Archive for March, 2007

Books we read, March 31st

Saturday, March 31st, 2007

Reid was like an addict with a new stash when it came to reading. We read early and often:

And then it was over (San Diego, day 8)

Friday, March 30th, 2007

I had lots of plans for this morning, thought we could go for a swim in the pool, maybe visit the historic sailboat moored across from the hotel, that sort of thing. It’s funny that after two-and-a-half years, I still forget that kid-time is much different that regular time. We got up and had a bath. We don’t want Daddy wondering about the sand, sticky treats remains and whatever Reid’s braids have dipped in. He’ll love her one way or the other but it’d be best if he doesn’t stick to her when he hugs her. We finished gathering our stuff. Did I gloat in my last message about having done it last night? Man, we had a lot in the bathroom and stroller!

We went to Denny’s for breakfast. Reid and Aunt Karin pointed out “their” construction site as we walked.  It wasn’t the one closest to the hotel as I had thought. I’m not in the “in crowd”, you know. They had lots of commentary to offer as we walked. Reid confidently pointed to the Junior Slam breakfast that she wanted to eat, “again” as she said. I splurged on a waffle with strawberry sauce and some sausages and bacon. Thanks to Karin’s warning, I knew to eat my sausage first so that Reid wouldn’t get it. We don’t have sausages at home. If ever Reid needs extra calories, I’ll know what to serve. After breakfast, we walked back to the hotel and had time to use the bathroom, make coffee and tea to take with us and checkout. I wasted time looking for a luggage cart before asking the concierge. He sent one with a bell man. Thank goodness I’d found a bank machine and had some money to tip him. He called ahead to hold the airport shuttle because all of a sudden it was 10:30 and we had to hurry. If you’re keeping track, we didn’t swim or tour the sailboat but filled our time with “whatever”. Reid had a relaxed morning and that’s important.

We checked in without too much hassle. And got to the security checkpoint with two unopened cans of pop that we’d meant to drink on the way there. It’s too bad that they don’t have a collection box for homeless people as I watched the fellow through them away. We had too many bags – not enough to justify another bag it seemed at the hotel but to do it again, I would check another one. 20/20 hindsight never fails, does it?

I wasn’t able to convince Reid to run her wild out before we boarded but she was pretty tired without it. We weren’t lucky enough to get Aunt Karin moved into a seat in the same aisle but at least Reid got a seat at the window without me having to beg. Reid and I shared a personal pizza that Aunt Karin had purchased before we got on the plane. It was even still warm, a bonus, eh? As soon as she was finished, Reid fussed a bit. I sang Old MacDonald Had a Farm but then switched to storytelling because Reid fought to stay awake to name the animals on the farm. A quick Three Little Pigs and one time through Mama’s Gonna Buy You a Mocking Bird sent Reid to sleep. She slept about an hour and cried a bit in the middle when the evil lady in front of Reid put the seat back, cutting off Reid’s leg room. While Reid slept, I wrote about yesterday’s adventures and listened to the end of a book on my iPod. As soon as she awoke, Reid noticed the iPod and asked to watch Dora. I handed over the headphones and she started to watch the 60 or 90 second videos I have on the iPod. I’d thought about bringing my laptop on the trip just so I could download a couple of full episodes of Dora, Toopy & Binoo, Roly Poly Olie, etc. We can’t get them through the iTunes store. I may break down and try and buy a movie for our trip at Easter. Reid can’t quite change the selection on the iPod and I can’t be pulling over every 60-90 seconds to set up another video. Even if I had thought to set up a playlist so that they would play one after the other, I think we’d have less than 15 minutes of video. I thought National Geographic videos would be good but there are ones about animals eating other animals and I don’t think I have the words to explain that to Reid.

About half way through the flight, I traded seats with Karin. Reid was happy to have Aunt Karin close but would have preferred to have me there, too. After half or three-quarters of an hour, Reid decided she needed to sit with me again. It’s too bad she can’t understand that Aunt Karin will be far way while I’ll be close at hand. The man in the seat next to me, offered Reid a balloon shortly after he sat down and he told me that he made balloon animals as a hobby. Soon, he was making a potato-sized head with a nose, bulgy eyes and moustache. Then, he gave it a necklace and a neck but decided it looked odd and made some arms and hands. That wasn’t quite enough, though, and he made a body with legs and a belt. The people around us who noticed were quite impressed. Reid and I liked watching him blow up the balloons and twist them and, of course, we were even happier with Mr Necklace as we called him in honour of the man who made him, whose last name was also Necklace.

