Action-Packed Day

I use this blog to remind myself of things that happen (example: I had totally forgotten how horrendous the end of DST was last year!), so I shall now chronicle what we did this past Sunday.

Uncle Junior Fuzzy flew down from Portland for the weekend for his birthday because he wanted to have some California fun! We did our best to entertain him. Usually on Sundays, we go to church and that's about it for the day. Instead, we decided to see how much we could get the kids to do before they lost it (or at least, that how it seems in hindsight).

The boys woke up earlier than usual due to the time change, so everyone was ready and raring to go before 9AM. First stop was Griffith Park. I did not realize how gigantic that place is! For my Memphis readers, it's nearly the same size as Shelby Farms in terms of acreage. Both parks also have numerous outdoor recreation options and are popular local attractions. That's about where the comparisons end, though. Griffith Park is up on a bunch of hills so you really can't get a sense of where anything is just by looking around. It's surrounded by densely populated neighborhoods, which means it's kind of tricky to get from one part to another.

At any rate, we decided to take in the views of the city from the highest point in the park, Griffith Observatory. Because I don't know how to read signs, I paid an unnecessary $4 for parking (meters weren't in effect yet). Oh well, it was my contribution to the parks budget. We walked around to check out the scenery.

Those big clouds never did rain on us

The observatory building didn't open till 10:00 but by then the kids and their uncle were ready to move on. So, we didn't get to see any of the interesting astronomy stuff inside. Some other day, I guess!

Junior Fuzzy was itching to watch the Rams' football game (he's a big fan), so our next stop had to include TVs tuned to the correct channel, food that all family members would eat, and a place for the kids to run around. We found all these + bonus of beer at Golden Road Brewing. I was impressed that it was such a family-friendly brewery! They have this whole covered patio area with corn hole, ping pong, giant Yahtzee, and probably other games I didn't notice. And, they were playing the Rams game. Everyone had fun! There was a birthday party for a three year old going on at the table next to us. Our kids had fun running around and chasing birds with the birthday party guests. 

At half time, we decided the kids needed a nap, so we headed back to Pasadena. I dropped off DF and JF at the Dog Haus so they could watch the second half of the game. (Now would probably be a good time to mention that we don't have cable, so that's why we were looking for restaurants to watch football.) Conveniently, they were able to walk home afterwards, then I made a quick Trader Joe's run. Well, semi-quick. The parking situation was ridiculous. Maybe that's normal for a Sunday afternoon? 

The boys slept forever, so by the time they woke up, we were ready to get some dinner. JF is a big fan of beans. I decided to introduce him to Salvadorean food at a place recommended to me as "authentic LA," Las Cazuelas. We arrived just before 5 but still had to wait 20 minutes for a table. Sheesh! We entertained the kids by walking around outside and looking in the windows of nearby shops. Dinner itself went OK. I really find it stressful to dine out in a restaurant with my children. This meal was no different. They only ate chips, though Gibson did dip his in beans at least. They wouldn't even taste their bean and cheese pupusa, even though I called it a "bean pizza." (They love pizza.) Instead, they ate peanut butter cracker sandwiches that I'd tossed in the diaper bag in case dinner was a bust. By the end of the evening, they were both crawling on the floor under the table yelling "Doo dah! Doo dah!" (This is their new favorite word. I do not know what it means, only that they think it is hilarious.) 

Let this be the record that we took our kids to do three different things in one day and lived to tell the tale! It helps that we had a 3 adult : 2 kid ratio going on, I'm sure :)

Modern Living with Toddlers

I'm really digging living in a modern apartment building. This complex was built in 2006, which is like a full half-century later than our previous residence's birthdate. I mean, I'm not knocking our old house in Memphis. For a place built in the 50s, it was pretty good. It was full of charm and character, like the built in telephone nook in the hallway and the wonky wiring. Take the kitchen, for instance. There were a total of 4 outlets in the whole kitchen. I mean, like plugs. So two outlets with two plugs each. And the washing machine was plugged in to one of them, so that left 3 available for general use (including the microwave).

Meanwhile, I just counted the plugs in my new kitchen and there are 14 plugs. Whoa! 14, just in the kitchen! And the microwave is mounted above the stove so it isn't even using up a counter top plug. It feels so luxurious! Right now I have a phone charger, coffee pot, and toaster plugged in. There's still space to power up all my other kitchen appliances if my heart desired! (Note: I am not confident the fuse box could handle all that excitement.) I've even gotten into using the "delay brew" feature on my coffee pot, since I can prep it the night before and leave it plugged in. As I'm typing this, I realize there's no reason I could not have done this in Memphis, too...oh well, I shall enjoy it now ;)

At any rate, access to electricity is a bonus of living in a huge apartment complex. One of the downsides, I'm finding, is that it's such a production to leave the apartment, particularly when it's just me and the boys. Here's how a trip to the store looks.

Goal: get two toddlers, one mother, and one wagon from a 3rd floor apartment into the van parked in the garage on level P3. Go to store. Buy groceries. Return to apartment with all humans + groceries intact.

