American Pie

We didn't really have any plans for the holiday weekend thinking that 1) we would be on an Alaskan cruise but that never get beyond the thinking about it stage and then 2) going to visit GranJanne's new house in Tucson but that was thwarted by cost and extreme heat, leaving us without an agenda to celebrate the fourth.

Saturday we went to Addie's swim lesson and then went to LACMA for their free Saturday night concerts. Very fun. Next time we'll pack a picnic and bring some wine. Then on Sunday after waffles for breakfast and knee deep in laundry, Cap suggested we drive up to Tehachapi for the night to visit his Grandma Kathy. Sure, I got no plans. I'm not really sure why, but I had never met her in all the 18 years I've known Cap and he hasn't seen her since 1995 or something. I also had never met his Uncle Richard and Aunt Charlotte who also live there.

We packed a suitcase, made a reservation at a hotel with a heated pool (I made Cap cancel our first hotel after we found out their pool wasn't heated), left the dirty dishes in the sink and hopped on the freeway towards Bakersfield about an hour later. Grandma Kathy is 94 and the cutest little grandma ever. I'm so happy I got to meet her and that she got to meet her great granddaughters. Right before we left, she handed me a pad of paper with her late husband's name on them and asked that Addie draw her a picture every now and then on the stationary and mail them to her. I love the idea, and we've already put her first drawing in the mail. Addie wrote "Happy!" - the exclamation mark was completely her own addition.

Nothing is more American than grandmas, but we also snuck in some pie (a slice of apple-peach and slice of cherry a la mode) and fireworks. Fireworks in LA are capital L Lame. This is one area, along from bagels, that I know NY has LA beat by a mile hands down. I was so excited to see fireworks for the first time in ages. When Addie announced at 7 pm on Sunday that she was sleepy (weird I know), we decided to go back to the hotel, call it a night and put the girls to bed. We had a suite and Addie was in love with the fact we had two(!) flat screen TVs in our room. Somehow all four of us were still awake at 9pm. We thought we would be able to see the fireworks from our balcony but after the first BOOM!, Addie and I bolted outside and down the side of the road to perch on a rock by a gas station to watch the display, leaving Eliza and Cap in our dust. I'm not sure what Addie liked better - the fireworks or running down the street in nothing but her pink pajamas and a pair of gold sandals.

Back at school on Tuesday, she drew this amazing picture of fireworks. BOOM!


Today is also Pop Pop's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!