(Photo taken by Erin)

Today we had plans. We were going to a waterpark in a neighboring town for the tots’ swim, and then maybe we’d check out a local pottery-painting place. It was a warm day, and we were all excited about swimming. We put our swimsuits on under our clothes and stuffed towels, snacks, and sunblock in our bags. It was going to be a fun day!

Well, we all know what happens to the best-laid plans, right?

We hit the road a little later than we wanted, but still had plenty of time to make it to the waterpark before the tots’ swim was over. Then about five miles from town, the car started smoking and we smelled something strange. Hmmm, that’s not good.

We pulled into the nearest gas station and opened the hood. My dad and husband are both fairly skilled auto mechanics, so you’d think I would know my way around an engine block, right? Uh, no. I wish I knew more, but about all I know is how to check the oil and add more wiper fluid. Erin knows a little more, but not much. We poked around and couldn’t find anything glaringly wrong. We thought maybe something was leaking, but weren’t sure. We decided to attempt the last few miles to town.

That’s pretty much how far we got. Just as we reached the first big intersection, the car started smoking again and lost power. We made it into the parking lot of a handy Jiffy Lube where one of the mechanics came out and helped Erin figure out what was wrong while I took an increasingly hot and crabby Annalie (”I want to goooo swimmiiinnng, how much longer is this gonna taaaaake?”) into the air-conditioned office.

Fortunately for us, the problem was relatively minor (a busted transmission hose and leaking transmission fluid). Even more fortunately, Nate the kind and helpful Jiffy Lube mechanic who diagnosed the problem said that if we went to the neighboring parts store and came back with a length of replacement hose, he’d take care of it for us.

That’s what we did. Unfortunately, by the time we got back from the parts store the line-up was much longer and we had to wait a while. The office had free hot cocoa which kept Annalie happy and occupied for a few minutes, at least till she spilled it down her dress. But the wait went on and she grew understandably whinier. The poor kid, we’d promised her fun! And swimming! And water slides! Instead she was getting an interminable wait in a tiny boring office with no toys. Not to mention she had only eaten about two bites of her sandwich before we left the house and was hungry too.

When the car was finished, Nate the Kind Mechanic didn’t even charge Erin for the labor or the transmission fluid or anything! That shining bit of chivalry colored the world rosy for about ten seconds. Then we had to tell Annalie that we had missed the tots’ swim. She got mad and cried a little and even exclaimed, “I’m so da-pointed, Mommy!”

We consoled her as best we could, assuring her we’d be back the next day and that we were disappointed too. I hugged her and told her that sometimes life is like that, you plan and scheme and organize, and still nothing happens like you wanted it to. I know she’s too little to really get it now, but in a way I’m glad things like this happen sometimes. I want my kid to learn how to deal with disappointment now, so when she’s seven or ten or 23 she won’t be throwing tantrums when things don’t go her way.

(Photo taken by Erin)

After I’d buckled Annalie in to her carseat, I dug out the container I’d brought along with the rest of her PB&J sandwich and handed it to her. She inhaled the whole thing in about three minutes flat, and sucked down a bottle of apple juice too, so half of her problem was probably hunger and thirst. While she was doing that, we drove to a cafe and picked up lunch for me and Erin before going to a park so Annalie could at least run around and play before we headed home. Despite the occasional whining and the tears at the end, she really was so good and patient all afternoon considering she was expecting to be going down waterslides, not sitting on a hard chair in a boring auto-shop waiting room. The least we could do was give her some park time.

Annalie attempted to play on a strange sculpture/playground that looked like a giant backbone while Erin and I ate, but it really wasn’t very easy to play on. The more I looked at it the more convinced I became that it was an art installation that just happened to be sort of climbable. Then Erin and I realized that there were a half-dozen yellowjackets buzzing around the table where we were eating, so we decided it was time to move on. Which was fine with Annalie, because what she really wanted to do was go check out the train engine at the top of the hill. We climbed around on that for a few minutes before we spotted the normal-looking playground just over the hill. So Annalie did get to slide and swing a bit too.

But the best part of the day came at the end. We stopped at the store on the way home to pick up a couple of things. While we were there, we noticed their summer clearance items included a couple of wading pools. It turned out one of the pools was on clearance for only $4! Of course we bought it. Annalie was so very happy that she was going to get to swim today after all.

