No thanks, I've got a couple local crabs already.
I was so overwhelmed by the eight different kinds of plums that I bought a bunch. They were like tiny jewels. And then I remembered that none of us like plums. (Evan brought them to work and left them in the kitchen.) I did end up buying some exorbitantly priced golden raspberries, and Evan and I made short work of them. I thought of my friend Susan, who told me that most of her farmer's market budget goes to berries. Someday I'm going to buy a flat of the best strawberries for Susan and Arlo and let them gorge themselves together. And then I'll take a picture of their strawberry-smeared smiles and send it to Jeanne at Playhouse, and feel grateful for the small world that I live in.
Patting a baby goat.
This is a florist who grows flowers in vacant lots in LA and then petitioned Hollywood to change an ordinance so she could sell them. Her flowers are gorgeous and displayed in mason jars banded together into six packs with straps of leather. Just lovely.
Oscar and a small friend, digging the bluegrass.
These bluegrass guys were great. There's three bands and then a couple guys on their own making music.
Evan went to work for a couple hours (DAMN YOU COMICON) but he took Arlo with him.
We met some friends at the El Captain Theater in Hollywood. It's the movie palace that Disney restored and now plays all their features. We got some opening-weekend slightly-cheaper tickets online for BRAVE, but ended up allllll the way in the back of the balcony, over to the side. The 3D still looked great. This is a very blurry shot of the pre-show organist. Arlo's head basically exploded when the organ and organist sank into the floor.
There was a cute little 10-minute live show, singing, dancing, Princesses®, Mickey and the Gang. Lucy was enthralled. Evan's eyes practically rolled right out of his head. Arlo just wanted candy NOW, and Oscar was on his best behavior, since he was sitting next to Josie, my friend's 10-year-old daughter who is in the grade ahead of him. And a girl. (A cute girl, who's about 9 inches taller than he is.) They had gym together this past year and often hang out when their younger sisters are in ballet class together.
The movie was great. Not Finding Nemo great. More like Toy Story 2 great.
Monday, we got up, did a little bit of "homework," did some painting. Arlo "accidentally" sat on The Goose's paper plate of paint when he was nekkid. So he made some lovely monoprints.
On Tuesday we decided to have a bit of an adventure. We drove out to Santa Clarita (25 miles north) and went to the local aquatic center. Wow.
It was like a little waterpark. It cost us $13 to get in. (It would be the same if we were residents. We could buy a summer pass for $50 for me, $30 for each kid. Not worth it this year with all our traveling, but maybe next year.
Oh, that waterslide. Arlo is that spot of turquoise at the top. He went on it 9 times in a row. Oscar made it 7.
There's my Arlo at the end of the slide!
So, there's this huge leisure pool. It's heated, has a giant slide, a beach entry, and lots of "water features."
There's a separate diving tank...
...and a lap pool.
The Goose was happy splashing about.
Here's an unflattering shot of me in my large, unflattering hat, sunglasses, layers of sunscreen, and zip-up long-sleeve rash guard, SPF of 70. You might think I look crazy. I choose to think that I look mysterious and glamorous.
Doesn't he look sultry in his new post-swim robe?
These are my newest additions to my cactus garden, Natasha and Boris. Natasha bloomed the other day. She went from looking like a big alien dinglehopper to a beautiful flowery cactus.
The Goose took a header into the coffee table in the den. She was perplexed by the term "goose egg." I covered her with kisses, cuddled the bejebus out of her, shooed off the brothers, and tried, in vain, to get her to hold a bag of frozen peas to her owie. The next morning, as I had assured her, the goose egg was gone, but she had a shiner.
We went to our library reading program and then to a different library because it had the Pokemon book Oscar wanted. And also the YA near-future dystopian book I wanted. My pal Janice, who seems to be my guardian angel, asked me at just the right moment if we wanted to come over for a swim. We did!
We went, Janice and I gossiped and caught up, and my kids were pretty terribly behaved, for whatever reason. And Janice stepped up after I was about to lose it and told them to knock it off. And they did. More or less.
That's what I missed the most. My village. For whatever reason, I haven't been able to find my "parenting village" within the parents of my kids' school friends. I have, however, found them within my Jersey Girl network, and my preschool friends, and friends made during those adorable, yet interminable dance classes.
The next day was ugly. I had one of those parenting moments where I went into the boys' room and put everything in garbage bags. (Before you get all judgmental, there were five big, full garbage bags. And they have a small room, most of which is taken up by bed.)
No TV, no screens until they cleaned it up. And it took a full 24 hours, and their daddy helping. Auntie Jojo showed up to take me out for a belated birthday pedicure, and when I returned, I saw more rug than I've seen in a long time. We'll see how long it lasts.
The Goose's eye got more purple. She decided to color-coordinate her outfit to her eye.
Arlo stands stalwart in the background, gravely gathering rocks for his rock collection. In my grocery bag. Little twerp.
Friday, we hung out at the house in the morning. Frankly, my whole schedule for the day was based around the fact that the Om Nom Nom truck was going to be at Evan's office. Yes, I must be really an LAdy, since I schedule my life around food trucks.
We picnicked at McArthur Park with the intention of going to the town pool afterwards. Instead we were greeted with a sign that informed us that the pool was closed for "maintenance."
Seriously, can you imagine if the South Orange pool closed for "maintenance" on a whim for a whole day? That would have to be a heck of a lot of poop.
So I acquiesced to my whiny children and we went back to the Santa Clarita aquatic center.
Evan spent the evening in the Warner Bros. box at Dodger Stadium. I took the kids to Costco and tried to convince them that the samples were dinner. It didn't work.
I fed the masses and we watched Mirror Mirror and enjoyed the heck out of it. And now I'm going to eat my dinner, pray that the kids go to sleep, and wait for my sweetie to get home. Good night, y'all. (I am listening to my favorite band, the Red Stick Ramblers, hence the "y'all.")
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