Em's Weekend in SoCal

My sister Ruth is expecting twin boys at the beginning of January. She already has 3 boys, so you would think she would have plenty of clothes and stuff, right? Of course not! Do you know how many boys have cycled through the already existing clothes? 8. Yes, 8 boys. My 3, Ruth's 3, Char's 1, and Abby's 1. The boy clothes circulating amongst the Greer sisters have seen better days. On top of all that, Ruth needed gear for 2 babies. So we decided to throw her a baby shower! And thanks to my parents, we were able to make that happen. Char, Abby and I were flown down to SoCal last weekend for the shower. But really, we just wanted to get together. The last time we were all together was over a year ago and it really wasn't quality time since we had all the kids and adults jammed into my house. I guess you could say we didn't have much sister time. So this was a perfect opportunity to hang out, just the 4 of us.

Abby and I (and Baby Liev) flew out of SLC Friday morning and Dad picked us up at Long Beach airport. We got our car rental, grabbed some lunch, and headed to the parents' house in Seal Beach. Charlotte was already there, so the three of us headed to the hotel just a couple blocks away to check in. Char and I shared a room and Abby and Liev had their separate room. I cannot tell you how excited I was to behold a clean, soft, queen size bed that would be all mine for the next two nights. I immediately laid down and couldn't get back up for a couple hours. It was magical.

After chilling in the hotel, we headed to Mom & Dad's place to have dinner. Ruth and her boys came and Grams made it as well.

 I gave my dad his birthday present: the usual, personalized desk calendar with pictures of the boys all over it.

That night, Abby called me in the middle of the night because Liev had woken up with a fever and crying. He was reacting to his shots that he had gotten a couple days before, poor baby. So Charlotte went to the pharmacy and got him some Tylenol. Luckily he slept in a bit and felt better in the morning. Charlotte and I left to take Dad to Ruth's place so he could take her boys to the movies while we all ran errands and prepped for the baby shower. After picking Ruth up, we headed back to the hotel and picked up Abby and Liev. From there we drove all over town running errands for the shower. At one point, we all got so hungry we started losing judgement and became irritable and irrational, as women in our family tend to do, so we hurried over to Wahoo's where I got the world's best fish tacos. I inhaled those things! Two was not enough. But we were on a schedule and had to get to my Aunt Carol's to set up the decorations and prep the food. 

We got to Carol's and got everything set up. 

 Carol's friend offered to make the cake for the shower. So I sent her the picture of what I wanted and she did not disappoint! It turned out so cute! And the inside was chocolate cake with buttercream filling and fresh strawberries. It was A-MAZING!

 Here's everyone who came. Ruth got so many great gifts and things she desperately needed.

 And of course we were forced to take a bunch of pictures. Lol!

 This is Aunt Carol with Ruthie. She was so sweet to host everyone and provide all the dishes and stuff. She was so sweet and actually started tearing up when she saw me. It definitely made me feel loved.

 After the shower, the four of us girls got back in the car with all the stuff from the shower and took it to Ruth's house. From there, we headed to The Donuttery so Abby and I could pick up some donuts, because...well, you don't need an excuse for donuts. Abby was excited because they had vegan donuts, but unfortunately for Charlotte, they didn't have gluten-free, which is stupid. I got a dulce de leche creme brûlée, a chocolate covered bavarian cream, and a cruller. They were SO GOOD.

We then headed to Seal Beach Main Street and hit up the shell shop because you can't go to Seal Beach and not go to the shell shop. I bought the boys some little gifts and then we all walked to Z Pizza where we met the parents and Ruth's family for dinner. (I just realized that most of our activities as a family involves eating.)

After dinner we walked down the street to Paradise Ice Cream where my parents bought a bunch of different flavors for everyone to share. We drove back to the hotel where they broke out the ice cream and we sat around for a while before everyone had to go home. 

 Sunday, Char, Abby and I, all slept in, had our breakfast, got ready, and Char & I checked out of our room and hung out in Abby's. Char had to leave that morning, so Mom & Dad took her to the airport and Abby, Liev and I chilled in the room for awhile, then walked to Del Taco for lunch. I actually have never eaten at Del Taco, and I know people love Del Taco, but I just don't get it. I'm not a fan. But food is food.

After that, we drove to Huntington Beach to Ruth's place. We got to snack on leftovers from the baby shower (yay cake!) and then we all got in our cars and headed to the beach to walk on the pier. I actually have never been to Huntington Beach, so I was really excited, even if I wasn't going to swim. It didn't disappoint. In fact, it was so great, even Santa was there!

 The weather was perfect and it was just so nice to be back at the beach. It's my happy place. I could spend all day at the beach.

 There were a lot of performers on the pier, but this guy was my favorite. Accordion is not a common instrument these days.

There were also a lot of fishermen at the end of the pier. I didn't see anyone catch anything, but it must be a good spot because there were poles lined up and down the railing. 

