Commuting In The Rain

In the past year, I've gotten pretty used to commuting. I've learned the ins & outs of where to sit on the train (which car) to save the most time, which route from the train to the office is most efficient, etc. One thing I haven't gotten used to though is commuting in the rain. Yesterday, it was really pouring rain when I got into the city. Farther north it was actually very icy. We were lucky that our town wasn't too bad. I've tried every kind of bag to carry things back and forth over the past year. I've had a huge all-in-one bag that frankly, was too big and bulky. Lately, I have been carrying a regular purse and small paper shopping/gift bags for my lunch. This week I was using this cute, tiny aqua colored gift bag for my lunch. Well, let's just say the cute paper bag didn't fare so well in the rain. I held the bag close and not by the handles most of the way to the office. I had my umbrella, but it really only kept rain off my head, as it was rsining so much. When I got to work, I needed to put my umbrella in a plastic bag, so made the mistake of grabbing the lunch bag by it's handles. The bag literally disintegrated sending my lunch in every direction. For a moment, I had the feeling there was surely a hidden camera somewhere capturing what must have looked hilarious! I immediately scrambled to pick up my yogurt, sandwich, orange and trail mix and crammed it in my purse. I felt pretty silly as I headed to the cafeteria to dispose of the remains of the bag and buy my breakfast. So now, I'm in the market for a nice, reusable lunch bag. Any suggestions? Days like yesterday are the rare days that I miss just driving to work and parking 10 steps from the door. But then, I didn't get to read and listen to great podcasts during my commute. I did appreciate seeing the sun shine today, that's for sure!

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A Day At The Museum

Don took the day off today. I worked, and the school was open, so Don thought it would be a good day for a father son day out in the city. This seemed like a great opportunity to finally take Mzee to the American Museum of Natural History. Knowing that the city is still reeling with tourists from the holidays, Don had the foresight to order tickets on line before he left the house. This was a very good thing, as he reported that the ticket line was huge. The prepaid tickets allowed them to go right in. They headed right for the Cosmic show where Mzee reported that they saw the planets and stars and the moon. He also was quite excited to relay to me the theory that " meteroids crashed into the Earth and made the dinosaurs extinct!!" they also went to the dinosaur exhibit where they saw "T-Rex, apatosaurus, and stegosaurus". Mzee also learned that people who study dinosaur bones are paleontologists. They also went to the Africa room where they saw tembos (elephant in Swahili), lions and hyenas. They also saw an ostrich with it's huge eggs in a nest and a warthog nearby. Don got a kick out of the fact that Mzee would not say "warthog", he would always say " a pig with horns" whenever he relayed the story.
The whole museum was very crowded and they had to battle for the elevator at one point. When they finished at the museum, they met me for lunch at a great little spot close to my office. I was delighted to see "my guys" running across the street to meet me, Mzee carrying a single rose for me! He was so sweet saying " Mommy, look what I got you!" We had a nice relaxing lunch where I got to hear all about their visit to the museum and their train, subway and taxi rides! After lunch I headed back to lunch and the guys headed to a wonderful holiday train show at Citi Center. Don said it was an extremely intricate and detailed display that was really amazing! They then headed home, stopping to pick Milan up on the way. Her class was in the midst of play dough fun, so Mzee joined in for a bit with the younger kids.
It's Friday, so when I got back into town we went to our regular Friday night pizza spot. The kids had a long day and are in bed early and I am writing this post with a new blogging tool on my iPod. Here's hoping it works now that I typed all this with one finger!

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Happy New Year!

