American-Thai Thanksgiving

I finally cracked open "Simply Ming," an East-Meets-West cookbook that I bought in 2006 after our trip to Singapore.

The recipes in Simply Ming, by Ming Tsai brought me back to the mouth-watering dishes served in Mezza9, the hotel restaurant in the Singapore Hyatt. I still can't forget the simple combination of lime juice and cilantro, their steamed basket of rolls and their fresh sashimi.

I was five months pregnant at the time, but still managed to try the sushi and taste a Singapore sling.

It's fall and cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my in-laws is on my mind. I think it would be fun to put a little Asian flair in our traditional American dinner.

I found a seemingly easy recipe switcharaoo for turkey, by replacing the duck in Hoisin Roasted Duck. Encouraged, I made a list of all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes in my family.

• Turkey
• Stuffing
• Cranberry Sauce
• Green bean Casserole
• Gravy
• Mashed Potatoes
• Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Pie

A quick search on the Internet didn't bring me anything, but I finally landed on Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, a second-generation Chinese American from California. She writes about food and ethnic diversity. With her articles, I was able put together a Thanksgiving menu that my family might possibly be open to and even enjoy!

I now have a list of recipes, but not the actual recipes as well as the ingredients, which I'm sure I can find at Uwajimaya, Seattle's Asian food market.

I came up with the following:

• Hoisin and Teriyaki sauce Roasted Turkey
• Stuffing (keep as is? use Asian veggies)
• Chinese sticky rice Stuffing with shitake mushrooms and pine nuts
• Cranberry Sauce (As is)
• Stir fried Green beans
• Shitake Mushroom Gravy
• Mashed Potatoes with garlic and butter
• Sweet Potato Tempura
• Genmai Tea
• Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Fresh Oranges

It sounds like a lot of work, but I start setting dishes and sticky notes out a few days before Thanksgiving to make sure I have all the ingredients, enough serving dishes and as many dishes pre-made as possible.

I have a couple months to consider my Asian inspired Thanksgiving. If I follow through with it, I'll write about it and maybe even take some photos.

Dahlia Playing Dress-up

Here are a few photos of Dahlia being a fun, little kid.

She loves imitating us, trying on our clothing and walking in any shoes she can find.

She loves her Minnie Mouse hat.

oh no she didn't

oh yes she did

And just so we're clear:

Yes!

Leaving the Bahamas- Arriving in Seattle

We’re back in Seattle!

We traveled all day yesterday and walked in our house around 11pm.

Flying in first class with Dahlia was trying at times, since we didn’t have a seat for her. She bounced between me and B, but stayed on my lap, on the spacious arm rest between our seats and finally, finally dropped to the floor and let the white noise of the plane lull her to sleep.

D watching Dora the Explora on her pink DVD player

I was in a rush the morning we left on our vacation and returned home to find a fluffy mold growing out of a sauce pan in the sink.

This morning D woke up at the crack of 7am and snuggled with us for an hour before indicating loudly that she was ready for breakfast. Our fridge was empty, so I had to make do with instant oatmeal and then we hit the grocery store and got some coffee.

It’s certainly fall here in Seattle. The sky is grey, it’s raining and my yard needs attention. I like being home, even though I could have spent another couple weeks in the Bahamas. We didn’t get to do or see much in Nassau because we were still on baby time. Between nap time and bedtime, we pretty much stayed on Paradise Island. When D is bigger, we’ll go back and get a little more adventurous.

Ok, so it’s fall. I had a delicious Pumpkin Spiced Latte this morning. Now I’m drinking tea and hating Williams-Sonoma because every fall I tell myself I’m not hosting Thanksgiving or Christmas and then I open the WS catalog, see all the pretty food and the recipes and sure enough, we’re inviting people over. It’s not that I don’t like hosting, because hosting is my favorite part. I don’t like that my house isn’t put together. We still have white walls, sparse furniture, the lighting is frustrating, dog pee stains on the carpet… who wants to eat in a dog pee stained carpet room?! That’s so gross!!! Ugh!

But what’s the alternative? We had the carpets professionally cleaned twice and the dog stains persist. Should we have a new floor put in so we can host a 4 hour dinner party? I say YES!

It’s back to work now for me; time to let my Conciergerie clients know that I love them.

Next trip, Houston in mid October to visit Auntie Em!

Bahamas- Straw Market, Nobu Restaurant

Yesterday we kicked it at the pool and then took a taxi to the straw market in the afternoon.

