Author: amyewhitelivecom

Quinn is starting to accumulate hats with each trip to the mall with friends.

Quinn is crushing it in Honors Algebra this year. We always told him he was good at math and now he’s really feeling it.

He has these grid sticky notes for drawing graphs in math but they are frequently used for something else.

Gruyere and Pear still life.

Mae’s condo is across the street from Quinn’s middle school and once a week he walks over there after school. On this day they visited Larry the llama and gave him a treat. Mae gave him that shirt for his birthday so now Quinn calls it Grandma’s Shirt.

We are coming to an end with all of the structural issues at our new rental condo. This is before the repair.

Balcony rebuild. Outside and In. This also requires me to spend alot of time in the city permit office. Fortunately they are very nice and the permits were a breeze.

Don recently got promoted and moved into a new office with a view.

Sit and he will come.

Lovely sunset view over our neighborhood.

We spent our Sunday afternoon at the LACMA. On the way to the city we like to stop at a local institution called The Stand. They have a patio in the back that we love. Speaking of love, Quinn recently discovered that he loves Chili Hot Dogs.

There is a very large exhibit at the LACMA called Band and I have captured Quinn in it over the years. He has grown but I have also captured him from a closer distance which makes him seem even taller.

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Next stop is always Metropolis. A mesmerizing giant hot wheels-like display.

A self portrait.

And the main attraction. The Obamas. These were so impressive in person. Best part of the visit.

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We attended our first (and probably last) Bar Mitzvah for one of Quinn’s Odyssey teammates. We attended the morning ceremony at a nearby temple.

The young man spends about a year preparing for his bar mitzvah and during the service he has to read/chant quite a bit of text and also create a “sermon” from the Torah. It was a really lovely and touching ceremony involving family and friends. The boy in the middle is the bar mitzvah. Quinn in his “hard clothes”. He asked why fancy clothes have to be so hard.

At 6 pm it was party time!

The celebration was at a local golf course and it really was like a mini wedding reception. The photo booth was a big hit with the kids. Quinn tried to put on all the photo booth props.

The moms.

The kids. They were having so much fun. Quinn was trying to create a picture-in-picture-in-picture kind of thing.

The Hora – so much fun and an important part of the bar mitzvah. You might recognize Coach Juli from Odyssey.

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Quinn has discovered that he is very good at the limbo — just like his dad. Here he is with his Odyssey teammate Lex (aka Julia). They had such a fun night together.

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The parents got a sit down meal and the kids got a pizza and fries buffet along with an ice cream sunday bar. And the DJ’s made it so much fun for the kids. Quinn was up dancing and participating in all of the fun activities. There was a game of musical chairs where the kids had to find certain things before they could sit back down….like cash, a AAA card, womens shoes, etc. At one point Quinn just pretended that he was sitting in a chair and he got a big pass for the next round for his creativity.

What a fun night! And it was great for all of us to be able to spend time with friends and celebrate a really great young man. Mazel Tov!