Toot toot

Matt had his first gig on Wednesday. He marched in the Big Bay Balloon Parade ahead of the Holiday Bowl (or something). Bug and I went to watch.

If I walk quietly, maybe she won't notice I'm over here.

There was a 5K race that happened along the parade route before the parade actually started. At the beginning there were some respectable runners. I was disappointed at how long it took before a woman passed us. And then toward the end there were actually people (yes, mainly largely overweight) with race bibs on just walking down the street, carrying backpacks, purses, you name it. What an insult to running. At least make an attempt, or just don't do it. Argh! I wanted to cover Bug's eyes. This is not what a race is!

Then the parade started. It was rather poorly paced. There were huge gaps between the groups, which made an already antsy toddler even more difficult. She figured she could just run out into the street and be our entertainment when there was a lull.

The sign says his name is Chuggington. I'm certain he's from a TV show we know nothing about.

They look just about as entertained as we were.

Interesting tie-down placement, Leonardo.

AND THEN THERE WAS DAD! It was over in about 15 seconds, and I'm fairly certain she didn't understand what was going on whatsoever.

Here they come! Large man in olive shirt with obnoxious telephoto lens, MOVE YOUR ASS.

He was in the last row, between the tubas.

Looking nicely in-step!

We sat through a few more balloons,

Finally one we recognized!

and a few more bands (which were her favorite parts)

We got the Texas tubas...

And the Cal trombones two feet from our ears.

before heading back to pick him up from base. It took us almost 45 minutes to get five miles, and she fell asleep on the way.

So we took the long way home across the island and decided to go out to lunch. I still can't believe this weather is like this every day.

I was hoping this picture would have a clue to the phone's whereabouts, but no such luck.

And then I lost my cell phone. I have no idea where it went. We retraced our steps four times, I called all the shops/restaurants along where we walked, I put up an ad on Craigslist, I searched Craigslist for someone selling mine, nothing. Sigh.

Thursday morning we had an appointment with the WIC office down here. The original directions that I had took us to a really shady part of town. It felt odd, but I figured maybe WIC was a bit shadier down here? And then the road we had been driving down along the railroad tracks suddenly dead-ended and I realized we were completely lost. And I had no cell phone. But I had a Rand McNally Road Atlas in my backseat and somehow we DID find where we needed to go (no where near where Google maps had originally put us).

It was a lot different than the one in Bloomington. We were told to sit in a room with another girl to watch a PowerPoint/video presentation. We had to introduce ourselves. It kind of felt like an AA meeting (or how I've seen one in the movies?). She looked terrified, and maybe all of 15 or 16. Her mother was with her. It made me think, OMG, what if Bug gets pregnant in high school?

I had to sit through the movie and the instructions about how to shop even though we were transferring from MN and not new to the program. Bug was pretty cooperative, considering it took 45 minutes. When we went back out into the waiting room, there was a Somali family. This sounds so racist, but it felt like home! Seriously, the only minorities out here are Hispanic and Asian. Or maybe the minorities are actually the non-Hispanic whites?

Anyway. We waited. Bug did her not-sharing thing where she grabs from someone else and says, "Thank you, you're welcome!" as if it makes it OK. We somehow didn't have to meet with a counselor and just got our checks. There are different items on these checks than there are in MN. We somehow have FOUR GALLONS OF MILK for this next month, but only one can of beans. We don't drink milk. We eat a ton of beans. I'm going to ask our friends with a daughter Bug's age if they want the milk.

Matt was off today so we went to the zoo. The zoo is awesome. Balboa Park is awesome. I figured it had been a few dozen paragraphs since I mentioned that, so it was time again. Matt gets in free because he's active duty, and kids under 3 are also free. So we bought me an annual pass (which is actually good for 14 months because of Matt's military status) for a whopping $75. A one-day adult pass is $42. So it pays for itself in two visits. It's great because you can go to the zoo and then not feel guilty when you leave after an hour because your child is Done. Today we went to the petting zoo,

Woof? No, Bug, it's not a dog. It's a goat! A goat says... umm.....uhhhhhh....

"Good boy!"

Cornering a lost one.

and then scoped out the giraffes. She was more interested in the children around her and the gigantic double-decker tour buses than actually looking at the animals, but there's time.

Who needs a stroller when you have Mom and Dad?

I did end up getting a new cell phone today. I broke down and have an iPhone. I LOVED my BlackBerry. Lovedlovedloved. But the Apple nerd in the family (Matt) won out so I got the 4S. Whatever. I can text on it and can finally play with the Instagram thing everyone seems to have, so I'm happy.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to trail run in Balboa again (only 7.2, but it's still fun...) and then we'll see after that. Bug's napping schedule has made it harder to explore. And there are umpteen places to explore. We've been trying to get out to as many as we can while Matt's work schedule has been so light. Tuesday starts the "real" schedule, which will actually be nice because then Bug and I can get back on a schedule of our own. We could really use a second car. Do you hear that, magic elves? We could use a second car.