While planning for this trip, I expected to have to drag D’s car seat with us whenever we wanted to take a cab. We ended up holding D on our laps for the 8 minute ride onto Nassau. The speed limit was 25 miles per hour, the roads only go one way, so the likelihood of a head on accident is much less and it was rush hour, so we ended up driving 5 mph. For those of you planning to come here with a toddler, holding your kid on your lap is an option.

I thought that the straw market was going to be a few women under a tarp selling handmade crafts. We arrived to find three hundred (or so) women under a large, open air building with a puzzeling diversity of fake designer handbags. I saw Gucci, Kate Spade, Juicy, Louis Vuitton, Furla, D&G… all of it.

2001 Alyssa would have had a coronary and bought one of each bag. 2008 Alyssa focused on the task at hand, looking and possibly buying "something straw”.

I looked the whole place over, B, as he does in markets like that, bolted without remorse. Dahlia actually became frightened because the rows of people and bags were long and high. The ladies were talking to her right up in her face, inside her comfort zone. I carried her until I found B, handed her off and dove back into the mayhem of “Hey Pretty Lady, whatchu lookin’ for today?” I bought an oversized straw bag that I’ll probably use to decorate our guest room which currently has aqua painted walls.

Last night, we put Dahlia down to bed and the same sitter came back for the night. B and I deliberated over which awesome lounge or bar we wanted to stop in to start off our evening. We decided to visit one that always seems busy (I found out why) and has good people-watching. The pre dinner hours at Atlantis are fun because people are still coming in from the beaches and pools, but some folks are already jazzed up for dinner. There are a lot of gorgeous, East Coast types who know how to dress and how to act. I have to remind myself that tacky is my birthright! Somebody has to be tacky and I do it so well… also, I can see what I should be wearing but half a reality check reminds me that I can’t afford any of it. Maybe later.

At the bar, I drank few sips of… omg, what was that drink? Uhh, pineapple, rum… coconut? Whatever. We were enjoying ourselves when we noticed that our reservations for Nobu were right then, so I drained the rest of my cocktail. A few minutes later, I was super relaxed and just let B order dinner for us. Nobu is Japanese and everything we had was extraordinary. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the salmon, crab, tuna… wow WOW wow. Sashimi, sushi rolls, sauces; even their soy sauce was extra good, extra salty (?) We shared a small bottle on warm Sake too.

Atlantis is selling condos and timeshares and every time I have a bite of anything here, I think about moving to Nassau. We will have to come back when D gets bigger so she can enjoy the lazy river and kid stuff. We will be able to relax a little more then too, when she knows how to swim. And I can eat here again.

Today we played in the pools and I enjoyed an 80 minute massage while B took Dahlia up to nap. My massage was great, but the masseuse was pregnant, so I felt bad, like I should be massaging her. I decided that if she were in her 3rd trimester, I wouldn’t have gone along with it. I would not support cruelty to pregnant women.

We need to get D ready to go watch the dolphin show that the hotel offers for free.

Tomorrow, we are on our way back to the US, so we’re packing the fun in while we can.

Bahamas- Atlantis, Let's Swim!

A day spent on the Lazy River is a day well spent.

It's evening and I’m lounging dizzily in our room now, thanks to a “Wesley Special” (Grey Goose L’Orange, pineapple juice and coconut rum). How about a quick shout-out to Wesley at the Mesa bar.

After the pool today, we gave D a bath to wash the spf 50 off as well as the pee that she let go between the old diaper and the bath. It hit me and the bathroom floor. Last night on the beach she also peed on me through her suit.

Speaking of pee, now that I’m a parent, I have the unfortunate knowledge of when kids pee. I can see when a kid is thinking about peeing and then, when they go ahead and do it and then after they have a full diaper and don’t want to walk around in it. They do a funny walk and toddle with their legs wider than usual. I saw this all day at the kiddie pool.

We just checked the football scores for B’s fantasy football team and saw that the Seahawks actually won today! Now we’re contemplating the room service menu (cheese and chocolate!) and watching the opening to the last Yankees game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Mickey Mantle was a hottie in his day.

Please brace yourself now, for my stream-of-consciousness writing.

So, back to the Lazy River. There are no lines. We didn’t have to carry our inner tubes all over creation to find the (oh my gosh! I can hear the waves crashing on the sand, even at 16 floors up!) start of the “river” like the water park rivers I remember when I was a kid. Once I hung out on the lazy river enough, I knew what rivers went where and happily, they all led back to the same place. The river, like this whole behemoth of a hotel was very well thought out. They use moving belts to parlay inner tubers from the lowest point, to the highest once the river reaches it’s uhh, lowest point. It was awesome. B and I took the lazy river a few times and then he had to go relieve the baby sitter.

