I am not going to California!

So Kris is in LA on a truck shoot for at least three weeks. He suggested that Sadie and I come out to visit for a couple days. At first I thought, no way, flights will be outrageously expensive. But a non-stop Delta flight was just a little over $300 so I booked it. 4 nights in Santa Monica at the Fairmont Miramar. Sunny, warm LA. What's not to like?

I'm so thrilled, I tell Sadie right away. She's beyond excited about the idea of going to Hollywood, but seems to be lukewarm when I call it California. I'm pretty sure she's imagining sleeping in a hotel that's conveniently located inside the "O" in the Hollywood sign, which of course, you can't even see from Santa Monica. She suggests we "Google" the hotel to see what it looks like. I show her photos of the fancy rooms, the nice pool, the ocean view. Her first question: "Does this hotel have bedbugs? Because if it does, I'm not going!" She's been obsessed with bedbugs since New Year's Eve when we heard a news story about "the most googled words of 2010". One of which was "bedbugs." Since then, she has drawn several bedbugs in creepy detail, and made me research which cities have bedbug problems. She has an elaborate ongoing list of cities with color-coded checks and x's.

Next, she suggests we call Kris to find out what the weather is like. He tells her it's sunny and warm every day. Naturally, her next question is: "Do they have arctic foxes out in Hollywood? WHAT? NO? How about penguins? Snow owls? They don't have any animals out there?" It's obvious that she's seriously starting to doubt the fun-factor of this trip.

A few days later when I remind her that Kris is LA and we will be visiting him soon, she says, "I wish it was you working in Hollywood and Papa was back here at home with me." Since then, she has only had a few other questions and concerns:

"Kids can be in movies, right? How many movies am I going to be in when we go to Hollywood?"

"Do they have any not-fancy restaurants in Hollywood? Because you know I don't like putting my napkin in my lap."

"I might move to a different part of the airplane so I don't have to sit by you again."

"Which pet are we bringing to Hollywood with us? The cat or one of the dogs? They do let you bring your pet to the hotel you know."

"What? The sun only sets on that ocean? Boring! It should rise and set on that ocean."

Man, I can hardly wait for this trip!