“If you see a mouse with red pants on, that’s Mickey!”
— the kid tells me how to recognize Mickey Mouse

We went to the flea market recently. Of course the girls were on the prowl for books and dolls. Check out the video to see what they found.

Music Used:

• “Pretty Blue” from 88 Elmira St. by Danny Gatton

“Hey Daddy, do you know that if you put carrots in your shake for nineteen years you probably won’t need glasses?”
— The first thing the kid says to me on a Monday morning

When I was a kid I’d go with my dad to the flea market on weekends. He was an electrician, so he’d usually be on the lookout for appliances, stereos, TVs, etc. Comic books were what I was usually after, though every once in a while I’d want something goofy, like a unicycle or walkie talkie and my dad would indulge me.

I think that’s where it started; to this day I’d much rather bum around a flea market or hit a few garage/estate sales rather than walk around a mall.

So last weekend, while returning from a Farmers Market, I stopped by the neighborhood Savers with Jill and the kid in tow. And what do ya know, they had fun!

Though I didn’t pick up anything on this particular visit, the girls found a few things that caught their fancy. The kid fell in love with a Mickey Mouse doll and also picked up a dress (she’s wearing it in the above pic.) Jill snagged a few children’s books along with some old albums. Total cost: around $12.

Maybe this is just the start of something. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to hit a few flea markets or estate sales every now and then with the family. I think my dad would approve.

“O-pus and starfish are having a seaweed wedding underwater!” -The Kid explaining why her octopus bucket and starfish shovel were all dressed up.

It was another hot day in the valley so we headed up to the cool foggy city. We stopped at the de Young to see the Balenciaga exhibit before it closed.

Auntie led us up to the observation tower, where we were treated to superb views of the city on this clear day.

Next we checked out the Balenciaga dresses…my favorite was the pink one at the entrance, but as no pics were allowed, you will just have to imagine it. There were so many wearable, beautiful dresses…I wanted several! There was one room of all black dresses and suits…in dark nightclubby lighting, so it was a bit hard to see them, esp. when being tugged by a toddler who loves to tour museums at breakneck speed. Also as we departed I noticed a sign that they had a Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibit (could be upcoming? can’t find it anywhere)…and this Dior dress…sigh…maybe next time. There are lots of great things still to see, we will be back.

When we were up in the tower we spotted a pool with lily pads, so when we got back to ground level we checked out the pool and surrounding gardens. The pool had turtles! There was a family of different sizes, and one particularly cute baby turtle.

The kid and auntie gathered some daisies and dandelions nearby.

After this we strolled through the plane trees and fountains (last time the fountains were dry, so this was a welcome change) and madame was particularly entranced by the smaller fountain which undulated.

But the day wasn’t over yet…next stop, the beach. Auntie took us to a beach that was loaded with sand dollars…it was a nice, calm, gentle day for waves, and we walked barefoot along the beach, gathering sand dollars. What a beautiful day!

We ended the day with a visit at Auntie’s, rinsed off the sand and played with Luna and the kitties. The kid was very proud that Omie let her pet him, now that she has a gentler touch. Having thoroughly tuckered out Auntie, we headed out for the local Trader Joe’s for some travel snacks for the long drive home.

We loved their cart escalator…we could watch it for hours! This reminded me of London…the escalators down into hidden food halls…were they at M&S or Selfridges? They also had the little shopping carts for kids which our kid loved pushing around the store (and into my shins..ouch).

Thoroughly happy with our day out, we cruised back to the (finally) cooling off valley.

“I’ve got loads and loads of selections of money Daddy! But it’s your money!”
— Lucy’s logic for why we can go out

On this day of no labor I made time to hit Savers. They were having a “50% Off All Clothes” sale, so I made sure to head over by 9am so that I could scram before the place got too crowded.

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve actually been going to this particular Savers off and on for over 25 years! I shot the above pic on the left around 1984, when the store was still a Thrift Village. The top right pic was taken this morning.

It’s tough looking at jeans at other stores when I’m so accustomed to getting Levi’s for 5-6 bucks at Savers. And today’s sale made the deals that much better.

