After brainstorming a couple days about what to do over the Thanksgiving break to help accomplish this goal, we decided to stay home and relax. I had a great time lazing around with the kids while dad was at work. We encouraged him to go when we were visiting family and friends over the weekend. And he DID IT!
The weather on Saturday looked promising and we decided to head up to San Francisco. A's sister had been asking to go on a train ride for some time now and we saw a lot of interest from Aditya as well. He chose to go on the train and try using the restroom while we were out, as opposed to staying home with me.
Aditya woke up pretty cranky and super controlling on Saturday . We decided to be flexible and modify our plans, if needed. We left the house with enough time to spare. The train was running late and Aditya was totally OK with it. As luck would have it, about 15 minutes into the ride, the train came to a halt and the driver announced that we would be stuck there for about an hour, because of a fatality. The kids had tons of questions and we all began coming up with different reasons a train could be delayed. We had a fun time discussing that.. reasons ranging from the driver needing to go home and use the restroom to the engine not working properly :) We all had our snacks and then both kids went off to explore the upper deck and bike cars. Aditya was hesitant initially but happily followed, once sister went. After more than an hour, we transferred to another train and finally reached SF 3 hours after we started. After a quick MUNI ride and lunch, we were all set to take the cable car to Ghirardelli Square (Aditya wanted to go there as he had heard a lot about it from one of our volunteers)
As we reached Market and Powell, we realised that the line was closed. We explained it to the kids and as we walked towards Union Square, we saw a cable car being towed. Aditya pointed it out to us and said that we could take it, it probably started working! But the man working it told us that he was taking it up for repairs and we could find a shuttle at the next bus stop. Aditya looked at us and said, "Let's go for the bus!" On the way, we walked up to Union Square to see the Macy's Christmas tree. It was a really busy place and Aditya told us that he would sit rather than going around. We celebrated him for clearly indicating what he wanted and proceeded. On our way we saw a man dressed as (god knows what, but I have a picture here)...
Both brother and sister enthusiastically asked us to take a picture of them with him. After that was done, he reminded us about the bus to go to Ghirardelli Square. He thoroughly enjoyed the bus and the connecting cable car ride.
It had been a long day for everybody and we decided to go to Starbucks to get us a cuppa and the kids some milk. Aditya decided that he needed to use the restroom and was patiently waiting in line for about 10 minutes with Dad when.. Somebody threw up and they closed the restroom for the day! Aditya came back coolly and told us that he would go find another restroom with Dad. After a 15 minute search, he finally got to use one.
By then we were all so exhausted that we decided to call it a day. Thankfully, the journey back home was uneventful.
Looking back, I am glad that we believed in both, our and his flexibility. I will forever be grateful that we got to experience this day. He is so ready for so much more! I can't thank the universe enough for our sweet little daughter who is a great teacher, companion and friend to us all.
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