Cabo- We're Not Leaving

Nothing helps me recall my French like Spanish.

When I think, it’s “err, je voudrais un camisa avec bleu y yo tengo todos huit dolores, please, por favor, sil vous plait...”

I’m thinking and hearing en espanol. Words are coming back to me. On the beach, pretty much anything is around $8. Eight bucks for sun dresses, wind chimes, a couple t-shirts… so when I negotiate, it’s “todos 100 pesos” “That’s all I have. (Take it or leave it.)” Sometimes they take it, sometimes not. It’s all fair in playa commerce.

I had a rule this vacation. I couldn’t buy anything for myself for the first two days. 48 hours. Was I up to the challenge? Place your bets! Yeah, I totally failed. I bought a couple sun dresses on the beach “for friends”… baaaad Alyssa. But they’re cute and I’ve used them daily (sorry “friends”).

And please pardon my previous grumpy post. Things (weather, food, exercise) have righted themselves since then.

We left D with Grandma and went on a sunset cruise last night. We left from the marina and I felt a little seasick. I thought I could handle some more waves and be okay. I knew better, but chose to sit at the front of the boat. We stuck around there until dinner was served, then we sat inside and watched the sun set. Muy bonita. The waves were bothering me and I was reconsidering the snorkeling cruise we had gotten tickets for the following day. After eating we hung out on the upper deck in the front, which also happened to be the dance floor. The terrible 70’s disco played and we watched the waves and the people. They made us dance and since I only do the Alyssa dance… actually, I rocked the Macarena; hard; just like I did 10 years ago when the song came out.

Happy 7th Anniversary to us

The boat photographer took our pictures and printed them out below deck on his 1999 Epson. We, of course, bought one. It will undoubtedly sit in a drawer just like our photos from Cancun.

I realize that my writing comes across as condescending and generally negative, but I had a good time on the sunset cruise. And, I learned to take Dramamine.

Today we snorkeled. Once I was in the water, it took me 20 minutes to remember that I prefer to partake in abbreviated snorkeling. I use only the fins and a face mask, no life jacket and no obnoxious snorkel tube. Too bad my suit adds so much drag. Skin divers have the right idea. I just like to swim. So, today I swam and it was fun. I could spend lots of time swimming. It feels good.

Buyer beware. In Cabo, there is one place that all the boats go to snorkel. So, there were 7 boats and 150 people looking at the same 15 fish. The only place to snorkel is St. John. Go to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, then take a ferry to St. John. Rent a Jeep and drive to a beach and voila, gorgeous multitudes of swimming sushi. Delicioso y bonita.

We got some good sun today and the boat was a catamaran. It was smooth sailing. Mediocre music… I only wish we started counting how many time we’ve heard “Hotel California”. They like Will Smith here too.

We’ve had some great food here in Mexico too, but at the momentitio I am guac’ed out! Holy frijoles, if I have any more lime or cilantro my face will pucker up permanently. Again, not complaining; I love every minute of it. And we had grub mojitos today… this morning… at like, 10am.

Dahlia at "Mi Casa" Restaurant

Tonight we hit the infamous Cabo Wabo club. We arrived before sunset, so it was a ghost town, but it was fun to see all the pics of Sammy Hagar and his musician friends. We had a drink and since we had the MIL and Dahlia in tow, we dined at an Italian place called Galleon. It had white tablecloths. As a mother’s rule of thumb, I try not to take my 2 ½ year old anywhere with white tablecloths. But we beat the dinner crowd and tried to eat quickly. The waiters enjoyed watching D dance to the piano man.

We have officially decided to stay a couple extra nights. We lost our vacation momentum while we were waiting for the hurricane to hit, so I think we need a couple more days of saltwater, mariachi and dreamy weather. Grandma will be leaving tomorrow. B re-booked our flights and we’re considering other our hotel options.

The real reasons I want to stay? My hair goes crazy blond when I wet it in salt water and dry it in the sun. I need a couple more days of that. Plus, our babysitter at home is out of commission, so I can’t work. And, the work we’re having done at home isn’t finished. We found a few more restaurants to try here and we’ll get some family time in. The only sad part is that I’ll miss my Monday night soccer game. Hopefully, my team will forgive me and not replace me in the process with a younger, more agile player.