Below is a pic of today’s haul. If you click on the pic you’ll get a better view of the captions I added with details on pricing. I think I should be OK on jeans for a while!

“I have to go pee before I go to school because the other kids don’t want their lunchboxes wet.”
— Lucy’s bathroom break reasoning (she and her mom play “schooltime” in the morning)

Some weekend mornings I like bumming around before the girls get up. Today was just such a morning, a nice lazy Sunday (emphasis on the lazy) where I got to tool around with nothing especially pressing to do.

Though I actually needed to run one semi-important errand (get cat food!), my prime directive was mainly to just bum around. Here’s where I went:

• The Sports Basement – my favorite sporting goods store, great place to kill time
• Fry’s – went in looking for an xlr to 3.5mm adapter cable; they didn’t have it
• Lee’s Comics – more time killing; flipped through a few books
• Pet Club – a bag of litter and 24 cans of food for a certain spoiled siamese cat
• Costco – they’re next door to Pet Club
• Keeble & Shuchat Photography – hallelujah, they had the xlr to 3.5mm adapter cable
• Cho’s – lunch: potstickers
• Palo Alto Farmers’ Market – same street as K&S and Cho’s; grabbed some lard for cooking (nice change of pace from coconut oil); mental note: bring the girls here

Here are a few pics of the aforementioned stuff, along with a couple of pics of the “kids” (Lucy and Wubie) enjoying their own lazy Sunday.

One of our local stores has little shopping carts for the kids…Lucy loves it! She pushes her cart around and puts random things in it. If the bunch of bananas needs room, out goes the lettuce. No mommy, you may not put that in my cart!

I try to steer her clear of the other shoppers as she gleefully strolls down the aisles singing. The checkers are always very nice to her too…and point her to the treat box by the door. It’s a great way to shop!

Palo Alto HS Flea Market from Mike C on Vimeo.

Here’s a quick video I took of our trip to the flea market yesterday (May 8th. I get the date wrong in the video.) This one’s held at Palo Alto High School the second Saturday of each month. I like it because it’s pretty small, easy to get to, and is my idea of a “real” flea market (i.e., a lot of real people selling used stuff, rather than outdoor retailers selling the kind of stuff you could pick up at any big box retail store.)

Though the kid was a bit sleepy at the beginning, she perked up once she saw stuff that interested her (toy mice, dollys, wagons, etc.)

I wasn’t looking for anything in particular but wound up with a ball and mitt for $5. From the age of 8-11 I don’t think a day went by where I didn’t have a mitt on my hand at some point, probably pretending I was Campy Campaneris or Willie Mays (showing my age!) The $5 mitt brought some of those memories back when I slipped it on. And it was already broken in too—no need to stick it under the bed post! It’s funny, the stuff you wind up with at the end of the day.

Music Used:

• “How High the Moon” from Chet by Chet Baker

Lucy and I meandered over to Los Gatos to visit a cat store last week. (Funny, that…cats…los gatos…)

Down the street from the cat store, we noticed a curious store that sparkled and shone. It was a candy shop, so of course we went in!

Lucy stood in the entryway, a bit overwhelmed, stunned, amazed, and unable to move. It was a bit of a sensory overload…shelves and shelves of candy, music and movies playing, sparkling tin ceiling tiles, lights, umbrellas, old signs, toys and games, lots and lots of things to look at.

It was a very Willy Wonka kind of place…they even had the movie playing on the back wall.

I found some nostalgic favorites, like the little dots on paper that you peel off, and a curly-whirly for Lucy’s daddy, which is the closest thing left to his childhood favorite Marathon bar.

Powell’s Sweet Shoppe it’s called. Oops, I forgot to get a Wonka bar! Guess we will have to come back…

Mike has been wearing Lucy out and about lately, so I thought I would post some pics. Here they are at IKEA, and they have also been spotted at Home Depot, Target, and various groceries about town. He started wearing her in a carrier when he realized, ‘hey, she’s getting heavy….’ Heavy? not my bundle!