tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65484705595712267082024-03-05T17:50:18.690-08:00Life as ChaniChani Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787239525194011318noreply@blogger.comBlogger313125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-86303656935885487702015-11-09T15:15:00.001-08:002015-11-09T15:15:19.568-08:00Becoming 30<p dir="ltr">Some birthdays are a big deal. Milestones. Have a real wow factor.</p>
<p dir="ltr">At 16, you can drive. At 18, you can vote and buy your first pack of cigarettes, legally. At 21, you can get your first drink, again legally. 30 is supposed to be the next big one. </p>
<p dir="ltr">I have found that my milestone birthdays are generally not on the standard timeline. <br>
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At 17, I got my license and moved away from home. Got my first real job, my first car, eventually my first apartment! That was a big year for me!</p>
<p dir="ltr">My 20th birthday was definitely my most eventful and memorable party. If you were there, you know why! **insert winky face here**</p>
<p dir="ltr">Tonight is my Hebrew birthday. Thursday is my English birthday. I'm turning 30.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I know this is supposed to be one of those big ones but I'm just not feeling it. I know I've had a lot happen in the past 30 years. And I mean a lot. </p>
<p dir="ltr">And maybe my parents find this to be a big milestone. Seeing me go from a tiny little, picky eating, big ant hating, not so at-one-with-nature type of pipsqueak, to being a woman with two kids, a mom, a friend, whatever, blah blah blah.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I just can't accept that this birthday needs to be treated any differently than the last! Has making it to 30 warranted all the hooplah that generally comes along with it? Why is it more amazing than making it to 29 or 31?? 25 is a more exciting number to me, that's a quarter of a century!! </p>
<p dir="ltr">I don't know. I'm not looking for validation or anything. I'm thrilled with where I am in life, with who I've become to both myself and those around me, I'm thrilled with the kids I've raised with an amazing husband and father. </p>
<p dir="ltr">I just don't feel like making a big party when last year I had no inclination of doing so and probably won't give it a second thought next year! I don't need big gifts. If there's something I want, I work towards getting it, regardless of the time of year. </p>
<p dir="ltr">I wouldn't say no to birthday checks obviously. I'm not a saint, just someone turning 30!!</p>
Chani Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787239525194011318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-7723059756465472182015-10-29T12:34:00.002-07:002015-10-29T12:34:51.872-07:00Our Own Rock StarI'm officially working full time. While I started the job right before all the holidays, I started with the request for slightly less hours. I knew I wouldn't be able to be functioning at 6:30 a.m. and still make it through the holidays! Now, I'm here at 6:30 each morning and can hear Shuky and the kids enjoying their mornings together. To help things go more smoothly, at night I'm making lunches and setting out breakfast. Before I collapse into bed, there are bowls, spoons, cups, napkins, a small bottle of water near each place, and big cereal containers sitting on the table. The kids just have to pour the cereal of their choice into their bowls, get the milk from the fridge, and pour it nicely. So far so good. No big spills. No big fights. They love the feeling of being big enough to handle these daunting tasks! It gives Shuky a little extra time to get ready for his day while I plug away downstairs.<br />
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We've also started a little carpool, so a few days a week they get picked up and a few days a week we bring friends home from school. It's been working out very nicely and the kids love getting the chance to ride to school with friends!!</div>
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So this past weekend, a friend of ours got married in New York and Shuky surprised him by coming in for the wedding.</div>
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Which, through process of elimination, meant I was home with the kids. Which also means that whatever can go wrong, most definitely will.<br />
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For the last few weeks, since Shabbos has been starting earlier, Shuky has been taking the car on Fridays and just picking the kids up on his way home from work. Every Friday afternoon, the elementary school (K-8) has an assembly where they talk about the week, sing some Shabbos songs, announce the Project SHAlom winners (something akin to child of the week) and just an all around festive twenty minutes that Benny absolutely loves! Well, Shuky has been trying to get to school a couple minutes early so he could grab Bella and take her to the assembly to enjoy it as well. So, I thought I'd try doing the same thing for her!<br />
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As I walk into her classroom, I find out I've just missed her and she's in the office getting checked out because, what do you know, she's swallowed a rock somehow on the playground. She's crying hysterically. No problems breathing, no vomiting, just scratched her throat. I helped her calm down and tried to get an understanding of how my 4.5 year old, a fairly mature 4.5 year old at that, came to have a rock ingested. If I pieced the story together properly, it seems she had the rock up against her lips (sensory thing I guess) and when a loud announcement came over the PA system, asking the Project SHAlom winners to 'come on down', she got shocked and inhaled too quickly. And swallowed the rock. No one was 100% certain about the size of the rock but there were some guesses.<br />
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I have a sibling that swallowed something as an infant and there's a whole crazy story that goes along with it. This is not something we take chances with. We (myself and a crying Bella) pulled Benny out of the assembly and went straight to the ER.<br />
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They didn't hear anything obstructive in her breathing, her lungs sounded fine. An X-Ray was ordered..<br />
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They took a chest X-Ray and there was a little fluffy spot in her lungs. The radiologist was honest, he said it was more than likely just a vessel but without knowing where the rock was, he wanted more info. Leave no stone unturned, if you will. See what I did there? Gotta find the humor in these situations!<br />
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Anyway, they took a stomach X-Ray and there, in her tiny little intestines, sat the rock. Waiting for it's turn down the poop chute.<br />
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Which was a huge relief because, had it not shown up, the radiologist was going to push her through to the ENT department to start digging around.<br />
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On a side note, I feel like Benny deserves his degree for completing medical school based on the amount of questions he asked during those couple hours. Which, at the moment, is a cute part of the story. During our hospital time, it was a little less cute.<br />
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Chani Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787239525194011318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-35037381504887409002015-10-07T01:37:00.000-07:002015-10-07T12:07:52.287-07:00The Perks of Being a Geeky Kid in SeattleJust to clarify, I find there to be a huge difference between being dorky and being geeky. On dictionary.com, they agree with me!<br />
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Benny could be considered geeky. Braniac for sure. Oodles of knowledge, a great desire to share it with everyone. At all times. Yes, that's Benny. He definitely has 'excessive enthusiasm' for all things in life!</div>
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A friend sent us an email in the end of August, he knows some of the big guys at Geekwire and he saw that they were looking for geeky kids to interview for their big conference. He felt that Benny would be a perfect fit. We agreed and were more than happy to be introduced! </div>
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I sent them this video that Benny asked me to record during our summer visit to California:</div>
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They sent me back a time and place to bring him in.</div>
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He really enjoyed being interviewed and we've been patiently waiting for the videos to be posted to see if Benny made the cut. When Benny found out that he was used in the videos, he immediately turned to Bella and excitedly announced, "Bella!!!! I'm on the INTERNET!!!!!" </div>
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They've started posting videos so I wanted to share the links. I love his responses, they are so him. (He answers a question in each of these videos.)</div>
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If more videos surface, I will try to share them!!</div>
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Chani Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787239525194011318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-10822777164457483622015-09-30T20:57:00.000-07:002015-09-30T21:31:11.208-07:00Breathing Fresher AirThere have been so many changes for us and so much blank space here. <br />