I must say that no one is too cool for the lazy river. It’s super fun. You can float all day from the top of the Tower of Terror (or was it the Tower of Power?) where you can take an inner tube through a pitch black tube of haul-ass water, to the tidal wave half way through. Life guards keep an eye on everyone from above and today they let me know when my bikini top was failing (twice). I’m sure they get flashed all the time. I guess it keeps the job interesting.

Oh! Room service has arrived! Mmm cheese and chocolate!

About the babysitter today; she was Bahamian, which D isn’t used to. She wore the same outfit three times when she came here, turns out it was a uniform. We introduced D to Janet before naptime and read Goodnight Moon before we stuck some Tylenol in D’s bottle and put her down. Dahlia has been teething for three days now. Teething is a bitch. It makes our little sun princess crabby, plus she has a temperature and a slight rash. She also has Jungle Rot, which is a rash that looks like zits on her shoulders. B and I usually get it in Hawaii. We put some hydrocortisone on it tonight so we’re hoping for good things tomorrow. Poor baby.

So a couple days ago we were walking along, through the hotel grounds from one pool to another and noticed a tiny seashell lying on the concrete. I thought it was cute and assumed that someone had picked it up on the beach and accidentally dropped it. I held it for a few seconds as we walked along and then it bit me! The little shell was actually a little thingy that lives in the shell and I had apparently interrupted its business by picking it up. Since that happened, we have seen little shells (hermit crabs) walking all over the place, on their merry way to who knows where. In Seattle we have slugs, but here they have crustaceans; so cute and romantic!

When we were on Cocoa Beach in Florida, I picked up a tiny seashell that I thought was a piece of pasta imitating a seashell, when in fact, it was the real deal. I felt foolish, but it was so obviously funny! Talk about accurate pasta.

Signing off…

Bahamas- Atlantis, Paradise Island

Today was Saturday. We have already lost track of actual time and are now tracking how many days we have left until we must return to real life.

For the last few months I have been reading the blog of a former coworker’s wife. I met him at Microsoft. He is originally from Bermuda and like, the Bahamas, Bermuda was settled by the Brits. Heidi explains on her blog, that rather than saying “hello” and “goodbye”, the natives say “good afternoon” and “good evening”. They are very polite and they have the accent. It’s cool that they say Good Ahftah-noon.

We took D to the super duper awesome kid’s pool today and we all had a blast. I was dying to go down the small water slide, but thought it would be too much for D. I can’t even explain this kids pool, but naturally, I’ll try. They have a large pool that doesn’t get any deeper than thigh high. In the center, there is the equivalent of a big toy, but of course the slides off are water slides.

There is a huge bucket on the very top of the toy that is slowly filled by a fountain with water. Every 8 minutes or so, the bucket overflows and tips over, dousing the whole toy and everyone on it with water. They had water fountains coming up through the floors, through fire hose type nozzles, from out of nowhere. It was a blast, but got to be overwhelming for D.

Watch out! The bucket is dumping!

She napped in the afternoon. B read and I took a nap in the sun on our balcony. Can you finish this story yourself? Yep, that’s right, I turned red. It’s not too bad though.

Then we took a walk on the white, sandy beach and explored a hurricane-battered former hotel. It’s next door to our property on the beach. We approached it with caution because it’s in disrepair. The windows and doors are blown open. It actually looks like an 80-room motel, but the landscaping was overgrown, the paint was peeling and it needed some love and affection. I want to make it mine! It just needs a little TLC! Maybe next lifetime.

Our white, sandy beach

We still had a few more hours of happy toddler time, so we went over to see the “shish” in the giant aquarium. The architects of Atlantis made an underwater model of what Atlantis might have looked like if it was discovered. We walked the route and saw all the fish, the old skool diving gear and naturally, the gift store in the middle of it all. We saw some amazing fish, jellyfish, sharks, lobsters (which I wanted to butter up) and other sea life. It was fun.

We walked back to our side of the property and found ourselves on the other side of the hotel, with the big bridge overhead.

A friendly employee of Atlantis took a family photo of us, so that was very cool.

Here is Dahlia fake muggin' for the camera.

The people here are amazing. I know you might hear that about host cultures all over the world, but dang, the Bahamian’s know their stuff.

Tonight we had the babysitter some back and we went out to a lounge to have a drink, then waltzed into Bobby Flay’s “Mesa” for another beverage and finally, a 9:15pm dinner. YUM. I had the ahi and B had Lamb. We talked about buying a place here, the food was that good.

