Calling It

OK, Josh & I are in agreeance that we're calling Summer 2013 done. Over. A fork has been stuck in & come out clean.

So we set last weekend aside to say a proper goodbye and wear ourselves out completely, like we do. There was Nathan Cass's 2nd birthday party on Saturday afternoon where Dash did this:

(This will never stop being funny to me.)

There was a swim party/BBQ at our house on Sunday which was not photographed, but for which I spent two days making ribs for the first time in my life and people seemed to like them and I have finally concluded with certainty that I don't like ribs. So that was good.

But really this entry is just an excuse for me to post these pictures. Pictures from our evening in Central Park with the Verlaques & '80s cover band, the Spazmatics. Seeing these guys in the park with our bewildered kids and a box of wine was like Summer's Holy Grail for me. Look. Just look.

Fuck yeah there was an accordion.

In the beginning the children were so, so bored. Their borededness was so thick you could almost smell it.

I am only a teensy bit ashamed to say that I used grape soda as a remedy for the borediosity.

It totally worked.

Laura's going to kill me, but she was SO HAPPY when they started to play "Hey Mickey" that I had to take a picture and post it on the Intertubes. It's an obligation and I take it seriously.

Speaking of being killed by Verlaques, if anything happens to me or this blog, talk to Simon first.

When Dash breaks out the fake glasses you know it's ON.

Just because I feel like there aren't enough pictures of my feet on this blog.

I can't remember what song this was, but if I'd have to bet I'd say "all or part of a Poison medley." [eta: I've been advised that it was actually Bell Biv DeVoe.]

This woman wasn't with us, but she was JUST SO INTO IT.

Them, too.

Last Drops

Even though Dash has been in school for almost a week, we've stuck our fingers in our ears and are all "la la la la Fall, we can't hear you!"

On Saturday we made our annual pilgrimage to La Cienega Park with our beloved Stein-Greenes for Eat See Hear.

Lookit! The Stein-Greenes have sprouted a new Stein-Greene! (Josh returned him to his parents. Eventually.)

This year we saw Big, which was way more about statutory rape than I remembered.

Baby corn!

I have no idea what that face is about. Also, I think Josh has set a goal for himself to make sure every picture taken of Dash in 2013 has Josh giving him rabbit ears. And I say that is a lofty and worthwhile goal indeed.

Cripes, lookit how cute these fuckers are.

And in an effort to squeeze every last bit of Summer out of August like it's that toothpaste tube that seems empty to outsiders but you know has at least a couple of days of toothpaste left in it if you kinda bend the collar part in half and sorta jam your toothbrush bristles into the nozzle part to dig out the stuff that's stuck in there (no? just me?), we hit up the free Elizabeth Mitchell concert at the Getty Museum on Sunday afternoon.

We made a picnic and invited our beloved Verlaque family to join us for some shoes-off fun in the Getty gardens. (Because my mom volunteers at the Getty, we got to skip all the lines and act like big shots, which mortified Simon and his proper English sensibilities so much I thought he would fold in on himself in order to make himself disappear. It was kind of hilarious to watch.)

Samantha borrowed Dash's horrific hoodie. I love the little flowered dress peeking out of the bottom.

Dash doesn't remember, of course, but Mitchell's "You Are My Little Bird" cd was the soundtrack to his entire infancy. Every night we'd tuck him into his crib and press play on his cd player and he'd fall asleep to "Little Liza Jane" or "Little Bird." The sound of her voice still evokes for me the smell of the lavender oil we'd use to help calm him before sleep. It was such a strange time, those early days. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing, who this little person was that we'd made. Everything was such a mystery, so fraught, and I clung so hard to our few, small rituals in those days. They reassured me that there were at least a few things I could predict, could feel certain about. Her voice in the evenings was one of those things.

Seeing her sing those songs in person felt like coming full circle. I don't have this parenting thing wired, not by any stretch, but I'm more confident now. Confident in the boy that Josh and I made, and in the parents that Dash made of us. I don't need to cling to those small rituals anymore to feel safe in our family. Now I can just revisit them and remember those days. Fondly, of course, but also with some relief that they're over.

Next

Getting Ready

Prep work on the 2013-2014 school lunch bags has begun.

All's Fair

We went to the Ventura County Fair (and no, I didn't enter my jam. Because I missed the deadline. Accidentally on purpose. Because I'm a big scared baby. Shit's going down next year, though. Mark my words.)

Bros.

Next year one of those blue ribbons is gonna have my name on it. Even if I have to write it on there my own self.

Fuck yeah deep fried Oreos.

Sweets

I made some matching doll/girl clothes and polymer clay charms for one of my favorite littles, Miss Erin. I wonder how long until I sew up a bunch of dresses for Dash & secretly dress him in them while he's sleeping. Probably not that long.

(Wanna see a picture of Miss Erin at Dash's first birthday party, when she was just six weeks old? Of course you do!):

Stop looking at all my chins.

His Face

I just like it. That's all.