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We are in Seattle now, for almost ten months already (!!!!!), and we love it. Like, absolutely love it, with a capital L. It's been great having a house with a little space to stretch out instead of our apartment. Not just space to stretch out but space to share and host and play and work. And the yard, oh the yard! And the lack of neighborly noises through the walls, along with the neighborly smells. It's just an incomparable lifestyle! <br />
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Our kids' school has beyond exceeded our expectations and every day they come home happy and the teachers send us nice notes about how much they love the kids. The emotions are hard to explain and I'm generally not an overly emotional person, but there have been so many times where I find myself lightly tearing up when I think about the drastic change in schooling for these two little humans. There is a sense of family and belonging from the very first second when you walk into the school building and each and every staff member embodies that in the way they treat the kids and parents! Let's put it this way, if I was a tattoo type of person, I'd be ready to make my love known in a permanent way on my arm.<br />
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Being a part of a community has been an interesting adjustment for us, in a very good way. Benny turned two right before we started at Iowa State. For the years we were there, every holiday we celebrated and every time we wanted a normal shabbat experience, it involved travel. Sometimes it was as little as a 40 minute drive, sometimes it was as much as a five hour drive! But travel was needed so travel we did. Now, we can see the shul from our front lawn and get to watch a majority of the community walking to shul each week. It's a different world for us here. We have a Succah for the first time since Benny was one. For Bella, this is actually the first Succah she's not a guest in! We made decorations, which I laminated and hung up quickly, and the kids love looking at each adorable drawing they have hanging out there, knowing they will be up next year as well and hopefully with more additions!<br />
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I may sound repetitive but there's not really a better way to convey the drastic change in lifestyle we have experienced since graduation! As a family, we are just in a better place, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. That's the moral of the story here.<br />
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On another note, I took our first few months here (the second half of the kids' school year) as a slight sabbatical before looking for work. It was a long trek making it through school, whether or not I was the one actually sitting in classes. I needed time to breathe and figure out who Chani Meyer is when I'm not the entire women's section of the community, when it's not me and the kids alone for nights on end. I was able to get some manicures and girls' nights and quiet time all to myself. It was bliss and so what the doctor would have prescribed if I would have asked!<br />
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The summer was a different story. For some reason, I felt like I could take on the world with my little ones in tow. I said to hell with the camp that we couldn't really afford anyway and told myself we would utilize the millions of memberships we have around town. What I learned was that as much as they really do love each other, my kids just couldn't handle being the main source of entertainment for each other. No need to go in to detail about me retreating into my shell and just going into survival mode. Let's just say when school started back up at the end of August, we were there BRIGHT AND EARLY on that first day! <br />
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I think a huge milestone for us during back to school season was the fact that we didn't have to pick up and move back to the midwest. We had our summer here (in whatever capacity our summer played out) and just smoothly transitioned back into the school year without much ado. It was amazing, but it definitely threw the kids a little. Those kinks have since worked themselves out, thankfully!<br />
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Now, back to my regularly programmed self of having the kids in school and the husband at work, I made some changes in the 'Me' chapter. <br />
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I'm working again, still in training officially so getting a slow start but within the next week or two, that will be full time. Which is huge. Like, haven't worked full time since having Benny in July of 2008 huge. Like, wow I really need cleaning help now huge. But I'm loving it!<br />
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I also am now sporting a darker hair color, which was not 100% by choice (thanks to a hair stylist appointment gone wrong, with follow ups gone even wronger). But I'm actually loving it and can't imagine going back to my lighter brown!<br />
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And the biggest gift to myself, something I've dreamed of for years, was making an appointment for a Lasik consultation. There was an appointment for later that week or the end of December. I jumped in, holding my breath and squeezing my eyes shut, and **poof** it's been three weeks and I HAVE 20/20 VISION!!!!!!!!! If you knew me growing up, you probably have absolutely no memories of me before my glasses wearing began. If you met me in my teenage years, you mostly saw me in contacts but may have occasionally gotten a glimpse of the good old coke bottles on my face. If you met me since having Bella, you've probably only seen me in glasses. If you met me in the last three weeks, I'm standing taller (as tall as one can at 5'1"), smiling bigger, and sporting my glasses-free face, framed with darker hair. It's a total Chani makeover and I freaking love it!!!<br />
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And with that massive dose of rambling, I'm off to get some more laundry done. I missed this blog and have been waiting for a good time to blow a revival breathe it's way!Chani Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787239525194011318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-58378791232103919112014-09-30T15:37:00.002-07:002014-09-30T15:37:53.035-07:00On To The Next ChapterI don't know when it happened but it seems like The Toddler Chapter is officially over as the little people in our family mature into slightly bigger people. Not really much bigger, if we're being honest. Just older in their heads. Think 3 going on 15 and 6 going on 16. And yes, the little girl's number is moving at a more rapid pace.<br />
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My phone is one alarm clock after another between tai kwon do, gymnastics, and the play dates I've managed to avoid until now. I have nothing against play dates, really, but with the different school hours and our kids having an early bed time (read: early wine time for the parents, just kidding, although maybe I'm not kidding), we just haven't really pursued additional friend time before. Benny has also put in a request to start doing Tater Tots again. He meant Torah Tots but it's name shall forever be changed now. We'll see if that can be worked into the equation, no promises little man.<br />
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Last year, Benny had a friend he really wanted a play date with. When they were placed in the same class this year, we made an effort to get to know his parents so Benny could get his chance before we move. Tomorrow is our big Play Date Day.<br />
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And of course, now that we are moving in about three months(!!!!!), Bella has a new girl in her class this year and they are attached at the hip, beyond besties, princess twins, frozen fanatics, matching braids and tutu skirts kind of friends. It's absolutely adorable and we are three play dates in with her already!<br />
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The nice thing is both of these friends have really nice parents. Score! (That was for you, Bubby.)<br />
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And now let's move the spotlight to me. I am on Week 2, Day 2 of my workout and I am still actively enjoying it and doing it. The run time is getting easier to handle, even though it is getting longer. My diet is going well, too! Considering the fact that we are in Food Country over here with all the holidays, I have not lost a significant amount at all but I am still lower than my starting weight instead of over. My hope was to at least stay balanced through the holidays, so the odds are ever in my favor at this moment!<br />
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Treated myself to a nice pair of running shoes after my first week, got them during a great sale!</div>
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Slightly more intense than last week.</div>
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My legs' best friend right now. Note to all you non-workouters out there, don't let your body become fudge. Or just never become active. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-60034649343056169652014-09-21T10:45:00.002-07:002014-09-21T10:45:33.477-07:00Back For a RunThere's no way I'm covering all that's happened in the last eight months of my blogging silence but all you need to know is this:<div>
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1. Shuky was offered a full-time position at Amazon and we are moving to Seattle at the end of December.</div>
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2. We have three months until graduation as of this past Friday.</div>
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3. Our company sponsored move does not require my packing or much else. I've been organizing slowly but no pressure. So the panic attacks should be under control. :)</div>
