Well, if you consider Salt Lake to be the east. I guess it is technically east of California… so it counts. Alex’s folks were in town for a wedding, and we were able to spend a little time with them.

Milo had to give Grandma kisses.

Then they watched a little television together. (Tivo let us download some of the new television pilots for free. They are watching “Chuck”).

Unfortunately our dinner plans got re-arranged, due to Alex’s crazy work schedule. We ended up enjoying some delicious takeout from La Mediterranee at his office. His folks got to see a few clips from the movie, had some dinner, then off to San Jose (where they caught an early flight home on Monday). It was great to see them, even if it was only for a few hours.

Alex may seem to be an absent blogger lately, but he is busily working on his latest opus, “Paperback Dreams.” More details on the film  here or here.

It is due to be completly done and delivered on the 21st. Needless to say, he’s pretty busy. But I’ve seen some of the drafts, and it’s impressive. Our friend Nate has done the music score. He’s so talented, and has done an amazing job.  This has been a labor of love for Alex.  He started this project over two years ago.  And in that time of the two bookstores he is profiling, there have been two openings and three closings.  It is slated to air on KQED in 2008.  Updates will (of course) be posted.

Our friend Robyn’s 30th birthday is coming up.  So we decided to throw her a surprise birthday party!  Since it was Labor Day, and we all had the day off, we decided to make it more than just dinner, but a whole day.  So, the whole group met up at… the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!

It being a holiday, there were TONS of people there.  And the San Francisco area has been experiencing a heat wave, so it was hot and sunny.  Shawn asked everyone to be at the end of the pier promptly at 1pm.

We were a few minutes late, due to traffic (and the aforementioned TONS of people).  But it wasn’t a problem.  Because Shawn and Robyn didn’t arrive until about 2:30 – 2:45.  We bided our time at a seafood restaurant on the pier.  A lot of fried seafood and hot sun, followed by amusement park rides?  Nice choice, eh?

Robyn procured a bunch of ride tickets, and we were on our way!

Our first ride was a roller coaster.   I’m not sure these rides have been updated recently… or maybe it’s been a while since I’ve been on one.  But they are a bit rickety!

We decided then to get ice cream.  Because what follows greasy fried seafood like ice cream?  Alex decided to get the “chocolate dipped cone,” which we all know means drip cone.  He made a bit of a mess, but then we moved on.

This was my favorite ride when I was younger.  Our local amusement park was called Canobie Lake Park, and this was the Ski Bob ride.  I think this one is the Rock and Roller, but same idea.  It wasn’t as fun as I remember.  Alex said half-way through “I remember this being faster.”  I agreed.  Oh well.

We decided to take a break down at the shore.  But there were some important rules to follow.  For example:

No jumping over cars with your motorcycle.  At least, not on the beach.

It was just as crowded at the beach as on the boardwalk.  We didn’t stay long.  But Emily couldn’t help herself from taking a quick dip.  No one else had brought their swimsuit.  This is Northern California.  That water is like ice!

Since it was Robyn’s birthday, she decided to get a tattoo displaying her love for Shawn.

Oh, and she decided to get it right on her chest.

She kept saying that the “S” was not for Superman, but for Shawn.  Luckily it was also spray on.  But it’ll be there for 2-5 days (depending on how she cares for the tattoo…).

Robyn had one last wish to make her birthday complete.  She wanted one person to try the deep fried Twinkie.  Alex was more than happy to oblige.

No one else wanted to even try.  So I took a bite.  Tasted doughy, and dry.  Ack.

All in all it was a great time.  We finished the evening at an Italian restaurant near by, where a bunch more of Robyn and Shawn’s friends joined us.

Happy Birthday Robyn.