Mothers Day Weekend 2011

This was a jam-packed, fun-filled, fulfilling weekend with a lot of great people!

Friday night Dave made pizzas and calzones on the BBQ (the latter resulting from an over-decorated pizza that flopped onto itself). After Eddie was in bed, we watched Day and Night and thought it was cheesy but tolerable.

Saturday morning Dave worked on the windows. I had warned him earlier in the week that he would not be able to leave on Sunday night unless he had the flagstone veneer completely installed under the kitchen window. Tomorrow marks 6 months since we got our window permit (not to mention my heart surgery) and I'm SICK and TIRED of having to look at the tar paper every time I walk up to the house. Incomplete projects drive me NUTS! So he brought work lights so he could work at night if he had to. Bright and early Saturday morning we got all the equipment out onto the driveway so he could get to work while I played with Eddie. And, wouldn't you know, my dad neglected to bring the masonry saw water pump up to Davis when he dropped off the saw. Argggggg. So Dave's new challenge became finishing the stucco around all the new windows (4). He got it done with no problem and didn't even have to work at night. =)

Eddie and I headed to Home Depot and Costco for a much-needed shopping trip. Oy. We were running low on all sorts of stuff. I chuckled when the cashier at Costco couldn't get all my loot back into the cart after he scanned it. It was stuffed in there!

Once we got home we had some lunch (not that Eddie was hungry after snacking on all the Costco samples...) and then he went down for a nap. I packed my overnight stuff into the Mazda and took off for Livermore.

Dave, Kristin, Jonah, and Eddie went to the Sacramento train museum for an afternoon of crazy/insane fun. These boys have too much fun together! (I posted a ton of pictures on Facebook and Shutterfly.)I met my mom at home before we picked up Kateri to go have high tea in Pleasanton. Gayla met us there. We had to wait foreeeeeeeeeever for our food. And of course, we were starving since none of us had eaten in anticipation of stuffing ourselves on all the little goodies. Sigh. It was nice, but not nearly as comfortable as the high tea at Ciocolat here in Davis.

After that, my mom, Kateri, and I went shopping in Livermore before going to the high school to see Skyler play the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. He was stunning, of course, but I liked him in Godspell better. This is his last performance as a high schooler...next year he'll be studying music composition at UCSB!

To refresh ourselves afterward, we went out for margaritas and a very late dinner at Applebee's. Normally I don't like restaurants like that, but the Cajun Shrimp pasta was killer.

The next morning my mom went to (wo)man the visitor table at church while my dad and I went outside the house so he could show me the site of his fancy new septic system (yes, this is an exciting event in the Levie household). We met my mom for breakfast at Emil Villa's. It was soooooooo crowded and slow, but I shouldn't complain since it was Mothers Day.

I've never seen Robby and Tina's house--a darling 1931 fixer-upper. They showed me all the things they've done during their renovations (a LOT!) and showed us what they plan to do. It is a super cute house with character I can only wish my own house had. My dad gave them his approval by telling me afterward, "They do nice work." (Way to go, Porters! My dad has only ever said that to me about Dave and you...and considering all the folks he interacts with, that really says something.)

By 11:30am I had headed back to Davis. Driving the Mazda (a manual transmission) and blasting my music made me feel like a college student again.

We were set to meet Mike, Bernie, and Zennie at their house around 2pm...and I barely made it in time! I blended up a batch of strawberry smoothies and packed a bunch of snacks into my backpack while Eddie was still napping.

Michael wanted to take us on a "hike" to see some vernal pools at Mather Field. We totally lucked out because all the flowers were in bloom! It really was beautiful. Poor Dave had REALLY bad allergies so we had to leave early. He didn't take medicine beforehand, knowing it'd just make him super sleepy and prevent him from being able to drive back to Gualala that night. It didn't make a difference since his eyes were so puffy even at 9pm that he ended up sleeping here and leaving pre-dawn.

Eddie and Zennie had lots of fun charging around in the plants, checking out rocks, bugs, and flowers...and stealing each others snacks. Silly kids.On the way back home from the Mike Bowers, Eddie and Dave were passed out. I tried to sneak into the house to start dinner, but Wadameeus woke up.

Dave took a longer nap on the couch while Eddie watched a video so I could make dinner. I don't mean to show off, but DANG that was a tasty meal. So fresh and spring-like. And such a perfect ending to a great weekend. We had salmon croquettes with green garlic and fresh dill topped with homemade tartar sauce (extra dilly!); salad with oranges; and lemon/parsley/feta new potatoes.After dinner Dave gave me a sweet and hilarious card that absolutely melted my heart and an awesome set of interchangeable circular knitting needles that I've been wanting forever. Woo! I think I'll make myself a sweater!

Behold, the best Mothers Day card I could ever get. Only someone who REALLY knows us will understand why I love this card so much. Click to enlarge the picture...and take note of Dave's embellishments:I hope all the mamas reading this had an equally great weekend!