Contemporary Jewish Museum

A couple weeks ago, my in-laws took the boys and me on a very cultured trip to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. The highlight: "Georgie!" (Titus loves George. He regularly absconds with Moses' George blanket and sleeps with it and as many George books as he can sneak into his bed.) Here are the boys standing in front of the museum, which is closed. Luckily, Golden Gate park is just a short drive away, so we had no problem filling in our accidental extra two hours.

When we returned to the museum, wet and sandy from the playground in the rain, we visited the exhibit about Margaret and H.A. Rey, the authors and illustrators of Curious George. It was beautifully done! I would have NEVER taken my 5 and 2 year olds to a museum if my mother-in-law hadn't insisted that it was kid-friendly, and she was definitely right. There was a very cool interactive touch-screen time line of the Rey's escape from the Nazis that was tactfully done so as not to traumatize young children. Did you know that at one point they traveled by night on bicycles that he built from pieced-together bits of metal? Pretty incredible. We learned a lot, had tons of fun, and one of us had a very nice nap on the way home. A great day (and I didn't even have to drive) - thanks Gail and Steve!

Books We Love

My boys love all books, but these are some of the ones we are reading a lot lately. Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle is the perfect combination of vehicles, animals, and their respective noises. It was a lucky library find and I'm hoping Titus gets it for Christmas this year so we can keep it...
This book was a birthday present for Moses (thanks Liz!) and it is WONDERFUL! It has a few pages depicting the real story of Christmas, taken from Matthew and Luke, and then several more pages of punch-out paper dolls of a manger scene (camels and chickens included). Very sturdy and easy to punch out, and the inside cover of the book is illustrated to look like the inside of a barn, complete with pockets to put the dolls in when you are finished. Genius! Moses and I set it up the other day and after we were finished he played with it for over half an hour by himself while singing "Old MacDonald." It is by H.A. Rey, of Curious George fame.

And no post on children's books would be complete without reference to a Carl book, so here is the one we are currently reading. It's my favorite of the Carl books - no words, but the pictures are beautiful and both my boys adore them. There are lots of Carl books, all by Alexandra Day. All of these books are available on Amazon and probably at any local bookstore, in case you are doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. :)

A Good Read

Have you ever heard of the Carl books? My mom discovered them when my youngest brother Michael was born, and I think they are quite possibly the best children's books EVER. Each book follows Carl the Rotweiller and his little friend Madeline on a different adventure. The pictures Alexandra Day has created in these books are gorgeous and detailed. So detailed that you will find yourself discovering new aspects of the adventure each time you read the book. There are no words, so these books grow up with your child - the story can be as simple or as detailed as you want it to be.

This is my all-time favorite picture from Carl's Christmas - isn't this just beautiful? Sometimes I feel like tearing out the pages of the book and sticking them on my walls. Moses has loved reading these books, and I think Brett and I enjoy them just as much as him.

Maybe Moses and Thor will have their own adventure soon...