Maia makes me laugh

I decided to make good on a promise and take Maia to Kakaako Beach Park today. We had been there about a month ago, she had seen kids playing in a man-made lagoon bounded on three sides by huge lava rocks and had wanted to join in.

Before we went, I rounded up some things at Safeway for our lunch, including Doritos, which Maia loves. This was to make good on another promise. Recently, Kristina had bought Maia a big bag of Doritos and had apportioned these to little baggies for Maia's snacks at school, but the Doritos had promptly gotten soggy in our humid air. Kristina, ever thrifty, had baked them to take out the moisture, and Maia had dutifully taken them to school. But she had asked if I could get her some new ones.

At Kakaako Beach Park, Maia honed in on the Doritos.

"Try these, Mommy, they're crunchy!"

"Well, the ones you take to school are crunchy."

"But they're not supposed to be all burned up!"

Something about the way she said that got me laughing, and I couldn't stop. They had come out of the oven with some dark accents.

"Stop laughing!" she said. Kristina was laughing, too.

"When Daddy laughs, his nostrils go like this," she said, making them flare in and out.

"Well, at least you don't have to share your snacks," I said. "'Oooo, Maia's got those burned up Doritos again!'"

"Stop laughing! Not funny!"

John, Saturday, April 26, 2008