On Saturday, after sleeping in (til 7:45!), I made blueberry wheat pancakes for the kids. Gurmeet ate his usual plain yogurt with granola. We got everyone ready and piled into the van for Arjun's Aikido class in Corte Madera at Aikido of Tamalpais. He's been learning Aikido since the end of March and it's really the first extra-curricular activity he's been "into" so to speak. This means we don't have to drag him, kicking and screaming. He goes willingly, smiling. We're really proud of the progress he's making and of his focus in class and desire to learn about this martial art. Why Aikido? Why not Karate or Tae Kwon Do? Aikido seemed like a natural choice, since it's not about dominating your opponent or even hurting them. The focus in Aikido is to redirect the energy of your attacker, keeping yourself from harm or from harming your attacker.
After Aikido class, we stopped off at our favorite donut shop, Donut Alley in Larkspur, for some fresh, homemade donuts. Nothing compares! Then home...
I met up with my friend Kendra for a pedicure (probably the 5th time in my entire life), but mostly just to get a moment to ourselves, chat and laugh about mom stuff. I also spent my time browsing through my new favorite cookbook, Comfort Food, looking for ideas for dinners this week. I settled on BLTA's (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado Sandwiches), Cobb Salads (minus the blue cheese since no one in our house likes it), and Fish Tacos. I'll do pulled pork sandwiches in the slow-cooker later this week if we need another meal idea. After my time with Kendra, I met up with my friend Yoshiko at Dharma Trading Co.
I had all these project ideas in mind: purple-dyed cotton bike shorts for Soraya to wear under her skirts and dresses and a blue-dyed sweatshirt for my friend Heather's little boy William, turning three and REALLY into Thomas. Unfortunately, I had no luck for either of those projects (no bike shorts, and no blue iDye). So, I decided to pick out three other iDye colors for some prefolds for Emily. Emily is due with her first baby, a boy, this month, and has chosen to do cloth diapers with him (hurray!!!!). Cloth diapering is so much more fun when you've got colors!
Meanwhile, Gurmeet walked the kids all the way down our hill to the market to get a pizza for lunch. More importantly, they walked all the way UP the hill too. I guess my emphasis on being a little kinder to our planet has paid off. They chose to walk and no one even complained.
In the afternoon, Gurmeet went to the gym and I spent my time downstairs with the kids, dyeing diapers and whatever else they wanted a new color. For Soraya, I dyed some underwear and t-shirts emerald green, ochre and fire red, and a pillowcase green. For Arjun, a couple of pairs of socks in emerald green and fire red. I did all the dyeing in the washing machine and between cycles, I tried to organize the playroom while the kids undid everything. Oh well. The rest of the day we spent just hanging around, being with each other. Gurmeet and I watched the season 1 finale of The Tudors. Boy am I glad I didn't live under Henry VIII!
On Sunday we split the kids up. Soraya went with me and Arjun went with Gurmeet.
Gurmeet first took Arjun to get bagels at Barton's in San Anselmo. Then they drove to Rodeo Beach, in the Marin Headlands, to look for shells. After a lot of searching and not much luck, they drove to Tennessee Valley, our favorite trail to the beach. We like to hit this trail after a hearty breakfast at the Dipsea Cafe in Mill Valley. Gurmeet was wise to take the jogging stroller, because the walk to the beach is 1.5 miles each way, with no shade. His exercise that day was pushing Arjun to and from the beach. He said he got lots of encouraging comments as he ran past families. I think it made him feel not so out-of-shape to know he was getting so much attention for his feat! To finish their day together, Gurmeet took Arjun to Pizzeria Picco for his favorite Margarita pizza, kid style (cheese spread around, no basil).
I took Soraya to a birthday party down in the city. It seemed silly after the party was over, after driving all the way to the city, to just go home. So, we headed to the big Marin County Farmer's Market at the Civic Center. Soraya likes to ride the ponies and I like to browse through the booths. We both like to sample everything! The next time we move, this is probably the place I will miss the most. This farmer's market is the biggest in the county, possibly the state (maybe the country?) and it runs year-round, every Thursday and Sunday. There's live music, and the smells of food waft throughout every corner. There are no less than 100 purveyors of fresh, local fruits and vegetables, nuts, honey, rice, Indian food, Afghani food, Vegan food, raw food, Mexican food, Thai food, sausages, waffles, coffee, spices, artisanal cheeses, vegetable starters, breads and pastries, and art, just to name a few. It's amazing and if you don't go with a list, you'll end up at the market's ATM, where invariably, there's no more money left in the machine. We left when the market ended and headed to Whole Foods for our weekly shop. I know it's expensive, but I've figure out how to shop there and spend less than most people spend at Safeway. I hardly buy any prepared foods, and stick to what we need.... meats, fruits and vegetables, bread and dairy. I left the store with everything I needed and spent only $78. I spent about $20 at the farmer's market on vegetables. Plus, I bought a dozen eggs at our CSA for $6. In total, I spent $104 and we'll eat all week on that. Granted, my pantry is pretty stocked right now. If it wasn't, I could easily spend $200, but that doesn't happen too often. Finally, after a quick visit to Draper Farm to say "hello" to the chickens and eat some sorrel (Soraya's favorite these days), we came home. Gurmeet and Arjun arrived home about 10 minutes later.
And that, folks, was our weekend!
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