Saturday, March 1, 2008

Opa!

All week I have been encouraging Ryan to play golf on Saturday morning. Was this because I know that it is one of his favorite things to do in the whole world? Was it because I appreciate that most Saturdays he is either supporting our children in their sporting endeavors, attending school, or doing something for his family, friends, or work? Was it because I appreciate the hard work he puts in during the week working, studying, writing papers for school in an effort to provide for all of our needs and wants? Was it because I am a kind and giving and unselfish wife? OR Was it because I wanted to take my girls to breakfast, shopping, and the Greek Festival without him constantly asking how much money I was spending and when I was going to be home? The answer to that is one for the ages. We may never know. But at the end of the day, we were all very happy.

BREAKFAST AT PANERA. We love our bagels. We love going to get them early in the morning when they are still fresh and warm. We love Einsteins, Noah's, Western. We don't have those. But we do have a new Panera and they do have pretty good bagels (not the best ever, I am still waiting for Einsteins.) My girls have adopted Panera as their second home. Even our little chicken nugget, Monterey, now counts Panera as her favorite place to eat out.

SHOPPING AT OLD NAVY. We got enough flip-flops to last through the spring, summer, and fall. Four more pairs of shoes, a couple of pairs of shorts, and a birthday present and we walked out spending about $115. I love Old Navy. I love sales.

THE GREEK FESTIVAL. Growing up in Northridge, CA we went to the Greek Festival. Our church building was right next door to a very large Greek Orthodox church (shown here on the corner of Balboa & Plummer.) During their festival, our parking lot was always loaned out to them. We loved to go and sample all the Greek food, especially the appetizers and desserts. My sister, Karen, still counts good Greek food as one of her favorite things. Since this was a yearly tradition, I always wanted to take my girls to one.
The local Greek church had their festival this weekend and we came, we saw, we ate. We got one of everything except the dolmas (the texture of the grape leaves is an acquired taste.) The girls tried everything and completely devoured the lamb chops which is now McKayla's favorite meat. I think one of the reasons they were willing to try the food is because of one of their favorite movies: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. St. George's church is much smaller than St. Nicholas' (the one in Northridge) but the passion for all things Greek was still there.
Here is what we had:

Spanakopita ~ Fluffy filo filled with spinach and cheese

Tyropita ~ Fluffy filo filled with a combination of cheeses

Gyros - Savory meat on warm Pita bread with tomato, onions and topped with Tzatziki Sauce, a subtle blend of yogurt, garlic and cucumber

Four Lamb Chops & Greek Fries – Feta Cheese & Olives

Baklava ~ That famous Greek Pastry

Melomakarona ~ Honey cookies with a hint of orange, and topped with chopped walnuts

Karidopita – Walnut Torte

Kourambiethes ~ Melt in your mouth butter cookies dusted with powdered sugar

Koulourakia ~ Traditional Greek Cookies

After, that home for naps. Madison got ready for her weekly (at least it seems that every week she is going to some one's) birthday party. She is still of the age that she still get invited to parties for boys mainly because she is cool and not overly obsessed with who likes who. This party, she was worried that the boy might think that she likes him, if she went. I explained that going to a party does not mean that you have to marry him. The location was the deciding factor: Goodstuff Pizza. Her favorite mix of food and fun. There was one other girl and the mom was so sweet and put together special favors for the girls complete with lip gloss and fancy, furry pens. The girls have been saving all of their Goodstuff tickets (similar to Chuck E. Cheese's) to buy one really nice prize (really nice is very relative here.) She took our old ticket vouchers and won enough to win their gumball machine. They are very pleased with their accomplishment. I just hope no gum ends up smashed into the carpet or you will be seeing Ryan on the news being handcuffed for something awful.

Ryan and I went out that night. We are loving having our built-in babysitter. The freedom to go out any time we want is great. We have practically had a date night every week in the last couple of months. I think most people that "highly" recommend date night are people without kids or just older kids. Date night without a built-in babysitter is a joke. By the time you make plans, pick-up, get dinner for the kids, pay for your dinner and the babysitter, take the babysitter home - it is a logistical nightmare. And very expensive with the current babysitting rates and four kids. (I'm writing this out now because in a few years, I will have forgotten all this and just take for granted that it was ever difficult, like all the other people who do not have young children. I need to remember to not be insensitive.) So, the point I am trying to make is that it is liberating and fun.

And finally, at this moment none of my children are on an antibiotic! This does not mean all are healthy at this moment, but this is the first day in a while that I am not measuring out something for someone: Hurray!

9 comments:

Henry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kyle said...

Ooops, that was me above, I was signed into a different account, sorry. Here's what I said for my comment: MMMMMMM.... That Greek food sounds wonderful!! I have had the Dolmas and they are definitely an acquired taste, but I like them. I love all the filo with stuff...you know what I mean... you are so good at describing all the yummy foods! It sounds like you had a great day! I'm glad you blogged about the babysitting logistical nightmare. It really is exhausting and just easier to get take out and a movie and put the kids to bed. I look forward to the freedom when we feel comfortable leaving Dallin in charge. I love reading about your adventures!

The Alvords said...

How fun! We recently had a girl's day in our family, it was a blast. I'm glad to see that you guys are setting girly time aside for each other. I can't believe how big your girls have gotten! I swear they were toddlers a couple of years ago. They are all adorable. It looks like you guys are doing well, keep posting so we can see what you guys are up to!

Kimberly said...

You guys do such fun things - I love it!!! I hope to be that fun Mom someday (b/c I don't think I qualify yet) I still feel that it is too exhausting to take on the task of having a girls day out without the hubby. You go girl!

Holly said...

OH, can I just join your family? All of the girliness just seems so intoxicating. The shopping, the dining out together, the estrogen :)!! And...snaps on the no antibiotics milestone. You make me laugh.

Jenie said...

You do such fun things with your girls! I love to read your blog because I don't even know any of these things are out there. I'll have to follow you around a little bit to get to know the Desert better. This is definitely quality time and I'm sure your girls love spending the day with their fun mom. I'm looking forward to that...I love where I'm at right now, but it's nice to think of a time without a diaper bag. It's just not my season right now but you give me a glimpse into my future. :) It looks great!

Dayna said...

The Greeks sure know how to have fun, and it looks like you had a lot of it.

Lizzie said...

That sounds sooo fun (the day with your girls) and the built-in babysitter. I am envious. I don't even want to admit how much I spend on sitters. Shad has absolutely no idea. He wonders where all of our cash goes....hmmmm, I wonder.

I tried the cinnamon crunch bagel at panera last week. Yummy. It tasted like a cinnamon roll.

Alysa@atticgals.blogspot.com said...

All I can say is YUMMY!!!!!