Mr. Fix-It Rides Again

Mr. Fix-It Rides Again,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

This morning, Parker felt it necessary to be totally decked out...hammer, power screwdriver, pliers, and yes...safety goggles. Smart man!

Cutie Patootie

eating a flower,
originally uploaded by juanita.

Not sure if you've noticed from my sister's slideshow to the right but she's gotten a new dog. Her name is Kinda of Foxy -- Foxy for short -- and what a cutie she is! Looks like the Trillos need to schedule a trip up North to visit little Foxy...oh, and the rest of the family. :o)

PS: The red dot on her nose if the remnant of a recently eaten flower. Soooo, cute!

2008 Los Angeles Times Book Fair

As planned I attended both days -- Saturday with Parker, Geof, Thommy, and Aimee, and Sunday with just Thommy. It's changed a little bit but, for the most part, was everything as expected. Parker just likes getting out and seeing the world. Yeah, if you've played the video above, he REALLY likes it.

At lunch he was too excited to eat. All he wanted to do is just dance around and around.

Notice the wiggling fingers? Yeah, Thommy and Aimee are teaching Parker to say ''Red Rum''. Nice. Well, at least when incorporated into his interpretive dance moves comes across it's just less threatening.

The music by the way is ''Clap Your Hands'' by They Might Be Giants, off their ''No!'' album. With or without kids, I highly recommend it.

By the way, later on Sunday, Thommy and I stopped at Coco's for a late lunch and pie, of course. I opted for this Strawberry Banana Chocolate Cream pie. Delish! But I have to admit. It's a bit weird to discover your food looking back at you.

If this little just looked a little more like Jesus or the Virgin Mary...I'd be rich. But since it didn't, well, I ate it.

Crunchy Heads Are Coming to Get You

After a long first day at the LA Times Book Fair, we headed home where we caught up with Chris and headed over to Shogun for some delicious sushi. Crazy Parker was not interested in raw fish this evening but luckily I brought along this Peep coloring page to keep him busy as Chris and I chowed down.

Well, he was good until Chris decided to attack him with a deep fried shrimp head.

Happy Earth Day

8 Years And Still Going,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

Oh yeah...and Happy Anniversary Chris. To help Chris remember our anniversary, I've often given him a simple equation -- 4 minus 2 minus 2 equals 00. April 22, 2000...DUH! I guess, though, it would be easier for him if I just said if it's Earth Day, it's probably our anniversary.

The Lesser Known Disneyland

Aimee's mom was in town that you know what that means...Disneyland! Now, we've actually haven't been there in a while so Thommy, Geof, Parker and I decided to join them. First stop...the newly converted Pirate Island (aka, Tom Sawyer's Island) where Geof steered us to his favorite spot...Dead Man's Grotto. What's with Disney and the word ''grotto.'' Geof loves it because he know I hate it. Plus, it made his mom scream in fear (a jump scare in the middle) so he knows Parker would love it Yeah...it made him cry. Once out, we spent a few moments on the other side of the island, decompressing. Parker's thought regarding the pirate ship that sailed by...''Mommy, that boat has a book on it.''

After Thommy's required fried chicken lunch, we headed to the Golden Horseshoe for ice cream and a floor show. Unfortunately, edging past Parker's normal naptime, the little guy went into tantrum mode as we waited for the show to start. Fortunately, he was mesmerized as soon as the music started. Surprisingly, the show was pretty entertaining.

From Dland, we headed to California Adventure where Thommy, our resident Pluto stalker, ''found'' Mickey's pet pal. It took three photos for Parker to finally warm up to him. Go figure.


Well, contrary to Thommy believe, we went to California Adventure to check out the Pixar Play Parade (no to stalk Pluto), which truly did not disappoint Parker. He saw all his favorites -- Lightning McQueen, Buzz, Woody, and Mater. He started the parade chillin' in his stroller and ended it on his feet, straining to see who else may come around the corner to squirt him with water.

Now I know what you're thinking...so what did Aimee's mom want to do...what? Okay, I guess, while writing this I see that we may have shanghaied their visit to Disneyland. I hope they didn't mind as we truly enjoyed spending the day with them.

Shogun

Shogun,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

Don't be surprised, Thommy. Believe it or not, there's really good sushi in Palmdale. They don't advertise because ''it attracts weird people.'' Go figure. Well, word of mouth alone keeps this place hopping.

Where's Grandma?

Where's Grandma?,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

HOT DOG! Ketchup red Mustang and mustard yellow coat. What a cool old lady! Can you imagine if this were your grandma picking up you up from elementary school? STAND BACK! Here comes Gram!

New vs Old vs New Again

New vs Old,
originally uploaded by capsulec.

I know that sex sells but please, not in my coffee.

So I thought this was a new logo but I now see that this brown logo is actually the company's old logo. Now I don't mind the breasts but the fin spread is, well, a little too...inviting.

And to be honest, you know the mermaid isn't happy that her thighs look that big.

Check out How the Starbucks Siren Became Less Naughty and Starbucks Logo for a couple interesting articles on the evolution of the Starbuck logo.

Happy Birthday Carli!

While I was out writing with Thommy, Parker and Chris headed over the Eric & Amy's to celebrate Carli's 4th birthday. Wow! I can't believe how big she's grown. Same with Jasmine and Josephine. It's absolutely amazing how fast time flies.

No tires! Just gas!

No tires! Just gas!,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

I guess Parker's seen Cars maybe one too many times as that what we heard him repeating over and over again. ''No tires! Just gas!''

Death Valley Birthdaze - Sunday

The next day we head out for the Valley floor. On the way, Chris keep seeing this red flower and we eventually had to stop to he could check it out up close. From what I can tell, it's called the Ocotillo, a.k.a. Chris' obsession. At Stovepipe Wells we hit sea level. Soon after that we hit the desert's sand dunes.



We soon discovered that sand was too hot for the puppies feet. So Robin and Chris took them back to the cars as the rest of us explored the miles and miles of sand. Aimee laid on the ground to take a picture of Nick. But my shot of her looks like she's taking a picture of a 10 inch person. Go figure.


After the dunes, we checked out the Harmony Borax Works. Am I the only person who remember Borax...that powdery soap dispensed out of public restrooms? Well, Aimee, Matt, and Erin weren't aware of it so either I'm way old or I spend too much time in public restrooms. Neither seem to be good options.


Last stop was the Valley's lowest point...Badwater. It's the hottest point in the valley and yet there's water just inches below our feet. Seeing that we were standing on a salt flat, though, you can easily see how Badwater got it's name.