I feel compelled to mention that my wardrobe has been challenging. I tossed three dresses into my luggage and found last night, that they’re big. Something happened. Thanks to my new trainer, Shawn, I lost a size and a half and now, the dresses that I wore last year this time, are too big! Yeah me! Boo wardrobe! As if I don’t have enough trouble paying for clothing, finding clothes that fit and actually knowing when to wear what. (I know, complain… complain…) I wore a tacky outfit (Tacky is my birthright- thanks dad!) last night. Tonight, I noticed that my pink dress had adjustable straps, so I worked it and rocked the dress.

Date night!

B and I had great drinks and an awesome time. I am fully stuffed like a thanksgiving turkey and now that I have emptied my brain to my friend the blog, I’m now going to pass out and dream about floating down the “lazy river” on an inner tube tomorrow.

Gym tomorrow too. Maybe the “Body Cyclin’ ”.

Bahamas- Dinner at the Ocean Club's "Dunes"

So, yesterday was Friday and please allow me to remind you dear reader that I do not expect you to care about my daily comings and goings; I simply write to remind myself of the many ways I spend my precious time on vacation.

We took baby D to the “zero edge” pool. Zero edge means that there are no steps down into the pool, it’s just like a big, aqua puddle. You walk in and there you are, waste high in warm, Caribbean water.

Dahlia loved it. We chilled for a while and then, fearing skin cancer, we left after only an hour or so. Holding a bouncy, independent toddler in the pool is quite a workout.

Looks like rain

We put D down and I finally tied on my tennis shoes, grabbed my iPod, complete with new play list and made my way to the hotel gym. I think that each hotel here has a gym, but I went to the fitness center. I paid through the nose for the privilege of sweating on their treadmill and then took an "Entry to Pilates” class for 30 minutes, then paid $20 for the second half hour at which point the trainer put me on a Pilate’s machine. I worked my abs, I stretched, I was board.
Back to the gym with Rihanna’s “Disturbia” and Chris Brown’s “Forever” keeping me focused on not focusing and there I rocked the bouncy workout ball with my abs and push-ups and finished off with another two miles. I felt good, like I was catching up after eating too much for the last few days.

One of the reasons I came to Atlantis, was because they have babysitters. Despite all the scary and horrible stories of children disappearing from their hotel rooms while abroad, I had to take the chance. We have to go out. We put D down to be for the evening with the beloved Mister Cat, her binky and her bottle and made sure she was out like a light. We didn’t hear a peep. Our scheduled babysitter, a complete stranger arrived at our door. I gave her the rundown which was cut and dry: “call us if she makes a noise. Do not enter the inner sanctum, for the child will freak out.” D slept and I suppressed all my worst fears. The sitter was great, a local Bahamian woman who worked as a librarian during the day.

That night we went to "Dune" at the One and Only Ocean Club. Here is another site with a photo of Ocean Club. It was gorgeous and quiet, but it was so darn exclusive that it bordered on boring. There was good people watching, but we couldn't see the view and water etc. because the sun had set.

The food knocked our socks off and we barely fit into the car on the way back to our hotel.

I hope the photos turn out.

***

I'm at home now, posting the photos up. Here is a pic of B after we had dinner at Dune.

Arriving on Nassau, Bahamas!

The flight from Orlando to Nassau was one Elmo DVD and half a Baby Einstein DVD long.

We were on an older, 30-seater airplane. Dahlia was a model baby and reacted well to each and every one of my diversionary tactics, of which there are plenty. Allow me to list them in the event that you too are in this situation.

Diversions for an 18-month old

• DVD player
• Bottle of juice mixed with water with only 3 oz. total, to be refilled as slowly and infrequently as possible
• Slowly reviewing her books and pointing to every single thing one every single page
• Stickers- sticking them on her shoes and hands
• Peek-a-boo
• Saying "yuck" and making a face
• Touching/ lightly plugging her nose (sounds funny but it works)
• Reciting her books at home by memory: Wee Willy Winkie runs through the town, upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown. Tapping at the windows, peeking through the locks. Are the children all in bed? For now it's eight o'clock!
• Asking her where her hair, eyes, knees, feet, shoes etc. are
• This Little Piggy...

Upon landing, we walked across the tarmac, which made us feel like we were in The Thomas Crown Affair. B had arranged a ride to our hotel, so we were dragging D's heavy car seat behind us to what turned out to be a limo.

Behold, a car seat in a limo

I can hear you now, dear reader... but what were we to do? Refuse the ride?

A view from "the ride" to our hotel

Dahlia watching the fish (pronounced "shish") during dinner

We're all checked in now and comfortable in our room. B ran to the grocery store today and had the kind of coronary only he can have when he saw the grocery dollar total. I think everything costs 3x as much here since it's all shipped in.

