Ben Lee Properties — June 2019 Newsletter

Issue: June 2019  |  Cheviot Hills & Beverlywood, Los Angeles

This Month's Article

How is it possible that 2019 is already almost half over?

It seems like just yesterday we were grappling with where our eldest should go to high school and now his freshman year is complete.

Same can be said for our 7th and 3rd graders.

In the blink of an eye, another school year is behind us and a promising summer awaits to unfold.

If you’re like me, you probably don’t even remember much of what you did during the summers of your youth.

I vaguely remember playing a lot of video games and watching movies on the one cable station that existed.

I remember being pretty bored and the adults in my life didn’t seem too concerned about filling my days with stimulating activities and interesting things to do.

As a parent, I look back at those days with a mix of surprise and envy.

Gone are the days that kids aimlessly roam the neighborhood during summer vacation.

Everyone seems to be making sure his kids are fairly well scheduled, at least in part, because giving them something worthwhile to do seems slightly more beneficial than letting them sleep until noon and then just lounge around.

But what’s probably lost on most kids is how much of a luxury it is to be able to take part in so many opportunities.

Not sure they’ll appreciate that fact until they have kids of their own but, suffice to say it’s not cheap keeping these young minds active and away from Fortnite.

And who knows which is the ‘better’ option for them anyway?

There’s probably as much scientific data that says it’s good for kids to be bored as there is saying they need to be challenged and stimulated.

I was pretty bored as a kid in summer and thankfully turned out OK but are we willing to take that same risk with our own kids?

Not likely. Last year we opted to send all three kids to the same camp because in addition to it having a stellar reputation, it was the only one we found that would take all three of them at the same time.

We didn’t dwell too heavily on what they wanted and focused instead on what it would be like to spend a blissful, quiet, peaceful two weeks sans children in our new home.

Not gonna lie: it was pretty great. We knew they were off having a terrific time in nature and my wife and I could be absolutely selfish and spontaneous for a change; something that rarely if ever happens while catering to the needs of three boys for the other 50 weeks of the year.

This summer, however, we are not forcing them to be together at the same time and instead are allowing their individual interests to dictate the various activities they pursue.

We won’t have the luxury of having the house to ourselves but there’s a satisfaction knowing that the three of them are able to do what they actually want.

Cheviot Hills’ resident Jill Levin (Jill@TipsonTripsandCamps. com) was instrumental in helping us tailor a plan, introducing us to camps we would never have discovered on our own.

I always figured that kids age out of summer camps but who knew there was a whole world of opportunity out there for teens, too?

It was a real experience watching our eldest tackle these applications and engage in interviews before ultimately (and luckily) being offered a spot to attend.

It was a sneak peak at what I imagine the college process will be which undoubtedly will be here before we know it.

But back to the summer at hand, because it’s an intricate matrix of a variety of different camps that I know you are as anxious to hear about as I am to share.

After we all return from our annual family camp adventure (Bruinwoods), our eldest will be traveling to the Wharton Business School to partake in The Moneyball Camp.

For one week he will be in absolute heaven, poring over every seemingly minute statistic pertaining to baseball, presumably with other kids who share his fanatical dedication to the practice.

From there he will be a counselor at Camp Harmony, a really lovely sounding place that invites inner city kids to enjoy the benefits of summer camp in a natural setting, free of charge.

Our middle son is opting to stay in town and will be attending a drama day camp called Upstage Theater Arts right here in Rancho Park (sometimes interest and convenience DO intersect.

Hooray!). He’s also going to do an additional week of theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.

Youngest son is doing a smattering of day camps (Sandy Days, Cheviot Hills Rec Center, Genius Kids’ Club in Studio City and the ever popular Iverbe at Willows) and then is heading off to Canyon Creek sleep away camp for a few weeks after that.

So, much to the consternation of half the child psychologists out there, we are keeping our brood busy this summer without a lot of downtime.

Will they complain about it now but thank us later?

Probably. Take for granted the work and research that went in to creating such a complex yet satisfying individual itinerary?

Very possibly. Will my wife and I regret not having a quiet house to ourselves for a short period of time?

No doubt, however with college not too far in the future, and longer stretches of the quiet that comes from not having kids at home looming ahead, I have a feeling that starting now, we’ll want all the crazy summer days with them we can get.

Choose your own adventure

Featured Listings

Community & More

Beverlywood happenings By Michael Harris A trip to Hollywood Blvd and a stop to eat at Musso and Franks Grill is an essential reminder of the old Hollywood.

Musso and Franks was opened in 1919 at 6669 Hollywood Blvd and expanded in 1955 to add the “new room” in 1955 at 6667 Hollywood Blvd.

The original owners sold their share in 1927 to the family whose grandchildren operate it today.

The restaurant has retained its traditional décor of high ceilings, dark wood paneling, red booths and waiters who still dress as if it were the 20’s.

In the old days a rather important book store was next door and because of it a rather large clientele of intellectuals, writers, and radicals enjoyed the food and the bar at the restaurant.

A list of such writers who frequented the Grill would include F.

Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Erskine Caldwell.

On the movie scene the clientele featured the Warner Brothers, Harry and Jack, Charles Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, and Marilyn Monroe and of course the newbies including Johnny Depp and George Clooney.

While I was there Nancy Reagan came in to eat with a squad of secret service people ensconced in the next booth.

The movies shot there and on the Hollywood Blvd adjacent streets would include Mulholland Drive, Rush Hour, Lethal Weapon, the Pink Panther, Zombie Land and many others.

Go to visit but stay to eat. Westside Places If you enjoy reading these vignettes each month, you may want to check out my father-in-law’s book, Westside Stories.

It’s a memoir/history of growing up on the Westside of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s with great photos, anecdotes and stories.

Perfect for the history buff/enthusiast in your family!

It’s available for purchase at http://www.americasgroup.com/Westside-Stories-Book.html $500 Photo Contest Extended By Ben Lee A giant sized THANK YOU to those who have already sent in your fabulous photo contest entries!

We’ve heard from a handful of you who are traveling in August and if only we could extend the contest through the end of the summer, you would be sure and enter.

So, we listened and agreed that extending the contest through Labor Day Weekend makes a lot of sense.

So, you have some more time to take our newsletter along to wherever you may visit, all summer long.

To enter, simply take a picture of yourself (or your kids, friends, etc) holding the newsletter (or just the newsletter by itself if you’re too camera shy) in a fun, creative location either in Los Angeles or a distant land.

Email it to me ben@ benleeproperties.com with the subject line: PHOTO.

We will pick a winner after Labor Day and that lucky lady/ gentleman will win $500 dollars.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!