Well, here it is, the start of a new year. So, I thought this an appropriate time to put a quick post out here on our blog, as I fell terribly behind in 2008. I have high hopes of catching up at some point, but we will see...
We have had an exciting several weeks. Mzee has been taking a "Little Ninja's" martial arts class twice a week since he turned 4 in September. He enjoys the class, and is learning about things like discipline, self-control and other skills which are useful in all areas of his life. He had his year end awards ceremony this month which was as you can imagine a big deal for him! The same day we managed two visits with Santa, one at the town hall and one in our neighborhood park. Santa arrived on a fire truck at our neighborhood park and Mzee really loved it! We also spent some time baking and the kids helped decorate the gingerbread kids which we then shared with their classes at school.
My parents were here for a week over Christmas. They arrived on Christmas Eve and left on New Year's Eve. While they were here we had a lot of fun. We had a wonderful meal on Christmas Day and our friend Pat drove over from New Jersey to spend the day with us. She and my Mom were able to get in a game of Scrabble. The following day we all went out bowling. The kids love to bowl and we are lucky that the bowling alley we go to has these ramps, which I think are intended for handicapped people to use, but the kids are able to bowl well with them. They just line up the ramp, sit their ball on the ramp and give it a push. Mzee had a pretty high score and beat Grandpa! After bowling we went to our favorite local pizza shop which has become a favorite of Mom and Dad's too during their visits over the past year. On Saturday we ventured out to Pat's house which was about an hour and a half drive. We had a nice lunch, played more Scrabble and the kids played with Pat's toys and watched a John Wayne movie with Daddy and Grandpa.
Sunday we stayed home most of the day, just relaxing. Mom, Milan and I took a quick trip to Trader Joe's but really didn't find a lot of things we couldn't live without. We did find dark chocolate covered almonds and espresso beans though....yum!
Sunday night was probably the highlight of my parents visit. Back in July when my cousin and his wife visited we happened upon this Japanese hibachi style steakhouse, Edo, that was wonderful. This is a place where they prepare the food at your table and the chef typically puts on quite a show while cooking. We had been to a place like this several times in Omaha, but never with my parents. We had such a great experience with my cousin that we knew we should take my parents on their next visit. Now, it is important to note that my Dad is pretty much a "meat and potatoes" guy. He does like Chinese food, but doesn't venture too far out into other cuisines. He also doesn't eat spicy food. When I first mentioned Japanese food to him, I think his reaction was, "will there be anything I'll eat?" Having had the food several times, I knew that it is all pretty "normal" food, and that he should not be worried. However, there was always a chance that it was a bit too different for him. We got our reservation for Sunday night, and I have to say Mzee was very excited! He loved Edo the first time we were there and was excited to go back.
Once we got there, the waitress passed out chopsticks and even brought Mzee a pair that were rigged up with a rubber band and piece of paper between the top end so they wouldn't fall apart. This was wonderful! He was able to use the chopsticks the entire time without fail. After debating for a time on what to order, my dad settled on filet mignon and shrimp, which I recommended, and ordered myself. I had ordered it the previous time and remembered it being the most tender filet I'd ever had. As the food started coming, every one was really enjoying themselves. Milan was gaga over the tomatoes on the salad! Mzee was over the moon about the shrimp appetizer. Milan was happy the rest of the night once the noodles were served! She did have a touch and go moment when the pyrotechnics started. The chef makes a volcano out of rings of raw onion and the fire was bit much for Milan.
The chef also did a trick juggling an egg on his spatula and flipped it up in the air and it disappeared. This trick got us all as he showed us the egg was in his hat! We had great vegetables and fried rice and our main courses were delish! My Dad, who I don't think has ever used chopsticks, managed to use them for his entire meal! He commented several times on how wonderful his meat and shrimp were! At the end of the night, we all agreed it was a very enjoyable meal! We even got ice cream, which was a nice way to end the meal.
On the car ride home Mzee started to complain that his tummy hurt, presumably, because he had eaten too much. We questioned him several times once we got home, then I just decided to unbutton his jeans. Well, lo and behold, he said his tummy didn't hurt anymore. Note to self, dress Mzee in elastic waist pants for the next trip to Edo!
Throughout the rest of my parents visit, I heard my dad call several of his friends and relay the story of the wonderful meal we'd had, how good the food was and how enjoyable it was! I was so happy that they enjoyed it!! Something tells me we will be visiting there with my parents in the future.
On Monday, my parents and I ventured into the city sans kids and hit a few souvenir shops in Times Square so they could buy a few things. We then ventured to Greenwich village for a quick walk around and had lunch at a great little pizza shop. We then decided to hop back on the subway to Times Square again and make one last stop at the Toys R Us. You would have thought it was the day after Thanksgiving there! There was a line to get in the store and once inside it was complete chaos. We couldn't find the specific thing we were looking for. I did find a couple of things I would have bought, but decided I didn't want to deal with the line, so we headed home. Monday's are Mzee's sharing day at school, so my parent's went to his school in time for that. Mzee shared the new Bobcat that he got that was just like Grandpa's and also introduced his Grandma and Grandpa.
When I got to the school that day, Mzee's teacher was on the phone trying to call me. Mzee had woken up complaining his ear hurt. At that time he had told her that his ear hurt and he didn't want to participate, he'd rather just sit in his cubby. So, when we got home I called the pediatrician and managed to get him an appointment to be seen yet that night. After his Little Ninja's class, we went there and had to wait for an hour before we actually saw the doctor. It didn't seem that long as we were reading books, so it wasn't as bad as it sounds now. However, once we got in to see the doctor, she indicated that his ear looked perfectly normal. We questioned Mzee further and it seems that his ear hurt ON THE OUTSIDE! The doctor and I got a bit of a kick out of this as of course, when he said his ear hurt, our natural reaction was that it hurt inside and could be an infection. It was a tiny bit red on the outside, and Mzee told us a story about how he fell on his ear at school. Very interesting...in any case, the pediatrician also learned that Mzee's left tube is now out of his ear and the right one in "the sore ear" is moving out. So, that could also feel different and may be another thing that caused him to say his ear hurt. Hard to say, but better safe than sorry. Had I not taken him in, he probably would have been up all night complaining of a sore ear!
Tuesday we all loaded up in the car and drove two hours to Mystic, CT. We planned to see the seaport, but it was so cold when we got there we opted for indoor things. We first stopped at a restaurant at the Seaport and the menu was a little too fancy for what we were in the mood for, but we did grab a great map of the area. We noticed a Five Guys nearby and had heard good things about it so we went there. The burgers were great and it was just what we were looking for! Since it was so cold, we ventured back down the road a little ways to see the 12 Dinosaurs of Christmas at The Dinosaur Place. It was a cute exhibit for the kids and they got to do a little ornament activity and have a scavenger hunt as well.
From there, we went back to Downtown Mystic and walked down the main street. The shops were all a bit fancy, but we did find a coffee shop and stopped in for cocoa and coffee to warm up before our long drive home. We will keep Mystic on our list of places to visit when it is a bit warmer as the Seaport looks like a really great place to visit when it isn't so cold!
Wednesday morning we were all up early. My parents had an early flight, so I thought we would be out of the house before the kids woke. However, they were up early so they could say good-bye one more time! Mom and Dad had an uneventful flight home. They mentioned today that their flights were so empty they were surprised they weren't cancelled. My Dad also mentioned that they waited 30 minutes for their checked bags at home, from their flight that had 9 passengers, and they didn't have to wait at all for their bags when the landed in NY, their bags were there when they got to baggage claim.
We had an early New Year's celebration with the kids playing their new game Lucky Ducks and Mzee put together a 100 piece puzzle virtually on his own! Today was a nice lazy day at home, which I am very thankful for! Here is wishing you all a wonderful 2009. One of my goals for this year, is to keep this blog updated more frequently, though after a post like this, I can see why I don't sit down to write here too often....I can go on and on....