We floated around in the huge, zero edge pool today and were the only ones there. We walked on the beach and sat in the warm water. Why does it smell like sulphur? I picked up a shell and the inhabitant poked me. I set it down again.

Tonight we had a low key, but delicious dinner with local specialities.

Vacation. Good.

Universal Studios

After D awoke from her post-Disney World nap, we headed over to Universal Studios' City Walk for dinner. The Universal Studios theme park was closed, but the restaurants around it were lit like Christmas. City Walk is a nice area because there aren't any cars. It was made to be touristy, so it was well thought-out.

This plane is another dramatic set to attract tourists. I think it was Jimmy Buffets Cheeseburger in Paradise Bar.

Palm trees and the sunset at City Walk.

B has to go to every hard Rock Cafe in every city he's in (he's one of those people) and so we did. His food was cold. Fortunately, I ordered a salad. To be fair, the service was pretty good.

Sunset at the Hard Rock Cafe, Orlando

D is a very independent eater these days, so our table was totally trashed by the time we finished. At least she ate, we drank (I had a Bahama Mama) and we had a good time. D is also very good at making friends.

Disney World

Like I tend to do with most things, I mapped and planned our route to and through Disney World.

In order to make the most of our precious three hours of happy toddler time, I pinpointed the exact rides that Dahlia could go on. The list was short, but with the lines, the ice cream stop and the insane heat, it all worked out. (This is me patting myself on the back and sighing in relief.)

Disney World... the land of Disney in Florida, is vast. I don't have the patience now, but I want to compare it to the state of Rhode Island. There are tons of Disney attractions on the Disney World property which are separated by highways. They have miles and miles of land in every direction. Disney knows how to direct the masses.

So we "entered" Disney World and then drove for another 20 minutes at 60mph, following signs to our park of choice, "Magic Kingdom". Then we parked the car and rode a tram to a monorail. Then we got on the monorail, which took us to the front gate of Magic Kingdom.

(Please excuse my minuscule photos. I have a hunch that Blogger's new Picasa has something to do with it. It's making all my photos the same, tiny size. Boo!)

Magic Kingdom decorated for Halloween

"Main Street USA" with Cinderella's Castle in the background

We walked directly through the castle and found the carousel. The line was super short and we only had to wait for the ride to go 3-4 times before it was our turn; Dahlia's first ride!

Standing in line for D's first ride.

Whee!

The ride spins three times and then it's over, just before everyone gets dizzy and falls off their horses. D figured the ride out quickly and was smiling in no time. It didn't hurt to have a nice breeze flowing through her angel-mullet.

Dumbo was next door to the carousel, so we hopped onto everyone's favorite flying elephant. D immediately reached for the knob that makes the car ascend and descend, but we left the aeronautics to Daddy.

Dumbo!

Did I mention the heat? Dang, it was hot. We stumbled over to an ice cream shop after skipping on $4 bottled water. If we're spending money, let's make the most of it!

Next, we hopped onto Winnie the Pooh's ride. It's a typical car ride, with the bar over the lap. It took us through a Pooh story and herky-jerkied us around on the track. Between the narrator, the moving car and the unfamiliar experience, Dahlia became scared toward the end, during the rainstorm. She looked at us for reassurance and we held her close. She didn't cry.

Winnie the Pooh is scary!

Pooh's toddler playground was nearby (20 steps away), so Dahlia ran around and played in the fountains. Dahlia also played in the fountains in Ariel's Grotto before she, Dahlia that is, (I would hate to mix up my Disney princesses and confuse you) turned into a pumpkin. Suddenly, D was just standing there watching all the other kids and I knew it was time to bolt.

Imagine the odds; a kid pulled the fire alarm in the women's bathroom, so I had to change D outside. With the fire alarm going off, me taking off D's beloved swimming suit and all the excitement, she had the inevitable Too Much Fun meltdown. Given the circumstances, I let her get away with only wearing a shirt, which I had to wrestle her to the ground to put on.

On our way out, we declined buying a ton of Disney paraphernalia and just got her an embroidered Minnie Mouse hat. Then we took the monorail, the tram and the car, back to our lodging.

It took around 45 seconds for her to conk out in the car on the way home.

Dahlia is a fun kid. She is getting very smart and I'll be darned if she's not already learning how to manipulate us... .
Here's her new, fake mug for the camera. Can you believe it? Momarazzi whips out the camera and she's ready! Sheesh!

Family Vacation, Visiting Cocoa Beach

Brett Higgins took us to Cracker Barrell this morning for breakfast.

I tried grits for the first time and think that they taste like my least favorite food in the universe, creamed corn. Cracker Barrell had the perfect breakfast, one of everything, ham, egg, sausage, baked & sugared apples, tasty bread and grits. We also drank a ton of sweet tea. Mmmm!

We stopped by the souvenir shops by Universal in search of some Grinch pajamas for Brett's niece. Since all the shops carry the exact same merchandise, they have HUGE Storefront displays to attract children that have a saved up allowance burning a hole in their pocket.

Junk Shop with Alien Display

Junk Shop with a Space Shuttle

After nap time, we drove 45 minutes east to Cocoa Beach.

On the boardwalk

Walking to the surf

Playing in the water!!

The water was very warm and the sand was sooo soft. Ahhh.

Surf Expo in Orlando 2008

After all the hullabaloo and my detailed trip preparations, I am relieved and happy to say that Dahlia did darn well on the flight from Seattle to Orlando.

Dahlia, Ready for Take-Off!

She didn't cry during take-off and she only got fussy when she was board after being confined to our two seats for four hours. I wanted to cry too. Thanks to a small library of new books and our new, much-loved DVD player, we survived. I want to kiss Elmo and smother him at the same time.

I ended up checking the car seat all the way through to Orlando instead of having D sit in it on the flight because:

1. The baggage guys don't take car seats to the gate which means that
2. I would have had to carry the heavy-ass car seat across SeaTac- no thank you
3. Despite all my research, I discovered that even if you purchase a ticket, kids under two are not required to be strapped down in a car seat. Ok, whatever, so good-bye car seat.

We arrived in Orlando and were BLASTED with temperatures in the 90's and crazy humidity. As a native Seattleite, I can tell you now, that I would melt if I lived here.

Dahlia just Cruisin'

We're staying in a condo in a residential development. It's very nice to have a home with bedrooms, a full kitchen a washer and dryer, a network cable (!) and soft carpeting. It's also directly adjacent to the convention center. It's what we call a "Vegas block" so it's a mile from door to door, but the're neighboring.

Since the condo is so light, we ended up putting D's pack and play (crib) in the master bathroom. It's dark in there, we're on Seattle time, and she's close to her favorite thing ever, the bathtub. The crib is from the condo rental managers. It's a little small, so it didn't take D much time to throw her leg over the side. Damn! She hasn't figured out that she can get out, but she would if she wanted to go "bye-bye".

We went to the last day of Surf Expo this morning. There was a little snafu with the badges for entering the trade show and while I could borrow a badge, D also needed a badge and so we couldn't get her in!!! Can you believe that? As Auntie Em just said on the phone, "What's she going to do? Smuggle in her binky?" And a guy in the Ronix booth said that maybe she'd drop bombs... in her diaper... Sigh.

We came to Orlando, to sit outside Surf Expo when everything B has been doing for the last year is on display inside.

I went in with B's longtime friend Brett Higgins and we walked around a while looking at all the booths for wakeboards, water skis, surfboards, kite boards, surf apparel, skull candy... anything surf or watersport related. Once we hit the Ronix booth, I said hi to Ashley and she asked about D and I asked... okay I begged her to go out and wrangle our active toddler, so B could show me his stuff. Thank you Ashley!!

So B showed me around and I took some shots.

Indoor Skate Ramp. The Orange Blob is a skater.

Ronix Wakeboard Badge with "Preston" on it. Preston is where the Ronix office is. Preston is a tiny, old logging town 45 minutes east of Seattle, WA. I thought it was funny that they made a badge out of it, but it totally works.

Here is the J Star pro team. They are either mad at me for taking their picture, or this is a picture of a picture.

Brett Higgins is in the center. The other two guys are from Denbol in The Netherlands. They distribute J Star wakeboards to stores in Europe. Hans is on the left and Sven is striking a pose.

This is what they do to kids who don't have badges.

Here is B in front of his Ronix "Dahlia" wakeboard.

NO, the name is not a coincidence and YES, the kid came first. (I wouldn't name my kid after sports equipment!)

Here is a shot of me with Emily Copeland

Emily is one of the top two female riders in wakeboarding in my humble.... She is also gorgeous and super nice. My other favorite female pro is Dallas Friday because she kills it and she has a cool name.

It's nap time. Shhh! Don't wake D up! It's the only way I get to write.

Now I'm going to chart our course to the grocery store for lunch. It's almost 2pm at home and almost 5pm here on the east coast. Then I'm going to map out this condo complex in search of a swimming pool for my little, angelfish and then I'm going to chart my course to Sea World for tomorrow's adventure. I should also check out the best way to get to Disney World. We're heading to see Mickey on Tuesday.

I'll post photos when I can!

Woo-hoo! It's sooooo nice to be away from home!!!!!!!

Preparing for Vacation

With all the shenanigans that the terrorists are pulling these days, as well as the flat-lined economy, the restrictions of air travel are increasingly obnoxious.

I can't take liquids out of Seatac Airport. I can't bring milk or water on the plane for my kid. Powdered milk it is.

My airline has cancelled complimentary meals, but they can be purchased on-board. Do I dare take the risk? Today I planned out Dahlia's three, flight friendly meals which means that they don't include liquid, they aren't sticky and they aren't going to leave crumbs all over the place.

I opted to make her a turkey sandwich with cheddar cheese on white. We had them for lunch today to give them a test run. I had to add tons of relish and Dijon to mine since it was so bland.

I also broke down and bought a hand held DVD player. It was around $130, but holds a charge for 6 hours. Since we have another 1 hour flight to the Bahamas and back to Orlando and our return flight from Orlando to Seattle and I'll be flying with D again in October, I'm looking at it as an investment. I got her a couple DVDs she hasn't seen before; Baby Einstein (cringe away, I previewed it this morning and it's mind-numbing) and Because of Winn-Dixie, a kid's book- turned-film about a dog that befriends people and brings them together.

I bought some $1 light weight, picture heavy books for D that she hasn't seen before, so that should keep her occupied too. I'm also crossing my fingers that she'll take a 2 hour nap.

Enough obsessing! I'm off!

"Lemonade stand at the last day of summer!!!"

Last week I found another note from the neighborhood's pint-sized entrepreneurs. This one was inside my mailbox.

!!! Lemonade stand at the last day of summer !!!
On Monday, September 1st at noon until "who knows".
Please come and try our tasty lemonade- a cup for 25 cents.
We are looking forward to see you there,
Jackson, Sammy and Lucie

The flyer came typed, but has a hand drawn map of the surrounding streets, a black X at the site of the lemonade stand and a red arrow pointing to the X. It's very specific and totally cute.

This flyer reminds me of the emails I used to send to my team at Microsoft for the teeth-grindingly awkward, forced morale events. I planned the events and used any means necessary to get people to show up. I too used exclamation marks, promises of snacks and guilt trips to boost attendance. Nobody knows forced fun like Microsoft employees!

I would bet that 70% of my neighbors work at Microsoft, or have at one time. Their kids are growing up with any and all technology at their fingertips and here they are committing a federal offense by placing unstamped mail in my mailbox.

Ironically, I can't scan the flyer because the new Windows Vista wont allow my HP printer to fax or scan.

Flying with a Toddler

We are preparing to embark on our first family vacation with our 18-month-old daughter, which includes a six hour flight from Seattle to Orlando.

I whined to all my friends who are parents, about the lack of information with regards to flying with a kid and from what I gleaned, it's "live and learn".

Today, I just started researching the best way to fly with Dahlia and found a great website, written by flight attendants and frequent travelers.

It's called, Flying with Kids, who knew?

Here are the Best Travel Tips from the flight attendant. She is very straight forward about the fact that the crew is too busy to help and waiting for a flight attendant to heat water or milk for a bottle is unrealistic. Parents must bring everything they need onto the flight and when things get crazy, "keep a lid on the blender".

Flying with Kids recommends a secured flight vest for children who do not have a ticket or seat. It costs $30. Despite One Step Ahead's product description which states that the vest "exceeds FAA standards" there seems to be some controversy. A child is not permitted to wear the vest during taxi, take off and landing. The vest received very positive product reviews, but overall, it was not recommended because no toddler is going to just sit on an airplane seat.

Children's Flight Vest

Since I'm traveling alone with Dahlia and we're meeting B in Orlando, we opted to buy her a seat. According to the airline, a child with a purchased seat, under age two is required to sit in a car seat. There should be some sort of air travel information on the bottom of our Britax car seat, but I couldn't find one on ours... Okaaay, now I suppose I'll figure out exactly what car seat I'm supposed to have.

Everyone is trying to sell me things, so it's tough to tell what's required and what's preying on my paranoia.

Here is another child restraint seat belt called C.A.R.E.S. It costs $75.

The Sunshine Kids Radian 80 Car Seat at Baby Earth has a 17 inch base and their brilliant marketing department points out that their seat "has a 17" base, which is smaller than most, and will fit most airplane seats. FAA approved for use in aircraft."

Our Britax base is 14 inches wide, so I guess it would fit, but I can't take the chance.