At "The Office" on Medano Beach

I think that’s about it. I haven’t checked my email, but I’ll do that now if I can. Peace out.

Cabo San Lucas, "Hot Water Sandals"

October 20, 2009

It seems we have gotten the crappy weather from Rick, which was downgraded to a tropical storm, but none of the frightening wind. I feel a little disappointed. At least we can get the “storm” over with tonight so the skies can clear up. I’ve barely had to wear sun screen while we’ve been here.

I’m a little surly due to greasy room-service, lack of exercise and lack of mental stimulation. We’ve kind of been cooped up since the streets are flooded and almost everything is closed.

Somehow, two people managed to die in the storm that hasn’t even hit us. A fisherman was dragged off a cliff into the waves and was not able to be resuscitated. And somehow, I don’t know when because we didn’t see anything, a 16-year-old died on our beach today. It must have been much farther down. I don’t know anything about it, but it makes me sad.

This morning, I lazed around in bed reading Breaking Dawn. It’s terribly written (“show, don’t tell!”), but it’s growing on me. I love to hate it. Stupid vampire drama. xoxo

When my crew of husband, toddler and MIL were stir-crazy around noon, I put my book down and we made a break for it. We took a taxi into town to Mi Casa Restaurant, recommended by my pal Lauren. Lauren’s family has a time share here and she insisted that we check out Mi Casa. They serve tortillas, rather than chips with their guac and pico. The guac was amazing. I think it was the salt that made me consider licking the bowl clean. Mi Casa had a fantastic gift shop, but their prices, negotiating tactics and exchange rate made B’s eyes pop out, so I left all my treasures on their counter and walked. So sad.

After D’s nap, she dragged us all down to the empty pool. Everyone who is still at the hotel watched from their balconies; watching the waves, the sunset, the calm before the storm.

Early in the summer, I got Dahlia some classic Salt Water Sandals; the kind my sister and I had when we were kids. For some reason, D calls them "Hot Water Sandals".

Tonight, B finally got me on the internet and I was able to check my email. Not a word from my family. No “hey, heard the worst storm since 1972 is supposed to directly hit you, you okay?” But I checked CNN and there’s no mention of a storm and blogger.com hates me and the internet is slow, so how would anyone know?

I opened the balcony door so I can hear the waves. They sound calm and the palm trees are swaying in the breeze. Tiny, solar lights are twinkling from the bottom of the swimming pools. Everything is quiet.

Cabo San Lucas, Days 1&2

October 17, 2009

In Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Getting out of the house was stressful and complicated and I wondered if it was worth only a week out of town.

We had to get up early to make our flight. I took an extra 20 minutes when we left the house, so we barely made check-in, barely made seating and I think B learned not to cut it so close when he’s traveling with his wife and 2 ½ year old. Even though I was 90% ready to go to the airport, that last 20% had to be done the morning we left. And the extra 10% didn’t get done. I forgot to close the living room shade, pack my headphones, bring D’s crocs and her coloring stuff… but, nothing life altering.

We didn’t get upgraded to business class because of a glitch in United’s system, but we lucked out there because the business class and economy were the same on our first flight. All D wanted to do was watch her DVD anyway, so B had to buy me a boxed lunch and all was well.

Note to self: since watching DVD’s is Dahlia’s Holy Grail, we can pretty much fly anywhere within the life of her battery, which is maybe 5-6 hours.

I was skeptical of coming to Cabo because our trip to Cancun in 2002 was so depressing. We had already done a lot of travel the year we got married and Cancun was an easy honeymoon destination considering it was fall, we had to dodge hurricanes and Hawaii was out of our budget. The disparity between the tourists and the locals was sad. The hotel was overdone. The toilets didn’t work. The highlight was Isla Mujeres; boats, a little island, fun shopping, good food etc.
I came to Cabo in high school with my dad and sis. I was flunking Spanish at the time, but managed to give the street vendors hell regardless. We had mostly fun. That was the trip where I got my “shark bite” from an ATV; managed to kinda go too fast and singe the skin off my leg and flip the four-wheeler over. And hell no, I didn’t go to a Mexican hospital. I wanted to keep my leg.

I’ve heard about how much Cabo has grown since my last visit, but was shocked (and a little disgusted) to see a Cartier here. Blame the Americans! Again, the disparity between the tourists and the children selling dirty, handmade toys in the marina. Why aren’t those kids in school?!!?! Oh, it’s Saturday.

