Coast 2 Coast Mom

Disneynature's Earth Movie Wowed

I took Li'l Boo to the AMC Theater at Garden State Plaza to see Earth  and he has not stopped telling people about it ever since. He's told his two preschool teachers, my dentist, his doctor, Nana and Poppa, Grandma and Grandpa - it's staying with him! In fact, he's even changed from playing "T-Rex" and stomping/growling around the house, to roaring and crawling like a lion. He tells them all about the funny blackbird with blue mouth and eyes dancing around in the jungle, and the great white shark eating a seal, and the lions and the elephants, and the hundreds and hundreds of birds migrating . . . he doesn't forget a thing ;-) It cracks me up, but I'm also pleased that Li'l Boo was mature enough and focused enough to sit through the entire movie and walk away awe-inspired about nature's creatures. (Well, minus bugs - he is most definitely not a fan of bugs. . . worms and spiders - yes, but flying bugs - no.)

It was a magnificent movie and was intended to be seen in theaters rather than on television at home with the majestic views and grand scope of many of the shots, that a television just cannot do justice. After we saw the movie, I read the review in the USAToday and have to say I totally agree with their analysis. I had the same thoughts as we sat in the theater.

They previewed their Earth Day 2010 movie release Oceans which had Li'l Boo all excited before the movie even began. So for all of you eagerly awaiting Shark Week 2009 on Discovery Channel or with kids who cannot get enough of sea creatures, this is your movie.

Li'l Boo and The Obvious

The greater my son's vocabulary grows, the more insight I gain into his thinking process. His thoughts are so obvious to an uncluttered mind. I just have to laugh when I spin my wheels worrying about how to correct something he's doing, and then he surprises me with such matter-of-fact logic that I cannot deny that he is correct - and more imaginative than I ever imagined! This morning three- and-a-half year old Li'l Boo came into our room bright and early waking us up: 

Li'l Boo: "Who said that?" he asked as he walked into our room.
Me: "Who said what?" I kept my eyes closed, willing him to head back into his room or downstairs on his own.
LB: "Who said good morning?"
Me: "Nobody. We didn't say anything. It's early."
LB: "No, good MORNING. Look. My tiger said it."

I opened one eye and saw that he was holding out his little fist pretending to hold a leash, and patting a pretend tiger head with his other hand. 

Me: "OH! You have a tiger on a leash. Good morning tiger." (Where'd this come from? An imaginary pet tiger? Should I play along?)

LB: "Ask me what his name is."
Me: "What's your tiger's name?" I stretched one arm out to pet the tiger.
LB: "Thunder."
Me: "Thunder?! Where'd you come up with that? That's a good name for a Tiger."
LB: "Because all big scary animals are named Thunder. He roars like thunder."

Of course. That makes sense. So obvious.

Tori Spelling Lunch

Yes, before you ask - she really is skinny! Not grotesquely skin-and-bones like some tabloids have made her out to be, but definitely one of the thinnest people in the room the two times I saw her. I don't live on TV or in Hollywood, so I can't really speak to if she was too skinny or not . . . but I can attest that she did eat a sandwich at lunch!

 

Tori was pretty, chatty and funny while fielding questions at the lunch at the USWeekly offices. I would have liked to have heard more about how she balances her Hollywood career and being with her kids and hubby, but most of the Qs focused on her mom, weight and Shannon Doherty (I don't really care about any of these). I'm halfway through Mommywood and if you haven't picked it up yet, it's a quick, light, funny read. Similar to the Tori & Dean show. . . here's an excerpt. Oh, and yes, Dean was "hunky" in person.  

 

Cameras were at the lunch and at the bookstore taping for Tori & Dean . . . maybe you'll see a flash of our bright colors in the sea of black/white/gray that is the NYC "uniform" for office dwellers. Hehe! Lauren and I had fun meeting Tori in person; though it's funny that we were actually there moreso because of her reality show and our shared experiences as moms than for the 90210 of yesteryear, so in that sense maybe we've all "graduated." ;-)  

 

I went to Bookends that night to get Tori's autograph on some books I picked up for friends. Unfortunately that meant that I had to wait in line with Li'l Boo until B arrived home from work to entertain him elsewhere. Li'l Boo did remarkably well considering it was a three-hour wait - we've never waited so long at a booksigning (Sheesh!) At 9:00 B said, "I've spent my night here, I'm getting a picture with her!" So we stayed. Li'l Boo went right up to Tori and shook her hand saying "Nice to meet you" which was cute and I think surprised her as she commented on his great manners. Dean was at the bookstore too doing his own photos and autographs, but at that point, I had already seen him and just wanted to get tired Li'l Boo in bed, so we skipped him and headed home. So here's the three of us with Tori  at 9:30 or 9:45 that night. . .

 

Set your Tivos: the new season of Tori & Dean starts May 26th on Oxygen. Special note for those of you looking forward to the new season of Tori & Dean - Dean takes up motorcycle racing. . .

 

Lunch with Tori Spelling

It's been a while since I've had something worth heading into the city for mid-week and I'm excited to say I have lunch plans for later this week! I'm attending a lunch with Tori Spelling while she's in NYC promoting her new book, Mommywood. Watching Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywoodhas been a guilty pleasure of mine and I'm looking forward to Tivo'ing the new season. So I must admit that I'm excited to see her in person and hear her chat about being a mom - and maybe about her appearance on 90210 this week. ;-) Wanna catch her yourself? She'll be signing books at Bookends in Ridgewood Thursday night.

Success In Small Doses

We've been meaning to take our son on the Acela from NYC to DC for a while now and yesterday I received an email from my cousin in DC that they're hosting a crawfish boil - complete with crawfish races when her mother-in-law from New Orleans visits in a few weeks. So what better time to head down than to introduce Li'l Boo to our nation's capital AND some 'Nawlins crawfish fun at the same time? I'm looking into train schedules, hotels and planning our first family trip to DC. Yay! 

The funny thing is, when I emailed her back asking what time is the boil (as we're registered for the EIF Revlon Run/Walk For Women in Central Park that morning), I caught myself laughing. Was I really typing this? Are the three of us really doing Manhattan in the morning and DC in the afternoon? Ha! Family travel has become the mainstay of our life, and yet the concept seems so foreign to this small-town Midwestern gal. I guess I AM giving my son the cultured, well-traveled life I desire for him . . . I just didn't realize it until I read it in black and white. Realizing that I am delivering on one of my goals made my week! Just when I was feeling deflated over not giving Li'l Boo a li'l sis or bro again this month and looking back at just how long the process has gone on with the two moves, and how long I've delayed my other career and personal goals, it felt so good to see that "Hey, I really am achieving something I set out to do!"  We do travel a lot and show my son new things. I am introducing my son to a life I only knew post-college. . .

I'm reminded that sometimes achieving our goals doesn't always look like we want it to, and when we're stuck in the parenting trap of deciding between ourselves or our kids, I feel like this one is a win-win for both of us. So I'm going to enjoy this little victory and throw myself into planning this trip with a renewed focus on exposing Li'l Boo to new places and new experiences.  . . and make progress on my other goals another day. 

Re-thinking swimming with polar bears

When I first read this post on Travel Savvy Mom last summer, I instantly added it to our wish list of family travel ideas. How cool would that be to get a photo of Li'l Boo nose-to-nose with a polar bear in the water?? (Yes, I went as far as to look up train schedules and plot out the drive with potential stops along the way and it would be a looong daytrip to get there.) However today's news out of Berlin has me re-thinking that trip . . .