That kid of mine

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Quinlynne & I flew to California to spend the holiday with family out there. My dad's sister (Aunt Di and that side live in Bakersfield.) Quinlynne had never flown before. It is strange to me how many things my child has not done, because I had done them by her age. My dad was a small aircraft pilot- I had flown, ridden motorcycles, gone boating, been in semi-trucks, etc. SO- for some ridiculous reason, one cannot fly directly from Tulsa to Los Angeles nonstop- at least not without paying an astronomical fee. We flew from Tulsa to Dallas on one airline, then Dallas to Phoenix & Phoenix to LAX on a different airline. Quinlynne and I get belted in on the first place. Quinlynne started to cry because she was scared. I wanted to get on to her b/c I was not gonna be that parent of the annoying child. She quieted down though. We took off, and Quinlynne loved looking below us. When we got above the clouds she said "Momma, it's beautiful! I can feel God!" It almost brought tears to my eyes. But then I thought "ooh- I hope she doesn't know something we don't know! They say kids can sense it first!" lol She did very well until our last landing coming into LA- her ear would not pop and she was crying. I can't blame her.

Quinlynne hadn't ever really been around that side of the family. Before we got there I tried showing her pictures of people and telling her their names. She was a little stand-offish, but I knew she'd warm up. One of the cute things she said while we were out there: Aunt Di was talking about something and she said "Well, hip hip hooray, Quinlynne!" Without missing a beat Quinlynne said "hip hip hoo bee!" I was in another room and heard it and was laughing to myself.

While we were there we drove to the coast. The family lives in Bakersfield, so it's a couple of hours to get to Pismo Beach. The drive there includes passing many, many, many oil well sites. We stopped for a pit stop at a little general store/restaurant/who knows what else and Q & I were walking to the restroom. On the way there is a pool table. Two guys who work the oil fields were in the midst of a game. It was like it was happening in slow motion.....Quinlynne walked right up to the table, picked up a ball & started to put it in the pocket. I yelled "NNNNOOOOO!!!!!" The guys just laughed & said it was ok, but I was nervous there for a while. "Tourist & daughter slaughtered for ignorance"

I will load pictures later.....but Quinlynne saw the ocean. We drove out on a pier and were able to see some sea otters. Quinlynne loved it. I'm so jealous of all that fresh seafood. Seriously- my mouth is salivating now. I had fresh clam chowder....I will never be able to put the gruel called calm chowder in this landlocked state onto my taste buds again. It was quite chilly and the beginning to rain when we were able to walk on the beach. The tide was out so Quinlynne wouldn't walk all the way out to actually stick her feet in the ocean. Wimp!

Anyhow- I'll attach pictures later....