What’s funny, though, is that even though many things went wrong it was still a good day! We got to hang out with Erin, which is always fun. The car had problems, but they weren’t serious and we got it fixed with relatively little hassle and no money spent! We tried a new cafe and ate yummy food, we saw the campus of Erin’s school, we got to explore a new park with interesting places, and we got to swim. All in all, it was a good day, even if nothing went according to plan.

There are plenty more photos on Flickr in the photoset Visiting Erin & Rocco.

Annalie and I have been having a blast in Oregon so far! Did I mention that we were going to Oregon? Hmm, maybe I only twittered about that.

So…we’re in Oregon! We came to visit our good friends Erin & Rocco, whose wedding cake I made last fall. I was glad to move back to California partly because we would be on the same coast as them for a while. One of the biggest reasons I didn’t go to BlogHer even though it was happening in my state was because I decided I’d rather spend the money to visit Erin & Rocco.

I think I made the right decision! We’ve been blowing bubbles, cooking & eating great food, playing with the cats, going to the park, playing board games, and just hanging out and talking. Is there anything better than time spent with good friends you know so well that it doesn’t even matter if you haven’t seen them in a year?

While we were in Portland on Saturday we managed to meet up with Rhi, who won The Great Gumball Giveaway last spring. Since I’d just painted a dotty plate for her, I delivered it in person, and she was sweet enough to bring a hand-knitted snake for Annalie (which she promptly christened “Pinky Pretty Snakey” and has been carrying around ever since). Rhi suggested an excellent place for lunch where I ate the best mac & cheese of my life, and then she took us to the Saturday Market and we wandered around for a while. It was typical of all my internet meetings thus far, which is to say it was totally great! Rhi, I look forward to seeing you again next time we’re in Portland. (You too, Kerri!)

Would you believe all of this was only our first day in Oregon? I have more photos from today but have barely even looked at them yet. I don’t know how much time I’ll be spending online the rest of the week. If you don’t hear from me it’s because we’re too busy with all the mini-golf and Scattergories and going to the park and looking at photo albums and chasing cats and picking Asian pears and drinking homemade beer. Cheers!

Tonight when we went to dinner, Annalie chose purple socks, pink polka-dotted Converse sneakers and a sombrero to wear with her pink-checked skort and magenta t-shirt from the Omaha Zoo. I guess most kids her age don’t have a grasp on the finer points of complementary colors and matching solids to patterns. But it seems to me that Annalie is just one of those kids who has her own unique sense of style.

I have a fairly vivid memory from when I was about Annalie’s age, of my mom explaining to me that most people don’t wear two different patterns at the same time and that usually people tried to wear colors that sort of matched. I think I tended to listen to that kind of thing, mostly because I didn’t want people to point and laugh at me. I was very big on not attracting attention, and with my waist-length blond hair and a younger brother who looked enough like me that people often asked if we were twins, I already got more attention than I wanted. If wearing jean shorts and a red shirt meant less attention than plaid shorts and a striped shirt, well, you can guess which one I’d choose.

When Annalie puts together an outfit that’s unconventional, I try not to discourage her fashion choices. Even though it’s not what I would choose to wear, she is her own person. “They’re my clothes,” Annalie often reminds me. “I can pick which ones I want to wear, can’t I?” I try to let her choose what she wants to wear, as long as she doesn’t want to grub around in the dirt in her church clothes or wear the dress with chocolate stains to a wedding.

Sometimes when Annalie wanders into the room in a new outfit, I’ll mention off-handedly that most people probably wouldn’t pair, say, purple-checked shorts with a yellow-striped shirt. She invariably assures me that she doesn’t mind, she likes it that way.

I’ve written a bit about Annalie’s fashion sense before. I have taken many photos of her while thinking, “I have to preserve this outfit for posterity!” So I decided it was time to start a set on Flickr for Annalie fashions, to gather together all the photos of her fun and/or funky outfits. Who knows, maybe someday she’ll become a famous fashion designer and I’ll be glad I have all these photos in one place.

Or maybe they’ll just be fun to tease her with ten years from now when she won’t wear anything but the coolest new trends!