2009 Retrospective - April

After all the galavanting at the beginning of April, the rest of the month was pretty quiet. We visited with my sister up in the mountains of Oregon. She has some beautiful property at the end of the road, last house before the hills. It is quiet, beautiful and restful.

It was a sunshiny day with lots of light and good feelings.

Baby Grandson #2, only 8-9 months old, was still pretty dependent on us for mobility. That made for a pretty docile, loving baby. Everybody got loves and hugs.

We learned some new skills on this trip.

We learned to ride ATVs! If we hadn't done this on this day we never would have attempted to ride the rim in Hawaii the very next month. You must have read about it here!

In April we hung out at Offspring #1's house and got us some Grandbaby Love!

Poor Offspring #1, she tries to contain that baby by putting him in a basket but that means he throws all his stuff from in the basket... OUT!

He learned to navigate by throwing his body weight one way or the other. We had to be on the ball to make sure he went safely.

This baby had a natural mohawk. I think this means he will have a pretty good receding hairline when he gets older but no matter. He sure is cute now!

April... out.

2009 Retrospective - April - Clowntown

The thing I love most about art shows at the Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) in Santa Ana, California is the location. Santa Ana is trying to build an arts community and set the GCAC smack in the middle of it. It is a chained off block of beautiful old buildings with art studios, restaurants, benches and the obligatory fountain.

The GCAC treats us well. We get a little apartment to stay in while we are mounting the show. It is very modern, furnished by Ikea. My favorite apartment is the corner with lots of windows, a small bedroom, living area and kitchen.

It took a week to prepare for Clowntown. On Opening Night Extremo was extremo-ly excited.

Extremo spent a few days painting the windows on the GCAC, getting the place spiffed up.

As usual he wanted to start playing at noon instead of waiting for the 7:00 pm opening. He spent a lot of his afternoon singing with Spanky. This is his favorite part of the day.

People showed up and looked at all the clowny art.

Extremo knows how to insert himself into every situation.

Haha!

Extremo Fans show up everywhere he goes!

The 3 artists were John Muldar, Dark Vomit and Extremo. This is a piece by John. Dark Vomit did the best art piece ever called the Last Supper. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it. Follow the link to see it, just know anything on the web does not do it justice. It is amazing!

These are the artists: Dark Vomit, John Muldar, Extremo and the guy that did all the electronics, sorry, I didn't get his name.

The night was Extremo-ly fun. We had a great trip but it was time to head home.

2009 Retrospective - April - Goodbye Aunty Part 2

I grew up in Los Angeles. When there is no smog it is beautiful. The day we buried my Aunty was one of those days. She is buried at Forest Lawn. The service was in this beautiful church with a cobblestone walkway.

My Aunty was a member of an Hawaiian Guild and her guild members came to say goodbye. They danced for her in the church. If you were wondering, it is true that folks rarely wear black to a Hawaiian's funeral. It is generally white or Hawaiian wear.

Of course Grandson #2 was as cute as ever.

The repaste was in my Aunty's favorite bowling alley. She was a bowler for as long as I can remember.

This is my cousin's boy. My Aunty's Grandson. He is a little spitball of energy and rarely slows down to take a picture. I got this one on the run.

It was a beautiful service and an amazing luncheon. We were all tired and worn out from the emotions of the day. I don't even remember what we did that evening.

The next day it was time for everyone to split up and go their separate ways. Since no one was in a big rush we decided to have breakfast together.

We packed up the cars and went looking for the restaurant. No one was quite sure where we were going. Not even the folks that lived in LA! We just knew it was down the street somewhere.

We have 5 kids in my family. This is my older brother and the first-born. Notice the gray hair and mustache. He's old.

We did find the restaurant, not without a bit of angst and whoop-de-do, but it was worth it. We were shown to a nice big table that fit the entire family.

This is my little brother, he is the youngest of my siblings. This is his grandson.

This is my mom and my younger sister. She is number 3, the middle child. The only sibling not present was my youngest sister, #4 in the line-up.

This, of course, is my #2 Grandson. #1 Grandson was not with us and #3 Grandson was not born yet.

There were so many babies present that day. This is my niece's little girl, my grand-niece?

Another Grand-nephew? My brother's Grandson. Wow, it gets so complicated. I just call them all family.

This one is much simpler. My niece.

It was a long trip, a hectic few days with a lot more to come.

2009 Retrospective - April - Goodbye Aunty Part 1

2009 was a busy, busy year. Did I say that yet? After looking through all my photos of January, February & March I realized that there were lots of important history in the making sorts of things that happened that I never talked about because as soon as one was over the next one began. So as I retrospectisize (I know that is not a word) I am going to detour to the big events. The first was our trip to Los Angeles.

We traveled to LA for two purposes: honoring our aunt who passed away and mounting a show for Extremo at the Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana. We arrived on March 29th and the family slowly gathered at my cousin's house.

One by one the families arrived. Nephews and nieces and new babies.

The oldie but goodies were happy to see each other.

As darkness fell we gathered inside and the serious picture taking began.

Food began to flow.

And more pictures were taken.

My 3 cousins from Los Angeles. Stately, graceful and gracious. I wish these pictures did them justice but they are just point and shoot. Darn.

Daddies and babies were a good bet this night.

More daddies and babies.

Cousins.

Cousin kids from Los Angeles.

Mommies and babies were a big hit too.

Mommies and babies and cousins! O My.

More mommies and babies.

It was actually Offspring #1's birthday. We bought a cake and celebrated at the hotel. It was a long day traveling and meeting up with everyone. We got a good night's rest and prepared for services the next day.