Homecoming - Back in LA

I came back to LA during the heat wave. Temperatures are over 100 degrees (118 degrees in the Valley) and there are intermittent power outages throughout LA.

Astrid saw me in the morning and it was like I never left. When she saw me her body language said, "What's all the fuss about? Yeah mama's home...so what?"

To escape the heat, we went to the mall. There's a indoor kid's playground inside the Glendale Galleria, and I thought it might be fun to let Astrid play there and interact with other children. Uwe had to work most of the day, but he surprised us by meeting us there in the afternoon.

Walking to the playground we passed by the Baby Style store, which we didn't even know was located there, and had to go in and do some shopping for Astrid.
Astrid loved pulling toys out of their bins and walking around with them until she found another toy to play with. The store clerks didn't seem to mind as a happy kid in a baby store equals parents dropping a load of money on baby stuff.Here is Uwe rocking Astrid who's sitting on top of a stuffed elephant rocker.

This made us think of the beautiful handmade pony rocker made in Germany that Astrid received from our friend Dave, that's in Astrid's room. Up until now she's been too small/young to play on it, but she's been showing much more interest in it lately. She'll walk up to it and pet it, like it was a live pony.

After doing some shopping (which included buying a couple outfits and a new hair clip for Astrid), Uwe took Astrid to the playground while I got us something to drink. In less than 5 minutes, Uwe came back looking frazzled, holding Astrid in his arms. He told me that it was "crazy in there". A kid ran up to Astrid and tried to hug her, but knocked her down in the process, and another kid ran by and kicked Astrid in the head while she was on the ground. So I guess the indoor playground is out until Astrid is much older.

Previously I had seen the playground during the week when I was a stay at home mom and there were maybe 3 kids in there. This Saturday it was shock full of kids literally bouncing off the walls.