Well this really is about the Academy of Science. And about buying good shoes. And about two small island people in the big city. And about decisions, good and bad. And about accidents.
Yesterday we went shopping for shoes. We tried **all** the girls running shoes. With and without princesses, blinking lights, pink and white or pink and brown, with bows and ribbons and other cute thingies… but none of them seemed remotely like a sports shoe – Adidas, Sketchers, we even tried the Nikes. I let her run up and down in the store and got confused stares from salespeople and customers. When we were through we tried the boys shoes, and the 3rd pair there we both liked. Of course we needed to also get blinking princess shoes, she wore them for the rest of the evening… at least they were cheap. A lot cheaper than the boy’s shoes…
Today Leilani wanted to go to the museum. The one with alligators and snakes. The one that’s bigger than the one with the dead otter (the Kauai museum). We had slept in, and it was almost 9 by the time she finally sat down for breakfast. She ate 1/2 a plum, 1/4 pear and a little piece of bread and that took about an hour, while I cleaned the kitchen, fed the cats, ate breakfast, took a shower and put away the contents of a box or two. Then she got dressed, all in pink and I expected her to wear the new princess shoes and set them out, but she took them and put them away, neatly where they belong, and got the black boy’s shoes. She knew there was a lot of walkig involved. Smart kid. … by the time we were out the door it was past 11:00.
Leilani kept talking, very excited to be going into the big city. I had a hard time focussing on the road and answering all her questions, by the time I realized I had to change lanes it was too late. I drove on 101 – the freeway of my nightmares – I got off at the first exit, and rather than get back on (and possibly drive all the way to San Jose before I could get back off) I decided to go across on the big Ocean Avenue. Bad Idea. Trafic was horrible, and it took forever. When we got back on Highway 1 traffic stayed slow, it was almost 12:00 and Leilani needed to eat. NOW. OK, I knew a really good vegetarian restaurant close by and after only a few more minutes we found great parking. Unfortunately while feeding the meter I noticed it was truck only parking, a few more rounds around the block and I found real parking. Food was good, fresh, healthy and Leilani liked it.
When we got back to the car I thought we should just leave it and walk. But would the new shoes really be good? It was 2 miles or so, and I was not too sure about Muni buses and had no change anyway… I decided to take the car. Bad choice… traffic got worse, and the garage in the park was closed. No parking anywhere. I drove full circle, all the way through the park, along the north side, back onto the same road that we had parked on before, and found parking about a mile from the museum.
The new shoes held up great. I had to jog to keep up with the running Leilani. We had fun and I started to relax. we were faster than the cars… but then I saw the lines. I remembered Yali’s words. Don’t go on a Tuesday… Oh no. Andy says: and nobody remembered today was a school holiday (Veteran’s Day in the US). Leilani, we could go to the pond and feed the ducks… Or to the beach… OK. We bought a membership (pretty short line) and then got in the member’s entrance line (even shorter) and it took less than an hour to get in.
Inside was a zoo. It was crowded and loud – Leilani didn’t mind a bit, but I did. Lift me up, lift me up she called at the rattlesnake exibit – and I noticed she was all wet. What happened I asked – nothing – why are you wet – Leilani switched to German – Ich hab mich angeludelt (I peed myself) – she proceeded to tell me we had to stand in line for too long and she did not want to loose our spot and we could not leave the line – so she had just peed there – Bad choice.
Leilani’s biggest worry was that I would just take her home, I was pretty angry. Fortunately I had made a good choice – bring a backpack with a change of clothes. We stood in line again, this time longer – they don’t have members only toilets. I changed her clothes, staring at a sign informing me that this was a water saving toilet, while the darn thing flushed about 17 times, every time we moved. By the time I had finished changing her clothes I had to change my shirt too, I was drenched in sweat.
I decided to let it go, and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. Leilani ran around and bounced like a little rubber ball, weaseled through small openings between people to get prime views and really liked the place. We left when they closed, and I only had to carry her 2 times for a block or so…
Alligators! Albino Alligator!
Near closing, when it was much less crowded, Leilani wanted to take this picture of T-Rex for Benjamin, because he would like it so much (I think it’s the first time Leilani has seen a real dinosaur):
Leilani drew this on her chalkboard last night. It’s one of the rare times she makes eyes and a smile; she said it was a fish:
