i miss the golden gate bridge at the entrance, the giant letters that spelled out "california" out front, the train cars that housed an ice cream parlor and souvenir shops, the super kitschy beachy decorations...one day i should bust out my old photo CDs and share some of the pictures we took back when california adventure first opened.

we made our way back towards the very rear of the park, where the midway games and old-timey themed shops were.

the california screamin' ride is one of the original attractions from when the park first opened, and while the ride itself will remain the same, it's being re-themed with characters from "the incredibles." the bean actually just finally rode this coaster for the first time a couple of months ago, and we stood there and listened to neil patrick harris' voice do the countdown at the beginning of the ride.

goodbye, paradise pier!  thanks for the memories!

then it was time to get our grub on.  we visited the AP corner, where they were selling some exclusive merchandise and had plenty of tables and chairs to hang out at and charging stations to keep your devices juiced up.

we had eight little tickets to redeem at the kiosks, and the bean chose the mac & cheese with cornbread crumbles, seared salmon filet with potatoes and lemon caper sauce and the warm chocolate float with whipped cream and brownie crumbles:

i opted for the chilled crab salad served with warm polenta and the beef short rib with mashed potatoes and gravy.

the old lady's picks were the reuben potato smash with russian dressing and rye toast crumbles (they were really into crumbling stuff onto everything this year), nashville fried hot turkey with housemade dill pickles and cookie butter & jelly cheesecake tarts.

the perfect storm - final days of the holidays and paradise pier and annual passholders finally allowed access again - created some pretty huge crowds that whole week.  and so after we were all done eating and browsing through some shops, we took one last look at the giant christmas tree:

and that was that.  i hear that the walls area already up around the pier areas that are being remodeled,  all of the holiday decorations are slowly but surely disappearing, and the crowds are mostly gone.  it's actually a really good time to visit the resort now, with so many attractions closed for refurbishment and all the kids back in school.  it even rained today, which i bet made for a really nice day at the 'land.

we'll go back soon.  i hope.

always looking for fun new projects

a few months ago, i came across this video tutorial on facebook that caught my attention:

chances are, you've probably seen it too.  anyway, i added to my saved links along with a bazillion other ideas that i may or may not go back to someday and went on with my day.  i googled to see where one might find yarn of that size in the hopes of maybe making one for the upcoming winter months (haha, so cal "winter"), but every link led me to online shops that i'd never heard of offering skeins of the yarn for crazy money...like $50+.  nope nope nope.
during one of many trips to michaels for some sort of crafting supply shopping spree, i happened to walk through the yarn section - not an area i typically visit because i can't knit - and came across one sad little shelf that housed a handful of skeins of chunky jumbo yarn in just two colors - white and charcoal gray.  and it was less than $15 for 54 yards of it!  and since i had a couple of coupons that i could use, i picked up two in gray, took them home and buried them in a closet.  there they stayed for at least a couple of months until i finally got past the holidays and all of my sewing and baking commitments.  not to mention, it was something i could work on while sitting on the couch watching the season premiere of "the bachelor" with the old lady.  perfect.
out came my bag of yarn:

when i finally found the end of the yarn, i pulled up the video so i could follow it step-by-step.

unlike a lot of those "look how easy it is to do [insert cool thing here]" videos, this one was actually pretty easy to follow.  i did have to stop and rewind a few times to make sure i was doing it right, but in no time i already had the first few rows done:

the video seemed to show her making twelve 3" loops across each row, but as i got going it seemed a little too narrow, so i increased it to fifteen.  and it was pretty fun to sit there and knit that chunky yarn using no needles, just my hands, and it went really fast.  before i knew it, i'd worked my way through that entire first 54-yard length of yarn and tied on the end of the second one.  and less than an hour later, i was done:

it's far from perfect, with a few skipped stitches where i missed a loop here and there.  and it's pretty heavy and thick and warm, which is nice.  it ended up being just the right size for a lap blanket for one, and i'm already thinking about going back to michaels to see if i can find more yarn to make another one.  the only thing about this yarn is that it sheds a lot, so if you're wearing black you're gonna want a lint roller if you're going anywhere after cuddling up in this thing.  maybe that's why the other yarn i found online is pricier - it's probably higher quality stuff that doesn't leave you super linty.
in any case, i'm pretty proud of my first successful knitting project.  doesn't mean i'm gonna be buying needles and crap anytime soon, but at least i feel a little less like a knitting dunce.  heh.