At Detroit, we got to ride the tram. Reid was excited to ride this red train as well. I was hoping for “fell asleep on this train” but got excited instead. Aunt Karin and Reid played a few minutes at the fountain and I got a tea and then, after a couple of quick hugs and kisses, we were off to the our connection. We made it just as they called for general boarding a few people encouraged us to go to the front of the line. One grumpy fellow didn’t look impressed but he either had to let us in first or wait while we boarded. Reid wasn’t inclined to sleep even though I read to her and was as boring as I could be. She stayed awake, though.

As we were getting ready to deplane (it’s a good word, I had to use it), the man across the aisle asked if he could help with anything. I gratefully handed over my backpack and went to put Reid’s on top of her as she sat strapped into the car seat. He suggested that he could take hers, too. I was too tired to think of the obvious but not him. When I got Reid out of the plane, the stroller was set up and our bags were stowed. Reid, who had neither socks or shoes on since she soaked them at the fountain in the Detroit airport, popped right into the stroller and I got the carseat settled in the basket and we walked the few metres to the terminal. Fortunately for me, the helpful man has stayed close because when we entered the terminal we were confronted with a  flight of stairs to the second floor. He asked whether I wanted the front or back of the stroller. I mumbled something about there usually being someone to let me through to the elevator. He said, “Not tonight. Do you want the front or back?” and we carried the stroller up. He ran back down and got the carseat and asked if I needed anything else. I offered a heartfelt, “Thanks but no thanks,” and he hurried off. He, with one lightly packed backpack, who could have been well past customs already if he hadn’t stopped to help me. What a wonderful person!

The Canadian border security agent was most interested in the part of the letter from Ken that said I could take Reid into Mexico, especially since I hadn’t listed any Mexican hotel. I explained Tijuana was a day trip and we were on our way to grab our luggage, talk to one more border security agent and then -finally – to see Daddy. At that point I was glad we hadn’t decide to bring a second checked bag. It’s probably only 25 metres but I don’t think I could’ve managed with the stroller, my backpack and two bags. Or at least I’m glad I didn’t need to. Reid had many long squeezes and a couple enthusiastic kisses for Ken. I patiently waited my turn ;+) She was happy to see “her” purple car in the parking lot especially, I think, since she thought it had been broken when we rented the car in San Diego. Reid stayed awake until we were nearly home – it was 11:30 Ottawa time, at least and stayed that way as we put her in her bed. It was a big day but there were no major meltdowns (by either of us) and so it was a good one.

The Santa Anas bring good beach weather (San Diego, day 7)

Thursday, March 29th, 2007

On the way back to the hotel Wednesday night, our cab driver told us that the hot weather came when the Santa Ana winds blew from inland instead of the cooler ocean winds. Our newspaper on Thursday told us that those Santa Anas would bring us a fabulous day. And it did. I headed off to my conference and Aunt Karin and Reid went to Denny’s again for breakfast. There were many diversions on the way there. If they walked in front of a city administration building, there was a fountain to admire and if they walked behind it, there was a mini wall between the sidewalk and the garden for Reid to walk along. There was also a row of palm trees along the sidewalk for a stretch. The trees on the right side of the sidewalk were just perfect for a two-year-old girl to hide behind and Reid did hide behind each one as they walked. The distractions on the trip and Reid’s leisurely approach to breakfast, meant that it was after 11:00 before they finished.

After breakfast, Aunt Karin led an expedition by bus to Coronado Island (which is really an isthmus, if I have my geographical terms right for land that is attached to the mainland). Reid slept about 15 minutes on the bus and when she woke up, they went to the beach. The sand was so fine and light and good for sandcastles. Reid got her feet only a tiny bit wet but the water was cold and that was enough for her. When Aunt Karin and Reid went for a walk down the beach, Reid let a couple of kids, who hadn’t come to the beach prepared, play with her sand toys. The other kids were delighted and Reid was proud to share. Reid even had her nap on the beach, laying on her Legoland towel in the sand with a shirt covering her face.

I met them at the Hotel del Coronado once my conference wrapped up. We went back to the beach so that I could dip my toes into the Pacific Ocean, too. Reid sent me to get her a bucket of water to use to build a castle but she wouldn’t come to the water. “Too dold!” I was told. We worked on a castle and buried Reid’s feet and legs, watched planes and helicopters fly over, ran about and had a nice time.

