We left home at “0 dark 30″, or maybe it was 3:50 am, and headed to the airport with a girl who decided not to go back to sleep. In the airport garage we discovered that my nifty GoGo Kidz car seat rolling cart-thing didn’t fit onto Reid’s car seat. It’s such a pain to take out and reinstall the car seat that we decided to wing it. Sigh. We gambled and lost. Necessity being the mother of invention and all that, I figured out that Reid’s car seat will sit upright in the basket under her stroller. Ken dragged the suitcase and we got checked in by 4:30. Reid had many hugs and kisses for Daddy and waved as long as she could see him.  With Reid guzzling a 4oz bottle of juice (3 oz is the maximum allowable size of liquids) while we walked up to the security check. The folks there opened a couple of ropes for us and we got right to the head of the line to be checked. Reid and I were metal free and had no troubles. At Customs, I presented our passports and Ken’s letter of consent for me to take Reid out of the country. The agent read the letter fully. I found it reassuring.

We read a bit on the plane to Detroit and then we coloured. The flight wasn’t long and my only moment of concern was when I got Reid halfway to the bathroom and the seatbelt sign came back on. She didn’t like going back to her seat but I was glad for the Dora pull-up she was wearing. She made it to the bathroom in the Detroit airport, though, and was proud of the fact.

As soon as we found Aunt Karin, Reid took her to the fountain while I tried to get us seats together. The fountain was probably the best thing that happened to her by that point in the day. By the time I got to them, Reid’s belly, arms and pants were soaked. Reid had an ear-to-ear grin and a giggle for me when she saw me. At least the chocolate milk she spilled when I was responsible for her had dried ;+) I’m a professional mom-traveller, though, an had a second outfit (but we hung the other outfit to dry on the plane, just in case).

Reid fell asleep before we had even taken off from Detroit and slept the first hour of the flight. The next four hours involved colouring, reading, eating, trips to the bathroom, playing with a toy from MacDonalds and then repetition of these in various orders. Oh, and many “why’s”. Reid is two after all. I think we were all glad to land and get off the plane.

Reid, especially, was glad to move freely outside of her car seat and burn some of the energy she had been holding in. Outside of the San Diego airport in the warm, sunny weather Reid had great fun sliding down the base of column. There incline was steep and the concrete “polished” for speed. Over and over she slid down and had me hoist her back up. This slide was her new favourite part of the day. Next, and soon to displace the slide in terms of wow-factor, we took a shuttle bus to the car rental agency. Reid hasn’t been on a bus since the Carp Fair last fall. It was a *big deal*.

At the first hotel, we dropped our bags in our little room while Reid took stock. There were two twin beds, a small table for a desk and a free-standing closet that all looked like they came from Ikea. Thank goodness we didn’t need to spend much time in the room.

We immediately headed out. It was only 2:30 or so California time and I wanted to try and get Reid’s schedule switched and also I knew I had only two-and-a-half days before I had to go back to “work”. We went to Balboa Park, which has many museums set in a park. We trekked, with many side trips to see plants, trees, benches, etc., to the RH Fleet Science Centre. I was able to get us in with our science centre membership card from Ottawa. Reid enjoyed the kid’s centre with a grocery section, a book nook, a forced air discovery centre. We all liked, or at least were drawn to the Grossology exhibit that covered farting, burping, nasal mucous and acne. It was really gross but also engaging. I hope the photos that we took will do it justice.

We drove around a bit afterward looking for a restaurant. We ended up at white linen napkin place but they agreed to sit us far from other patrons and so we stayed. We had prime rib, potatoes and squash. It was so good! We had also found a Ben & Jerry’s and so we stopped there. It seemed like we should have an ice cream cone on our first day in California.  On the way back to the car, while eating a dripping ice cream cone, Reid was excited to discover an “M” on a store window. I’m not sure how happy the merchant will be with Reid’s finger print but she moves fast and I was jet lagged.

Reid was asleep minutes after we got into the car. She woke briefly as we got to the room and put her pajamas on but not for long. Aunt Karin and I joined her very soon. A little room doesn’t matter as long as the beds are cleared off.