the bean = wannabe celeb baby

still trying to beat the heat, we headed out to malibu to experience for ourselves the lovely, 30-degrees-less-than-home weather they were enjoying. that's nuts, isn't it? we left home at about 3:30 and 97 degrees, and by the time we got off the freeway it was 68. we are seriously living in the wrong area.

when she got tired of the toys and books she had in the back seat, the bean asked me to show her the "blue's clues" podcast i have on my iPhone. after watching it a few times, she decided to poke her little finger out and play with some other applications. one of her favorites is the "wooo!" button. although she's still a little startled by it and doesn't like to use her own finger to push the button. instead, she either reaches for me to do it or picks a different body part to get the job done.

with the windows rolled down, she squealed and laughed as the wind blew in her face.

we decided to stop here to walk around, stretch our legs, and let the bean run around the playground. lots of celeb babies have been photographed playing in this very spot. yee-haw!

i always wonder why the "M" in malibu is backwards on that sign. and then i always laugh at myself for being such a nerd.

the bean started off slow - the swing was first. i couldn't help but wonder how many other famous baby butts had sat in that thing.

she was a little skeeved out at the feeling of sand beneath her feet, but she got over it as she climbed the stairs up to the slide.

"wheeeeeee!" she said as she went down.

as we stood together, watching her play, the hub leaned over and gestured across the playground. "look! it's brian grazer," he said. and sure enough, there he was, walking along with his kids, with his trademark spiky hair. it cracks me up that, as starstruck as i am, i almost never recognize celebs when we run into them. someone always has to point them out to me.

unlike at the beach last week, the bean decided that it was okay to play with the sand after all. what a weirdo.

"mum! have some sand." she's a giver, that child of mine.

"aw, crap. this shit does not feel great between my toes."

she was feeling quite brave as she tackled the monkey bars. but i guess it helps to know that daddy's there to be your safety net.

i was, like, super relieved to see this sign. because, of course, we would totally have had to go had we not been able to confirm this.

this zebra was rather wonky and leaning to one side, but she didn't care.

we decided to have dinner right there at the mart. i went into the restroom to wash my hands and giggled again at this. so environmentally friendly, those malibu-ans.

this stuff smelled lovely. thank goodness, because it [almost] made up for the the disgusting state of that restroom.

we decided to go super cazh and stopped here to grab some grub.

the super nachos were less than, well, super. they were covered in beans and cheese and other basic stuff, but there was nothing spectacular that would warrant the name. but my shrimp tacos and the hub's carne asada burrito were solid.

we got back in the car and drove around a little, turning into a residential section that boasted waterfront homes. this one caught our eye - it was absolutely gorgeous, with a beautiful courtyard through that front door that led into an awesome looking living room.

as we meandered along, oohing and aahing at the gorgeous homes, the bean started fussing in the back seat. she was bored and tired, and didn't want to be strapped into a seat (who could blame her, right?). but as i passed her things to occupy her, she'd toss 'em right onto the floor. i finally resorted to handing her my iPhone again, because it always works, and asked the hub to close her window. last thing i wanted was for her to fling it out the window. it seemed to mollify her at least as long as it took us to get to the local ice cream shop.

of course, we hit snag after snag from there - one of her shoes was nowhere to be found. we turned the car inside out looking for it, knowing she'd had both of them on when we left the mart. nope. it'd vanished into thin air. we just gave up and just carried her into the shop to pick up a treat, where we spied a "cash only" sign in the window. shit.

"it's a sign," i told the hub as we slunk our cashless asses outta there.

it was getting dark, but we decided to retrace our route after leaving the mart in an effort to find the missing shoe. i just knew that the bean must've tossed it out her open window in her frustration, and we drove slowly, scanning the road for a little lavender croc. because, of course, little kids and teachers are exempt from the "crocs belong on no one" mantra.

the bean was starting to doze off when i saw it, on the side of the road just as i'd imagined. "stop!" i shouted as the hub came to a screeching halt. and while my excitement woke her back up, resulting in loud protests from her, it was worth it. i sure hadn't been relishing the thought of buying her yet another pair of shoes.

and of course, she was snoozing before we even got to the freeway.