We took a bus back to downtown San Diego and then a trolley (finally!) to Old Town. Reid was excited to be on a train, especially after having anticipated it for so long. We went to a Mexican restaurant, recommended by the transit cop in the part of town that the cab driver had said we should go to. We sat on a patio neat this heater that sort of looked like a lamp but with heat instead of light coming out the top. Aunt Karin didn’t have a coat, since she didn’t take the stroller to the beach and I gave her mine. It’s easy to take the stroller for granted but it really is nice for lugging stuff around. On any given day, we needed shorts and t-shirts but also jackets (and Reid probably should’ve had pants but she sometimes said, “I too hot,” and we didn’t force the issue since she could cover with the towel). We weren’t really thrilled by the food overall as it didn’t seem spicy enough but I had a tremendous steak that I shared with Reid. We took a cab home and were glad that we had done most of our packing in the morning as our feet were dragging. Isn’t that how you’re supposed to feel the night before your trip is over?

Time is running out (San Diego, day 6)

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007

We all ate in the restaurant in the lobby before I headed off to my conference. Reid and Aunt Karin went back to the room for Aunt Karin to take a bath. It’s been a long time since she had a bath while “in charge” of a two-year-old. Reid helpfully dropped a wash cloth into the tub and then not-so-helpfully dropped in a towel. At this point, Aunt Karin suggested that Reid would enjoy watching the tv show that had been on. A few minutes later, Reid was back in the bathroom with an evil smile. Aunt Karin asked what Reid had done. “I dump it,” said my little angel and so Aunt Karin hurriedly finished and got out to mop up the spill. There is no relaxing for the wicked or those with two-year-olds.

The first activity of the day for Aunt Karin and Reid was a harbour tour by boat. They saw many sea lions, including one who was catching and eating fish. Reid’s eyes sparkled when she told me about the boat, sea lions and fish. I wasn’t sure whether she’d find the tour interesting (and the “tour” part never came up from either of the them) but I’m often wrong ;+)

I skipped a couple of sessions and we met up and went back to the zoo. We had a quick lunch, picking up another souvenir bucket and glass for Reid in so doing, and then headed to the elephants enclosure (of course). One of the zoo keepers was feeding a couple of the elephant cows and she got them to do little tricks, like standing on one of the tree stumps. (And something else but I can’t remember because I too tired but will when I see the photos we took.)The bulls and calves are in the Wild Animal Park outside of the city where they have breeding herds of elephants, rhinoceres and other big animals.

Next, we took a bus ride with a very grumpy driver – the first grumpy person we encountered in all of our time at the zoo – to the closest bus stop to the zebra enclosure. After a bit of a walk, we found the zebras, far from the hoof and horn mesa where they belonged. Zebras are high on my list of zoo animals, I’ve got to say. We learned that the stripes on a zebra are as unique as fingerprints. Zebras tell each other apart by looking at one anothers bums. I find the vividness of the stripes to be so bright that they seem fake. Next, Aunt Karin walked us about three steps further up, just around the fake rock of the zebra enclosure, to show us where she had given up looking for the zebras on Tuesday.

We saw the polar bears, one of whom was nice enough to lay against the glass so that we could see it and the other stretched and yawned appealingly. Next, we walked into the Absolutely Apes section and also on the Monkey Trail (which is apparently new but the whole zoo was new to us). These were all interesting to Reid and to many others. The crowds were thick but Reid is short and so was able to work her way up. She called for me to come up with her a few times but wasn’t overly troubled by us being separated. I insisted on a trip to see the tiger. We walked and walked and even stopped some people walking in the other direction to make sure that the tiger was out. Finally, we found him and took our turn staring. Then, we retraced our steps up the ultra-steep path and I understood Karin’s comment about how sore her legs were getting. She and Reid were on the go for at least 8 hours a day and so much of this city is up or down a steep slope. We headed to the children’s zoo and saw some amazingly small pygamy marmosets, goats and sheep for petting and miniature horses, and other more zoo-ish animals. Reid didn’t want to pet anything, “I look, Mama” she said, seeming to want to check if that was acceptable. “Sure,” I said. I’d been thinking how we weren’t able to interact as closely with the animals at The Farm in Ottawa. Reid is glad of the difference, I think. She will carefully pet some of the sheep and goats there but the bars that keep them in make her bolder. By this time, it was about 5:25 and we were supposed to be out of the zoo no later than 6:00.