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Ok, all caught up. Welcome back. Both of us, truly. I've both enjoyed my sabbatical and missed my posting. Considering I've been getting gentle nudges from a few people over the last few months to sit back down with my computer, I'm assuming I'm not the only one that's missed it. If I'm wrong, leave me be with my ignorance!!</div>
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This past week, I joined weight watchers with a family member -- stress, baby weight (just go with me on that one), crazy past year, and so on and so forth, have all pushed the need for this. I'm in it to win it and really hope to see results! Paying for a program makes it so much more real and serious!! I also downloaded a 'Couch to 5K' app on my phone and started my first workout today. Not as bad as I expected it to be at all! It's an 8 week fitness system, 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Each week gets a bit more intense until you should be able to run a 5k. I'm not planning on running in any 5k. I just need something to whip me into shape! This should definitely do it.</div>
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Honestly, knowing that I'm not intensely planning a move and packing like crazy, I am choosing to put aside some of my time to start down our new path in Seattle as a better me. That's all. The same way I'm clearing out excess belongings we don't need to take with us in our move, I'm saying goodbye to my own excess.</div>
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This has been a super unexciting 'welcome back' post but it's what I've got right now!!</div>
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Hope you all have nice and meaningful holidays, if this is the season of yours. If not, enjoy hearing about all the food we consume over the next couple weeks!!! </div>
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Happy Rosh Hashana from ours to yours!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-30267913648692009972014-02-13T11:14:00.001-08:002014-02-13T11:54:44.229-08:00Snow BusinessI would like to formally take a moment and thank all of New York and its surrounding areas for being a team player. Someone had to have the gross weather today and I appreciate all of you taking one for the team!!<br />
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Here, where the fear of freezing your butt off was first discovered (I just made that fact up), it is a beautiful 41 degrees, the sun is shining, the snow is melting, there was a huge line as I waited to get my car washed, we are all wearing sweaters and they are unzipped (**gasp**).<br />
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I'm sure this means that our city will be one slick sheet of ice tonight, but IT WILL NOT HAVE BEEN FOR NAUGHT!<br />
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In other news, I fear this winter, in whatever capacity we are suffering through it, may never end so I have taken the initiative to go ahead and order myself a new beanie. A girl's gotta stay warm somehow.<br />
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Today is a rambly sort of post so I'll continue as such. Our in-the-same-building-but-one-floor-down move is coming along. Still have more to transfer over and I'm organizing as we go through it all, adding some to our storage and just getting rid of others. My trusty red wagon is definitely getting its exercise! We had to slow down this week because our little family decided to throw a sick party -- Bella's got the pediatric version of walking pneumonia, Benny's got bronchitis, and Shuky's got something in between the two. All three of them are on meds, Benny is in school and Bella and I have just been chilling. Between the doctor appointments we've had on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and the follow up today for Bella. And the first three obviously had corresponding pharmacy visits!<br />
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And with that, I can say enjoy your snow day if you are having one, as I am ABSOLUTELY enjoying not needing one!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-91219808482835788192014-02-03T20:09:00.001-08:002014-02-03T20:09:56.922-08:00That Just Happened.<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;">Do you ever feel like you work so hard to avoid something specific and find it still follows you around every corner? </span><br />
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Moving is my kryptonite. I hate it with a passion like you wouldn't believe and, yet, I just can't get away from it. Even as a kid, my family moved. A. Lot. By the time I got married and was ready to start my own home, I had somewhere between ten to fifteen moves under my belt. And I was only 21.</div>
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Not able to avoid it, our sixth anniversary was matched with six moves, not including the time we spent bunking with family in between (not insignificant amounts of time there either). I really had myself convinced that this last one, a little over two years ago, would be the last move until we were ready to leave Iowa. I was so sure! And yet, I hesitated to decorate our apartment, as is my M.O. Why put time and emotion into making a place mine when we might just pick up and move on soon! </div>
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After getting back from Seattle, I was on this intense 'get our apartment organized' kick and part of that included a little bit of functional decorating. And making the kids' rooms a little more exciting.</div>
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We moved to Ames in the summer of 2010 and it took until post-summer of 2013 for me to be interested in decorating, just so you understand completely.</div>
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The past few weeks have been a little intense in our apartment. We've had some major heating issues, keeping our apartment very cold. It also happens to be that this winter has been EXTREMELY harsh in terms of low temps and windchills in the 'never should get there' zone. Our building manager and maintenance guy exhausted every effort, trying to get our heat to a comfortable level but this past week, they realized there was nothing that could be done until the end of winter, when the entire building could have the system turned off for work to be done.</div>
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Simultaneously, we have been having small electrical issues here and there that the maintenance guy had been able to fix each time, more or less.</div>
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When they realized the heating couldn't be fixed, they provided us with a space heater for each bedroom and a nice, larger one for the living room area.</div>
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Within a minute of turning them all on, the breaker tripped and the power went out. A new breaker went in, the heaters were turned back on, and the same thing happened. Within a minute, it was all off.</div>
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Out came an electrician.</div>
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The diagnosis was our apartment would need rewiring and it wouldn't be a quick fix.</div>
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I'll spare you the details of the emotional train wreck I was at this point. </div>
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At this point, it was noon-time on Friday. We had just picked Bella up from school and had a couple hours until it was time to get Benny. </div>
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Our manager offered us a vacant unit of comparable size with very generous terms of how long we could take to move in (she even offered to allow us to use it just for the winter if we wanted our apartment for the long run, after the work would all be finished), and went above and beyond to make sure we could make it all work.</div>
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At which point, we started moving our belongings. </div>
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We opted to just permanently move to the other unit, as we will be moving within the year (GOD WILLINGGGGGGG) and it didn't make sense to come back for a few months.</div>
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Remember how I said this was Friday, around noon? By the time Shabbos came in that evening, we had all three bedrooms mostly set up, a semi-functioning kitchen, a living room, and our table and chairs. How? I have no freaking clue. A friend came to help with the couch and table, another friend watched Bella until it was time to pick up Benny and We. Just. Trekked.</div>
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We are slowly working our way into the apartment and I honestly debated just pretending this never happened. But what's a blog without a post or two every so often so here I am, spilling the beans.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-56539375611018241662014-01-18T18:59:00.000-08:002014-01-18T18:59:00.372-08:00335 Days. We are officially one week in to our second to last semester here which means in less than a year we will be D-O-N-E over here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
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Did I use enough exclamation marks there?<br />
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Eleven months left. And three of those will be spent elsewhere for Shuky's summer internship.<br />
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While I was talking a friend about that number earlier this week, she showed a better way to look at it - four months left here, go spend three months somewhere awesome, and come back for another four months to pack and move. Just writing that helps me breathe easier.<br />