Virgin Cabo tourists beware, upon your arrival, the airport is crawling with parasites; hundreds of people trying to sell you taxi rides back to town, condo timeshares, their children… jkjk. I guess you have to talk to at least taxi driver to get a ride, but ask your hotel how much you should have to pay and then don’t pay any more. Have that exact amount in cash (American dollars, or Pesos). Cab drivers have already tried to confuse me with the dollar to peso conversion, which is a simple and fun way for them to make my head spin. Fortunately, since I truly get so confused, I just stand there looking like exactly what I am at that point, a dumb blond and then if I’m really, super lucky, like I was today, the cars behind the taxi start yelling and honking and the parking attendants kick the taxi driver out and I make a mad dash for anonymity. I saved $2 with my “act” today.

I’m tired from walking in my flip flops in the sun and drinking pina coladas, so let’s see if I can reflect quickly on the other highlights from the last 24 hours.

• Our Hotel, Casa Dorada is gorgeous. B chose it because it’s one of the two best in Cabo and it’s very close/ in town. It’s on Medano Beach. (More on that in a sec.) I liked the name of the hotel because it reminds me of Blair Waldorf’s maid’s name in Gossip Girl, Darota.
• Because of the famous arch (El Archo) in Cabo, many of the hotels have an arch reflected in their hotel design. Upon entering ours, the arch frames the lobby; gorgeous pools, the ocean and the rocks by the arch. It was breathtaking, even when I was holding a squirmy, sweaty, hungry, tired, excited toddler.
• Our room is a suite because we invited B’s mom along for the trip. This way, we get quality grandma time, another person to hang out with and a child caregiver on our anniversary. BTW, that’s why we’re here. We are celebrating our 7th anniversary.
• The pools here are relaxing and gorgeous, but they cannot be compared to those at Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. We went to Atlantis last year. We had to be very careful with D around the water because she loves it and she can’t swim. This year, today actually, I got her water wings. We inflated them and off she went. I still stay within arm’s length of her, but I remembered when I had water wings as a kid; such independence!
• So far, the drinks have been weak, but then, I am not a very dedicated drinker and it’s 90 degrees out.
• Today, at the pool, we were all down swimming after my forgettable, but fun trip to, dare I say it, Walmart (family, please don’t disown me, it was my only option barring Costco and I didn’t need 40 bananas, I needed 5). We were done swimming and I went to the bathroom to change into something dry before dinner on the beach. Grandma took D a few feet away, out of sight and a woman went up to B and asked him what he was doing later tonight. She and her drunk friend had just been sitting next to us making out with a guy and 10 minutes later she hit on my husband… I’m not sure if I’m more confused, or amused. The lady and her friends were at least 10 years older than him, yelling and hooting at the pool and when we walked by them later they felt compelled to declare that they were the “fun girls” to the guy whose attention they were desperately trying to get. Later, from our balcony, 6 floors up, I could still hear them hooting and telling yet another guy how much they had smoked. I may push them both in the pool tomorrow even though they’re not worth the hassle.
• The Office is a well-known bar that is right on Medano Beach. Medano is right outside our hotel and The Office has great food, good drinks and a nice vibe. We get to eat with our toes in the thick, heavy Cabo sand. They waiters adjust the umbrellas overhead as the sun moves. The chips are great and they have fresh pico and guac.
• Tonight, after we put D and grandma to bed, we snuck out to The Office. I drank out of a pineapple and B saw fake boobs on two very blond ladies! A group of, um people were there celebrating a birthday. Two of the chicas had enormous ta-tas and took liberties with the restaurant photographer and “Rambo” the icon… hard to explain; just more drunkies looking for attention. And attention they received! Every head was turned. Women were disgusted, men were intrigued; it was hilarious! Good times here in Cabo…
• Both days we have been here, there have been cruise ships out in the bay. The ships dwarf the town and I thought they would flood everything with people, but the marina was quiet and we didn’t notice any disruption.
• We have a full kitchen, a diabetic and a toddler, so hitting a grocery store was a priority. During D’s nap today I thought I’d pop over to a store, grab some necessities and hurry back to catch some cancer on a lounge chair. I asked the baggage guy in the hotel where I should go if I wanted food, a big store. He sent me “two” (three) blocks down to what turned out to be a Mexican equivalent of costco. I could get 300 churros, a back yard play set and a new TV at a great price, but I couldn’t get PB&J. FAIL. Back to the hotel. In a taxi, I went, to The Forbidden. Walmart, sure enough, had everything I needed and more. I returned to the hotel and climbed out of my cab to find B holding a sweaty Dahlia nervously asking the Mexican hotel staff where the hell they sent his wife. I was gone for how long? Oh, tres horas? Oops.
• Looking forward to snorkeling.
• And we saw the turtle club release some baby turtles into the ocean today. Go turtles, go!