Did we head for the exit? Of course, we did! We couldn’t get to the elephants if we didn’t pass by the exit. We made Reid sit in her stroller so that we could go faster and we went to see the elephants. After a quick watch check, we decided we’d have time for the kangaroos, and then camels and then if I ran, the giraffes. So I did run. Okay, not Olympic running, though I told Reid that we were going fast-fast and so she couldn’t walk. We got to the giraffes and they are as magical upclose as I thought when we saw them from the bus. I probably saw them in the Toronto or Detroit zoos as a kid but I don’t remember. I snapped a few photos of Reid. We shared our awe of these spindly-legged, long-necked creatures. And then we started back. I let Reid sit at the top of her stroller seat so that she could see into the enclosures as we walked. We had to stop at the meerkats. They are also very cool. The collectivity has specialized roles for individuals, which is interesting, plus they’re cute and alert-looking. We met up with Aunt Karin again (she hadn’t felt the same urge to run for the giraffes since she’s seen them two or three times on Tuesday) and resumed our course to the great egres as PT Barnum called it, saying goodbye as we walked. Our last stop was at a little garden with fish that looked liked giagantic goldfish (regular and Shubumba) as well as a yellow one that was Reid’s particular favourite (but you knew that). It was just after 6:00 when we left. Our feet were glad but our hearts were sad that our zoo-time was over.

We hired a cab to take us to a lovely Italian restaurant. They brought Reid’s spagetti quickly, which was a bonus, since she ate and ate. The lasagna Karin and I ordered was yummy. It turned out that we were just up the street from where we’d eaten the first night and we went to the same Starbucks before heading for the hotel. We were getting low on cash and tried to find a bank machine that would give me money. The Wells and Fargo machines helpfuly accessed my bank balance but wouldn’t let me take any money out. We were walking to get us closer to be sure our cash would cover the cost of the cab ride home as we were told city cabs don’t take credit cards. When we decided we were close enough, I flagged a cab and it turned out that he did take my credit card and we got back to the hotel with money in our pockets.
Reid had fallen asleep in the stroller but woke up to charm the driver, who gave us tips for the best beach and where to get good Mexican food.

It was after 8:00 before we got to our room. So much for my plan to start easing Reid back into the eastern time.

Books we read, March 28th

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007

At the Italian restaurant where we had supper, we read:

Those crazy Canadians

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

This will be familiar to anyone who has visited Florida in February and gone swimming. Last night when we were in Horton Plaza this man exclaimed (no, really, that’s the right word) as we walked by, “How can you *not* be freezing!?” I was wearing a skirt and sandals and a windbreaker, Reid was in shorts an a hoodie and Karin was wearing pants and a short-sleeved shirt. I turned and smiled and said, “We’re Canadian.” He said, “oh” and needed no more explanation.

It made me feel all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic for trips to see Aunt Edith and her family. Not that I remember them first hand but I’ve heard about such trips many times over.

Books we read, March 27th

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

My conference lasted until 6:00 and so after a busy day at the zoo, Aunt Karin had time to read all of the books in Reid’s little bag:

Going to the zoo, take 2 (San Diego, day 5)

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

We called Daddy before breakfast but unfortunately had to talk to his voicemail. Still, Reid gave him a big hug, kiss and vigourous “bye-bye” wave in a message. I don’t know what this sounds like to the recipient and so I narrate what is happening. Daddy called back and Reid had the biggest smile when she heard his voice. They talked a bit and after another kiss and hug, I took the receiver back. Reid realized that she hadn’t waved and I had to turn the receiver toward her while she waved good-bye. Reid offered me good-bye kisses and hugs a couple of times despite the fact I hadn’t said that I was leaving. When I was ready to leave and asked for a kiss, Reid told me she had “did it” already and crawled out of reach. I’m pretty sure she isn’t traumatized from being left with Aunt Karin. Especially since I wasn’t allowed to push the stroller when we walked Monday night nor allowed to take a photo of the three of us wearing foam animals masks. (I read somewhere that you should bring Disneyland memorabilia when you travel so that you don’t have to pay full price for souvenirs and brought masks that I bought on sale so that Reid has some zoo loot. Cheap or thrifty, you decide.)

