'Yo Gabba Gabba Live' Gets Us Dancing

The hottest multi-generational ticket in town this weekend may have been the Yo Gabba Gabba Live! show at L.A. Live's Nokia Theatre. I do believe that the Gen X parents in the crowd may have been more excited to be there than their offspring. While many kids were dressed up as their favorite "Yo Gabba Gabba" character, parents were dressed up too.

And why not? Part of the appeal of "Yo Gaba Gabba" is the fact that it gives adults plenty to enjoy as well, from the indie rock bands to the catchy dance lessons and larger-than-life costume characters. But the highlight may have very well been the one and only diabolical Biz Markie. Biz, of course, instructs tots on "Yo Gabba Gabba" about how to beat box. He has also joined "Yo Gabba Gabba" on tour (350 dates and counting) and pumps up the crowd via music, beat boxing and interaction with a handful of kids on stage. The best part: Without instructing the audience of the words, he gets the entire crowd to sing the chorus of "Just a Friend." Yep, this is a Gen X crowd, all right.

The Blogger Kid at first felt he was too old for the show-- but he got into it, of course. And this represented the first concert experience for the Blogger Toddler 2.0, who seemed overwhelmed at first but eventually clapped along.

We've been big "Yo Gabba Gabba" fans from the beginning. Check out our post from when we saw the live show in 2009, and here's when we visited the show as it was in production in 2008. Meanwhile, here some more pics from the "Yo Gabba Gabba" live show on Saturday:


Hey kids, gather 'round -- it's time for Biz's Beat of the Day!


My name is Brobee!


DJ Lance Rock.


The Gabba gang on stage.


Tori Spelling and husband Dean (fresh off accidentally Tweeting his wife's boobs) do the Dancey Dance.


Blogger Kid and Blogger Toddler 2.0 play with balloons, as Foofa poses for photos in the background.

A Thriller Halloween in Glendale

Los Angeles has plenty of great trick-or-treating neighborhoods; we have friends who swear by Angelino Heights, thanks in part to all of those old Victorians. This year, we joined in the festivities on busy Geneva St. in Glendale's Rossmoyne district. The homes are elaborately decorated, and one address always puts on a "Thriller" show (this year from a makeshift pirate ship). The sidewalks are packed with kids and adults -- not always the best thing when you're with a group and trying to keep track of both kids -- and because there are so many people, the homes skimp on the candy. But no matter. Both of the Franklin Avenue kids had a great time, and that's all you can ask for on Halloween.

Here are more pics from Halloween:


Blogger Toddler 2.0 and Frankenstein.


Performing "Thriller" to a large crowd.


Pirate ship.


Spider web.


Yikes.


Haunted house.

More From the LA River Bike Path

It's become one of my favorite weekend activities: Biking along the newly expanded LA River Bike Path with the Blogger Kid. I posted about a previous bike ride along the path; now here are pics from another visit.

Saturday Night at Dodger Stadium

Sure, attendance is down, the Dodgers are having a terrible season and Frank McCourt is hated. But on a warm August night in Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium is still a pretty cool place to bring Blogger Kid and Blogger Toddler 2.0.

And as a bonus, the Dodgers were facing an even weaker opponent, the Houston Astros, giving the team a 6-1 win that night.

The Family That Bikes on the L.A. River Bike Path

"Look at that family on their bikes," we heard one patron at Atwater Village's The Village bakery/cafe whisper to another. Maria and I grinned. That was us.

On Monday morning, we were inspired by the beautiful Memorial Day weather to grab our bikes and go on a little adventure. It's become a Sunday afternoon tradition for Blogger Kid and I, but Maria and Blogger Baby 2.0 had been missing out on the fun. No onger. I hooked the baby trailer to my bike (for the Baby's sweet ride), and the remaining three of us got out our bikes.

Blogger Kid had dropped his training wheels about six months ago, and is now biking like a pro. That has allowed us for the first time to take him on lengthy bike rides. On Monday, we outdid ourselves. The original goal was the 1923 Glendale Train Station, as famously seen in the film noir classic "Double Indemnity." After that, we decided to get even more ambitious and hit the Village on Los Feliz.

And then... we were so close to the L.A. River bike path, we had to ride over there. And indeed, it was a blast -- cruising along the river, no fear of cars, with Blogger Kid in front. We headed north to the 134, then turned around and rode down to Atwater Village and Glendale Blvd.

Some more sights from our ride along the river:

A Day at Legoland, Including First Look: The New Star Wars Miniland

Blogger Kid's definitely in the Legoland sweet spot at the moment -- He's 6, after all, so it's all-Legos-all-the-time at our house (which is kinda cool by me). So as we pulled up to the Legoland amusement park in Carlsbad this weekend, the BK couldn't contain his excitement.

"YES. YES. LOVE IT. LOVE. IT."

I'm not sure when Evan started talking like a 16 year-old girl, but hey, I could appreciate the enthusiasm. It was our second trip to the park, and this time was extra exciting for Blogger Kid and Blogger Toddler 2.0: We had made the trip with their two cousins (and their parents). (Read all about our first trip here.)

The eight of us arrived, unfortunately, just days before Legoland's new Star Wars miniland opened to the public... but with most of the work already done, we were able to sneak some peeks:







Here's more info:

Guests can enjoy seven of the most famous scenes from the six live-action STAR WARS movies, as well as a scene from the animated series STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS™ all made out of 1.5 million LEGO® bricks built in 1:20 scale.