First, we get ourselves and our stuff ready to go, which is really a separate subject. To reach the garage, we have to walk down the hall and around the corner to the elevator. There are I think 4 apartments between us and the elevator (on each side of the hall). We're usually taking the wagon with us, so that means the boys have to fight over who is going to pull it, then flop down in the middle of the hall and refuse to walk regardless of if they got their way or not. Also they stop at every door to point at the doorbell and say "ding dong," and they also need to point out all the fire extinguishers/fire hose hook ups by saying "wee-ooh" like a fire truck. Oh, and lately Gibson has insisted on taking his big, fuzzy blankie everywhere we go, so that's in the wagon as well. Once we get to the elevator, we've got to try and only push the down arrow button.

When the elevator arrives, we have to get all 3 people + a big wagon on board. This is more difficult when there are other passengers. Then the kids have to try and push all the buttons, including the alarm. Once we finally get down to the parking garage, someone is usually too captivated by buttons to exit the elevator, but the other one bolts out the door. So I'm standing there blocking the door from closing, grabbing one kid while hollering at the other to stay close to me.

We make our way over to the van, possibly fighting about the wagon again. I buckle them in to their car seats as quick as I can, but I have to keep the other kid from running around the semi-busy garage. I try not to let kid #2 wait in the car while #1 is getting buckled bc inevitably they crawl up to the driver's seat and push all the buttons/pull all the levers while chirping, "drive! drive!" and #1 gets jealous and then *really* won't let me fasten his buckle.

Ok, so now we're all in the car and can proceed to the grocery store. That part is relatively similar to Memphis, I'd say. I still use our double stroller in the store bc they have not quite shown themselves mature enough to handle riding in a cart together if they aren't both buckled in...but they are becoming more and more resistant to the stroller, so I might need to explore other options soon.

Once we have all our groceries and load back up in the car, we head home. Now, we have to reverse the process to get back upstairs from the parking garage, except at this point the wagon is half-full of food that the boys want to take out and inspect. I try to get both of them to squeeze into the remaining space. Usually at least one of them hops out while we approach the elevator so he can push the buttons.

As we get close to our apartment, they remember our neighbor around the corner who has a decorative fountain (no water) with glass pebbles in front of their door. Why, oh why, must you have such an enticing display, dear neighbor? The boys take off squealing and running around the corner while I say, "Boys! Only look at the rocks, no touching! Just say hi to the rocks!" They don't heed my directions, but rather gleefully toss handfuls of pebbles across the hallway. I let them have their moment while I drag the wagon into our apartment, then I go and grab them and return the rocks. They both insist on ding-donging our doorbell before coming inside.

Whew! After all that, it's time for a rest, I'd say!

SoCal: An Introduction

DF, Gus, Gibson and I survived our epic cross-country road trip from Tennessee to California! Wow, that was a long drive - just over 2,000 miles. We arrived last Thursday afternoon.

As is my predilection, I'm analytically observing my new environment and trying to get a feel for the place. So far, I'd say it's quite different than Memphis! Here are some things I've noticed.

Urban living
We're in a big (300+ units) apartment complex in downtown Pasadena. Within a 5-10 minute walk, I can visit countless restaurants, coffee shops, bars, grocery stores, gas station, a park, retail stores, and office buildings. Or, I could catch the light rail train right at our building to go lots of other places in the metro area.

In Memphis, we lived in a single family house on a quiet side street of a residential neighborhood. There was a church 2 blocks over. The closest commercial structure was a gas station about half a mile away. There was a bus line on a nearby major street, though I never did ride it...

I've taken the boys out for a couple walks around the new neighborhood in their wagon. They seem mesmerized by all the people and activity! Actually, Gibson gets a little overwhelmed. As we approached the elevator this morning, he looked nervous and asked, "people?" Yes buddy, we're going to see lots of people out and about!

Diversity
I can't help but notice how many Asian people are in this neighborhood! When we moved from Seattle to Memphis, it was weird to not see Asian people very often. I know there are some people of Asian heritage in the mid-South, but the percentage is way lower than in the greater Seattle area. Well apparently, lots of Asian people live and/or visit Pasadena because I keep seeing them everywhere. I'm trying not to do a double take all the time but I keep thinking I'm in Memphis and saying, "Wow!" in my head.

There are also all sorts of different people here - younger, older, Hispanic/Latinx, African-American, White, homeless, tattooed, pierced, sharply dressed, speaking languages I don't recognize, with dogs in tow, pushing strollers, in a hurry, staring at their phones, ambling with friends, etc. I'm loving it!

Food
Having little kids who don't enjoy sitting still, we're not exactly in a position to explore new restaurants as easily as when we moved to Memphis (where we ate BBQ like 9 times in the first 13 days or something like that!) We have managed to try El Pollo Loco, which I'd describe as fancy fast Mexican food, kind of like Chipotle with more choices. The grownups thought it was tasty! The boys liked dumping cups of water all over the place.

There's a wood-fired pizza restaurant right next to our apartment. It smells delicious. They don't do carry out, though, so we'll have to brave it with the kids sometime when they've settled in to CA life.

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I have tons more thoughts about the move, but they're still tumbling around in my brain at the moment. I'll attempt to distill them in future posts. For now, I'll say that moving is stressful and living in a huge apartment complex will take some adjusting. I'm doing my best to be resilient in the face of challenges. I think that will get easier when the movers deliver our belongings on Wednesday and I'm no longer sleeping on a leaky air mattress...