July 16, 2010

• I kicked off the 3-day July 4th weekend with dinner at Wasabi with my girlfriends, followed by cocktails by the pool at Karen's house. It was a mentally exhausting work week and I was grateful to have friends who could relate - and a husband who's good with kids!

  

  Saturday morning, we drove down to San Jose to celebrate Auggie’s birthday at a bowling alley. Calie liked it until she walked past the foul line and triggered the buzzer –then she wanted nothing to do with bowling. Zachary did quite well, but only because it was bumper bowling.  Chrissie made an awesome bowling cake with matching cupcakes - and they tasted as good as they looked too! Happy 7th Birthday Auggie!

  

  After cake and pizza, we headed over to Happy Hollow. Zachary really enjoyed the playstructures and rollercoaster, but I think his favorite was the manual Roller Racer. Being a lighter kid (~42 lbs) really helped him, and he lapped James twice!

   

  Happy Hollow had numerous rides for toddlers, and Calie had a great time too. For dinner, we all went to Spaghetti Factory – I love their shrimp salad (my order) and spaghetti with Mizithra sauce (Calie’s kid menu order that she didn’t finish and of course couldn’t go to waste!)

  

   

  The next morning, we met up again – this time at Gilroy Gardens. The kids had a fun time and went on almost every single ride at least once. The water play area was a huge hit, since it was pretty hot. We were waiting in line before the park opened and stayed until 5 minutes past closing - the kids had a blast with their second cousins! 
  

  
   

     

  But wait! There’s more…We had 8pm tickets to see July 4th fireworks at the Shoreline Amphitheater, which was 3 miles from my sister’s house. We decided to allocate 15 minutes of drive time to account for parking … after all, how many people would pay $17 per ticket and $10 parking (almost $100 for a family of 4) for fireworks? I’m used to free fireworks. Wow, I was wrong! Traffic was bumper to bumper and we got there 40 minutes after the orchestra started. It was a great show with live music from San Francisco Symphony and singing by 'Elphaba' from the musical Wicked.

  

  When the sun set, there were 3 firework shows set to music – it was so close/loud that Zachary was initially scared and hid behind James. It was Calie’s first firework show and when it was over, she pointed to the sky and asked for ”More? More?” It took us literally 1.5 hours to make the 3 mile drive back home. I guess that’s part of the experience – sitting on blankets on the lawn watching fireworks and getting stuck in traffic … if only I brought some Off! insect repellent (DEET anyone?), I could relive my childhood July 4th experience. The next morning, we met up with my sister Alice and Sebastian, who treated us to brunch at Crepeville (thanks!).

  

  Then it was nap time for Calie and iPhone games for Zach on the drive home. That evening, we went to a pool and barbecue playdate at Jessica’s house. We always have such a fun time at their home – we’re grateful to them for hosting dinner and inviting us to splash in their pool. As a bonus, I also get free camera advice from Jeff!

  
   
  On Thursday afternoon, James and I went to Dave&Busters. Our company rented out the arcade/bar and in addition to food and 2 drinks, gave everyone a game card. The $20 card lasted a surprisingly long time.  We didn’t finish our cards or redeem our (2000+) tickets, so we’ll have to go back in the future … plus we received some good coupons. Hmmm ... it is possible to be working hard and hardly working? Lots of work sponsored events lately!

  
   
  The following day (Friday), James and I went to Shahrzad for our date night - yummy and authentic Persian food (at least that's what my coworker - who's Persian - told me.) Saturday morning, we went to Lowes to build a ball-in-cup game, and then we headed to the Bay Area again. This time it was for my sister Alice’s birthday.

  

  Alice planned an awesome Hawaiian Luau party - complete with hoola hoop contest and themed food, including barbecue pulled pork, Spam musubi, pineapple, and coconut cake. For party favors, the men received shell leis and the ladies got flower leis with a matching hair clip!

  

  When the sun set, James took the kids the Sophie's house, where we were staying the night. I got to sit around a fire pit with my sisters (and their friends) and watch 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'. It was hilarious - I love awkward moments and that movie had plenty of them. Hooray for weekends with sisters! Happy 33rd Birthday to Alice!

   

   

  We took it easy on Sunday ... walked around the local farmer's market with Sophie, made a lunch out of the food we purchased, and then drove home. In the evening, we had Alex and Nicole over for a casual dinner and playdate.

  • 1:10 am
  • 2 Comments