After walking back, I heard a bunch of drumming and came across this group. Apparently, people just bring their drums and show up to play together. It was so fun to listen to!

Oh, and Baby Liev also got to experience real sand for the first time.

 After leaving, Ruth and her family ate dinner and Abby, Liev and I walked down the street to a Mediterranean restaurant where I had the best gyro ever. We walked back to Ruth's and then drove to my parents' house so they could take me to the airport.

It was a nice trip to get a break from everything, but definitely not long enough. The boys kept calling me, so I didn't get as much of a break as I thought I would, but it was still nice knowing they missed me. Poor Dave was sick the entire weekend, so he had to do it all himself while being super sick. Poor guy. He said I'm not allowed to leave him ever again. Ha ha!

The Rest of October...

Last Boat Ride of the Season
On the 14th, we took our last boating trip before Dave had to winterize the boat. Cruise & Jett hadn't been on it yet and they really loved how fast it went. We had brought the GoPro, but a certain child who was in charge of it left it in the car. It mostly was because he was deathly afraid of this goose that was terrorizing the boat launch area. And it's true, the goose wanted to be fed and was using intimidation tactics.

We drove around the lake a little and then stopped at the little island for the kids to walk around. I sat around and broke rocks in half to see what was inside. It was more exciting than it sounds.

Halloween Cookies
Every year we make Halloween cookies. It's tradition. I found an amazing recipe this year and they are by far my most favorite. They turned out really soft and they kept their shape as well. Definitely one I will keep using. The boys had fun decorating as well as delivering a bunch to some of our neighbors. That may sound like I'm super nice, but really it's selfish because I know I'll just eat all of them and either get diabetes or gain 10 more pounds...probably both.

Flu Shots
Last year we let the boys get the flu mist but apparently the flu mist isn't effective according to the CDC, so we had to make them all get shots. Which was terrifying for Cruise. He's had sever anxiety about it for the past year or so. Dave and I didn't know how to tell them we were going to get shots one Friday, so we told them we had to grab dinner and run some errands before we went to the arcade. All true things. We got some dinner and then headed to the health department. Immediately Cruise and Jett recognized the building. Cruise went into full-blown meltdown mode with crying, and screaming, and shaking. Jett took another approach and remained calm but had the look of complete and utter betrayal on his face paired with quiet tears. It was heartbreaking. And then there was Miles who had no idea what was going on but was enjoying the emotional show laid out before him. We waited 45 minutes to get shots. 45 minutes of talking Cruise down from his anxiety ridden rant, as he paced back and forth, scaring small children everywhere. And of course after the shot, Cruise looked surprised and said he didn't feel a thing. Hopefully he will remember that next year.

My Birthday: #31
Ah, birthdays. Less and less significant the older you get. I honestly didn't really care this year about doing anything, and I don't like it when people make a big deal about it. I just want my cake and maybe a date.

My birthday landed on a Thursday. I got to get my hair done, but the rest of the day happened to be super busy, so we celebrated on Friday. We were actually going to go eat at Tucanos, but as we pulled up to the Riverwoods, I was reminded that every year, right before Halloween, they do a trick-or-treating event. Which meant 1: no parking and 2: our kids didn't have any costumes. So before the boys could see kids in their costumes getting candy, we quickly turned out of the parking lot and headed to Noodles & Company. Because, who doesn't like noodles? Afterwards, we headed home and had cake! Every year Dave makes me a cake and I always ask for German Chocolate because it's really the best kind of cake there is.

Dave got me some nice sterling silver, CZ post earrings that I had wanted. Jett made this adorable note for me. He is so sweet and thoughtful. And the fact that he gave me one of his dollars is kind of a big deal. That kid really likes having money in his wallet.

Halloween!
Halloween landed on a Monday this year. I woke up Halloween morning sick. Like, "I think I have strep" kind of sick. Before I had to take the kids to school, I called and made a dr. appointment for the afternoon. We took the kids to school and parked the car so we could find our seats for the big Halloween parade the school does every year. We were a little early, so Jett hung out with us until the bell rang. Jett was Luke Skywalker, Cruise was General Grievous, and Miles started out as Yoda, but refused to wear the ears, so he ended up being a Jedi. He learned how to use the force, so it was pretty adorable when he used it against Jett and Jett would throw himself backwards.

 It's always fun to see the costumes every year. Cruise always manages to wear a costume no one else has.

After the parade, I had to stay to help with Jett's class party despite feeling completely awful. Two hours later I was able to make it to the doctor only to be told it was just a bad virus. Yay. After picking the kids up from school, I took them home and then grabbed some jack-o-lantern pizzas that we get every year. Our neighbors across the street also invited us to a hot dog dinner at their place with the rest of the street, so we ate more food over there before the kids took off trick-or-treating.

Dave took them again and I stayed home to hand out candy. They actually didn't stay out very long and Miles had completely removed his costume after only a few minutes. But they still got a lot of candy!

And that wraps up October!