Here is the link to the pictures of the last month!

From December 2008

I Know, I Know

I am sure some of you thought I would never get back to updating this blog, but I'm going to get there, one way or another. We've had a great whirlwind of a summer, and I fully planned on getting the blog up to date while on my luxurious three week vacation to the Midwest. But, what I didn't plan on was being sick for a week and a half, with a touch of pneumonia. So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm sad to say, I just completed the last post for the month of May so now need to complete June, July and August, and well, September is almost over. However, I have lots of great pictures and quite a few great stories to tell, so I will press on. Watch this space for back dated updates. I always post the updates with their original date, and just posted May 25 and 26, so you know what is new. Now, onto June!

Mzee is a New Yawker

Tonight while getting ready for bed, Mzee asked me if I knew his friend from school, Garrett. I wasn't sure I understood what he said, so I asked, "Garret (pronounced like a Midwesterner - Gairett), to which he replied, "No Mommy, "Gaahhrett" with a true New York accent. I repeated my pronunciation and again he again corrected me! I managed to hold in my laughter, but couldn't wait to tell Don and post it on the blog!

Milan has the beginnings of a cold, so Don and I are anticipating a long night...she never sleeps well when she is stuffed up.

Getting back to the blog...

Wow, I knew it has been a long time since I updated the blog, but I didn't realize just how long until I decided to see where I left off...April, who would have thought? Needless to say A LOT of things have happened in our lives since then. I'm going to slowly create some updates and back date them to the actual date they happened over time. I am putting this entry here with today's date so that you know there are likely new things there, so scroll down. Watch for updates here...

