Lovin' the Farmer's Market

I was never particularly interested in farmer's markets until I moved to Southern California. Then I discovered that they're actually REALLY fun. Plus, they're all over the place around here, and many times, they're a pretty big to-do. (One exception: the sad, scrawny little farmer's market that opened several months ago, just about two blocks from our house on a vacant lot. Despite my excitement, it did not last long.)

Our favorite, by far, is the Monrovia Farmer's Market (Fridays from 5-9 PM). Monrovia is a charming town that is about a 15-minute drive from us, and every Friday night, the main street (Myrtle Avenue) is blocked off to make room for the produce stands, craft/retail tables, and food booths that comprise the farmer's market. Here's a recap of one of our recent visits!

This is looking north on Myrtle Avenue, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background:

Weston is a pretty good farmer's market trooper, as long as we keep him loaded up on snacks and free fruit samples:
"Tim, take a picture of me looking at the peaches." (That's how pictures of me usually come to fruition.)

One of the vendors at the Monrovia Farmer's Market is Dolce Monachelli's, which makes these scrumptious, moist bundt cakes and then sells them online and at farmer's markets all over the area. The little ones are $3.00 each, or 4 for $10.00. SOOOOO GOOD!!! (If you're not interested, you MUST at least try their samples!):

At the top of the street, there's a small "family festival area" with a petting zoo, pony rides, and inflatable bouncy structures. We never "pony up" for anything (HAHA), but Weston does enjoy watching the animals from his stroller.

Interestingly, one of the highlights of the farmer's market isn't even part of the market, per se. It's an amazing toy store called Twinkle Twinkle Little Store, which is located along the street:

We ALWAYS stop in there, and Weston is usually content to stay for a half hour or longer. Twinkle Twinkle Little Store is a beautiful shop with lots of higher-end toys (like Plan and Melissa & Doug), and with LOTS of display tables and things that he can actually play with. I love it. I LOVE THIS STORE:

There's even a wee piano:

And a big corner of awesome food/kitchen toys:

Sigh. I love that store. Anyway, that evening we stopped at the Jake's Roadhouse booth for some grub. They grill and barbecue the meat right out front, so it smells SO mouth-wateringly GOOD there:

I ask him for ONE nice picture, and... well, you know what happens:

After we ate, we checked out the live band for a little while:

And JUST as we were about to leave, we spotted this stand:

Holy apple, Batman:

And did we get one? (Is our name Anderson?):

(I've decided that that's how I'll take my apples from now on. Drenched in chocolate, caramel, marshmallow, and nuts until they're twice their original size.)

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to the farmer's market! We were treated to a lovely sunset from the freeway: