We started the day with some hand washing - i will never complain about washing in a washing machine again - thanks for the Sunlight soap Mum! Then we walked up to Market Street for some shopping.
I had booked us in for a magic show at 2pm - it was the top attraction on tripadvisor for San Fran - starring Comedy Magician Timothy Noonan who'd performed over 3000 shows in Las Vegas. The moment we got there i thought to myself, if i make lots of eye contact with him, he won't sense my fear that I don't want to end up on stage. He was a really friendly guy, happily talking to the audience before and after the show. Kind of like a kid who never grew up.
The show started - and yes his tricks were amazing. It has got me stuffed how he did them. James told me that he didn't want to end up on stage and asked what he should do if he was picked. I told him he'd just have to be a good sport and go along with it - even if he didn't really want to. We saw trick after trick then he said he was going to choose three females from the audience - and sure enough, he picked me! Crap! I just thought, be brave in front of your kids!!
I was told to choose something from my handbag - i pulled out a $1 note - and told to hold it tightly in my hand so he could not see what it was. Then he lined the three of us up on stage. He taped a coin over each eye - followed by more tape - and more tape - and more tape. Then he had one of the girls tie a blindfold over his eyes. He then asked me to feel the coins and confirm the tape was all over his eyes and that he could not see a thing. Nope - he couldn't.
We all had to place the item on his hand and he would tell us what it was. I placed the dollar bill on his hand - he asked me a couple of questions - elimination I suppose - then after establishing it was a $1 note he told me to look at the serial number. He said, "the last letter on the note is a B, like in Belinda, isn't it" Holy crap it was!! Then he said, and the numbers 6, 0 and 1 are at the end of the serial number - Holy crap they were!! How did he do this? He then guessed one of the other women on stage had a health care card - which is was. The tricks he performed defied logic - this wasn't even his most clever trick.
Tim had started the show with a joke about his pet racoon - it was just a toy but made the crowd all laugh. At the end of the show we found out you could buy one for $35. Will loves tricks and magic so he bought one out of his money. Tim the Magician spent time with Will after the show teaching him how to make the racoon do movements that would make him appear real. On the walk home from Pier 39 to Pier 1 Will did these tricks all up the street with the racoon. People were jumping away, pointing, walking close to Will to try and get a look, stopping him to ask about it and taking photos the whole time. We were all laughing as it was just so funny! One guy walking past said in a strong American accent, 'God damn that kid's got a woodchuck". The America's Cup is starting here so the city is really busy and security is tight - but even the police chatted to us about the racoon!
We start our Trafalgar 'Family Experience' tour tomorrow so we had to meet our guide in the reception area to check in. There was another WAY WAY WAY (lots more WAY'S) older couple lined up before us. When it was my turn to check in I said, 'we are here for the FAMILY tour' and asked if we were in the right place. To my shock she told me that we were and I asked how many families there were on the tour. She said about three - THREE?? I'm thinking - surely there was more??? We signed up for a FAMILY experience tour - WITH KIDS. I told her I was under the assumption that the tour was just for families as having kids on a adult tour would be a bit stressful (for me) - and possibly boring (for the kids). Oh no, she told me - everything would be just fine. Panic struck I went back to our room to wait for the kick off 'party' at 6.
6PM........
We went down at 6:10pm - no one wants to be the first to arrive do they? When I entered the room all i could think was 'OH DEAR'.....and another four letter word. Age has never been an issue for me but truthfully I just wanted to run. I was lost for words for the first time in my life. Will had bought his racoon along - I thought that would be a good icebreaker for my kids with other kids on the tour.
The four of us sat in stunned silence.
The tour guide gave a chat about the tour - during this I started drinking my wine - fast. Terry and I were throwing each other nervous glances - the kids were frozen to the spot.
We all know what comes next - 'a get to know you game'. We were handed a playing card and we had to go around and meet everyone with a different suit, blah blah blah. To my amazement, people started coming over to US! The first was another family from Utah - they had an 10 year old daughter. Then a grandmother from Boston - a real live wire - with her 12 year old daughter. Things were looking up! Next a retired couple from Melbourne (Aussies!) then a couple came over to meet Will and his racoon. Then another couple and another couple and before I knew it, I found myself thinking this might be ok after all! Just when we were on a roll - a family turned up late from Puerto Rico. They had two kids the same age as ours - Bingo. Anna was really friendly and Maguel was up for a chat - by this stage the wine had kicked in and all was well. Terry and I were speaking Spanglish.
Well - needless to say - Terry and I were the last ones to leave, along with Anna, Enrique and a guy, Nick from Melbourne, who is travelling by himself. The tour guide gave up on us and left before we did!
Sometimes in life you've just got to roll with the punches - so this is what i intend to do.
Meeting Tim the magician.
Will and his racoon - we laughed the whole way from Pier 39 to Pier 1.
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