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Those who know me personally are probably aware of the fact that I am a planner. I like to have things figured out in advance and, while I can definitely roll with it, spontaneity is not my favorite thing. During the first few years of school, the unknown was easier to deal with. It was completely out of our control and our future was not even tangible. Now, things are so close but we won't know for sure where we will be moving until next September. NEXT. SEPTEMBER.<br />
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Don't worry, we are still planning. I've been researching galore. Trying to weed through all the hypothetical cities that could be potentially be home for us. Knocking some areas off the list, moving others higher up in priority. At the end of the day, we can not decide until job offers come in but it doesn't hurt to have an idea of what's out there instead of scrambling around last minute to make the decision!<br />
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And again, for those who REALLY know me personally, you are probably aware that I spend every free second on Zillow. I have my houses picked out in our top cities already. Hopefully the new tenants will get transferred to the Midwest when it's time for us to come. And I say the Midwest because that sure as hell would not affect our housing situation, if you catch my drift. My cold and icy drift.<br />
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Hope everyone enjoyed their New Years and is back in the grind of things in this amazing year of 2014. {December of 2014. That's been floating around in my head like that old screen saver on Windows. You know which one I'm talking about. The one that used to say <u>Yournamehere Rox!!!</u>, and would bounce off each side of the screen while doing flips and twists. Yeah, that one.}Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-53115292025658565152013-12-10T11:05:00.001-08:002013-12-10T12:04:54.750-08:00Cold BloggingHere's the thing about me. I'm an introvert. Sometimes I just need to retreat into my head and keep my space. It has happened before here, although most times, there's some sort of life change happening that keeps me away. This time it was honestly just needing space. I needed some time to myself. While I generally love blogging, this is something I do of my own accord, I just needed to pull back from all things social. I've been more quiet on FaceBook than usual as well, if that makes anyone feel better! And yes. That is me being more quiet.<br />
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I've tried coming back here to get my blog groove back but I now have a bunch of unfinished posts, some with only three sentences, some with only three words, others with half a page. None of which really make sense. All of which will be deleted.<br />
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The last time I posted was around the High Holidays. We are going to just hit 'Live' right now and scoot right up to where we are here and now.<br />
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Hi again!!<br />
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I am loving all the new organizational things I've done around the apartment and how much nicer things are looking and the better air flow we now have! And I've also worked on getting the kids rooms looking a little more lively.<br />
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Added this great poster above Benny's bed. I have some posters to put up on the wall alongside his bed, just have to restock my stash of command strips!</div>
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And gave him an astronaut view as he launches off to sleep. It cycles through the different phases of sunlight, really cool actually!</div>
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And Bella finally got a gorgeous name sign from my beyond talented mother!! Hard to see but the decal above says 'Once Upon A Time There Was A Princess...' </div>
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I have a couple more things that will be going up on Bella's wall opposite this, where her toys are. Just need to decide if I want to frame them or go with self-painted clothespins like I did above.</div>
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It's been pretty cold here, we got a couple inches of snow over the weekend. So that's been fun. Without the fun part. I'm pretty sure anyone that knows me is aware of my feelings toward coldness and snow and real winter. Not a big fan, just to clarify.</div>
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It's sad because the snow is actually quite gorgeous here, all sparkly and white. But then the temperature has to go and drop below zero with insane windchills (Take the -20 windchill we had yesterday. Not cool Iowa.)</div>
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Almost forgot this awesomeness, last night Shuky went out onto the porch in the crazy cold to make this awesome video of a bubble freezing!! <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fTzw0mZDRyk" width="560"></iframe></div>
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Either way, we are coming up to winter break over here. As a family, we will be going to NY for a week. First time since the summer we spent there right after Bella was born. As a family, anyway. And then, when we get back, I will be escaping on my own for a few days. Heading to somewhere sunny and gloriously unwintery!!! And I. Can't. Wait. Like beyond excited and would already be packing if I could. :)</div>
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Ok, I keep getting distracted and I really want this to get posted so I'm going to go ahead and finish up over here. Until next time!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-21103526919831789542013-09-15T07:14:00.001-07:002013-09-15T07:14:31.248-07:00Organization OverhaulThis time of year it's always harder to post regularly. Between unpacking, doing laundry, repacking, driving to our holiday hosts, keeping the kitchen only minimally stocked so nothing goes bad, keeping up with school needs, and breathing, there's not really a whole lot of extra time. So naturally, this is when I find myself knee deep in a major organization project at home.<br />
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Just to give you some insight into my blogging devotion, I spilled a way-too-full cup of Gatorade on my keyboard on Friday and while it is clearly still typing, none of the letters really want to pop back up after being pressed down. So this may take a little longer than usual to get fully typed!<br />
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Our storage unit (our apartment came with a small storage cube by the elevator on our floor) used to be a large tetris box and getting things in or out was a major chore. I realized that more than half of what is in there is really not needed anymore! So now there's about 1/3 of what used to be in there. Most has already been sold or donated or tossed. I have four large tubs of clothing that I separated into the appropriate piles last week and this week I will distribute as required! Between the laundry and repacking. And the Mommy-monitored visit with Bella to her soon to be classroom.<br />
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I have also been working hard getting the kids' rooms more organized. Benny had an ugly bookshelf in his room, holding his books and toys. I had some credit on Amazon from survey sites I do so I ordered him a nicer looking shelf and put his bookshelf in our 'entry way' {read: kitchen/living room/dining room} and we turned it into our very own Meyerbrary (hoping to make a cute banner with the kids to hang over it). The kids each got a little box in their rooms and they can switch out their books once a week-ish. No need for thousands of books strewn across each floor!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydBqwqtSHfD-KFvrZu-9TFbMCwwUwb6Q6wyoO8cjjs4s3s6hpar2RtEQwV1NABeBLNGbLzzYJJSyeiiECVEqxRln79xvj3gg5T4SyfUkjS_B_wN01zijkPW0qynj_HljHr_J4UshM_sYG/s1600/bennybookshelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydBqwqtSHfD-KFvrZu-9TFbMCwwUwb6Q6wyoO8cjjs4s3s6hpar2RtEQwV1NABeBLNGbLzzYJJSyeiiECVEqxRln79xvj3gg5T4SyfUkjS_B_wN01zijkPW0qynj_HljHr_J4UshM_sYG/s320/bennybookshelf.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLItlb4W4LBXJZjAzsxza329xscjG3dQ54UEG51cLTbbCv9efpi4WSh94lrbZqlYn99NtxpHJcIHa1MdQQWisGpAhruxVABwrJBREjfEsKbDTH4Bz3SJi5jKxeEgT2kwXazIfoJoEIg9a/s1600/meyerbrary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLItlb4W4LBXJZjAzsxza329xscjG3dQ54UEG51cLTbbCv9efpi4WSh94lrbZqlYn99NtxpHJcIHa1MdQQWisGpAhruxVABwrJBREjfEsKbDTH4Bz3SJi5jKxeEgT2kwXazIfoJoEIg9a/s320/meyerbrary.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Here you can see the tubs waiting to leave our apartment. I'm planning on using the top shelf for winter gear baskets. Right now it's all on the top shelf of our coat closet and I pass things out each morning.</div>
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Bella's room is also looking much better. I am tempted to order the same shelf for her room but I really have to get rid of her enormous dresser first. I was originally planning on replacing it with something smaller but I think I can completely eliminate the need for a dresser. I have a set of plastic drawers in her closet that was being used for things she grew out of, but our lovely consignment shop is now in possession of some of that stuff! So I transferred her clothing to those drawers and just need to get more skirt hangers and it should all be fine! I made her a cute little accessory station on the inside of her closet door and she loves it!</div>
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I need to add some more hooks for hanging her jewelry :)</div>
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I pulled out our 'growing into' box to see what I have for the new sizes of the kids. We had a nice amount of stuff to pull out now and my box is sadly more than half empty! Time to keep stocking up on larger sizes, although I am hesitant to get too much as we don't have a lot of time left here. A year and three months (but who's counting) may seem like a lot of time to some of you but when you feel stuck in the eternity of college life, that is like a sneeze and a cough away!!!!!!</div>
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As usual, our bedroom is the dumping ground for everything that needs deciding. I feel like the kids' rooms are just so much more important for our little people to be able to sleep and function nicely! Shuky and I can handle the craziness much better, even though I am hoping to get to our room as soon as Bella starts school! As soon as that is done, I can start on some of my crafting that I am waiting to do. I have been preparing at least, found a pattern sale at Hobby Lobby last week, picked up a couple craft patterns at $0.99 a piece and I can't wait!!<br />
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Hope you all are enjoying the holidays and maybe some of you are getting cooler weather already. Would love to hear what kind of projects everyone else is working on now!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-76772572790681922822013-09-04T12:20:00.000-07:002013-09-04T12:20:49.511-07:00Emotional ConflictTonight is Rosh Hashana, the New Year of the Jewish calendar. With that, I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy, and sweet new year! My standard blessings of 'may the best of last year be the worst of this year' and 'an abundance of health, wealth, and happiness' all stand for this year as well!<br />
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The reason I am taking the time to write today is because yesterday, we were faced with a challenge. It is one that I had hoped to never have to deal with but, unfortunately, is not an uncommon thing when you have kids in school.<br />
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Benny rides the school bus every day, both to and from school. One of the things that made me comfortable with the idea of having him ride the bus (aside from knowing the <a href="http://www.nhtsa.gov/School-Buses" target="_blank">safety stats of busses</a>) was the reassurance from the bus company that Kindergarten kids are put on a bus with a monitor, an adult designated to keep an extra eye and make sure they sit nicely and safely, and that they are all seated up front with kids their age. After watching him walk straight to the back on the first morning, I let him know that this was the rule and that, even if the other kids his age were not listening, he needed to be sitting up front. Yesterday he got off the bus with one of the older girls from our building. He didn't look happy and she was walking toward me with him, clearly worked up, ready to tell me what happened. Apparently, Benny tried to sit himself in the front of the bus and the monitor told him to keep moving to the back. He told the monitor that his mother told him he needed to be sitting up front. She got down in his face and started yelling, "THIS IS MY BUS, NOT YOUR MOM'S, YOU BETTER SIT WHERE I TELL YOU!!!" Our neighbor told me she kept going at him. At this point, Benny was already crying. This girl interjected, telling the bus monitor that if his mother told him to do that then he needs to listen. The monitor then turned on the girl and continued yelling at the both of them. This girl pulled Benny onto her bench and started telling him jokes to help him calm down and walked off the bus with him and straight to me.<br />
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Benny looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I wasn't crying, it just LOOKED like I was! Mommy it was so RUDE! And you guys always tell me not to be rude, but she was SO rude!!"<br />
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I turned back to the bus and started calling out for them to stop, but I realized that confrontation was not the answer. I was upset and didn't want to make a scene. And the other kids on the bus would be late to get home. Instead, I called the bus company immediately and told them what had happened. They didn't know what to say to me and were extremely apologetic. I gave everyone's names (the monitor's, mine, Benny's) and all the information needed and they told me they would start an 'investigation'.<br />
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I told Benny how proud I was that he had listened to me and had spoken nicely to the monitor, even though she was being so mean to him. I also let him know that I was so proud that he came and told me everything right away and reminded him how important that is, whenever ANYTHING happens.<br />
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Walking back up to the apartment, one of the other girls in the building told me this monitor makes the little kids cry all the time and that she is really mean. Why she has been given this position of watching out for our little kids is baffling to me. Have no other parents called in to complain?<br />
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Last night, I was extremely nervous about how this morning would play out. I didn't know if they had addressed things with her yesterday, and if they had, would she then take it out on Benny this morning?<br />
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As soon as we got downstairs, Benny started freaking out that he didn't want to ride the bus and that he really just wanted me to drive him to school. He was scared that she would yell at him again and he really didn't like how she made him feel. My emotional side told me to give in and drive him without question. But the last thing I want him to think is that the best way to solve conflict is by running away. So I sat with him on the steps and talked to him about it. I explained that he still has to listen to Mommy and that hopefully the monitor would not be mean to him. I reminded him that the older kids on the bus that know him would be there to help him if he needed it and that if, for whatever reason, she did say anything not nice to him, he should go straight to his teacher and tell her what happened. {I sent her an email this morning with an FYI about what had happened, unfortunately the school uses a bus service so they would not be the people to take issues up with but I still wanted her aware.} I reminded him that the safest seat for him was in the front of the bus and we talked about which of the other kids he could possibly sit with that would make the ride more exciting. As soon as we got to the bus stop, he calmed down and was giggling and playing with his friends. I gave him a big kiss before he got on the bus and watched him. The monitor said nothing to him. He walked slowly past the first bench, stopped for a minute at the second, put his head down and walked straight to the back. His fear of her yelling made him ignore what we spoke about and choose the safer (in his mind) option.<br />
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This broke my heart.<br />
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Not because he chose not to listen to me, that is something I get plenty of practice with. Because this bully of a bus monitor just won. My five year old had such a fear of this horrible woman that he stopped to think about doing the right thing or the wrong thing. And chose the wrong thing. Even now, thinking about the little battle in his head makes me so sad. Who does this monitor think she is? Why is it just accepted that this bus monitor is mean and can take such an exciting thing for the little kids and turn it into something scary?<br />
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I went with Bella to the library afterward and asked the librarian for help. I wanted books that talked about bullying, how to deal with it, why people do it, how to help if you see your friend being bullied. I am still trying to get through to the bus company but have not been able to all day. I don't want Benny focusing on the bad, and I don't intend to keep this storm brewing. We will learn from it and we will move on.<br />
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I sincerely hope the bus company will see that it is not fair to place a bitter woman's hand as the one intended for our little kids to hold while embarking on this journey of school.<br />
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With all my best wishes, from my family to yours, may this new year only bring joyful tears and moments of pride to all you you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-8102958931913548082013-08-28T18:20:00.000-07:002013-08-28T18:24:40.163-07:00Projects LoomingThere are a few things I want to make around here so I figured I'd put it on paper, or blogger, for when I forget what my ideas were!<br />
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I really want to set up a quiet space/reading corner for both kids, in their own rooms. A place to retreat with an exciting story or cute little toy. For when a change of scenery is needed but not physically possible. When we were in Seattle, one of the many times we were walking through Pikes Place Market, we saw these adorable teepees a woman was selling and almost bought two on the spot. But they weren't cheap and would have had shipping costs on top of that! So, of course, being of the pinterest generation, I immediately committed to making them on my own. I've been researching the best ways to do it and I have a few ideas, and the truth is, making them on my own will be so much fun and then I can have them work with the decor of each room. I say that as if my kids have bedrooms with awesome decor. Don't be fooled by my wise choice of words. In my head, there is a theme for each room. In actuality, their rooms are blank canvases. These will liven things up a bit if, I mean when, they are finished! I'm not 100% set on a design choice for Bella's but I want to make Benny's look like a space ship to go along with his new linens. Wow, as I typed that I realized I never shared a picture of those over here.<br />