Swimming

While we were still in Nebraska, Mzee had taken two different swim classes. One as a baby, and one again the summer of 2007. He did well in both classes and generally loved the water. Don found a Y in the next town over offering swimming classes, so we enrolled Mzee again to keep up his skills. The pictures here are of the first day of swimming class. He did well learning to use the "marshmallow stick" that allows them to float and kick in the water. As I am writing this post in the past, I will note that I attended the final swim class with him as a makeup since we would miss the last class during our summer vacation to Iowa. I am happy to report that he passed on from Pike I to Pike II and was the only child in his class to pass. It was great to see him jump off the diving board on that day of the last class!!


After class, Milan enjoyed playing basketball in the gym, since she was not enrolled in swimming classes at this time.

We decided to set up the swimming pool that Grandma and Grandpa bought on their visit. I set it up during their nap and unfortunately, they weren't in it long this day before a storm moved in and we had to cut the swimming fun short!

Milan pouring with her watering can. She really enjoyed herself as you can see by her expression.



It was all fun until her brother poured water on her...she was not amused!

jUNe Day

For the 43rd consecutive year, the town of Westport, Connecticut welcomed staff of the United Nations for jUNe Day. The day serves as a reminder of the importance of achieving peace through international friendships. The town of Westport is a quaint little town on the water. It was just a short drive from our house. It was a beautifully warm, sunny day. We started out at the opening ceremony where gifts were presented to the town by UN representative. Then we ventured to the beach, which is a private beach, reserved for Westport residents regularly. The kids, as usual, had a wonderful time playing in the sand. Many sand castles were constructed during this day! It was getting pretty warm and we were all getting hungry, so we headed over to the pool for lunch and swimming.

They had pizza provided, so we got some pizza and sat in the shade of some big trees and ate our lunch before venturing into the pool. They have two swimming pools, one regular pool and one dedicated kiddie pool that was about 2 feet deep throughout. The kids could play there without our assistance, which was great!

After the pool, we got our free ice cream, and managed to pack up and head home just as a rain storm moved in. You'll see below a collection of pictures from our day.

Sand castle building

Trying on Mzee's crocs

Check out that face!

Wading with Daddy

Cheese!

I've had enough Daddy!

Central Park with Grandma and Grandpa

On Grandma and Grandpa's last full day here, I took an afternoon off to take them to Central Park. Grandma and Grandpa commuted to the city with the kids by train. We met up at Grand Central and had lunch there in the terminal. Then we made our way to Central Park. We walked all the way there, as it was a nice day. The kids and I went to the zoo there since we had a membership. After the walk, Grandma and Grandpa took a break on one of the many benches outside the zoo. The kids had a great time at the zoo, we did a quick trip so we could get back to enjoying our time with Grandma and Grandpa.
About the time we were finishing at the zoo, the sky got very dark and it looked like rain...this is a recurring theme with us that has continued, every time we try to go to Central Park, it rains. We walked just past the zoo to this covered archway and sought shelter, which was a good thing because it ended up pouring rain for nearly 40 minutes. We managed to entertain the kids and made the best of it. Once the rain stopped we headed off through the park to find a playground. Of course, all the playground equipment was wet, but I had thankfully packed a change of clothes for the kids, so just let them play with the thought that they could change when they were finished playing and splashing in puddles. The playground we found had this great slide made out of stone and built into the side of a hill, Mzee really enjoyed this. Milan tried to go up once, but the steps were made of railroad ties and dirt and she slipped and fell in the mud and was so disgusted, she wouldn't try, considering she was covered in mud!

Swinging with Grandpa, before the mud incident.

We walked through a big portion of the park, after a change of clothes, Milan fell asleep in the stroller. We stopped by the big fountain and also went past Strawberry fields and then made our way back to Grand Central via subway. It was a long day!

Once back in town, we were going to stop at our local pizza shop but it was busy so we walked on down to this nice Italian place. Apparently, it was a little too nice for us with the too kids as we got really horrible service, which my Mom and I are pretty sure is because we were a large group with two kids. The good was good, but the overall experience could have been better. After dinner, we all walked home. Mzee and Grandma started out first and got home before us. Grandpa, Milan and I followed up after settling our bill at the restaurant. On the walk home we realized our local cafe is now open for dinner, and that probably would have been more our
speed on this night, so, next time.

Here are some fun pictures of the kids enjoying their last night with Grandma and Grandpa before they head home.