It’s been great here. It’s hard to unwind, but it’s nice to have an extra adult around to pick up some of the slack and let B and I go to dinner.

Laptop battery dying.

6 concerns and solutions While Planning For and Visiting NYC with my 2-year-old

I recently travelled from Seattle to the east coast and Houston with my young daughter, Dahlia and both experiences were good. My husband used his frequent flier miles to get us first class or business class seating and as a result, the flight attendants were extra accommodating and our luggage was out first.

However, I was in planning overdrive last week while figuring out the logistics of a trip to New York for my brother’s graduation from Columbia University. Since I was so uptight and had so many concerns, I thought I’d list them, along with the way the situations was resolved, in the event that there are others out there who are traveling with a two-year-old this summer.

Concern: Personal DVD players on an airplane are the way to go and Dahlia’s DVDs were a mess. Some were too damaged to work, the cases were broken, she was tired of the movies and we didn't have many to begin with. I needed a solution for the flight.

Solution: I bought a CD case and a few new DVDs. I pulled all the other kid friendly DVDs from my home collection and put them all in her new DVD “book”. She was only allowed to pull one out at a time, and she watched and or listened to the DVDs with her little, pink headphones. Even if she only watched the first 20 minutes of each, she was happy looking through her colorful assortment and choosing the next show. I also had a few other new, tiny kid toys, books and snacks to hold her attention

Concern: What if she had a BM on the plane?

Solution: It’s inevitable! Everyone was seated for takeoff when I smelled something suspicious. Before the other passengers could smell it, I indicated to the attendant that we had a “situation”. The plane wasn't moving yet, but I had to be quick! To the tiny, airplane bathroom we went. I had Dahlia stand on the toilet seat and I changed her diaper while she was standing up, something I perfected on our flight to Houston. Parents, make the diaper into “underwear” and have your kid slide the diaper on, or rip the sides to take it off cleanly.
I then handed Dahlia to her daddy and he safely buckled her in. I flushed the evidence, bagged her dirty pants and like clockwork, we were set in no time.

Concern: What will Dahlia eat? Airplane food is not mother or toddler-approved.

Solution: We planned to have meals at the airports and snacks on the flight. By the time the in-flight meal was served, Dahlia wasn't even interested. During meals, Dahlia and I ate one at a time. They brought her meal first, I tried to feed it to her and then they replaced her tray with mine so I could eat.
I didn’t even attempt sippy cups since Dahlia likes to shake them and make a mess. She drank from bottles while we were in flight.
And first class travelers, beware of the warm chocolate chip cookie! I let Dahlia have one and it was a huge mess. It melted, smeared, crumbled, stained and was everywhere in 5 minutes. I had to bathe Dahlia with a wet nap and change her entire outfit. The flight attendant thought it was hilarious.

Concern: How the heck were we going to get Dahlia from point A to point B in a taxi? Did we have to carry her car seat all over town? How do New Yorkers do it? Should we take a subway?

Solution: There is no government regulation requiring car seats for children in taxis. This solved many of our logistical problems, but it didn't feel very safe to hold my darling sweet pea on my lap while our cab barreled down Park Ave at 50mph. I had to do it though and everything worked out fine.

Concern: I needed a babysitter three days in a row and wanted the same person each day. I didn't want Dahlia to have to get used to one perfect stranger, let alone three while we left her in a strange place with a strange person.