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Get a load of this folks:</div>
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I have wanted to get Bella a dollhouse since last Chanukah and just don't want one of the dinky $30 ones but can not afford the ones that I love. I've seen so many adorable ideas about turning little bookshelves into dollhouses and am hoping to do something like that for her! I just need to find a new clothing storage solution for her room before I can start adding all these little stations. She has a huge dresser in there from her crib set that needs to go, I want to replace it with something small that can go directly in the closet and free up the floor space. And I reaaaallllyyyyy want to get rid of the atrocious eyesore of a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-Primary-Colors-Chest/dp/B001BKYT8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377738062&sr=8-1&keywords=little+tikes+toy+box" target="_blank">toy box</a> that is in her room. Hate that thing. With a passion. And, if we are being honest here, I kind of want to get rid of all the toys in it too.<br />
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Benny loves legos but up until a bit before we left to Seattle, the kids were sharing a room, so it never seemed like a good thing to get him into. Little sister, choking hazard, fighting over it, blah blah blah. Now, I think he's ready and I think it would be really good for him. I want to find a cheapo little side table or coffee table or something smaller to make into a lego table for him and get him building and creating!<br />
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I <i><b>really</b> </i>want to make a poster of some sort to hang in our hallway. Somewhat of a souvenir from our road trips this summer, on a grand scale. Not interactive, per say, but something we can walk up to and see the cool things we did in each state. We all had such amazing times and I want that memory to last! And who knows, maybe Seattle will be the place for us and this can be our 'how it all began' memento. My current idea is to use a map with our route plotted out as the background, with our stops laid out over it. Still a jumble of ideas in my head. Trying to think of the best way to do it.<br />
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I'd like to make some cute pillows for our couch. It was something we picked up from people we met in Kansas City, used but nice enough. Much better than the horrible futon we had until then! The little ones have definitely marked their territory though and my throws I keep throwing end up as props for games anyway.<br />
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I bought a skirt at Target like two years ago. Nothing fancy. Just super comfortable and cute. I went back and bought it in a few more colors. I have been stalking Target since, hoping they would bring it back, but alas, they have moved on in the fashion world. I have this bee in my bonnet about finding similar materials and recreating it on my own. And since I've hyped myself up in my brain and now think I am capable of making my own clothing, wearable clothing obviously, I have also convinced myself that I can start copying skirts I like on websites. That I don't own to create patterns with. Apparently, I'm that good!<br />
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This last one is something I constantly have on my to-do list: I need the clutter gone. We have so. much. crap. It baffles me! Where in the world do we get all this stuff and how does it burrow its way into our home??? I have started with the kitchen. Slowly. Do we really need a million and a half sippy cups? My donation bags have started and I am ready to purge our home from this chaos that we are surrounding ourselves in!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-84917678567992874512013-08-27T06:30:00.000-07:002013-08-27T06:30:36.858-07:00Ticking Things OffThis past birthday, I made myself a list of 28 things I wanted to do before turning 28. I recently stumbled upon <a href="http://chanisbaby.blogspot.com/2012/11/28-things-to-do.html" target="_blank">that post</a> and realized there were a few things on the list that could be checked off, as I've only actually made note of my doings at one other <a href="http://chanisbaby.blogspot.com/2012/11/goodbye-2.html" target="_blank">point</a>.<br />
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Here is my newly revised list:</div>
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Allow me to explain:<br />
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#4 - I went to my cousin's bar mitzvah in California on my own in March. It was just a weekend but it was amazing and it was just me, myself, and my kindle. Which has something to do with #27.<br />
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#12 - This summer really and truly allowed me to have more one on one time with my kids. Benny was in camp for four weeks so I Bella and I enjoyed some time together, just us gals. And when we had the chance, Benny and I snuck away as well!<br />
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#17 - This is not something I'm going to go too deeply into. You're just going to have to take my word for it. I will clarify that the comfort-zone-stepping-out-of was more of a social thing for me.<br />
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#22 - When I took the kids out to California in June for our annual summer visit, my mom dyed my hair for me. I loved it and I still love it now, two months later, with miles of roots that are giving me away!<br />
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#26 - While I generally get more quiet over the summers (new places, new things to get used to, it just happens), I do feel that in general I have blogged more this past year than I have in a while. How very apropos that this happens to be <b>blog post #300</b>!!<br />
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#27 - My kindle. My lovely kindle in it's teal leather case. We have absolutely been the best of friends this past year. I won't insult my kindle by bringing my insane stack of magazines I get on a very regular basis. But they count too.<br />
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There are still plenty of things I need to get knee deep in and time is not waiting! My birthday is in a couple months and I better get working on these over here!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-31935422708941173162013-08-25T21:49:00.000-07:002013-08-26T07:01:39.822-07:00Interview With a KindergartenerI'm really good at starting projects. Let's just leave it at that. <i>Some</i> of them get finished.<br />
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I really want this one to carry through.<br />
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Today, I interviewed Benny with 20 questions. And measured his height. And tomorrow, as he proudly climbs onto his school bus, I will snap a couple pictures.<br />
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I would like to make him a book with an interview, his height, and a picture or two for each year of school. A page for each year from kindergarten through 12th grade.<br />
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I think the trick will be remembering where I put the answers, it will be in a special place 'so I won't forget', if you know what I mean. Or I should probably type something up and post it on my blog every year.<br />
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Oh man, that is a huge commitment. Not to the book. To my blog!!!<br />
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I started out letting him write his answers (I helped him figure out how to spell each word by sounding them out) but by the time we got to question eight, both of us were ready for this to move along a little faster. So I wrote all the answers after that :)</div>
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Anyone else have fun things they do to commemorate and remember the first day of each school year? I need to search through the depths of google images for a fun print out to have him hold as I snap his picture tomorrow.</div>
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Side note: This week is 'Spirit Week' at the school and day one is crazy hair day. That's so unfair to the mothers like me that actually want him to look nice on his first day!!! Simple mohawk it will have to be.</div>
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<b>UPDATE: </b>I figure this is as good a post as ever to add his first day pictures to so here we go! </div>
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Very happy we went with a tiny 'hawk. No one else really did anything so this looked like a regular hair do.</div>
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Waiting together for the bus to come.</div>
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THRILLED to be climbing onto the bus. Be still, my heart.</div>
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I survived. I didn't cry. He put up with my incessant need to document his life in good spirit. Bella had a slight freak out, "Where my Benny doh???? I wanna doh wit him!"</div>
