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Miguel had the day off so we had the official family celebration of my birthday today. I left it up to him to decide what we were going to do. On Saturday he went to work and asked his co-workers for suggestions. The first suggestion he shared with me was Train Town, followed by Chuck E Cheese. When I shot those down he suggested Filoli Estate and Gardens. Obviously he intended for us to go to the gardens all along and he presented the options in that order very deliberately so that Filoli would seem even better. It worked anyhow: Filoli it was. The house was very nice, though I didn't get to explore it as much as I would have liked what with herding Az through before she broke something. We had really come for the gardens anyhow. I was worried a lot of the flowers would no longer be in their prime since we are quickly heading into autumn but everything still felt very lush. I would still like to come back in Spring some time though, when the light is not so harsh. The gardens are open from 11AM to 3:30PM, not exactly the most ideal time for taking photos. Most of my photos didn't come out thanks to the harsh sunlight, but Az seemed to have had a good time wandering the garden and laying on the grass. She's had no prior experience with the words, "grass" and "lawn" so telling her to stay off of either was fairly pointless.

 

To the house we go!

 

Dancing in the dining room

 

 They're both determined we not ever take a nice frameable photo together. So far the score is Me: 0 Them: 356

Zae is quickly becoming my go-to "Here, take a picture of me" guy, which is nice because I need one. The more photos I have taken the more likely I'll actually end up liking one, right?

 

Like I said, the sunlight was really harsh while we were there so the quality of my photos were all pretty poor. When the kids weren't standing in harsh sunlight they were hiding in the shade.

Filoli Gardens closes for the day in the afternoon so since the day was still relatively young Miguel suggested that we head over to Halfmoon Bay to grab a bite to eat. By the time we got to Halfmoon Bay Az was fast asleep so Miguel went to eat on his own. When he returned Z and I took our turn eating while M and Az waited in the car. We went into the sandwich shop that we were parked nearest to, but it turned out to be one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. The menu was extremely simple, and didn't feature anything fancy at all. I ordered a roast beef sandwich with swiss. However, the ingredients were fantastic. The bread was fresh made on site. While Z and I were eating and watching the family of feral cats and kittens that were drawing crowds of people Miguel and Az joined us.

A cousin of mine got married a few years back in the area that we were lunching. It was at a very cute little house and I wanted to show it to Z to see if he remembered it. For the life of me I couldn't find it anywhere, which was confounding because the street wasn't that long. After wandering about for a bit I realized that we had actually had our sandwiches at the very house. They had done some remodeling of the outside area. Somehow they had managed to make it even nicer than it was before.

We had been hoping to do some window shopping but it being a Sunday, most of the shops were already closed for the night. We found ways to entertain ourselves anyhow.

Z really wanted me to take a picture of him in front of this mural. We never did figure out all of the meaning behind this particular piece of art. When Az saw her brother posing she insisted on joining in on the fun.

I made Z pose for the following picture. He's such a good boy sometimes.

And then Az wanted to join in again.

Oh well, I never claimed that we were cool.

243/366
Thirty two years ago today I popped out into the world. On the anniversary of the momentous day in history I found myself without any plans. Miguel had to work and my friends were all busy. Initially I planned to just hang around the house and take it easy but the night before I realized that I would end up rolling around in my misery so I decided that the kids and I would go see a movie. It had been a while since we'd gone to see a movie in the theater so it would be special for the kids. I invited my mom and made arrangements to meet in Sebastopol. I had to bring Miguel to work and had lots of time before the movie started so we walked around, visiting Whole Foods for snacks for the movie and a toy store because toy stores are always fun.

The theater we were in was tiny, which was perfect for Az. We had chosen the Sebastopol Theater because I was hoping to get one of the baby rooms but it turns out that they discontinued the baby rooms. The tiny theater was almost as good, and not really a whole lot larger than one of the baby rooms. For a while it seemed like we might be the only ones in the theater but then towards the last minute other people walked in. Paranorman held Az's attention. She talked a little, excitedly yelling, "Owl!" when one appeared on screen, but she actually talked a lot less than a lot of adults I know do in theaters. Az was ready to be done about ten minutes before the movie ended, so I might wait a couple months until we try again but I think I can chalk the movie date up as a success.

After the movie we walked over to the children's consignment shop, which is quickly becoming my favorite place to get Az's clothing. I found a few things I wanted, and treated myself to them as a birthday present. Among the treasures I found was a GAP dress from last season. It had sold for almost $60 and I hadn't managed to find it on sale before it was completely sold out. I had been sad to see it slip by then, but thanks to a 50% off deal at the consignment shop I got it for eight dollars. Happy birthday to me. I used to have fun buying myself clothing but as I get older and out of shape it has become more fun finding things for my kids. Everything looks good on them.