Guests will be further immersed into the STAR WARS experience as they pose with life-size LEGO models of Chewbacca, R2-D2 and Darth Vader.

Following a chronological path through the STAR WARS timeline, LEGOLAND guests retrace the major events of the beloved Saga. Some of the 2,000 LEGO models will be more than 6-feet-tall. Interactive buttons will allow children to activate animations throughout the scenes.

The individual film scenes were selected after careful consultation with Lucasfilm Ltd. Pictures and drawings of the figures, spacecraft, vehicles, landscapes, etc. were taken as the basis for the detailed construction blueprints. The model designers used a special LEGO drawing paper for this, on which one square is equivalent to one LEGO knob. In the next step, they calculated how many bricks and which colors and forms would be needed for the models. For particularly difficult model parts, prototypes are first built, before the model is constructed brick by brick. To help the LEGO models last longer, all of the bricks are glued together and then sprayed with a special UV coating.

Of course, Blogger Kid and his cousins enjoyed the rides -- particularly the Volvo Cars, which (unlike Disneyland's Autopia) run without a track. Evan may only be 6, but he's a stickler for rules -- and obeyed the rules of the road while driving. It was a treat to watch -- he stopped at the proper points, stayed in his lane and drove cautiously.

But Blogger Kid's favorite part of the park remains the Minilands. New York City, New Orleans, Washington, San Francisco, Vegas and more -- all built with Legos. Some shots of the Lego creations found there and throughout the park:


Lego Washington gets his ears cleaned (look for the Lego guys using a Lego Q-tip on his left ear)


Lego Sydney Concert Hall (featuring a real duck terrorizing the harbor)


Lego Pharoah


Lego New York


Lego Hollywood Bowl and Lego Griffith Observatory


Lego Vegas Wedding Chapel


Lego Grauman's Chinese Theatre


Blogger Kid and Cousin watch the Lego Boats


Lego Times Square

Beating the Heat at Burbank's Pickwick Ice

With the temperatures pushing 100 degrees this weekend, we decided it was finally time to take the Blogger Kid to the ice rink at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank.

The Kid has enjoyed our holiday trips to the outdoor skating rink at Pershing Square, and got plenty of practice this past Christmas season at the fake ice rink at the zoo. But it's September, and the ice has got to stick indoors.

No problem. Pickwick Ice offers public skates on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Public skates are also available on weekday afternoons, and on Saturday nights from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.)

Adults are $7, while kids are $6 -- skate rentals are another $3.



We poorly planned our visit -- both Evan and I were wearing shorts, and didn't have jackets. No problem; we weren't the only ones. But we'll show up next time properly attired.

Besides our clothing snafu, the afternoon was a huge success. Blogger Kid started out the session holding my hand, but toward the end was skating around the rink on his own -- with me close by, of course. I can't believe it's taken us this long to head to the Pickwick Ice, but we'll definitely be back. The Pickwick Gardens also includes a bowling alley, among other attractions.



Pickwick Gardens
1001 Riverside Drive
Burbank, CA 91506
818 845 5300 ext. 173 for skate updates

Conversations with the Blogger Kid

This morning's conversation with the 5-year-old:

Blogger Boy: "Dad, why didn't you grow up wanting to work on a space station?"

Me: "Hmm, good question. I guess I didn't know about space stations back then."

Boy: "Then why didn't your mom and dad tell you about space stations? They're supposed to tell you about things like that."

A Must For Young Kids: The Skirball Center's Noah's Ark Exhibit

Sometimes you gotta know how to speak a 5-year-old's language.

"We're visiting the Skirball Center to see it's cool Noah's Ark exhibit. You're gonna love it" elicits a shrug.

"We're going to a playground with lots of pretend animals and things you can climb" -- that's more like it.



The Skirball Cultural Center's Noah's Ark attraction -- which it notes was five years in the making -- is all of that, and more. Based, of course, on the biblical tale of Noah's Ark, the attraction focuses on all sorts of interactivity.



The animals seen throughout aren't constructed with normal materials, but are truly works of art. A violin case serves as an alligator's head. Turbines make up zebra stripes. Pasta-like rubber tubes are interpreted as porcupine quills. And so on.



The real attraction for kids Evan's age, of course, is the amount of climbing, stirring, wheeling, jumping and playing that is part of the attraction. Kids can create electricity and create a rainstorm. They can climb up rope ladders into a treehouse-like maze above ground. They can pretend to cook over a campfire and serve fake food to others. And they can emulate pairs of animals walking the plank up to the ark.



Later, we moved on to another kid-friendly attraction: A simulated archaeology dig. I may have enjoyed it as much as Evan: Together, we dug through sand to find replicas of old jugs and other ancient wares, and used brushes to discover fake ancient building foundations, just like you'd uncover on a real dig.

We didn't have time to take Evan to yet another kid-friendly attraction: An arts and crafts room. And we also didn't get a chance to look at the Skirball's more adult offerings -- including the current exhibition "Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956–1968." We'll have to return for that.



Not a bad way to keep a preschooler preoccupied on a Saturday afternoon -- we'll be back. Our thanks to L.A. Story's Laura Clark, from who we won tix to see the Noah's Ark.



Tix for Noah's Ark (and the Skirball) are $10 General; $7 for Seniors (65 and over) and Full-Time Students; $5 for Children 2-12; and free to kids under 2. The Skirball is also free to all visitors on Thursdays.

2701 North Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049

Museum Hours: Tuesday–Friday, 12 p.m.–5 p.m. and Saturday–Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.