Don't Tell Me It's Mid September!

So, there's actually been quite a bit going on lately I've just been too swamped to keep track of it all for you!  How about I start with current events and work my way backwards a bit?

Kid are in school.  Halle-freaking-lujah for getting back into routines!  Since school only takes us through 6.5 hours of the day, I thought it would be great fun to make myself nuts and sign the kids up for a bunch of activities!  The current breakdown looks like this: swim lessons 1x a week (only 7 more to go).  Taekwondo 2x a week for both kids - naturally since they're different levels, they go at different times.  Track 2x a week for Thing 1 -- at a high school that's about 15-20 minutes drive from here.  Ballet for Thing 2 only 1x a week for now, but I'm sure she'd go more often if time allowed!  And then Hebrew School for both of them on the weekends too just because we have so much free time.  I'm not exactly sure how we're going to squeeze in track meets around the current schedule, but we'll see!!

All these activities of course are just for the kids... I've also taken on quite a few responsibilities in the PTA at school.  I'm volunteering weekly at the library.  I'm organizing the Class Photo Day for the school, I'm co-chairing the STEM Committee to bring tinkering nights and other science and technology things to school and I'm one of the class moms for W's classroom.  Phew.

School... kids are settling in.  A few minor bumps the first week, but we're adjusting.  I'm happy to report that similar to the meme floating around FB I'm super proud of my daughter for being the one to sit with the new kid at school and make friends.  She was so nervous for the first day to not have her bestie with her, but she made two new friends from the first day!  Bonus, one of them lives a few doors down the road.

We finished off summer 2016 with a trip to Texas to see my folks.  The kids wanted to visit the water park in the neighborhood every day and I'm happy to report we did visit 10 out of the 11 days we were there.  Not too bad!  Hopefully, it makes the upcoming swim lessons a bit easier knowing they're slightly more comfortable in the water!

Here are the kids getting their wings for the flight down to Texas!

Two pictures of the amazing community pool and splash park!

Of course there were some fun games at Bubbe and Pops' house!  Here's our first attempt at Pie Face!

There was even a lost tooth!  A baby tooth, don't worry!  It took much convincing on my part, but Wren finally pulled it out herself!  

Everything's Better in Canada

At least according to my Bubbe.  Here in no particular order are a list of things that would be better if I lived in Canada...

1.  My hair would look better.
2.  My children would eat better.
3.  I would have a full time nanny.
4.  I would be thinner.
5.  My husband would be Jewish.
6.  I'd be less stressed.

I'm sure there are other things that I've been told over the years and just forgotten...

All that aside -- our second vacation was also a smashing success.  Atticus, Wren and I took off from NYC and headed to Toronto to meet up with the Texas family at the airport and then rendez-vous in Toronto.  The hotel didn't quite add up to what we thought we were getting, but we made the most of it... We did get to meet tons of cousins and have a great time.  In being honest, I didn't even get the chance to talk to half of the family during the visit.  Time went by so quickly!  Atticus and Wren did have a ball hanging out with all their cousins.  It was so nice to have so many around that I didn't even have to watch them every moment of the day.  There were a dozen other cousins kids running around keeping them busy!  Fantastic!  There were several highlights of the trip... Niagara Falls.  Dude.  How freaking awesome is Niagara Falls?  It's always going... massive amounts of water cascading right over the edge.  And you can get up THIS close.  Loved it.  I say this even though it was pouring rain 90% of our visit.  Pouring.  We were absolutely soaked to the bone.  We had a great time with my Uncle Richard and his wife, Lin, my folks and my brother.  Maid of the Mist was great.  The kids giggled and giggled.  That was even cooler than seeing the falls up close and personal.  My brother got some great video of the two of them laughing....

There was also a HUGE family reunion held at the hotel one night.  HUGE.  There was an easel outside the ball room that had the family tree, a professional photographer, two huge arts & crafts tables for the kids, and catered buffet that could have easily served an additional 20 people!!  It was a lot of fun to have everyone under one roof.

Then... it was off to Susan's cottage on the lake.  Don't ask me which lake, I'll never remember.  :)  I think the lake may even be the kids favorite part of the vacation -- even more so than Niagara!  Never in a million years would I have guessed -- but both Atticus and Wren had a blast in the water.  Granted - this is great lake where the kids can waddle around in thigh high water for almost as far as they can see!  Atticus fell in love with a SeaDoo Scooter.  He scooted around the water for hours!  Wren was just as content in her little float thing paddling around... they both also enjoyed a turn in the kayak!  That was a hoot.  Don't worry, there are pictures...

Again, poof - before we knew it, it was time to pack it up and head back to the airport.  We were getting to be pros at this point!  Saying good bye is never easy, but it was a memorable trip and I'm really glad we were able to go.

Vacay - Times One

Oooof.  That was fun.  Exhausting.  Fantastic.  Expensive.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

We really did have a blast.  Ohio was a family filled festivity.  We each had our hair done -- thank you MacKenzie!  Wren had her first true hair cut.  MacKenzie also gave her her first "fringe" aka bangs haircut, so it was only fitting.  :)  I had some fantastic highlights done and also tried "keratin" for the first time.  I KNOW!  We hung out with Papa, Grandma Baden, Aunt Yvonne, Cousin Grace, Uncle Chuck, Hudson, even Uncle Steve (Grandma Baden's brother) made an appearance!  I'm really glad we were able to see Papa as much as we did... the kids love teasing him and trying to get him to laugh!

Then, it was off to Texas.  We saw Uncle Shawn, Bubbe, Pops, Great Bubbe, Great Grandma Jeanne, Aunt Mary and Rus as well as our friends Hadas, the Bakers/Millers and the Masons.  Atticus and Wren had an absolute blast hanging out with their old friend Eleanora in Austin.  They played at a splash park, ate fresh figs right off the tree in Eleanora's back yard and did a fantastic job of just goofing around.

While the kids stayed with Bubbe and Pops, Greg and I snuck off to Las Vegas for an adults only adventure.  As best we can recall, this was the first time since Wren's birth that we'd been away with out the kids for more than a few hours!  We had quite the adventure at the Cosmo hotel with the Bernsteins, the Asays, and Jhana too!!  I got some much needed girl time at the pool and the spa, Greg got some boy time wandering the strip...  Greg, Corey, Laura and I went to see Cirque at the Bellagio one night and followed up the evening with a fancy dinner at Eiffel Tower restaurant at the Paris hotel.  Oh, and we had fantastic views of the fountains and water show at the Bellagio.   The next night, a group of ten of us dined at Michael Mina.  That was an incredible meal.  Good company, fascinating discussions and really delish food.  I know I've said it before... but I could really get used to 5 star dining!  Before we knew it, it was back to Dallas to finish up the family tour and head back to NYC.

The kids were pooped, we were pooped -- and we didn't even get to do everything on our list.  But -- it was a great trip.  Good thing we were to have a week at "home" before the next adventure!!

Nicole's Wedding Day

It's mid-day on Tuesday here in Tel Aviv. It's beautiful. Seriously, beautiful outside. This is the weather we'd been expecting for the past week!! Thankfully it's arrived in time for the wedding.

This morning, I went to the shuk (a market of sorts) with my Dad and Shawn. I found many pretty things -- earrings, bracelets, a sign for Atticus's room... We walked down the street and had lunch and now I'm patiently waiting to try and talk to Greg before getting ready for the wedding tonight. The only bumm news is that now it seems my Bubbe has caught the cold that Atticus and I had earlier, but she has it even worse than we did. I'm hoping she's feeling a little better by tonight and can make it to the wedding!!

Yesterday was great too. It was our second trip to Jerusalem -- and it went MUCH better! We started at Mount of Olives, then went into the city - strolling the Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Yad Vashem... then when we got back to the apartment Amy, Darren, Goat and I went to see Nicole over at her friend Dena's house. We ordered sushi, drank some wine and played Trivial Pursuit. It was a great night. It was a great relaxing night for Nicole - which was just what the doctor ordered for her!! I'm so glad that we were able to spend the evening just hanging out.

Okay... off and running again.

ER

Well, today has been a long day. After Jerusalem, Atticus had a bit of a cough and runny nose, but I wasn't too concerned. Over the day on Wednesday, it kept getting worse. Of course - the one thing I didn't bring was his "Little Noses" saline spray, so I went in search of a pharmacy yesterday while we were strolling Tel Aviv. Mission accomplished, I picked up some seawater spray and we went on with the day. Alas - he seemed to lose his appetite during the afternoon and the coughing and wheezing just got worse. At about 11 pm, I had the brilliant idea that it would have been helpful if I'd purchased an aspirator when I got the saline spray to help get rid of some of the gunk in his nose. Poor guy just couldn't breathe!! A few late night emails with Nicole and Brad and they tracked down a 24 hour pharmacy for me. My Mom, Atticus and I hailed a cab just before midnight and went to get the aspirator to see if it would help.

Not so much.

This morning, Atticus was just plain miserable. His eyes were all red, his nose was running non-stop and you could just hear the gunk rumbling around in his chest every time he coughed. Sigh. I feel awful. If you could see his little face when it's all red from coughing, it's just so sad. I want to help and I know there's not much they can do for coughs in children. But... since there was so much congestion in his chest, I decided to skip the Mossada and Dead Sea excursion today and venture to the Children's Hospital in Tel Aviv. I was extremely lucky that Hadas had the day free and offered to go with me. Hadas is the best. She really is such a great person. She and I cabbed down to the hospital and over the course of the morning, Atticus was examined and had a chest x-ray. The good news is that it isn't pneumonia -- the chest x-ray came back clear. And... the oxygen test and pulse were both good too. But, since the little man was wheezing (of course not nearly as much when we were in the presence of the doctor), they gave us a breathing treatment and sent me to the pharmacy to pick up a respirator type thing to use for the next few days here at the apartment. I was able to figure out the medicine and the mask thingy and we did our first treatment tonight.