There was another thrift shop I wanted to show my mom so we schlepped the kids to the other side of town. It wasn't a very long walk but Az was exhausted by then and not up to walking very far on her own legs so my mom and I took turns carrying her. On the way back she completely passed out while being carried. I need to start lifting weights again so I can handle Az schlepping a little better.

Once we got back the theater where our cars were we said our goodbyes to my mom and went to pick up Miguel. Miguel had some money he owed me so we went to Target where not only did Miguel and Zae get me presents (Miguel got me a new record player and Z got me a couple of Fred Flare food face plates that I've been wanting) but I got to buy a bunch of the toiletries and household necessities we've been going without. Having toothpaste once again was an awesome birthday present in itself.

After Target Miguel offered to take us out for dinner. After driving around a little we ended up at a hole in the wall Thai place that ranks up there as the best in Santa Rosa. I thought I had found the fish dish my grandmother used to order that includes the whole fish, edible bones and all, which seemed like the perfect cap to our evening. It turned out to be something else involving a large portion of a fish rather than the whole thing, but everything was delicious anyhow. We so rarely get to go to an actual restaurant today, just sitting down and not having to cook felt like a huge treat.

Considering the fact that today was not even my official day of celebrating, it turned out to be a pretty nice day. It seemed like Az was confused every time I said it was my birthday since the day lacked many of the things she has come to associate with birthdays, but I certainly wouldn't be upset if every day were days like today.

Z's present and card for me. Z is known for his cards, but this is the first one I've ever gotten from him. It was totally worth the wait.

 

242/366

I had a doctor appointment in Occidental today (as a total aside, it's still odd to me to have the same doctor as my daughter and to see her for everything.) After Z was safely on his bus Miguel, Az, and I headed to the doctor's. Az and Miguel both slept through my appointment in the car, which was probably the best outcome. When my appointment was over Miguel realized he had no way to get to work in a few hours so we started heading in the general direction of his work.

I've heard a lot about the bakery in Freestone but have never had a good excuse to stop there so today I went ahead and made an excuse. Everything I've heard seems to be true, it's definitely a special place. Most, if not all, of the ingredients for their baked goods come from the garden they keep on the side of the bakery. I only had enough money for a cocoanut scone but it was wonderful. I really wish I could have afforded any of the breads being baked fresh while we were there, but now I have an excuse to stop by again. 

Az and I ran around the garden, which was overflowing with fruits, vegetables, and marvelous flowers. It's funny I hadn't heard anything about the garden, because it seems to me it should be as much of a draw as the bakery itself. I took my scone to a couple of Adirondacks at the back and Az and I enjoyed it while watching the wild bunnies hopping around. I really do love living in Sonoma County. 

We still had time to kill until Miguel started work so I decided to head to a park in Sebastopol, where Az pretended to be Spiderman, much to the chagrin of a little boy there who felt like he was Spiderman, and where Miguel practiced trying to give me a heart attack by leading Az to the top of play equipment and jungle gyms and leaving her there. The park has an area for toddlers but of course Az didn't want to spend time there. The much more adventurous, much more dangerous older kids playground was much more her style. I like this particular park because it does offer a lot of things other parks are afraid to in this day of sue-happy things, but man it looks different when experienced with your two-year-old daughter and thirty-year-old boyfriend who both seem determined to break one of the two year old's bones!

241/366
Daddy make cupcakes today. They were good, so good in fact that when we met Z's bus in the afternoon we figured we had better keep on walking around town to work off some of their chocolate goodness.

240/366
We were looking for something free to do to pass the time. Az requested that we go shopping. She always requests that we go shopping, despite the fact that once we are shopping she doesn't seem to want to be there. I suspect that she's usually just hoping to get something new. Today we went to the library that shares a parking lot with the mall. Az was adamant that she wanted to go to the mall but I knew that once we got into the library she would love it. The library by the mall is full of toys, puzzles, and blocks, which are much more interesting than racks full of clothing.

Sure enough as soon as we entered Az was smitten. She played with the toys a little, then moved on to the table of puzzles, then noticed the bin of DVDs where she picked out a Thomas DVD and an Elmo movie, then sat down at the older kid computers where I tried to find something online she'd like, then on the board books, then the younger kid computers to play a Dora game. Rinse and repeat. We got her her very own library card so she could check out her DVDs and a Caillou book I had found while bouncing around the library with her.

The library is such a fantastic community resource, I'm always happy to support it through my late fees and fines. And boy do I, support them through my late fees and fines. Our house eats library books, so I think I'm going to keep Az to two or three books each session but I hope to instill in her the love for the library that I had as a child. Kindles and online resources are fine and dandy, but there's really nothing that compares to a trip to the library.

239/366
"You want some?" Offering Minchi a bite of her post-bath avocado toast. Minchi politely passed.