Let's check and see if United Airlines has anything to say on the subject. I could have, should have checked with them first, but why make things easy on myself?

Booking a seat for an infant on United Airlines

• One child less than 24 months of age may travel free within the U.S. when accompanied by an adult and not occupying a separate seat.


• You may use an approved infant car seat on board the aircraft when you purchase a seat for your child. The seat must be an FAA-approved child safety seat device.


• If manufactured after February 1985, the car seat should also be certified for use in aircraft. You should seat your child in the child safety seat for takeoff, landing and during turbulence.


• The FAA has approved the use of a child safety restraint system for travel. The system, named “CARES”, uses an additional belt and shoulder harness that goes around the back of the seat and attaches to the lap belt. Children weighing between 22 and 44lbs may use this device. More information is available at http://www.kidsflysafe.com/.


• The following child restraint devices may not be used on board the aircraft: booster seats, belly belts which attach to adult seat belts only, and vests or harnesses which hold the infant to the chest of the adult.

Strollers

• Strollers may be checked to your final destination without a fee, in addition to your free baggage allowance.


• Children can be transported in their stroller throughout the airport. However, strollers must be checked at the gate. The stroller will be delivered to you at the aircraft door upon request at your connecting city or destination.


• United highly recommends using an umbrella stroller when traveling. Umbrella strollers may be accommodated on board the aircraft when space permits in place of your carry-on bag.

My husband just informed me that we're not flying United, we're flying Alaska... so let's try this again!

Alaska Airlines on Traveling with Infants and Toddlers

Car Seats

• Infants traveling on a regular fare are strongly recommended to be secured in an appropriate child restraint system.


• Infants traveling as a lap infant (sharing seat with parent) may bring a child restraint seat on board if: 1) there is an empty seat available for the infant and 2) the car seat bears the following two required labels:

This restraint system conforms to all applicable federal motor vehicle safety conditions.
This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft. (NOTE: Labels that indicate U.S. or Foreign Government approval or show the seat was manufactured under the standards of the United nations are also valid.)

• In addition to the standard CRS mentioned above, children between 22 to 44 pounds and 40 inches or less may use an Aircraft Safety Device for added security. Currently the CARES Restraint is an approved ACSD if it bears a label that reads: FAA APPROVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH14 CFR 21.302(d)


• Any other child booster seats and other types of child restraints may not be used during take-off, landing, and surface movements regardless of what stamp/seal of approval these booster or harness devices carry.

So, for me this means that I need to buy a car seat with the approved flight label.
I called the overpriced baby boutique that sold us the Britax, believing that they wouldn't carry or sell a car seat that wasn't FAA approved. Finally, success!

Amidst the fine print on the various labels behind the seat, one states, "This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft." Aww man! I just noticed that it's in bright red too! Duh!

I'm feeling sheepish because the answer seemed so obvious and available, but when it comes to wasting time on my kid's safety, I'll waste away.

Now onto packing.

Dahlia will have her own carry on backpack. It's the Hello Kitty backpack that I used when I was a kid. It's made of canvas and somehow made it through all these years. I was saving it for my kid and here we are.

I'm packing it with lightweight and very tiny toys for D. Stickers, new books, finger puppets...

Flying with Kids also recommended the following;

• A DVD player if it's in the budget (I'm going to research it and consider it an investment since we'll hopefully be taking more trips from now on)


• Dry milk packets for Dahlia's bottle (Dry milk tastes gross! I can't imagine she would drink it, so I'll buy some today and try it out on her.)


• Food and snacks with eating utensils and a bowl


• Earplugs


• A Ziploc bag for dirty diapers (Hallelujah)


• An umbrella stroller (Our umbrella-ella-ella stroller seems flimsy, but I'll have to deal with it this trip.)


• Leash (They recommend this on almost every page of their site and I always swore I'd never leash my child. A creative friend of mine has her 2 year old wear a cute dog backpack and the "dog" on the backpack has a leash. Hello Kitty is getting a tether, let's just hope I don't have to use it much.

Here is a list of the stuff I have to pack:
My 1 suitcase (checked)
Baby's bag- will be inside my suitcase (checked)
The car seat (checked at the curb and transported to the Jetway for me, I desperately hope.)
The Stroller
The kid- hopefully in the stroller
My laptop bag (carry on)
The kid's carry on/ diaper bag- in the stroller
The kid's Hello Kitty backpack of toys and diversions- on the kid, or in the diaper bag

It's time to pack!

I'll blog my way to Orlando and then to Atlantis in the Bahamas. We'll be dodging hurricanes Ike and Hanna. Thunderstorms are predicted next week.

I love adverse weather conditions!