A few days ago the screw on my frames came loose and my lens fell out. When it happened I felt like the Burgess Meredith character from the Twilight Zone episode, "Time Enough At Last". My first thought was, "Oh no! I can't see! How am I going to get home?" I ended up driving with just one eye open (out of the one remaining lens) and got home safely. But it's been a major hassle not to have glasses. I mostly wear contacts during the day, but glasses are more convenient and comfortable for nights and mornings.
After we got my glasses fixed, we went to the food court and got lunch from the Korean restaurant. You can get bibimbap there and dukbulgogi (marinated bbq chicken) with rice and kimchee, and even soontofu.
Astrid will eat almost anything but lettuce. She loved veggies, but with lettuce maybe it's just the consistency that she doesn't like.
Walking through the food court. 
Off next to the farmer's market.
7th & Fig has a small farmer's market every Friday. When I used to work downtown they had more merchants participating. Today it was pretty empty with just the florist, popcorn stand, and the dried fruits/nuts guy there. With summer in full swing, it wouldn't surprise me if lots of people are on vacation.
Admiring the pretty flowers.
Smelling the roses.I've tried explaining to Astrid that Mommy's name is Rose like the flower, but I don't think she gets it yet. To her I'm just Mommy.
It's funny because she hears me call U. by his name and she'll repeat his name out loud and then look at me in a puzzled way and say "Papa?" It's like she's asking, "Why are you calling Papa something else? His name is Papa."
Next we went to the toy store upstairs.
Astrid fascinated by the stuffed dog in the cage.
Another toy store with a train set. I guess it's the thing now with Thomas the Engine. And not a bad thing in my opinion. There's something very charming about trains and their long history.Whenever we pass by a train Astrid will point to it and shout, "Choo choo train!"
She had fun playing with this musical footprint pad.
Playing with the electronic keyboard.
Astrid seems to always be drawn to keyboards. Whenever she sees one she'll run over to it and want to play on it. I'd like to get her a piano to play with. It's a shame that my piano sits in my parents' front room, completely out of tune, collecting dust and no one plays it. It's just another decorative piece of furniture now. 
On the 3rd floor, at street level there's a nice outdoor patio area with trees and grass that we played on before heading home. 
Astrid finds it so funny when I catch her picking her nose.
Probably because whenever I see her doing it I say, "Astrid don't pick your nose. If you've got something in there, let's get a tissue and get it out. But please don't pick your nose." I guess she does it to get a rise out of me, and if I ignored it she'd stop doing it.
A mother/daughter feet in the grass pic.
Between the parking structure and the mall is this big empty lot filled with trash and debris. Someone needs to clean this place up. It's an eyesore.As I was taking this photo, a security officer approached me and said I wasn't allowed to take photos of the property. Huh? Then he gave me the whole 911 excuse and that's it's to protect us from terrorism. How does prohibiting me from taking a photo of the filth in Downtown LA protect us from terrorists? Okay whatever - I put my camera away.
Back at the parking structure.
Pressing the elevator button.
Be forewarned - if you go to this mall - make sure you get your parking validated (Macy's validates without requiring purchases). Otherwise it's such a hassle and the fees are outrageous. To pay you have to go to an automated machine (there are only 2 in the entire parking structure and one was broken so I had to do a lot of unnecessary driving and parking with the baby in tow). Then when I did finally find the machine that worked, it said I owed $27.50 (for just 2 hours)! At first I thought it was a mistake, but found out there's a hefty charge every 15 minutes. So that settled it, Astrid and I went back to the mall and got our ticket validated. 
Just because I don't like to follow rules that make no sense, I took this photo from the parking structure. (A little bit of civil disobedience on my part.) So lemme get this straight. I can't take a photo of the property in clear view, but I can go to the parking structure and secretly take all the photos I want?
It's another beautiful day in LA.
In the background you can see the two bouncy houses. Not sure if the charged for those, but the toddler fun tent was free. We didn't go into the bouncy houses. Maybe next time.
Bouncing on a plastic bouncy horse. (Later Astrid gets to ride a real pony.)
Playing on a toddler keyboard.
The buttons light up and make sounds.
There are only 5 notes, but she enjoyed playing with it (and people watching as she was seated).
Maestro!
Getting ready to put Astrid's shoes back on so we can get a bite to eat.
Here I am with Astrid's shoes and hat, but no Astrid. She ran over to 
Papa and Astrid.
A pink balloon to match Astrid's pink flowered hat.
The sun was really hot today. I always carry a hat in Astrid's diaper bag just in case. I don't want her skin to have sun damage later on (i.e., skin cancer, freckles, age spots).
She was a good girl today and didn't protest when I put a hat on her. I like the wide brim on this hat, that also shades her shoulders. I got it at Target.
In addition to the normal farmer's market fare the 
We stopped by this wine shop that had a sign outside that said they also served sandwiches, but there was no one in the store. A few other people walked in off the street as well, and it was a pretty big wine store (with an ice cream stand inside), but not a soul inside who worked there. Beats me if they took a break or were in the restroom, but it was strange. You'd think they'd have at least 2 people working the store on a busy Sunday like this.
I saw that this pony ride was very safe - they have a child proof seat with a back on it that wraps around each child (like a holster) - and the ponies are small and docile, and they walk slowly. 
The pony ride goes up and down the sidewalk. It's a brief ride, but long enough for some nice photos, and for the kids to have fun riding on a pony.
Astrid and her pony at the end of the ride.
We stopped at a toy store before going home (also on Honolulu Ave.). They have the same train set as the one we saw earlier this week at the Travel Town Museum gift store.
We've been on the lookout for a bike for Astrid. When 
We'd prefer to get her a wooden bike like this one (rather than a plastic one), but it turns out it was a tad too small for her.
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