Reid and Aunt Karin walked to Denny’s for breakfast. Just outside the hotel, Aunt Karin spotted a snail on a low wall and pointed it out to Reid. Reid’s response? “Touch it.” And Aunt Karin helped her to do so. Next, Reid wanted a photo with the snail. Then, Reid wanted a photo with her touching the snail. And then another. And another. Finally they started walking again. About 20 steps later, they saw a cement truck pouring cement into a gigantic bowl that a very larger crane then poured into the building they were building. After the first time, Aunt Karin suggested that they should go. “Just one more time,” Reid said, holding up her finger. (I know just what that looks like; I see it often.) The construction workers were watching Reid watching the truck and crane. I hope they appreciated how cool their machines are. Well, after the third time through, Reid didn’t protest as Aunt Karin pushed the stroller away. At Denny’s they had a leisurely breakfast (sounds nicer than Reid is a slow eater because she doesn’t stay focused on the task at hand, eh) during which Reid ate all of Aunt Karin’s sausage, stealing two off of the plate faster than Aunt Karin could react, and had to take two potty breaks.

After breakfast, they took a cab back to the San Diego Zoo. Their first stop was the elephant enclosure, of course. At Reid’s request, they made two more visits to the elephants plus walked by on their way elsewhere one more time. The saw many other animals but didn’t see the zebras. Despite a zebra image appearing on the zoo map, the zebras were hard to find. After much walking, hunting, reading signs and backtracking, Aunt Karin and Reid took another ride on the guided tour bus since we had seen them on Sunday when we took a tour. Unfortunately, the driver/guide they had wasn’t interested in zebras and so Aunt Karin caught only the north end of a zebra heading south, as they say, and then too late for Reid to see it. When they got off of the bus, Aunt Karin offered to push the stroller back to the zebra pens but, after 6 hours or so of searching, Reid had given up and instead asked to go see the elephants, camels and giraffes again. At some point they bought a cheese and jalopeno pepper-stuffed pretzel. Reid spit out her first bite but persevered to eat a few bites later. Overall, she is an advenurous eater.   Aunt Karin left with the intention of going back another day to see those zebras – they would not elude her! – and also the primates. They hadn’t made it to the children’s zoo, either. They took another cab back to the “new hotel”, as Reid calls it, and read all 11 of the mini-books we brought. I bet Aunt Karin was glad for the rest, she has put many miles, a good deal of them on steep slopes, on her feet the last couple days. I’m glad they had time to read, we haven’t been doing as much reading on this trip as usual and that sort of worries me (I know Reid is getting other stimulation but still …) Ten of the mini-books were sold in a pack at Chapters and are intended for birthday “loot bags” – I hate that term – and are from Annick Press (Robert Munsch’s main publisher). I highly recommend picking up a set for anyone who’d like to have a variety of books without sacrificing much space.

I met up with Reid and Aunt Karin just after 6:00 (my conference has long hours) and she told me that she hadn’t been “Mama’s sister” all day. The first time Reid referred to her, though, she asked if my sister was coming with us. I led an expedition to The Fish Market for supper. The restaurant was pretty close but the winds were so strong that it was a difficult walk. Aunt Karin said that three people had apologized to her for the wind. When we got to the restaurant, which is right next to the USS Midway, we were told the wait would be 20 minutes and Reid was really “hung’y” already, as were Aunt Karin and me. A look at the menu revealed that the dinner entrees would cost at least $20 and so we returned to the pub in the lobby of our hotel. Poor Reid, it was so windy that she laid down in her stroller with her Legoland souvenir towel over her. (What a good investment that towel has been; we’ve dried with it, used it as a sunshade and also a blanket.)

Somehow, Reid tipped her chair backwards and both it and she ended up on their backs on the floor. As I leaned down to pick her up, Reid wimped a bit and held out her thumb for me to kiss it. I don’t know how she managed to hurt her thumb falling backwards out of her chair, but I was glad that that was all the damage that was done. She hadn’t been being rowdy and I don’t know how the chair went over and I’m glad it wasn’t serious because we giggled that Reid’s thumb was hurt. What would have happened if it had been worse? (It’s our mom’s fault that we laugh when people get hurt.) We ordered a veggie plate and sweet potato fries for appetizers. The veggie plate had the biggest green olives that I have ever seen on it. Reid ate three! She also had some fries. I rationalized that orange veggies are good for her.

Reid noticed that the sun was setting and she observed that it would be sleeping time soon. I agreed and she asked, “why?” as she does so often. I reminded her that her day had passed:
* waking up time with Mama;
* breakfast with Aunt Karin (and Aunt Karin’s sausages);
* going to the zoo time;
* napping at the zoo time; and then
* eating supper time.
Reid nodded and I decided that meant that she could see that her day had unfolded as it was supposed to but it was still gone.