Solution: My brother valiantly tried to arrange sitters for us from Barnard Women’s College, but it didn't work out due to poor communication (I refuse to call people on the phone) and timing (one girl was available for only part of the time. Our last line of defense was the hotel babysitter service. We had used a hotel sitter service at Atlantis in the Bahamas and it worked out really well. We had the same sitter each evening.
In New York, we were staying at the Waldorf-Astoria. The concierge had difficulty communicating on the phone (doubly ironic) and so I arranged everything in person. Their sitting service was… $35 an hour! OMG! HFS! But… we were paying for convenience, we could have the same person each day, we were out of options and we were out of time.
Fortunately, the sitter was great! She was interacting with Dahlia before we even left our hotel room and we returned to find our daughter gleefully running down the hallway or watching a DVD upon our return.

Concern: We will be someplace in public and Dahlia will flip out. We will have no recourse and life will suck.

Solution: I suppose this is another inevitable rite of passage, but we got off easy this time. After we visited the Central Park Zoo, Dahlia took a two hour nap, during which I kicked my husband and dad out of the hotel room so they could check out the ladies in the hotel bar. (Fortunately for me, they were all over 50.)
Later that night, we all attempted dinner in the hotel restaurant and Dahlia, to put it lightly, was not interested. Sadly, my husband had to take her upstairs and get room service, but I was afforded a toddler-free dinner with my dad. My husband and I traded adult time and if you don’t bring a nanny along, it’s what you have to do.

Overall, our trip was really great. Dahlia took naps, she was able to tell us what she wanted, and we communicated to her what we were doing. Tomorrow at a family gathering, Dahlia will wear her new “I heart NY” T-shirt.

Congratulations Uncle Brody!

Visiting Emelyn in Houston

Emelyn has lived in Texas for two years. It was time to pay her a visit and see her place. Especially since she didn't come up to Seattle over the summer.

Sisters 4 Ever

Now that D is a seasoned traveler, a jaunt down south turned out to be an adventure.

Dahlia and my dad came with me. We left B at home.

I've been working too much since I've been back from Houston, so I'm just going to slap some photos up, tell you about them and go to bed.

Boots.

I had to get some boots while I was down there and we had lots of colors to choose from.

Before Hurricane Ike, we had planned to visit Galveston Island, which ended up getting the brunt of the storm. My dad visited Galveston only a year prior and was sure it couldn't be "that bad". Turns out the island was tossed. Houses were sideways on their foundation, yachts were strewn about the highway, threatening signs were left in blood red spray paint for would-be looters. All of the antique stores he visited with his wife were GONE. There were only a few restaurants open and we patronized one of them.

While the pier to this shop over water was gone, there were still posters hanging on the wall in what's left of the building.

Dahlia in front of half a beach-front bar.

We ate fresh seafood at Joe's Crab Shack.

Despite being tired, Em and I dragged ourselves out one night and hit a few bars near Rice University. I met her friend and co-worker Matt. He showed us around Rice Village and we watched scantily clad Texan girls shoot imaginary pistols to the song Paper Airplanes by M.I.A.

They're not dating. Em wants me to let you know.

Look at us! We're out on the town!

Emelyn, ever the party animal, only had to look at a pineapple & rum drink before she was giggly.

We went to the Houston Zoo the show Dahlia the animals. We saw elephants, bears, lions, seals, lots of birds, creepy, crawly things and other zoo-type animals.

The best part was the petting zoo because D could run around. She came across this statue of two bison and something compelled her to give this baby bison a kiss. It was super cute.

Love you!

I fell in love with the pygmy goats in the petting area! They are small and cuddly and they just want love!

This guy will fit in my overhead luggage compartment, right?

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, 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’ ”.

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!!!!!!!

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!

That's What Friends are For

So... I ran the whole moving idea by Lauren, my best friend from High School and she played devil's advocate.

I'll spare you the lengthy discussion, but she pointed out that it might be a good idea to keep D in school here and then just travel like crazy during school breaks and certainly over the long summer break.

Lauren is a 5th grade teacher and sees kids pulled in and out of school all the time. Apparently it's hard on them. She also had to readjust to five different schools when her dad's job took her all over while she was growing up.

I think traveling during breaks is a good compromise.

Thanks to lauren for helping me make sense of my wonderlust. Ha ha, get it? Wonderland, Wanderlust...

Still Thinking About Up & Leaving

My summer reading has consisted of books on reincarnation and traveling/ living in France. It's an interesting combination, but it works for me.

