Before I start in on the week, I want to give another shout out to my friend Asha, whose blog NJ2Nigeria you should be reading every day. She is a fantastic writer, she has committed to writing a blog entry every day, and she is responsible for all you nice folks from Lagos and Berlin and Rome reading my podunk blog about a crabby housewife from New Jersey bitching and moaning that I have to move to Southern California. Woe is me.
Thursday was the first day where The Goose was in school for lunch so I actually picked up Arlo hours before Lucy. (She goes to school 9-2:15 on Thursday and 9-12 on Fridays. Arlo gets out at 11:38.) I got Arlo from school and although we had originally planned to hit the zoo, Evan was able to meet us for lunch at 1. So Arlo and I visited the Burbank Animal Shelter. We aren't ready to adopt a pet right now but I am working up to volunteering at the shelter with Arlo (the biggest animal lover) to walk dogs and socialize kittens. Of course I am totally in love with the Purl lookalike and a lovely friendly black kitty with gorgeous green eyes named Mrs. Houdini, who was declawed (hey, I'd never do it to an animal, but if I'm adopting, why not?) and played with us through the glass. Luckily she's been adopted since then so I don't have a link to show you. I have recently some to terms with the fact that I am a cat person, but my husband and sons have a slight allergy and my daughter has a severe allergy to them, so I must do without. Sign.
Benji was adopted here. I was thinking of my dear friend Christina and her beloved Benji dog. They have a couple of sidewalks with paw prints of the many famous acting animals that have passed through the shelter.
This is a poster in the shelter that has a bunch of vintage pictures of kids with their arms wrapped around pit bulls with the words,
"For one hundred years Americans knew pit bulls for what they did best."
"Babysitting.."
and then a bunch of modern day pictures of kids with pits adopted from that shelter.
"And nothing's changed."
I tried to get a copy for some of my pit-lovIng friends but it was a one-off done by a volunteer.
Sometimes I walk into the den when they are watching TV and I see this. And I think we might be doing okay.
My local farmers market has had these wee pumpkin tree stalks. They've had a regular spot at our dining room table ever since.
That Thursday I took Arlo to the animal shelter, Evan met us at Bob's Bg Boy for lunch. Arlo got a balloon and clutched onto it for the rest of the day. Even when I hollered to the kids to come out and see the guy on the crane changing lightbulbs outside our house.
a haiku
young boy with balloon
watching man aloft on crane
whose spirits more aloft?
On Saturday, Oscar took off to his bestie's place for a sleepover and birthday party. Aren't they cute?
After Oscar left, it was GO TIME. Seven of Evan's co-workers (strictly from his department -- it was a warmup for our eventual housewarming) came over for dinner. We've had a couple guys over for burgers before, but this time I was going to COOK, goddammit. And since one of the guys was a gal, I needed to actually clean my house. Just making the bathroom smell like Windex wasn;t going to cut it.
So! Brats boiled in beer, then grilled and served in the best buns available in LA.
There was also homemade pico de gallo and guacomole. Plus! Turkish lamb kebobs, served with fresh pitas and a cucumber mint yogurt salad. It was a hit!
The next morning we took the little guys to a farm festival in Simi Valley. We haven't been up there before, so we were looking forward to some new sights. Even though it was only 27 miles away from Burbank, it was very rocky and deserty. (Excuse the blurry shots taken from the car.)
Right at the entrance, I knew that I wasn't in the Tri-State area anymore (and that would be NY/NJ/CT, not Phineas and Ferb's neighborhood.)
Combine slide! I grew up in the country so I get the humor behind turning a deadly threshing machine into a kid slide.
A gigantic corn maze. We were lost in it for easily 45 minutes and Arlo wanted to go right back in.
And then! There was a sort-of putting course but with slingshots and tomatoes!
Also, somebody had to get a cowgirl hat.
And the Cowgirl Girl caught sight of the actual horses.
And after a terribly long wait, she took to the ride!
Meanwhile, Arlo was getting all manly with a tractor.
So then we took in the pig races...
MELTDOWN.
So we fed them lots of greasy food. MELTDOWN. But then a light reared on the horizon. SHAVED ICE. (In NJ we call them snow cones.)
Mmm. Big old draft horses.
And then they got in the Cow Train. (as opposed the the Grain Train.)
For someone who insisted that his picture be taken behind the cutout, you'd think he might be a little more excited.
No fall is complete without kid climbing on a tractor.
God forbid we don't go on the "mall train," according to my husband.
it was a good couple of days.
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