Celebrating 6 Years with Cars and Cakes

This past Sunday Sumie and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in, to us at least, a new and exciting way.  We left the child behind.

When my Mom called on Saturday to offer child watching services for our anniversary, we at first turned her down.  We'd just had a full day out in Berkeley and were looking forward to a quiet Sunday at home, anniversary or not.  Mimi, as she usually does, had other plans.  She was so wound-up from our Saturday adventures that by 8:30pm Saturday night Sumie and I hit a breaking point.  We looked across the couch at each other and said, clearly, simultaneously, and remarkably without words, "We have to get away from this kid."  I immediately called my mom who, thanks to what I can only assume to be masochistic tendencies, agreed to watch Mimi for the afternoon.

It has been nearly two years since Mimi first entered our life, but we can count our evenings without her on one hand.  Part of the challenge has been finding babysitters, but also, to be completely honest, we haven't been all that pressed to find one.  We actually enjoy getting out with Mimi.  Granted, most of the restaurants we'd like to try would black list us should we try to bring our bundle of angst, but for the most part, the three of us do rather well together.  Perhaps that's why we didn't immediately take up the baby sitting offer on our anniversary.  I'm glad we thought better of it, though, because Sumie and I had a fantastic time.

Readers of this blog may remember the first (and until last weekend only) date Sumie and I went on without Mimi here in San Francisco.  Grandma and Grandpa came in to watch Mimi and we headed out for a fancy dinner.  While we ended up having a good time, much of the evening was spent discussing the move, the house, finances, and, of course, Mimi.  It was nice, but it wasn't much of a date.  It was more of a prolonged conversation like we'd have at home, only without toddler distraction.  I'm happy to say that for our anniversary, we had a real date. 

We started off our evening at the Blackhawk Museum, which is world-renowned for both its collection and presentation of classic cars, many of which are pre-war, one-of-a-kind custom fabrications, or show cars.  We arrived only one hour before closing, but that was enough for us to get a taste of the collection and to know that we'll be coming back.  

One of the highlights for me was a custom-bodied Hispano-Suiza.  The entire body, and even the fenders, is composed entirely of wood planks and brass rivets in order to save weight.  All told, the body weighs only 160lbs.  The torpedo-like tail encases a massive 45 gallon gas tank for some serious grand touring. 

Sumie thought it one of the most beautiful cars she'd ever seen.   I had to concur. 

There was also a collection of Alfa Romeo BAT cars.  These design studies are some of the most intriguing, if not entirely practical, cars ever conceived.  

The last car that really caught our eye was an Aston Martin one-off styled by Bertone.  The firm was attempting to get Aston to move forward with their design.  I rather wish they had.  

Our visit provided a few surprises.  First off, I realized that I'm just not a Ferrari person.  I think their cars are often beautiful and I admire their design, engineering, and history, but they simply don't do it for me.  The Blackhawk collection fluctuates, and for our visit there was an overwhelming number of Ferraris on the ground floor from the 1950s up to the 1980s.  They were gorgeous, but I kept returning to the few Maseratis, Jags, and BMWs on display.  They really captured my imagination (and lust).

Sumie, who's not a car nut by any stretch of the imagination, actually enjoyed the museum.  She couldn't get over just how beautiful the cars and the museum were.  She even displayed a yen for older French cars, Delahaye and Hispano-Suiza in particular.  Sumie's a big fan of Maserati's Quattroporte, so I was very pleased to see she liked the 1950s Masers on display.  The only blue note from our visit was that Sumie, like my sister Julie, thinks the hood on the old Jaguar XKEs is ridiculously long.  I've always loved those cars, but I guess it's one I'll have to strike from the list.

The Blackhawk Museum is integrated into an upscale shopping center.  After the museum closed we popped into a restaurant called "The Little Pear," which was on the pond just below the museum. 

Our food was excellent but, this being spring and the pond being filled with ducks, we had some unexpected guests.  Yes, duck love was in the air.  And, unfortunately, under our table.  It wasn't all that bad, though.  It took us back to our days at UC Davis and springtime in the Davis Arboretum, where we'd often hang out, toddler free, between classes more than 10 years ago.

By 6:00 we were done with dinner and ready to check in on Mimi, and then get home to end our celebration with the two layers of sponge cake smothered in fruit and home-made whipped cream we'd made that morning. 

We think it came out alright for our first attempt.  At the very least we knew Mimi would eat it.  That girl loves whipped cream.  

When we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's we found Mimi just as we left her: swimming in the hot tub. 

And then we heard the horrors.  When we first arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's around 3:00, Mimi had insisted on getting into the hot tub.  The girl loves water even more than whipping cream.  Shortly after we left she reportedly asked to take a nap.  She was placed in a pack-n-play in the den with her favorite blanket and stuffed animals.  There she mumbled quietly for half an hour until...with a mighty scream...she decided to let everyone know she wanted up.

Grandma arrived on the scene to find that Mimi had pooped in her diaper, removed it, flung it out of pack-n-play, and then urinated, triumphantly, all over her blanket, stuffed animals, and bedding.  Wiped down after her accident, Mimi went up to the neighborhood pool where, despite the freezing cold and her chattering teeth, she insisted on swimming.  She was eventually transferred back home to the hot tub, which is where we found her.  Sumie and I had been gone roughly 3 hours.  Mimi had spent close to two and a half of these in the water and the remaining 30 flinging bodily waste around the den.  I suppose it's now rather apparent why Sumie and I are so hesitant to get a baby sitter.

Hopefully Mimi will have more control over her desire to swim, and her bowels, by the time our seventh anniversary rolls around because I'm definitely taking Sumie out.  And it'll be just the two of us.