Earthquake

About an hour ago there was an earthquake in So Cal. It was the biggest I've ever felt. B and I were at the zoo, I was opening our car doors and the car rocked in to me and the ground shook. I went over to Bronson in the stroller and he was looking around confused.
When we got home, many of my paintings had been shaken off the walls, plants had fallen over and stuff had fallen off the top of the fridge.
The radio tells me it was felt from San Diego to Las Vegas, the epicenter was in south LA and they say it was a 5.8.

I'm glad we were not home for it, it would have been scarier to have to hide under the table, and if B was asleep that would have been hard.

Matthew was observing at Palomar Observatory last night so he is up there sleeping today, not sure how he's doing, but probably just fine. Observatory's tend to be prepared for Earthquakes, when he was in Chile he felt one nearly every week.

Wanted to let everyone know that we're fine, if a little shaken. Our new neighbors Margarita and Daniel (and their week-old daughter Amanda) were nice, Daniel checked to make sure we were ok, so we are in good hands :)

Bronson rocks the harmonica

We've had a pretty quiet weekend, yesterday morning we went to the zoo in time for opening, which is the best time because it isn't crowded and it's not too hot, so lots of animals who mostly sleep during the day are still awake, having breakfast and excercise. We also saw the Bird show, which was fantastic!
In the afternoon we played inside because Bronson is covered with red dots from heat rash, and it got worse after a morning out.
Early evening we had a movie night, the three of us, we watched 'My neighbor Totoro', an '80s kids anime film by Hayao Miyazaki, the same guy behind Princess Mononoke, etc. His films are really great, and this one was suitable for children because there wasn't really anything scary in it.

Today we are at home all day because Bronson's rash got worse, he is covered with red dots everywhere except his diaper area and his forehead! They're much redder today so we are staying in and keeping him cool. Playing music, having him run obstacle courses and we'll have another movie night today too. Then it's astro board game group tonight when kiddo goes to bed.

Hope y'all like the new look of my blog, I decided to individualize it with my own art and layout.

The Long Beach Aquarium

Last Sunday my internet explorations led me to discover that the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is open late on Sundays for reduced admission after 5pm. Since Bronson now stays up until 7:30 ish, we were spontaneous: loaded ourselves and a picnic dinner into the car, made the 45 minute drive and arrived in Long Beach.

Bronson was really happy to have a special picnic outside in a new place. And then we went in and he was so overjoyed that he was bouncing off the walls with excitement, it was incredibly humorous. He strutted around pointing things out and explaining everything. Of course we had no idea what he was saying, but that's why he looks funny in the pictures, he just kept blabbing and blabbing.

It was alot of fun and took about 1 and a half hours to go through most of the exhibits before bedtime. Outside they had low pools where you could pet sharks and many types of rays, it was pretty cool.

I love coming home to our Pasadena apartment

After being away for a while, it still has that new apartment smell to me, it makes me think of newborn babies, reading magazines while pumping and guzzling chocolate soy milk. Good times being a new parent on a new adventure with all the necessary energy that entails.

My Canada day cheesecake

We had a very nice trip to Canada this summer. 2 weeks in Manitoba included trips to the zoo, boat rides, a visit to the cabin, a family reunion with the best pizza I've ever had, waterslides, flying cows, visiting mennonite heritage village, a day out with Thomas the train, great food, family, fireworks from a canoe, Canada day party, animals and lots of kids to play with. During our time in Portage I rented studio space from the local art gallery and got a ton of work done, which I forgot to photograph, but is hanging in Diane & Terry's art gallery/hallway for the time being.

2 weeks in BC without dad included 8 boxes of kleenex, sickness, a trip to the ER, croup, runny noses, phlegm... there was good stuff too, visiting friends and family, 3 nights camping at Rathtrevor, hanging out in my parents brilliant backyard, the pool, the hammock, mmm soup, Bocce, SKY!!! (cousin Sky), tall ships festival, harbor quay, library visits, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cars, Coombs, sushi, train ride, movies and of course, cats, dogs, parrot and guitars (all of the babies currently residing in the Barker household).

Here are a few pictures of Bronson during the trip to show how he's grown. I am not going to post pics from every outing, etc for 2 reasons: 1) too many and 2) we ran out of camera space in Manitoba and I was too ill and too busy nursing my son to get my act together and put the photos on a cd to clear the card so I have no photos of the BC portion. (Mom, dad, jess, Amy, Melissa, Sabrina please pass on any nice ones you have for my scrapbook.) I only touched a computer maybe 3 times all trip, and I'm proud of that fact.

Visiting Thomas the train:

Hey, look, it's Aunty Denise and cousin Ethan!

The zoo, heritage village, etc.

Here Bronson is sitting next to an old woman. Really, the statue's to the right of grandma.

Bronson loves to play with his friend Will. A big thank you to Will and Kristin and Patrick for lending us a playpen, bedding, pool stuff, toys, a car seat, their van... and everything else we could possibly need during our visit.