1.75 for 3 on the weekend

This past weekend, the Chandler family attempted new and unique things to spice things up a bit. Here's how that went.

Friday Night - Forest Park Balloon Glow

At the last minute on Friday, we decide we'll take Milo to the Balloon Glow at Forest Park. Supposed to be really cool -- a huge lot of hot air balloons glowing in the dark, followed by fireworks -- but also really crowded. So we decide to take the MetroLink (aka, Milo's "choo choo kain"). Their website says it'll be about a 15 minute walk through the park. Yeah.

What they FAIL to mention is that the 15 minute walk entails basically playing Frogger (remember that arcade game?) across an insanely busy city intersection, entering the park alongside the miles-long trail of cars with no sidewalk, going down a hill, around a lake, back up a hill, across a golf course (complete with sandtraps), down this hill, then back up another hill. All in the complete dark with no sidewalks or pavement while pushing a 35 pound child in a stroller.

So, as we crest the final (very steep) hill, the very first balloon Milo spots is the ginormous Energizer Bunny. To which he responds, "NOOOOOOO!!!! Go back! Go back to da kain (train)! Go back to Yi-wo's (Milo's) house!" Being the sensitive parents we are, we push the dadgum stroller over to the other side of the Balloon Glow so the stupid Bunny is out of sight. But is that good enough? No. Of course not.

We try to unbuckle Milo to hold him while we got closer to just the regular, pretty hot air balloons. "NOOOOO!!! Buckle up for safety! Yi-wo not get out!" Right about then, some friends from church just happen to walk by us -- they'd already been in with their kids, and were walking back toward the MetroLink. So we decide to just cut our losses for the night and hike back with them. At least we had company. But before we left, I did manage to snap one photo for posterity:

Saturday Morning - Affton Days Parade

The next morning is the annual Affton Days Parade. (Sidebar: I don't really get how they call it "Affton Days" when it's really just one day. And not even a full day. But I digress.) The parade route begins just down the street from us, so we walk the block or two and stand along the sidewalk.

All is hunky dory. Milo's getting candy, and watching the cars and marching bands. He's a happy kid:

Then, disaster. All due to somebody dressed in a stupid horse costume (sorry, no picture of that). Milo took off so fast, it was just like in the cartoons -- the only thing left next to me was a puff of smoke! It took several minutes for Aaron and I to calm him down and convince him that the scary horsey was gone, and we could go back and watch the rest of the parade. Which Milo did. From an extremely safe distance about 8 feet from the road. (But I will say, there were some extremely nice people who became Milo's candy proxy and kept him stocked.)

The very last thing in the parade were two school buses. And, of course, some man just happened to climb on board one right in front of us. Then the parade stalled out, and the buses stopped right by us. Which, naturally, should mean that Milo can just climb on board, too, right?

Needless to say, Aaron and I took turns carrying Milo back to our house as he sobbed, "NOOOOO! More parade! More cool (school) bus! More horsey!" >:- (is that a frustrated face?)

Monday Night - PAT Bus Ride to the Park

Well, since the weekend was such a bust, we'll include Monday in there. This one, though, was a surefire hit -- Parents As Teachers Bus Ride to the Park. Milo FINALLY gets to ride on a school bus! And, yes, we were the first ones on the bus every time. ;) (Oh, and that big ice cream cone is in front of the elementary school. But don't ask my why.)