Play date

I hooked up with my friend Linda and her daughter, Li En, a week ago. We decided to meet at the Long Beach Aquarium which was a good midpoint destination since we live about an hour and a half from each other. In usual fashion (although you wouldn't know it from the picture) we decided to meet on a Friday. I swear I have no grey cells left in that cavernous brain of mine. Every day camp in the greater Los Angeles area had decided to have a field trip there that day. It was insane. The place was crammed like a can of sardines. I squid you not. When you purchased a ticket they gave you an appointment time for later on in the day to try and pace the ebb and flow out of the aquarium.


Of course, we disregarded the appointment time and dove right in and, once there, Makena wanted to go left and Li En wanted to go right. One wanted to see the jelly fish inside, the other, the sharks outside. I had brought along, Daisy, one of Makena's older friends because it just wasn't going to be a challenge to lose one child in a crowd. Why not go for two? Heck, three! Thankfully, seasoned from my Asia trip, I didn't lose too much sleep when I momentarily lost sight of my girls. Linda was more stressed about it so I knew she would make up for my slack. I also took out my pen and tattooed the three girls with my cell phone number on their forearms... just in case.

Li En and Makena were both from the Qianjiang SWI, both born a week apart. They were the same height, had the same skin tone and hair coloring and the same energy level - although Li En was a better listener by far and had not learned how to do a fake smile. Other than that, the girls hit it off famously and had a great day together. Linda did mention at the end that we should meet in a park next time.

A relaxed play date. What a concept.

Is - a - considering it.