A Family Day

So my day with Johnnie yesterday didn't go exactly as planned. But today Lisa planned a morning at the California Science Center to see the Angkor Wat exhibit. I was skeptical that she would actually go because of how late she got in last night, but she did ask me to come by early for breakfast before we went to catch the 10 AM entrance.  When I got to her house at 8 AM, Johnnie was already ready to go so I knew it was on. We even got to USC on time, and found parking a couple of blocks from campus so we thought we'd just walk on over across the street to the place right next to the Coliseum. Of course, I didn't realize that today is Saturday game day, and the first USC game of the season at that. Still, the game must not have been until later on in the afternoon because we did find that parking spot. Of course, it seemed closer than it actually was. Because when we started walking it became apparent that it was going to be a long, hot walk. We went through the USC campus simply to find shade. And we walked through the paths I would normally take going to my office at USC Stevens. Same Taco Bell in the corner, same Supercuts where I had many a haircut. Same old parking structure I used to park at. And when walking through the campus, the tailgaters had already started putting up their tents. Anyway, Johnnie was a trooper walking in the heat and we finally got to the Cali Science Center. And then it was on to the exhibit. I will say this: the last time we went to an exhibit all together, it was for the Dead Sea Scrolls when Johnnie was still a baby, and it was disappointing. This was actually more than I expected. Amazing how Angkor Wat had some parallels to other advanced civilizations like the Mayans, Aztecs, and Egyptians.  I thought Johnnie had a lot of fun building temples and putting scrolls together. And then when we got done with the exhibit, Johnnie took me to his other favorite exhibits like the island exhibit, and the Space Shuttle. By the time we got through I actually had gotten energized. At least, that was what walking through the air-conditioned areas did because it was really really hot outside. Anyway we had pizza for Johnnie, a beef/mushroom/cheese sandwich for Lisa and an Impossible burger for me. And then when we got done, we braved the hot walk back to the car. We had to stop a couple of times in the shade to allow Johnnie to rest. But the rest was good for all of us too. And at least we were hydrated. Anyway the morning excursion was a success. And I was already satisfied that we all got to spend the morning together and actually had fun. Wjen we got back to Lisa's house, all I wanted to do was take a nap. And I decided I'd stick around for as long as tolerable. Maybe I was trying to set a new personal record for how long I could be around Lisa. She did promise to make it through the day without getting mad at me. I thought she had done just fine already. She played the piano while I took a nap an when I woke up she kept on playing while Johnnie and I played balloon badminton in the backyard. And we had so much fun. We went through at least half a dozen balloons that popped and we kept on playing until we had no more balloons. Finally dinner time came around but Lisa had to do some talking to Johnnie. He had gotten irritated because she had made him wash the dishes. He felt like he was being overworked. He even wrote her a note telling her not to go into his room. Awww. Hey, I had gotten one of those notes from him before too. While they talked I went back to my apartment and picked up cabbage, apples, and carrots from my fridge. Lisa did not feel like eating much and quite frankly neither did I. I had eaten so much at lunctime. The cabbage apple carrot salad with balsamic vinegarette was perfectly fine and perfectly adequate.  Johnnie had his penne and chicken broth, which was really the only time all day that Lisa would lose it. That's because she couldn't stand me mixing up the old penne with the noodles in the can. I was 100% sure Johnnie didn't care, heck I gave that same meal to him many a time. So of course she had to cook new penne for him. And he waited another hour before he ate. But that little incident was a mere blip in the course of the entire day. By then Lisa had started to complain again about her throat and her cough. Johnnie had already mostly recovered from yesterday. Maybe there is something about Lisa having a damaged immune system. How can I help her with all this knowledge I have gotten? How could I help anyone that doesn't want my help? It was 9 PM by the time I went home. I had spent the entire day with Johnnie and Lisa, probably the most time I had spent with both of them.in years. Or at least as long as I can remember after I left the Maplewood house. And it was a very good day.