Luke had his first brush with fame today! Perez Hilton was signing his new book at the Mall of America and we were THERE! Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help my saint-of-a-sister, Beth. She met us at the mall and took Vaughn and Luke on rides while I stood in line (patiently, I might add) waiting for my opportunity to meet the "Queen of All Media" himself. Every now and then the three of them would take a break from the action to check in on me (and eat ice cream- just out of my reach!). Once Perez arrived, the line moved pretty quickly. As I got close to the steps leading up to the stage, Beth brought Luke over to me. Unfortunately, Luke hadn't finished off his second cup of chocolate ice cream, so his attention was pretty focused on her (and whether or not the ice cream was waiting for him!). What happened next was quite a comedy of errors.
Luke tried to run up on stage and I was able to hold him back despite balancing books and my camera too. Once it was our turn, Luke did a 180 and decided it would be fun to pull against Mommy and laugh. Clearly he did not understand that time was of the essence and, while the 150 people behind us in line enjoyed a little break in the action, it was really important to keep things moving. I was able to stretch just far enough to set my books on the table and turned to grab Luke. The crowd laughed. I scooped up Luke. Luke screamed (a playful one). The crowd laughed again. I tossed Luke in the air to get a better grip on him and we bonked noses. The crowd laughed harder (I heard some moans of "ooohhhh" too!) while I'm sure thinking that they were about to witness a MAJOR meltdown. Finally, a stunned Luke and Mommy were able to kneel down and visit with Perez. Perez tried to engage Luke in some talking... but Luke preferred to check him out through the web his fingers created over his eyes. Perez guessed that Luke was 2 and went on to say that he likes kids. He also told Luke he liked his outfit (he said nothing about Mommy's faded jeans and old sweatshirt. hmm...) At one point, Beth took a photo off stage which actually turned out pretty good because Perez looked to see what we were looking at. After our picture with Perez, we wished him a good trip to Chicago (where he'll be signing tomorrow) and left the stage to review the photos and finish the remaining chocolate ice cream.
Daddy will shake his head and maybe even scold Mommy for involving Luke in this sickness... but then again, Daddy left Mommy and Luke home alone for 6 days so he could go skiing. I'm thinking this might be a wash. :)
2 comments:
What a day is right! After reading your play-by-play, I think I'd rather be in the crowd watching the action, than center stage with Perez. Remember the time you were on Party Line (TV) with Boyd Christiansen and Verna Newell? No, you probably don't. But I had a flashback to the unpredictable nature of that moment, just as Luke was seemingly in charge of what could happen next. Oh, well, just another day of signing books for Perez...at least Luke and you won't make his gossip column of Hollywood entertainers. He surely enjoyed the touch of real life more than trashing celebrities. I can't believe you stood in line for 3 hours! Poor Beth...having to STOP the scarry ride at the Mall of America to rescue your son...yes, she is a saint! I think Dan will be glad he was skiing, when he finds out.
I think Luke had the ride stopped so he didn't miss a beat of Perez. Let's not let Lukey take fashion tips from Perez though! Mom is a saint too if she shares her book with Tanya!
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