Chemistry and Good Friends

Back in October (before I was pregnant and long before we found out we were having twins), I submitted two abstracts to the American Chemical Society's national spring meeting. I submitted one as an oral presentation and the other as a poster -- posters, especially by students, are hardly ever rejected, so I thought there was a very good chance that I'd be able to present at least one of my research projects at the conference. I was a little surprised, though, when both abstracts were accepted -- and the organizers asked if I'd present the research that I had submitted as a poster in an oral presentation! So, I prepared two twenty-minute oral presentations on my two research projects.

The best part about this conference is that it was held in Anaheim, CA -- near enough to our college friends who have never left LA (or who left and later returned) that we decided to make it a family trip and extend the trip three days after the conference ended.

There wasn't much going on the first day of the conference, so we met Liz and Connor at one of Connor's favorite hang-outs, the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. The kids checked out the sea lions while Dale and I caught up with Liz.


As we were leaving the sea lion exhibit, Connor found a good-sized puddle and immediately started stomping and splashing in it. Adelaida watched for a minute, not quite sure what her crazy new friend was doing, then tentatively stepped in the puddle herself. She must have discovered the joy of splashing in a puddle -- she laughed and then stomped as if she knew just what to do in a puddle. We spent more time at the puddle than at any of the other aquarium exhibits!


The next four days we each went our separate ways: Dale left every morning to work in Seal Beach, returning home in time to take us to dinner; I did my conference things, attending symposia and talking with other chemists; and Adelaida went to her "California school" every day. The "California school" was really a free daycare program that the conference provided, conveniently located in a hotel just across the street from our hotel. The conference provided free daycare for kids 2-12 (OK, their website said ages 2-12 when I signed Adelaida up; they later changed it to 3-12, so she was by far the youngest one there!), every day of the conference. The kids were separated into groups based on their ages; the preschool group (ages 2 - 4) had four kids enrolled in the program and two caregivers. Of course, all of the kids didn't go every day, so Adelaida's group generally had two kids and two caregivers -- and one day she was the only kid there! Adelaida quickly became attached to Miss Anna and Miss Erika, and I think they kind of liked her too. With tons of toys to play with, meals and snacks provided, and two great teachers, I was as fond of the ACS daycare as Adelaida was. I highly recommend it to other chemists with kids!

I presented my papers on Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon, and then the conference was over -- but our vacation was just beginning! We moved from Anaheim up to Pasadena, where we spent the next few days logging as much friend-time as we could. On Friday evening we met at the Rathskeller for dinner -- a surreal dining experience that included five kids running around our (fortunately private) dining room, exciting news of a new arrival in the Johnson family, and gastrointestinal pyrotechnics by Connor (due apparently to lots of popcorn and lots of running around).

Saturday, with Connor pronounced well, we all met again at a local hot dog eatery, joined now by Ron. It's amazing how we can be away from these friends for months to years and, when we do meet, pick up like we've never been apart!

Saturday evening the Williams clan had us over for dinner and playtime for the kids. Adelaida loved Anara's slide.


And she thought it was really cool to sit next to Connor to eat.


As the kids wound down, I found myself reading a book to Connor, Anara, and Adelaida. Aren't these kids just adorable?


On Sunday we invited the group to our hotel to take advantage of the swimming pool. Anara arrived mid-nap and never did get in the pool, but Connor and Adelaida both enjoyed swimming with their daddies.


Don't Dale and Adelaida look like they are having fun!


Adelaida's favorite part of swimming was being thrown in the air out of the swimming pool. Dale made sure I had the camera ready each and every time he tossed her. After he did it the first time, all we heard from Adelaida was "try again, Daddy!"


Eventually the vacation was over and we returned to our mundane lives in Albuquerque, but had a great time and collected so many good memories. Thanks LA friends!