Saturday #19 – Manhattan Beach Centennial!!
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars!” – Les Brown
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| Troy with Grandpa Chuck at the Centennial Picnic! |
Recently, I’ve learned that childhood is made up of only 940 Saturdays. As an unapologetic optimist, I see this as 940 opportunities to create lasting, joyful memories for Troy! I don’t want to waste any of the precious time I have with my little man before he’s all grown up, so I’ve made it a personal mission to take each of those Saturdays and make them special! Of course, having a little one makes life unpredictable, and I’ve already learned in just 4+ months of parenting that trying to control almost anything, let alone future events, is basically impossible (a canister of infant formula in my kitchen is witness to that). But, by trying, I can make his childhood fun for him (and my husband and I)!
So last weekend (Saturday #19), we attended the Manhattan Beach Centennial Parade and Picnic at Polliwog Park! After packing up Troy’s bottles, diapers, and plenty of infant sunblock that morning, we stopped off at our favorite deli, Giuliano’s, for some picnic necessities, and arrived just in time to see the tail end of the parade already down the street.
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| The parade…. ending. |
So, we missed the parade. But a lot of people stuck around afterwards, and we had a lot of fun checking out classic cars, and even ran into a police horse! The officer escorting him was kind enough to let us pet him, and he was quite gentle.
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| I should have asked to ride him. I can guess what the answer would be though… |
We then met up with Chris’s parents and enjoyed our picnic of roast beef sandwiches, macaroni salad, orzo vegetable salad, and prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella! To drink, I enjoyed a bottle of sparking water, which is healthier than diet soda (although the event organizers gave out free Diet Dr. Pepper, and I may have snagged one). 
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| Yummy picnic from Giuliano’s!! |
Later on in the day, the organizers gave out slices of cake that had been on display earlier throughout the park! Chris and I shared a slice so that I could stay within my calorie limit for the day – and it was delicious!
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| That’s a big fish!! |
All in all, we had an awesome Saturday!! 
Disclosure: I am currently affiliated with Google Adsense, Amazon, and Healthy Wage, and this post contains affiliate links. All opinions expressed are completely my own, and I am not influenced by any compensation I receive. Honesty is my highest aim.
That does sound like an awesome Saturday … and that picnic has made me hungry now
Troy is lucky to have parents who will definitely show him a wonderful time throughout his childhood!
-Neill
Hehe… Thanks Neill!! Next time you’re up here I’ll take you to Giuliano’s!
Fun Saturday! getting ready for an outing with kids can always be a long to-do list, after 7 years I can tell you it does get easier. Now finding a bathroom as soon the potty trained kid needs it? Not so much
Hehe…
That’s a good point!
Don’t stress yourself out too much. It’s wonderful to set goals, especially to get out and enjoy new experiences – but some of those 940 Saturdays you, your baby, or both of you, will be sick or otherwise in the mood for staying in.
Police horses rock. Looks like a great day.
You make a really good point – the idea of 940 Saturdays isn’t about cramming a bunch of fun into one day of the week, it’s about creating moments with your children that turn into memories. That can be through outings, or just hanging out at home watching a movie!
OMG – I’ve got a new blog post idea! Thanks Beverly!!!