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And then we took Shuky to school and she realized it was just the two of us all over again. And she totally played my current emotional state to sneak in some extra Go, Diego, Go time. Smart cookie.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-34006159399203835322013-08-22T12:39:00.002-07:002013-08-22T12:39:42.957-07:00Ready to Learn!We are back. Our internet has been reinstated. Most of the boxes (read: all except my personal box) have been unpacked. We are slowly getting back into our regular grind over here. Running around quite a bit as we get all the students in this family ready to go and learn great things.<br />
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Earlier this week, I took Benny on a special date to pick out his supplies and he could not have been more excited! I splurged a little on the things that would be his versus the communal supplies. Watching the smile as he picked out the airplane folders instead of the solid colored ones and the backpack with the matching lunchbox. It was adorable!<br />
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This morning was his orientation and he and I had a great time. We got to the school and headed into his classroom to do a little scavenger hunt, we were given a little list of all the important things in the room to get familiar with and asked to put his supplies away. Then, the parents left the room and the kids got to hang out and get to know each other and their teacher. The parents were given a tour of the building and then they brought us all into a different kindergarten room. One of the kindergarten teachers read us an adorable book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Kissing-Hand-Audrey-Penn/dp/1933718102/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377199004&sr=8-1&keywords=the+kissing+hand" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The Kissing Hand</a>, definitely a tear jerker when we were all already a bit emotional (our babies are all growing up!!!!)! This is the book that they will be reading to the kids on Monday They gave us little red hearts to send with our kids to school and had us each write a letter to our kid. They are planning on reading the letter with our kid and having them write us a response.<br />
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I am not usually a crier but today I really found myself fighting tears. He has been in preschool for the last two years but this just feels different. So much more real. So much bigger. So much further from me.<br />
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After some standard forms were signed, we went out to find our kids on the playground, playing together as if they've been doing this for months already. Chatting with the teachers who were clearly not strangers anymore. It was so cute to watch him!<br />
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He is going to be riding the bus to and from school and, while I may be slightly more nervous than necessary over that detail, I can't wait to see his smiling face and hear his endless stream of words as he makes his way down the steps to run toward us!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-53727389716993207492013-08-07T12:52:00.000-07:002013-08-07T12:52:43.999-07:00The Good, The Bad, And The UndoneWe start our road trip back to Iowa this Sunday. I can't believe how quickly the summer rushed by!! And I can't believe how busy we've kept ourselves, I barely even blogged at all! Both kids will be in school this year so I may have a couple extra hours to myself, hopefully that will translate into more frequent blogging.<br />
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We got to explore a lot of Seattle, some sites we enjoyed, others not so much. Some of our list never even got crossed off! Keep in mind, we were living downtown so a lot of what we did was in that area. Also, Benny was in camp for the entire month of July, so while it may seem like I only take pictures of Bella, a lot of these outings were just me and her! {Please excuse the picture quality. I found myself walking everywhere this summer and in order to keep things light and easy, very rarely pulled out my actual camera.}<br />
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Quick Tip: Anyone with a short trip planned to Seattle, strongly consider grabbing a <a href="http://www.citypass.com/seattle" target="_blank">City Pass</a>! A bundle of discounted tickets for 6 attractions in Seattle!<br />
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<b><u>The Good</u></b><br />
{{In no specific order}}<br />
<a href="http://www.seattleaquarium.org/" target="_blank">Seattle Aquarium</a> - {Prices: Adults - $21.95, Kids 4-12 - $14.95; expect to pay a lot for parking unless you use public transportation, or come on a Sunday when meters are free!}<br />
We loved this so much that we bought a membership at the end of our first visit. That has paid for itself many times over, as we frequented this adorable aquarium countless times throughout the summer!! This is great for when you have a quick two hours to kill, and we had plenty of those opportunities! Check their calendar before going, sometimes they have cool special events going on!<br />
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There is a jellyfish ring that the kids sit and watch for a while. You can stand in the middle of the ring and watch them float around you, with some background lighting that changes color every few seconds. </div>
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Plenty of cute photo ops!</div>
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Every so often, some volunteer high schoolers set up a face painting booth for donations.</div>
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<a href="http://www.pacificsciencecenter.org/" target="_blank"> Pacific Science Center</a> - {Adults - $18, Youth (6-15) - $13, Child (3-5) $10, extra charges for IMAX shows; expect to pay a lot for parking here, this is located at the Seattle City Center right next to the Space Needle}<br />
Another spot we loved enough to grab a membership to! Unfortunately, I forgot to do it at the end of the first visit and ended up paying for two visits before buying the membership. With that in mind, we still went enough times to make it worthwhile! The variety of exhibits really kept both kids well entertained and busy. Shuky and I always enjoyed ourselves as well! We loved hopping on the <a href="http://www.seattlemonorail.com/" target="_blank">monorail</a> to get there, which was all part of the experience! I really don't have a lot of pictures to share from here. This is a very hands on place and both kids really kept me on my feet while visiting each time! Check their site to see if they have any exciting pop-up exhibits.<br />
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Riding the monorail on a grey and wet day</div>
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We enjoyed a few of their cool IMAX showings</div>
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By far their favorite little thing. A space capsule, tilted at an angle. You can push buttons and flick switches. There is a sound bit that does the countdown and then you hear the sound of the thrusters. On busy days, there is a line of kids waiting for a turn to sit in this!</div>
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<a href="http://www.thechildrensmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Seattle Childrens' Museum</a> - {Adults and children over 1 - $8.25, Grandparents $7.25, adults not allowed in without a child; this is also located at the city center so be prepared to deal with parking or a bit of a walk}<br />
This was the final membership we invested in. I would say the aquarium and this museum were tied for how many times we came. While the Pacific Center would go higher on the list for being more enjoyable, this spot is a bit easier to keep an eye on the kids. They have really cute rooms and themes. There is a play area (called the Discovery Bay) intended only for kids three and under. There is a reading/story room, a craft studio, a program room, and so many themed rooms! There is this 'mountain' that you can go bird watching in with a camping spot at the end. The staff are great here, a lot of volunteers (the museum is a non-profit) who will literally get on the floor and crawl around with the kids to make their games better. The offer random events that are awesome! We've had a private bird watching tour, no one else joined. Bella and I got to get an exclusive tour of the monorail, see the underbelly of it's station, meet an engineer that works on it, sit in the driver's seat, and a round trip ride with guaranteed front seating! I definitely recommend signing up for their emails so you can sign up for events as soon as they open!<br />
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A little cave to explore on the 'mountain'</div>
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A volunteer once saw me and Bella here and brought a pile of magnetic fish and literally spent ten minutes (at least) fishing with Bella off the side of the boat!</div>
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They have a little restaurant for the kids, it's a copy of a real restaurant they have upstairs in the food court</div>
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The construction room is amazing!</div>
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After a long day of work, he clocked out and headed home for a hot meal.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKgnleEEfXow_4fcxPB7nqLHgSMuqsRKKgPqtRqCYZMCB0Jj05DTMFjYGCgBMvhCuqdciqRDdoSYuHuqOiTvmrC0M61oG90EtNKiuUk4gII2iGvJAh18qwqIfReHCUnrm0WI0l_hPX_AO/s1600/photo_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKgnleEEfXow_4fcxPB7nqLHgSMuqsRKKgPqtRqCYZMCB0Jj05DTMFjYGCgBMvhCuqdciqRDdoSYuHuqOiTvmrC0M61oG90EtNKiuUk4gII2iGvJAh18qwqIfReHCUnrm0WI0l_hPX_AO/s320/photo_12.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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One of the awesome stations</div>