As Reid’s supply of restaurant behaviour is finite, we ordered a brownie dessert to go to the room. In order not to get her shirt dirty, Aunt Karin zipped her jacket up before picking up her spoon to dig in. Reid must have had the same goal in mind because she peeled off all of her clothes before *she* picked up her spoon. We all enjoyed our brownie. The waitress was thinking when she packed three spoons.

Too soon, it was time for bed. It’s hard to believe how fast time passes. Some moments pass slowly, like watching the cement truck fill the gigantic bowl again, but at the end of they day it’s still surprising that the time has passed.

Travelling with Reid and “my sister”

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

As we were approaching Detroit, Reid and I were discussing Aunt Karin. Reid asked if Aunt Karin was my sister and I agreed it was true. Reid said, “I love your sister”. Since then, Reid has consistently talked to me about Aunt Karin as “your sister”.  She knows Aunt Karin’s name but isn’t choosing to use it much.

Monday adventures with Aunt Karin (San Diego, day 4)

Monday, March 26th, 2007

Reid and Karin dropped me off at my conference this morning and then went to return the car we had rented. Reid had asked a few times why we had borrowed the car, wondering if her purple car was broken. I explained each time that her purple car was fine but far away. When told that they were taking the rental car back, Reid wanted to know if her purple car was fixed. I reminded her that her purple car was far away with Daddy. She nodded and acknowledged that she knew it was far way. She had to ask, though, just to be sure.

Now the following is hearsay, but I wanted to capture Reid’s day even if I wasn’t there to witness it myself. The car rental company wouldn’t give Reid and Karin a ride back but they did call them a cab. It worked out for the best, though, as the cab that came for them was “lello!” They went back to the hotel to drop off the car seat and pickup the stroller and then started to walk to the firefighters museum and Balboa Park. The walk was mostly uphill and the incline is steep. Reid was undaunted, though, and insisted on walking by herself. After an hour, they stopped to buy chocolate milk. After the second hour, they were almost to the park and it was lunchtime and they stopped for lunch at MacDonald’s. Reid fell asleep soon after in her stroller and Karin rested on a bench. They went to a park with animal sculptures to climb on and sand to play in as well as the usual slides, swings, etc. Reid shared her sand toys with a little boy from Italy. They also saw lots of flowers and trees. As they left the park to walk back to meet me, Karin insisted Reid get into the stroller since they were in a hurry. She wanted the seat put back because she was tired but Karin refused to be sure Reid would sleep at night. During the course of the walk, Reid was talking to herself, “I and Mama’s sister went to park. Mama’s sister saw fire truck.” And so on. For any linguists out there, I only noticed the appearance of “I” where once “my” had been on Friday when Reid first corrected herself. It’s been coming out more and more as this week goes by. I have made an issue out of it, she is sorting out grammar and pronunciation on her own as is normal – and interesting for me to observe. (I had the cutest little white-hair linguistic professor at U of Guelph who taught 36 classes without wearing the same tie twice, I get all nostalgic as I think of Reid’s language development).

Reid and Aunt Karin were outside the conference hotel, which Reid call’s “Mama’s hotel”, when I came out. Reid came running to me and I was reminded how lucky I am to have such an enthusiastic person to love me. I carried her to the nearest Starbucks so that Reid could nurse while Karin had a coffee. Reid pointed out a few chairs and benches on the street as we walked but I was too chilled to stop. It was in the low sixties, I’m sure but I’ve acclimated to the seventies we had over the weekend. Next, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for supper. Reid was quite impressed by the motorcycle popping a wheelie a short way from our table but otherwise didn’t notice the memorabilia. After supper, we went to the Horton Plaza, a mall with “nothing on top!” There were roofs on the stores themselves but the inner courtyard was open to the weather and we got rained on a bit. We went into Macy’s for just a few minutes. Reid put her shoes on so that she could get out of the stroller. For Reid to be be able to reach her feet, I had to open the tray that usually helps to keep her in. As she went to get out of the stroller, Reid slipped and sprawled on the floor. Not missing a beat, she asked what my sister had done to cause this. Reid didn’t believe it could have been her fault.

We split up again at almost 7:30 because there were opening remarks and whatnot for the conference. Karin and I were sure Reid would fall asleep on the walk back – remember I said that Karin wouldn’t let Reid sleep on the walk back from Balboa Park – but she didn’t. Once they got to the room, Reid got into her pajamas and fell asleep watching Antiques Roadshow. I would fall asleep to get away from that show, too.