Last Friday I had a date of sorts with my adorable niece Aubrey (aka Aubs).  What a fun adventure this was, her and I, she and me, just us girls getting to be, well, girls!  A trip to the children’s museum where her attention span wavered from exhibit to exhibit, stopping only briefly in the “Vet Clinic” to diagnose a stuffed turtle with high blood pressure leaking from his shell.  She refused to wear the lab coat so I wasn’t sure how seriously to take her diagnosis.  Nevertheless, a little ointment was prescribed to take care of that and we were off again!

What a gorgeous day it was.  Crisp, cool air that seldom graces our Bay Area.  We decided to go play for a bit at Curtis Hixon Park before grabbing some supper.  “Aubs!”  I shouted, “Come over here to this wood slat area.  I want to take your picture.”  She headed over, bopping up and down as she walked, and hopped up on the wood extrusion.  I was crouched down, camera up to my eye and ready to snap away when she suddenly announced “I’m going to be a mermaid!”.  And without missing a beat, girlfriend did it.  She assumed the mermaid position.  Holy. Crap.  I’m totally getting arrested for kiddie porn!  The greatest thing was, she wasn’t posing for the camera at all.  She was just being an innocent little girl playing mermaid and wanting me to join her.  She was beautiful.

She was so free and happy without a care in the world.

We giggled, we laughed.  We played ‘Which Animal am I?’.

And then we ate.  We walked into the cafe at the Art Museum for some hot chocolate and grub.  Aubs quickly took the lead and announced “I want to sit at the table with the chopsticks!” pointing to the wooden coffee stirrers popping out between the colorful row of sugar packets.  As the waiter located rubber bands, I emptied Sweet-n-Low packets to roll up, reminiscing of the little balls of oriental newspaper we used to unravel from our kiddie chopsticks and paper drink umbrellas as kids. 

Chopsticks were made.  Hot chocolate was being sipped.  Our next mission was to find something on the menu that she could eat with her new utensil.  French fries?  No.  Pasta?  No.  Veggies?  Ummm… No.  The poor waiter looked around nervously before making his discovery – Chips!  But wait, she needed a dipping sauce.  Ketchup?  No.  Mustard?  No.  “Ranch dressing?” Aubrey piped up.  Nope!  I got up from the table and looked towards their food prep station.  “Anything.”  I stated.  “Do you have anything creamy or a dressing or anything?”.  He had creamy balsamic vinaigrette.  “Aubs, do you want some special sauce?”  Bingo!

Our day was almost complete.  We still had some skating to do and friends to meet up with, including Uncle Scott and my brother.  Her dad laced up the massive skates and we went for it.

Aubrey didn’t quite grasp the skating concept, instead clutched with a death-grip onto our hands she tried her skills as a skate runner.  Two times around and she needed a break.  Plus, sitting on the side of the rink and making snow balls was way more fun. 

Another great night with great family and great friends.  And when it comes down to it, they are really one and the same.  We’re a lucky crew.