The Adventures of Luna & Celeste: The Taco Truck Challenge

Water Tower - Volunteer Park, Seattle WA
Photography by J. Buist

            It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The flowers were all in bloom and the trees were covered in beautiful green leaves. It was a perfect day for a stroll. My mum heard about an event going on in the city; something called the "Taco Truck Challenge" and she gathered everybody up for a trip into Seattle. Daddy and big sister, Jade, came, and even Auntie Ali! Of course, we couldn't go on this adventure without Celeste. She's my princess dolly that comes with me everywhere I go. We all fit in one car, perfectly snug and happy as a Pug in an Ugg!

            I fell asleep on the drive into the city. After all, I needed my rest for such an adventurous day. When we finally got there, Celeste nudged me awake just as momi was parking. I awoke with a big yawn and an even bigger smile. After a quick dieppe change and a check to make sure everyone had all their stuff, I was locked into my stroller, Celeste under one arm and Hootie, my owl blankie, under the other. The stroll to the park was really pretty. We walked under big trees, by giant bushes and I saw a lot of beautiful houses. Auntie kept stopping to take pictures of all the things she saw. Celeste and I just lounged in our stroller, taking everything in, one pretty thing after another.

            When we finally got to the park, I heard momi and auntie talking about how they had never been to this place before, and how gorgeous they thought it was. Celeste noticed a tower in the distance and she asked if it was a princess tower, but I had to tell her I didn't know, because it was my first time at this park, too! The park we usually go to has lots of doggies and smells like wood. I tried asking momi what it was, but I don't think she understood what I was saying. She just looked at me and smiled, told me I was cute, and we kept walking.

            There were so many new people around, but none of them stopped to talk to momi or daddy or any of us. They just kept walking and talking with other people. Some of them had strings coming out of their ears! Those people didn't talk to anyone. A lot of the people we saw had on the same shirt. It was a pretty color green, like my green stars that hang in my crib. Maybe all those people knew each other and came to the park together; maybe one big family! We didn't have on a pretty green shirt. I was wearing a new outfit with pink hearts and a blue bow and my cute blue pants. Momi likes them because they have ruffles on the butt. She calls me "ruffle-butt" when I wear them, and I don't mind because it makes her smile so big.

            As we came closer to the park, I started to hear music being played. It didn't sound like the music momi plays on the music machine, or when we're in the car. It was more loud and jumbled together. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not, and before I could, we were entering a really big building. I heard momi exclaiming how beautiful the building was, but it didn't look very pretty to me, not until we got inside. On the inside there were these pretty dishes and other dining items, but they were all behind an invisible force field. We couldn't touch them, but at least we could see them. Celeste told me she liked the ones that looked like they could hold our food. I liked those ones too, and I wondered if any of them had food in them. We didn't stay in the building very long. Momi, daddy and auntie "Oo'd and Aw'd" over the dishes for a bit, but then I heard momi talking about getting tacos.

         

5th Annual Taco Truck Challenge
Photo by Ali B - 2015

   I didn't know what a taco was, but I did remember momi saying that we were going to a "taco truck challenge", so I figured maybe it's a new kind of car, or truck. We left the building and went back outside where the music was. Then I saw all the trucks! None of them were like daddy's truck. They were all loud, had one big window that someone was standing at handing out food, and they were all smoking! Not only that, but there were so many other new people, dogs, smells and sounds that before long, I didn't know where I should look and I think I got a little overwhelmed because I started to cry. Celeste was right there with me, crying and saying how noisy and smelly it was. We wanted to get out of there!

            Momi must have heard us because before I knew it, I was lifting through the air and being hugged closely to her. She told me everything was "ok" and not to be scared, so Celeste and I stopped crying and just looked at everything over momi' shoulder. I liked it better this way. I could see more, and it didn't feel as loud being so close to momi. We ended up going to sit on the grass and momi gave me some food. I guess daddy, big sis and auntie went to go get momi food, because they came back with these saucer things with really yummy smelling foods on them. I finally learned what a taco was. Apparently they are delicious! And you can have them with rice and this mushy looking stuff daddy called beans. Momi ate her food so quick! I guess we were both hungry. Celeste didn't eat anything, but she usually doesn't. I think she eats the air, or maybe what floats around in the air. I've tried to share my bottles with her, but momi usually puts her in my swing while I eat, but this time, since we were outside, she just put her in the stroller until we were all done.

            After we all ate, we went for a walk. Momi put me in the pouch thing she sometimes attaches to her. I like it because I can just hang there and look out. And sometimes I even pretend I am the one walking. Daddy and big sis went up the hill, while auntie, momi and I went down. We walked around this big, big bowl thing. It had very little water in it, so it couldn't have been a bath. Momi and auntie were talking about what they thought it might be, reading these boards that were attached to the wall keeping people out. I guess the bowl was not for people to use. There was another tower at the further end of the bowl, not the same tower Celeste and I saw when we first got to the park. This one was smaller and a lighter color. I heard auntie say something about "don't feed the birds...keep drinking water clean". I didn't know what it meant and neither did Celeste, but it sounded like momi and auntie knew. Maybe the bowl was just for the birds. I didn't mind not knowing what the bowl was for, I was happy being with momi and auntie under the sun and big trees, walking around the bowl.

Daddy, Momi, Sis and I
Photo by Ali B - 2015

            We circled the bowl and walked up to where daddy and big sis were waiting. There were lots of other people around, but they weren't talking to daddy or sis. They were taking pictures of each other by this big round thing. Momi said it was a piece of art, but it sounded like auntie didn't think so. Still, daddy, momi, big sis and I stood in front of it while auntie took a picture of all of us. After that, we started walking back to the car. We came upon the big tower that Celeste and I saw at the very beginning of the park and saw that it really did look like a princess tower! But all we did was stop so momi could take a picture, then kept on walking. I was so tired from our little adventure that I fell asleep as we walked back to the car, happy to be snuggled up with momi, and dreams of the day when I would be able to try tacos for myself. 

Photo by Ali B - 2015