Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go

All I really wanted was a Bob Evans breakfast and by the time we got out of our room – which was by 8:00 local time but 11:00 according to my tumm) – I was ready to eat Reid’s toes. We found a Denny’s instead and I settled. I had it in my mind that we should find a farmer’s market and so we made a side trip to a flea market at the direction of our waitress. She must have thought we were mixed up in what we asked for. No fresh fruit for me. We did pass by a Target and so picked up some food and a few other things. Reid loves to shop with Aunt Karin. I think that I am too focused on getting what I need and leaving the store while Karin is more laid back.

We started our touring at Birch Acqaurium at Scripps (at University of California at San Diego), which is in La Jolla. The Fodor’s guide pointed out that it’s pronounced “La Hoya”. I’d never thought of the Spanish pronounciation before. I guess I have to less superior about the Windsor pronunciations of “O-let” (Ouellette) and “Peery” (Pierre) streets. We got there just in time for the fish
feeding in the kelp forest. Reid sat cross-legged on the floor, like a little posture model. I wonder if I had good posture at her age? After quite a while, Reid came to where Aunt Karin and I were standing, glistening with sweat. It was so hot and crowded and Reid was looking like she might fall asleep. The fish ate right out of the the scuba diver’s hand. I’m hoping some of the photos turn out well.

To get Reid to recharge, we walked by the acquariums on either side of the darkened halls between the kelp forest and the entry hall, and went outside to the artificial tide pools, we saw many fish, lobsters, sea anemones and the like. We all touched a star fish – pardon me, the sea star, as the staff said – which felt like coarse sandpaper but soft under the skin. Aunt Karin and I touched the sea cucumber, which was squishy in a way that kind of made you skirm, and also the sea urchin, which moved it’s spines to give a hug. The first time I touched it, I was surprised how hard and pointy the spines were but I was still off-centre by the squishy sea cucumber. Reid enjoyed looking at them but wasn’t keen on reaching into the water again. There was a room with low-to-the floor acquariums (is that acquaria?), including one with pot-bellied sea horses and sea dragons – I didn’t know such a thing existed – Reid and I had talked about seeing sea horses and so I was glad that we actually found them. There was a wall with a big under-seascape that had various kinds of fish and sea horses to stick on. Reid had lots of fun sticking them on.

As I ordered lunch at the outdoor cafe, so much is outdoors here just like what I saw when I watched Beverly Hills 90201, Aunt Karin read to Reid in the bookstore. When they got to the table, Reid had a book in her hands. I asked Karin about the book and she said she hadn’t bought it. I took it back to it’s place on the display without anyone seeming to notice. Shwew!

We next went further up the highway to Carlsbad to Legoland. Reid fell asleep on the trip and stayed asleep as we but her into her stroller. We went into the tent sale to buy some Lego but there were so many crying kids in a small space that Aunt Karin went outside again. I chose a bunch of girl-coloured Legos, you know, pinks and yellows, but also grey, beige and brown ones and some in regular colours. We pushed the stroller through a bit of Miniland USA but then I decided we needed to wake Reid so that she would sleep at bedtime. Aunt Karin thought I was mean but that’s the difference between being the mama and being the auntie; I have to do what should be done instead of what Reid wants. I’ve enjoyed the reverse situation with Sulienne, Adam and Shea and so turn-about is fair play. Besides, I was having flashbacks to the Bataan Death March that was Cullen Gardens and Miniature Village that we saw in June 2005.

Reid and I put on our bathing suits and played at Pirate Shores, which had splash pads and mini waterslides. Many of the attractions were based on Lego sets and so weren’t really meaningful in themselves but we enjoyed them nonetheless. The day was warm and sunny but there was a bit of a breeze and eventually Reid’s lips started to turn blue and so we left. It wasn’t cold enough that we walked by the Dippin Dots. Reid and I shared some, though thankfully, I knew that she would want her own and had asked for an extra bowl. I’m not sure what she thought of ice cream micro-balls but Reid ate a fair amount.

We toured a mock factory but it wasn’t clear to me at the end how Legos were built from the raw materials all the way to the packaging. Reid liked the many buttons to push on the way through, though. As usual, I don’t think that I was the target market. The factory tour ended in a store (of course) that had many rows of bins of bricks in different colours and sizes. They sold the bricks by weight, just like in a Bulk Barn. Aunt Karin and Reid built some structures while I shopped. I looked and looked for the little red squares with wheels attached. Finally, I asked one of the cashiers for help finding wheels. He pointed me to a display I had looked at already and so I went back. Still, I couldn’t see them and so I went to him and was explicit about the red-block-with-wheels brick that I was looking for and he said he didn’t those were manufactured anymore. Instead, he took me to bins that had tires and, separately, inner bits. There were car bodies and thin grey squares with axels on them. I guess I shouldn’t complain about assembly-required Legos, eh, but I never would have figured out that those three pieces went together.

We found a display with Lego-instruments that “played” when people jumped on a related circle. Reid had lots of fun jumping and hearing the different recordings. We also stopped to squirt water at crocodiles and elephants and other animals, all built of Legos of course. The game was set up so that the child was supposed to sit on a bike and pedal to get water to flow to the squirt “gun”. Reid is too short to reach the peddles and may or may not be coordinated enough to do so, in any case, she had me and so I peddled with my hands while she squirted. I tired of the game before she did.

About 15 minutes before the rides were scheduled to close, we finally found the fairy tale ride. This was the only ride that I had planned to take and I was a bit worried we wouldn’t make it. We rode in a leaf boat – “A boat, Mama!” – and floated along the water course to see the Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, and the Three Billy Goats Gruff. I’m not sure which of these stories Reid has heard. I’ll have to remember this when I’m choosing books for her next week. After the ride, we headed for the front gate and got only a few metres before coming across the dinosaur dig. I’m not sure how it relates to Legos at all but we stopped to dig in the sand for a while. I resisted the offer to rent a bucket, shovel and paint brush – maybe the tie-in to Lego was the profit – and Karin resisted the urge to say, “I told you so,” since she had suggestedwe bring sand toys with it. Soon, though, we had to get back in the car.

We stopped for strawberries at the side of the road, just like in Essex County in June, and picked up tangerines, too. Then, we were back on the highway looking for a place to stop for supper. Finally, we took an exit labelled “Encinatas” but ended up in a little community called “Cardiff by the Sea”. We ordered a pizza and then got a tea while Reid ran about and the pizza cooked. As the sun set, we bundled into our sweaters and ate the piping hot pizza. Well, Karin and I ate. Reid was too busy. When we got into the car, she realized she was “hung’y” and ate a few bites before handing the  pizza slice back to me and closing her eyes. She was asleep and snoring with her head on her chest in short order. Reid barely roused as we carried her into the hotel and was back deeply asleep before I got back from the bathroom.

It was a long, fun day and we were worn out.