For the first time in my life, I am now perfectly comfortable with my spirituality. This is a touchy topic for me, as I grew up in private, Christian schools and was always trying to make sense of the world through the Christian lens. No one could ever answer when I asked, "What about the dinosaurs?! Were they real? Because if they are real, (and this was a black or white issue for me) then Christianity is not!"

As I attended Seattle University (Jesuit/Catholic), my curiosity resurfaced.

I contacted Uncle Peter, an older friend who grew up in Seattle's suburbs in a middle class, Caucasian home and became a swami at an early age. A swami? What the heck is a swami?

Wiki says:
Swami (Sw.) (Sanskrit: स्वामी, Svāmi, [sʋáːmi]) is primarily a Hindu honorific title, for either males or females. It is derived from Sanskrit and means "He who knows and is master of himself", "owner of oneself", or "free from the senses". It is a title added to one's name to emphasize learning and mastery of Yoga, devotion to the gods, and devotion to the swami's spiritual master (a guru or another swami).

This is a Caucasion Swami, but it's not Uncle Peter

Uncle Peter wore an orange sheet and tried to help, but his teachings were a little too abstract for me. He gave me a book on meditation, which I never had the time to read since I was an English major. I might fish it out now and see how it jives with my new beliefs.

To get back to my point... I think I had one... a soul's raison de etre is to learn new things with each lifetime and relationship, try to contribute to the well-being of mankind and to become enlightened. Part of that is learning how to deal with hardship, grief and learning to forgive.

This kind of frees me up from my previous life goal, which was to be PERFECT.

I was done being perfect when I had Dahlia. I did "perfect" and it worked out fine. I checked the boxes and I was happy, but was I fulfilled? Now I want to learn stuff. I don't want perfect to be an end-all for my daughter. My new goal is to provide her with opportunities for eternal learning.

Learn more, do more, be more... not have more, accumulate more and wait for retirement.

Now, onto the most recent book I read; "C'est la Vie" by Suzy Gershman. I know, cheesy title, but I laughed my ass off. It's about considering the typical life cycle of an American and then making a new life in France. As a former resident of France, while studying abroad for 5 months in 2001, I could relate. The French make everything more difficult, simply because they can. Naturally, it's a wonderful place and I'm considering moving back.

Here's Crazy Caffeinated Alyssa talking again, but I'm thinking that it would be great to live in France, Japan and Australia all for a couple years at least, before Dahlia hits high school. Then, we return to Seattle, enroll her in a private school (cuz that's what I want for my kid) and chill for a while.

What about maintaining a US residence? What about the dog and bird? Visas? Paying for all this madness? Uhh, according to my psychic, "ask for things from the angels and they will come". I'd better have a rock solid back-up plan.

In other news:

We are going to Orlando in a couple weeks. B will already be there, so I have the "opportunity" to travel alone with my toddler for the first time. It's a six hour flight. We decided to get two seats in coach, rather than one in first class. D will have her car seat and I will have my own space. I haven't found any real information on how to travel with an 18-month-old, but people do it all the time. I'm learning a lot lately... as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

After a few days rubbing elbows with fabulous folks in the wakeboarding and water skiing industry in Orlando, we'll take a much needed and well-deserved vacation in hurricane central (my idea), the Bahamas.

I can't wait to plop my little water-loving toddler into the kiddie pools at Atlantis! The pools are wide and shallow. We opted for a kitchenette and washer/dryer in our unit, so we don't have to eat out and we get to have clean clothes! The best part yet; the hotel has babysitters and while I was always afraid that my parents would leave my siblings and I with a hotel sitter, I am looking forward to it! Husband and I deserve to relax. Daytime with Dahlia is awesome, but it's fun to wear a pretty dress and not have her on my hip, pulling my neckline down and looking into my top. Thanks kid.

I'm going to hire a photographer to come to the hotel and take family pictures of us on our vacation. B doesn't know this, so it will be a surprise, even though my big secret is now posted forever on the Internet.

Dahlia is still napping, so I guess I'll keep spilling the beans.

Since my little sis didn't come up to Seattle this summer (boo!) Dahlia and I are going down to see her in Houston in October! I have been wanting to go visit her since Christmas and now that I feel comfortable taking D along, we're going. My dad has decided to join us, so that will make traveling much easier.

Damn this economy and damn the housing prices in Seattle. It's a buyers market, which isn't good for us.

oh, hey. It's raining. Must be Augtober.