Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day started a little early this year. I knew we were going to be with my mom all weekend, so I surprised my wife and actually let her open her gift early. She had been dealing with my defiant two year old so much that I planned to take my son to dinner to give her a break. She happened to let slip that she wanted a stand mixer, so to Craig's List did I go. I found some guy in Ojai and decided to kill two birds with one stone. I would take my son off my wife's hands and get her a present at the same time.

This stand mixer came with a ton of accessories. I think I got a pretty good deal. These things start at $300, so for the low price of $125 I got one. My wife and I don't mind scratched paint if it means saving 1-200 bucks. Not only did I save the money, I got two extra bowls ($40ish each), a meat grinder ($50), two whisks and a dough hook ($30-$40ish?). I think we got a pretty sweet deal on it. My wife emphasized the sweet deal by making a batch of banana bread. Money well spent. :)

Fast forward to Friday night, the last night we were supposed to be home for the weekend. My son got back into his tantrum phase, so we chose to leave at night so he could sleep it off in the car. We made great time - just over 2 hours. This time my son was not so friendly to grandma. She got to see his tantrums. The difference is that she can usually snap him out of the tantrum better than we can, so she still thinks he is pretty innocent. We know grandma is wrapped around his little finger.

My sister and her family arrived too late for much visiting, so we all went to bed. In the morning I was awakened by a three-way dog pile which my son started. He and his two cousins (18ish months and 4 years) jumped on my head while I was sleeping. I think my son had a pillow, as the blow was cushioned. I didn't mind waking up to that, though it was pretty dang early.

My niece has definitely gone the vocal route while my son has gone the motor skills route. I tried to get her to teach my son some words, like "Please, Thank You, I love You, etc." He chose not to learn, at least at the time. He showed her how he can climb a ladder and slide on the big boy's slide (with parental assistance of course). Later that morning my son and nephew wanted to watch Return of the Jedi, so we sat down to watch it. Star Wars movies are always fun to watch, especially with my nephew who is well on his way to Star Wars nerd-dom. See my post, "Curious Kid" for the story of watching Star Wars with my nephew. He was cracking me up all weekend. He kept calling me just "Uncle", without attaching my name. "Uncle, why...?" "Uncle, what...?" "Uncle, can I ...?" It was pretty funny.

For lunch on Sunday we had steak salads. A typical female-inspired meal if ever there was one. ;) My mom, wife and sister sat on the sidelines (with some exceptions) while my dad, brother-in-law and I cooked the food. We had two Tri-Tip steaks from Costco, premarinaded by Morton's Steakhouse. These things were huge. I was in charge of the grill, and my dad and brother-in-law prepared most of the rest of the food. The meal turned out really well. The meat was really tender, and was cooked a little more rare than I would have liked had we not been in a hurry, but it was still pretty good. Everyone liked it, so I guess that worked out. My sister wanted to hit the road before nap-time, so her kids would sleep for part of her 4 hour drive home. I didn't think that I would enjoy a steak salad, but I was proven wrong.

I mentioned the Tri-Tip. The rest of the toppings included avocados, black beans, corn, fried corn tortilla strips, and dressing. My wife had made some pico de gallo that was really good, so I put that on my salad too. I was the only blue cheese guy among a group of ranch dressing fans. All in all this salad was pretty good. I had two plates, and lots of meat. I got to bring home a big chunk of the second steak too, so that worked out well.

Mother's Day weekend was also blended with my mom's birthday, which always falls near or on Mother's Day. We got to do two parties this way. I think the weekend went pretty well. Now we have to look forward to Father's Day. I am not sure what we will do yet, but I am sure it will be just as fun.