This will be a rushed post. I want to take care of the past week and then make excuses for the next week.

I have somewhere to go tomorrow.

I am going home to NJ tomorrow. And I am bringing Oscar B. And then we are going to my grandpa's memorial service.

It's going to be a doozy of a weekend.

 Poor Arlo caught a bug. Coughing, stuffed up nose, feverish. He is smart: he becomes very cuddly and yummy when ill.

Oscar gets older, and more handsome. Don't tell him this, but there's this 4th grade girl who has a younger sister in Lucy' dance class. She has gym with Oscar (it's a mixed age gym class). She likes hanging out with him after their sisters' dance class and needles him and is genuinely affectionate with him. She is about six inches taller than him, and Oscar is unabashedly in love with her. She tolerates him, just above a tiny extent that I think that if they were a bit older and the 14 month difference in their age wasn't such a big deal, I'd actually have to worry about this relationship. Until then, I just encourage Oscar to be flattered.

 

We bought a wee little pool. Best $25 spent. 

 Last Saturday, I took the kiddos to the beach while Evan fought the hipsters at record store day. 

Base camp.

It was a gray day at the beach, and still, there's nowhere else I want to be. We investigated tide pools, climbed into caves, and built rock walls. We checked out sand sculptures and acted like goofballs.

 

Arlo munched on watermelon, and all I could think of was our trip to Cabo when he ate only watermelon. Why, look at that, I have pictures!

 

 Seriously, can you stand it?

 California girl.

 Monsters coming up from the deep.

 Someone set out their wetsuits to dry with their board on a bed of my favorite succulent flowers. It's a little creepy, right?

 These flowers are everywhere. On the side of the road, on the edge of parking lots.

We stopped in the way home and bought six pints of gorgeous strawberries for 11 bucks. Arlo and I ate three pints on the way home. There's my future summer house on the beach in Malibu.

Evan was successful in Record Store Day. Flaming Lips, Dr. John, and the reissue of Pretty in Pink on pink vinyl.

 The next day, I took off to Hollywood to check out the farmer's market and see Cabin in the Woods with my sister from another mister. Now, I love the Burbank Farmer's Market, but the Hollywood one is five times bigger, has multiple venues for live music, plus balloon animals and entertainment for the kiddos. Also, it is bookended by this:

 And this:

I tucked my veggies into my car and went to the Arclight to meet my girlfriends.

 The movie was fantastic. A final exam for fanboys.

I witnessed an accident on the way home. A girl jaywalked between my car and a bus and walked right into an oncoming car, and went ass over teakettle. She gashed the back of her head; I called 911, and sacrificed The Goose's monogrammed beach towel to sop up the blood streaming from her head.

She was okay. The towel was a loss. I've been having nightmares about my kids walking into traffic.

On Tuesday, Arlo's class went on a walking field trip to our local grocery store. We waited for them to walk by the house and The Goose and I went out on the front porch and waved. Arlo's teacher said "There's Arlo's mommy!" and his friends said "No fair! How come you get to live so close to school?" and "Wow, Arlo! That's your house!" And my Arlo beamed and beamed, ran over and gave The Goose and I a kiss, and ran back to his class, feeling like a rock star.

So, our upcoming trip.

My grandfather passed away a couple months ago. He lived a fine, long, full life. I am happy to celebrate his life and I can't wait to see my family. But, hoo boy, am I gonna be a wreck. I am a big sap at weddings and funerals. My grandpa lived a long, full life and it was his time to pass over. But I will still sob at the service. My darling baby cousin, Kaeti, is getting married early next year. Oscar and I will be staying with her and her young man, and I look forward to giggling long into the night with wedding plans. And I will sob like a baby when she gets married, and probably whilst we are planning it.

I haven't seen my brother in almost a year. I've seen my folks once in 8 months. I haven't seen my extended Rochester family since my grandma's funeral 16 months ago.

This is going to be AWKward.

This weekend was already strewn with emotional timebombs, and I decided to let my practical side take over and work in a visit to NJ before all that family drama.

Oscar and I are flying to JFK tomorrow and driving a rental down to NJ. We will be staying with our Brody-Kaplan family, and my dearest Elizabeth, the plural wife of my heart, is having a brunch open house for us on Friday morning. I want to go pick up Lila and Jed at Playhouse so I can hug Lisa and Anat, and then we'll see lots of friends at our favorite playground. We'll end up at the Trattoria in South Orange for pizza and ravioli with more friends, and then we drive our rental back to JFK, fly to Rochester, and memorialize my grandfather. 

It's going to be an emotional couple of days.