Travel Pleasures

We struggle to keep Iain entertained when we fly. Restaurants work ok sometimes. Other times he resists.

But hotels? Iain likes hotels. He likes the beds. He likes the cleanup services (especially having his bed made while we're out). He likes mini-fridges and pools and hotel restaurants and the Do Not Disturb sign.

San Diego changed none of this. He liked it. Teddy liked it, too.

Whee!

Just booked a week in Maine this summer. So excited to be back in the Land of Lobstah.

So We've Been in San Diego (Stay Classy)

 The view from our little sofa on our little porch on the lawn. Iain gets up every morning, opens the sliding glass doors and out he goes. It's chilly, though, so his morning sun bath lasts about five minutes.

We visited the New Children's Museum. This is nothing like those museums full of grimy toys, supposedly science-oriented but actually a great place to lick something revolting that some other kid sneezed on.

It's an art space, designed around a theme by local artists. I presume it changes. When we visited the theme was food. So this rainbow bouncy caste appeared, on the outside, to be composed of fruits and vegetables. They also built a recording studio in which all the instruments were kitchen tools. The drum kit looked completely authentic but...it was pots and pans. Fun.

The museum reserves outdoor spaces for truly messy activities. Upstairs, a fountain of soap that you can use to make huge bubbles. Downstairs (seen above),  a paint area and a clay area. For the paint, you take a huge brush, dip it into a bucket, and slop some paint on the tractor. It's an homage to the farm, apparently.

The clay sits by a "cake and cupcake" making area. You make pretend sweets, then set them on 3-tiered cake trays in the sun to dry.

Did I mention that this museum has sinks and soap everywhere? Yeah.

You can't visit San Diego without admiring its zoo. We spent most of a day there. HUGE doesn't really describe it. We walked half the zoo, then popped into a "4-D" theater for a film (4-D, in case you didn't know, means they spray water on you and jiggle your seat. Joy.). After that, a short gondola ride across the park (horrible if you fear heights. Ahem.) and a long bus tour. The bus proved how little we'd actually seen so far but by the time it ended we could hardly contemplate another step.

So next time: koalas, pandas, elephants, wolves, and all the other things on the east side of the park.

Yesterday, we returned to Balboa Park to visit the Model RailRoad Museum (wonderful, though a testament to a hobby that is clearly dying), the Temken Art Museum, and the Prado. 

Today, we decided to drive up to La Jolla. UCSD's Scripps Center for Oceanography boasts a lovely little aquarium, just right for Iain's age and attention span. At the gift shop, Iain insisted he HAD TO HAVE a book that examines the insides (organs, bones) of sharks. So. Proud.

After that, lunch in La Jolla proper and a visit to the beach. Above, and below, Charles and Iain checking out tidal pools. At the aquarium we learned about them and here the menfolk spent a happy hour observing sea anemones, crabs, and leetle teeny fish.

As for food: Japanese, Italian, California, Mexican, French, and plenty of Diner (our favorite, now and always).

Tomorrow we return to the mountains. I've missed them. Here, beautiful as it is, I look around and think, "What's wrong with the sky? It's so...empty."



P.S. Last night, Iain read *to us* from Beatrix Potter. Joy.

Preppy Forever

 

You can take a girl out of the South. But we all know you can't ever erase the cultural norms she learned there.

Pearls: check.
Plaid: check.
No white after Labor Day: CHECK, DAMMIT.

And weejuns. Barefoot, y'all. No socks with your weejuns. That's nasty.

Today, I received a lovely new pair. First pair since my beloved bought-at-16 pair (I wore those for almost 15 years but eventually a hole appeared in the sole). I'm wearing them right now and plan to keep wearing them for the next 15 years.