The Linda Family

We have survived This mornings post was posted during breakfast, we’re now approaching dinner time, well, at least dinner time for our east coast bodies.  It’s almost 4:30, and I feel like it’s bed time!  But, luckily the time difference has meant that we’re up early and we were even at Zeum before they opened!  Who would have thought Ashleigh and I would wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, and be some where before they opened for the day?  Not me!

This morning after we ate Wes stopped back at the hotel to look for his packages before we had left the lobby.  We waited around with him and Ashleigh found the video game in the lobby.  It has Astroids and Ms. Pac Man.  She was playing  and having a blast.  Daddy played with her for a while as well.

We stopped back at the room and headed off to Zeum.  We arrived 5 minutes before they opened and joined the line.  It turns out today was their 10 year anniversary and they were doing free admission, but only for an hour at a time.  They also offered goodie bags and trick or treat candy.  Ashleigh was very excited with her bag of M&Ms and even happier that the bag contained a free coupon for the Merry-Go-Round.

We walked through Zeum, but it was hard to figure out what was what through the crowd and insanity.  We hit the claymation center and made clay figurines.  They had wire people shapes and blocks of clay to wrap around the form to make people.  She also wanted to make a mask, so we tried that, but she got bored.  We eventually gave up and hit the merry-go-round, which really was the highlight of the day.  Wes finished what he was doing and came to meet us.  Ashleigh was thrilled to look up and see Daddy waving at her.

After the ride we decided to walk to find some lunch, and Wes was hoping to find the FedEx Kinkos to have some posters printed.   We found FedEx/Kinkos but, they were unable to print what he needed.  We tried Office Depot too, but alas, no luck.  So, back to the room we headed, where Ashleigh was able to watch a movie, and I took a much needed nap.  I haven’t been feeling well, so I was excited to get some relaxing time in.  I also took some photos of the view out of our room.  We’re on the 30th floor, looking out towards the Bay Bridge.

Take lots of stuff for your kid on the plane!  We are safe and rested in San Francisco now.  Ashleigh did amazing on the flight.  We arrived at the airport early so that we could eat and relax and not have to rush at all.  We hit the food court where Ash and I ate at Callifornia Tortilla and Wes enjoyed some Arby’s.  We arrived at the gate early and there was a kids play area where Ashleigh was able to color while watching planes take off and land.  She really enjoyed the planes.  A few minutes later she looked at me and said, “What does C-A-T spell?” So, I said, why don’t you tell me?  Her response? “C-A-T, kuh-ah-t, CAT!”  Guess phonics is working for her!  I was shocked.

On the plane she sat by the window to see take off, she loved it.  The first flight was from BWI to Phoenix (4 hrs 40 minutes), and then the plane continued to San Francisco.  Once we were allowed to get up we got out her markers and coloring book and she colored for quite some time.  She then  played with playdough and we did her school lesson for the day.  We learned about the letter M.  We were ready to do the craft when we hit some terbulance and begain our descent.  So, we decided to save the craft for the second flight.

She handled landing well, though her ears bothered her more than they did at take off.  She chewed her gum and made it through with no tears.  We were thrilled that Phase I was complete!  We ended up on a flight with 3 of Wes’s co-workers, so we spent the “stop” chatting and stretching our legs.  The last leg of the flight from Phoenix to San Francisco was scheduled for 2 hr 15 minutes gate to gate, but thanks to the westerly wind we arrived 35 minutes early!  As soon as we took off Ashleigh curled up with a pillow and her blanket and passed out.  At this point it was midnight to her body and she had had enough.  She slept the entire flight, until half way through descent when her ears started to hurt.  Unfortunately she was out of it enough that  we couldn’t get her to chew her gum or drink her OJ, so she just cried.  She was kind of in this sleeping with her eyes open state.  All in all we can’t complain about how she did.  I was amazed at how easily entertained she was for the first flight, and I was shocked that she curled up and fell asleep on the second flight.

Today Wes is setting up and Ash and I are heading out to Zeum.  I’ll have pictures and fun tales later!