He Said: The first official day of our vacation! Westside Daze (Shouldn't that be Dayz?) is this weekend so we headed down to the parade where it was already a scorcher. It was your classic old school parade, complete with candy being tossed from cars. Well not so much tossed as limply dribbled down the side of the cars by frail arthritic seniors, getting crushed under the tires as kids scrambled to yank it out and parents screamed. Good times. I had never heard of the Subway's Subman, clearly one of the unheralded and under appreciated heroes of our time, but he made quite an impression on the kids. Throw on a mascot suit and kids'll want to hug you. Use that knowledge wisely. Hey, Hero! He's a hero. Sub, hoagie, grinder, hero. I just got that. Well played, Subway. Well played. I thought you couldn't top your subtle and not so subtle insertion into Community, but you've gone and managed to insert yourself into our community.
After that, we went for Pho at Bamboo Chopsticks. Last time there their staff's knowledge and top notch pairing made it a memorable experience and I had been looking forward to going back. Our cups runneth over on that visit. This time, not so much. It was very disappointing. At least mine, anyway. The noodles were like al dente Lipton chicken noodle soup noodles.
After that it was back to P&S, where our hosts made a delicious hamburger supper. It was robust and full-bodied with a hint of whimsy that brought it all together. And then...I dunno. We watched FIFA or something. Oh, we told the kids there would be fireworks, hyped them up all day, then 15 minutes before they were scheduled to start we said "Nah" and sent them to bed. That was cool.
She Said: Thank god for a golf umbrella for shade. I was melting. I don't understand why anyone likes parades. The kids just wanted candy. But why is the thought of getting salt water taffy hurled at you by every third or fourth parade entrant so exciting for 90 minutes. We can't get Ryan to sit all the way though a 70 minute movie. Maybe we have to try giving him candy when he starts to fidget.
Brad is full of inside jokes today. I'll let you in on 2 of them. The good memories of last year's trip to Bamboo Chopsticks are completely about a well stacked waitress. And the robust and full-bodiness of the hamburger supper was a reference to the bottle of Cakebread that Brad bought me for my birthday this year. I was happy to share it with Shelley. It was lovely.
Shelley and Gillian and I got to watch the blooming of her newly inherited Moon Flower in the garden. It was cool. It's like you're watching time lapse photography of a blooming flower but it happens in front of your eyes. Cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEZgrIjf5uk. Better than fireworks IMHO