Atti is currently kinda-sorta sleeping in the other room. I can still hear him coughing every now and then, but I'm hoping he'll sleep a little better throughout the night. Here's to hoping. We have to do the breathing treatments 3 times a day for three days -- and hopefully he'll be back to his usual happy go-lucky self in time for the next trip to Jerusalem on Monday. Tomorrow is another relatively quiet day. There's a crafty flea market/artist bazaar thingy that I want to go to in the morning and then Brad's folks are hosting a BBQ in the park in the afternoon. That's all that's on the schedule for tomorrow, so hopefully we can squeeze in another good nap or two for the little man. I really feel awful. I wish I could get the aspirator thingy to work better so I could suck out some of the snot.

Well... it's now almost 10pm and my Mom and Bubbe still haven't returned from today's trip. I hope they get in soon, I want to hear all about it.

Amy W arrived yesterday and it was so cool to see her. I can't believe it's been since the wedding since we last saw each other in person. Nuts. Tomorrow Goat and Darren arrive. We're getting closer to the wedding festivities. Let's just get everyone healthy and all will be well.

Where to Begin

Wow. I seriously don't even know where to start. It took about 24 hours from start to finish to get from DFW to Tel Aviv, but we made it. 3 adults, 1 baby, 3 suitcases, a stroller, a car seat, a diaper bag, a laptop bag some other random carry-on bags, etc. Whew. We actually did pretty well with the trip here I think. The stewardess on our BA flight from Dallas to London was a doll! We learned that she has a one year old little boy at home and that this was only her third flight back from maternity leave! I swear she spent 80% of her time tending to us and the other 20% to the rest of the plane! And... to make it just a bit better, we got lucky and there was an empty seat on the plane next to me - so Atticus got his own chair! He spent some time in our laps, some time in his chair and some time in the funky little bassinet that attached to the wall. We arrived at Heathrow, changed terminals and got checked in for the next flight. The BMI flight was fine - not as smooth (in many ways) as the BA flight -- but the end result was the same. We landed in Israel. The Grand Bubbe, Bubbe, Me and Atticus -- 4 generations -- all in Israel. Nicole and her friend Dena picked us up and shlepped us to the hotel/apartment. We're staying at the Ben Yehuda apartments -- they're nice. Small and efficient kitchenette, table, sofa bed, and a couple bedrooms. So far so good. All of us CRASHED when we got here. Amazing how much a couple flights can take out of you!

The tours started the next morning at 9 am. There's so much history in this tiny little country that you could spend an entire day in each of these cities and still not really absorb all the history that happened there. I'll go into more detail of each location soon. The tours have been great - but it really is so much information. I wish I would have read up on my Jewish and Middle East history before we made the trek! The baby has done great in the Ergo for the most part and the Grand Bubbe is holding up pretty well. Then came today... Jerusalem. It was 45 degrees, rainy and just miserable. Nobody had a great experience. I feel bad for the Grand Bubbe. Of all days to not be able to really take in where you are... in Jerusalem? Sigh. Good news is that we're going back on Monday after my Dad and Shawn arrive. We didn't even go to the Western Wall today because I just wanted to get my crew back to the bus. Good thing we have a quiet day tomorrow to recharge!

Ok...well, I know I haven't mentioned anything of what we've seen - but it's late and I need to head to bed. We're having a good time, but there's just a LOT going on!

More soon. I'll also try to get the photos off the camera tomorrow during our "down" time.

And We're Back

Well, well, well... we had quite the adventure getting to Paradise and getting home! Now I know why we normally fly DIRECT! What happened to Atlanta? Snow, tornados - sheesh!

The quick recap (sans photos):

- Sit on the tarmac at DFW
- Get off the plane
- Get back on the plane
- Sit in Atlanta
- Finally make it to the Riu in Paradise Island
- Yell - blah blah to the overcast windy weather for a couple days
- Look at the fishies at Atlantis
- Poorly apply sunscreen and end up with some splotchy sunburns
- Sit in the shade for a few days
- Attempt to save a drunk college student from alcohol poisoning by feeding him water
- Argue with the folks at the straw market - get some pretty fair deals
- Eat, eat, eat
- Read, read, read
- Sit in the shade, play in the water
- Pack
- Sit at the Nassau airport
- Sit on the plane
- Hear announcement that there's no fuel on the entire island
- Sit on plane
- Sit in Atlanta
- Make it to Dallas
- Make it back home.

Whew.

Pictures of Paradise Island and of Greg and I hanging out with my friends Rachel and Adam as soon as I free them from the digital camera!