The flight there went better than I hoped considering our flight left NY at 6:00 a.m.! It worked out great. The kids were wide awake at 4:00 a.m. when we woke them to get in the car. Mzee was even dancing to a DVD in the car on the way to the airport! We managed to grab breakfast in the airport, so eating that on the plane kept the kids busy after Milan screamed the entire time we walked down the aisle because she didn't want to be carried. We had a very tight layover, which was just the right amount of time. By the end of the second flight, Milan was tired as she could not sleep on my lap, so she screamed the last 20 minutes of that flight and was very happy when we got off the plane! Both kids were very excited to see Grandma and Aunt Katie at the airport. Milan showed off her walking skills and took Grandma for a walk in the airport while we waited for our luggage and prepared for the drive to her house. We weren't at the airport too long when Milan asked for Grandpa, who was at work at the time.
We got to my Mom's house by lunch time, fed the kids and they took nice long naps after the early morning. That night my Mom hosted the Baha'i Naw Ruz (New Year) party at her house, which included a variety show. This is an annual tradition that has gone on since I was a kid, so it was fun to experience it again. Mzee and Grandma even performed in the variety show...Mzee told two of his knock knock jokes...he was a bit shy, but did a good job. After that there was a great meal of turkey and lots of pot luck dishes that were wonderful. There were lots of kids and Mzee and Milan got to play with their cousins. Milan was a bit shy, mostly I think because she was tired.
Friday we spent the day around the house. I spent some time sorting out some of our stuff that is in storage in my dad's shed. The kids played as my aunt, her husband and grandsons were staying at my parents too. The boys are 4 and 6 and play very well with Mzee.
On Saturday morning a group of us went into the small town I'm from to the town Easter Egg Hunt. The boys had a great time. Milan wasn't too sure about the whole idea. She picked up one egg and was more interested in people watching after that. It was VERY cold, and she doesn't like the cold, so that likely had something to do with it. After the egg hunt we took some time to go visit my grandma and had a wonderful time seeing her. She had a new bear that sings which the kids loved and Milan was very loving giving her Great Grandma several hugs, which was very sweet. Great Grandma has several toys and Mzee knew right where the legos were and found them and played and visited with her.
Saturday and Sunday my Mom organized an open house at her house so family and friends could drop by to see us and my aunt who was visiting from California. So, we were able to see a lot of people and enjoy the great company and a LOT of good food!
Sunday was Easter and my Mom's birthday. We managed to have two egg hunts at my parents that day, a big Easter dinner and then an open house in the afternoon. Lots more people to see and catch up with and tons more great food...are you starting to see a theme?
The kids had a wonderful time playing with all of their cousins! Milan LOVED going up and down Grandma and Grandpa's stairs and is quite proficient at it now. Grandma's house has nice soft carpet while our house is all wood floors. She did take one fall down about five stairs that really scared her....and me! But otherwise, no major catastrophes.
Mzee got to play with his cousins so much and had a great time. By the third day, they put on a "movie" for us. His older cousins are huge dinosaur enthusiasts, so the created a Jurassic Park style scene where one of the boys was in a ride in pick up truck, up on two wheels and a "dinosaur" came and tipped the truck over onto its top. They got very formal about it, creating invitations to the "movie." Check out the video here to see the action packed thriller!
One of the highlights of the trip for Mzee was that Grandpa had rock delivered for the driveway while we were there. This meant four big red dump trucks came and dumped red (i.e. Mars) rocks on the driveway. By Sunday, a couple of the Mars rocks had made their way inside the house. Another highlight for him was Sunday night when Grandpa set up his tent in the basement so that Mzee could camp. He thought this was really great!!
It was a very action packed but short trip and we were sad to see it end. Monday was a FULL day of travel back home. We had to drive to Omaha and then take two flights with a four hour layover in between. Milan was her usual unruly self on the first flight as we had to share two seats again between the three of us. The layover was actually nice since the airport had a great play area where the kids got to play. The flight to NY was a FULL flight and we had to sit right next to a woman with the three of us in two seats. I could see the fear in her eyes when we got to our seats. Thankfully Mzee got settled quickly and Milan was very good. We had a brief snack and before we even left the gate I looked over to see Mzee SOUND ASLEEP...the value of the play area in the airport just went up! I think he just completely crashed after the non-stop activity of the trip. Milan was quite restless for about five minutes after that and while we were still on the runway, she finally gave in and crashed. The lady next to us had no idea how lucky she really was!!! Milan woke up with about an hour left in the flight but I managed to keep her entertained and fairly quiet. Mzee did not wake up until we were descending and immediately got upset because he realized he did not get a drink from the flight attendant. However, the excitement of seeing Daddy overshadowed this eventually. We landed in NY about 7:20 but didn't get home till almost 9 p.m. The NY airport we use is not known for speedy baggage handling so it takes forever to get our bags. The kids were VERY excited to see Daddy when we got back home and had lots to tell him about the trip!!
Since we've been back we've gotten into our usual routine. Mzee came down with strep throat last week and was very sick for about 36 hours. He really just slept the entire time until we took him to the pediatrician for the strep test. He started antibiotics in the evening and by the next morning was himself again! And, so far it looks like Milan is not going to get it, so that is good.
Milan had her 18 month check up last week the day before Mzee had to go to the doctor. We've been blessed that the kids have been healthy since we arrived in NY and these were our first trips to the doctor. The doctors office is a small office, the doctor seems very nice, and it is a real small town feel, which we like. Milan checked out healthy and off the charts for her size as was to be expected. The doctor commented that Milan has "made her own growth chart" and that she has a huge head. However, she's following a normal growth curve, so no concerns...we just have big kids.
We had a parent teacher conference with Mzee's teacher this week and got a good report. He is still very much into outer space. While we were in Iowa Don went to the Natural History museum to replace the lost space shuttle and also picked up some "Astronaut Ice Cream" This was a big hit with Mzee. And, Don's cousin Carol found the lost space shuttle outside at her house and mailed it to us, so now we have two space shuttles and lots of accessories. This week Grandma sent Mzee a Space book, so he is learning about planets other than Mars now and learning about Sally Ride and how astronauts deal with weightlessness in outer space.
Milan's new favorite thing to do is play "Ring around the Rosie". I started this with her in Iowa at my Mom's and she loved it instantly. She now will say "rwosie" when she wants to play it. After we all fall down, she'll instantly shout "hand, hand" as she wants to hold my hand and do it again. She still doesn't like it when I fix her hair but I've discovered that if I sing the "This is the way we wash our clothes" song making up words about combing her hair she'll let me do it without a fight. This also worked last night when she was resisting having her nails cut. I'm not sure how long this tactic will last, but I'll keep it up until she tires of it. She loves to say hi to all the parents on the way out of the daycare at night. She is also really into her babies now. She has three little babies and always seems to have one of them.
Tonight we had our usual Friday night dinner at Pelham pizza where we are officially regulars.
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