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Beautiful projects come home from the art studio.</div>
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Bella told me this is an Orca whale. I totally see it! </div>
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Story time, adorable <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seattle-ABC-Larry-Gets-Lost/dp/157061590X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2CMMNP43C0RJC&coliid=I15K45DJED9UYF" target="_blank">book about Seattle </a></div>
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Coloring sheets before going to see the monorail</div>
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Sitting in the driver's seat on the monorail</div>
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Front row seat</div>
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Looking out on the town</div>
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<a href="http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=307" target="_blank">Green Lake Park</a> {Wading Pool is free, boat rentals vary in price; pretty easy to find free street parking}</div>
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This is a park that keeps on going! There is an awesome playground, an amazing wading pool, a great trail that goes around the lake, a swimming area in the lake itself, boat rentals, sports fields, and more! We always had a good time here!</div>
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<a href="http://www.atlakeunionpark.org/" target="_blank">Lake Union Park</a> {Prices vary depending on activity; there is a small parking lot that is not expensive at all, otherwise the street car stops right here!}</div>
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This is a block away from Shuky's office and we found ourselves here pretty often. We packed lunches or snacks, sat and watched the sea planes take off and land, harbor cruises come and go, docked ships, went on our own little <a href="http://chanisbaby.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-way-of-water.html" target="_blank">harbor excursion</a> (definitely read about our experience!). We enjoyed the splash park countless times! There is also a small swimming area in this lake and a model boat pond. Make sure to check out the <a href="http://www.atlakeunionpark.org/partners/the-center-wooden-boats" target="_blank">Center for Wooden Boats</a>!</div>
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<a href="http://www.zoo.org/" target="_blank">Woodland Park Zoo</a> {Adult - $12.75, Child (3-12) - $8.75, check <a href="https://specialoffer.zoo.org/wpz/main.php/micro_sites/showpage?id=10&page_number=1&source=WPZ051305&gclid=CIGAnLfz67gCFRDZQgod4BcASg" target="_blank">here</a> for a special offer; parking is $5.25 in their lot}</div>
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Bella and I went to the zoo while Benny was in camp. It is a nice zoo, we were able to see most of it in two hours but that is because a two year old's attention span is quite short! We didn't see everything, there were certain things I didn't think she would have any interest in so I just skipped them. Shuky and Benny went together on Benny's birthday and had a great time as well!</div>
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Up close and personal with this swimming bear</div>
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This woman sat in front of the window blowing bubbles and this orangutan was completely interacting with her, it was so cute!</div>
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<a href="http://www.zoo.org/page.aspx?pid=2165#.UgKOoo1vOSU" target="_blank">Rose Garden at Woodland Park</a> {Free entry; parking is the same as the zoo, or find street parking nearby}</div>
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This is a cute little garden on the same property as the zoo. They have some nice water features (not for playing in, just for viewing) and a great sensory garden! Pretty gazebos make for great photo ops. Bella and I were there for a little over an hour, we only left because it was a hot day, we could have stayed longer otherwise!</div>
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<a href="http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/" target="_blank">Washington Ferries</a> {Fees vary depending on the destination, our 35 minute ferry to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bainbridge_Island,_Washington" target="_blank">Bainbridge Island</a> cost us about $40 round trip, and we had the car with us. Walk ons are MUCH less!}</div>
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I highly recommend taking a ferry somewhere. We loved the ferry even more than the island we went to! The views were gorgeous and the kids had a blast! I do recommend utilizing the website's live cam function and to see how long the current line is and check the schedules. On the way there, we checked it and sat for 15-20 minutes. On the way back, we didn't check it and sat for about an hour waiting for the next ferry. Good news was, on the way back we were one of the first cars to get in the line so we got a really cool parking spot on the ferry and were able to drive off right away! We didn't plan our trip very well, it was a cloudy day. The weather radars were saying it would clear up earlier in the day. The sun came out as soon as we got out of our car on the returning ferry.</div>
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Waiting to get on the ferry.</div>
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The sunny view of the downtown skyline as we were getting back.</div>
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<a href="http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/" target="_blank">Ride The Ducks</a> {Adults - $28, Kids (3-12) - $17, Babies (0-2) - $1, quackers are not included in those ticket prices, check their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ridetheducks" target="_blank">FB page</a> for random discounts, book online for a slightly discounted price; parking is typically expensive of downtown area, we walked to avoid that issue}</div>
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I wasn't sure which list I wanted to put this on. I read a lot about these rides before booking our trip and the general consensus was that people seemed to have an AWESOME time on this tour!! Shuky went a couple days before us with an intern event hosted by Amazon and had a blast. Because I personally know someone that had a great time on it, I will leave this in my good list. Our driver was not the best, didn't really engage the crowd and most of what reviewers said did not happen in our tour. Read the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/ride-the-ducks-of-seattle-seattle" target="_blank">yelp reviews</a> before making your decision. Benny had a great time, Bella got bored halfway through and had to be otherwise entertained. I would strongly recommend hiding the whistles as soon as you walk off the van if you value your sanity!!</div>
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The driver had a plethora of silly hats for each silly joke he made!</div>
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<a href="http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/" target="_blank">Pike's Place Market</a> {no fee for entry; parking in their specific lots is outrageously expensive, definitely search for meter parking!}</div>
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We did this many times, and each time was just as good as the last! Different vendors show up and you can find some really beautiful things there. The singing fish-throwing guys are awesome and always collect a crowd. The market goes on and on, with hidden twists and turns and treasures uncovered wherever you look!</div>
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<a href="http://seattlegreatwheel.com/" target="_blank">Seattle Great Wheel</a> {Adult (12+) $13, Children (4-11) $8.50, kids 3 and under are free but still require a ticket so don't forget to ask for one!}</div>
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This was great. Definitely a tourist attraction so be ready to stand in a line, but it is totally worth it! The views are amazing and there is an emergency button in the air conditioned gondola so if you freak out from heights, there is a way out! If no one pushes the button, you could go around about 4-5 times. I think they said they guarantee 3 times at least. It is slow moving, both kids LOVED it!</div>
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We had a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycle_rickshaw#United_States" target="_blank">bike taxi</a> drive us back to our car for fun :)</div>
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<a href="http://www.uvillage.com/" target="_blank">University Village</a> {local shopping center with free parking}</div>
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There are a few reasons I am putting a shopping center:</div>
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1. <a href="http://www.uvillage.com/village-playdays/" target="_blank">Village Playdays</a> - Every Tuesday, from 10-11, another shop hosts an hour long kids event for free. Sometimes there is face painting, sometimes there are balloons given out, sometimes they offer crafts, story times, and other fun activities. For instance, this past week Microsoft hosted what they called 'Tech Tots' and they had a big screen set up in the back. They had snacks, drinks, sanitizing wipes, and little first aid kits set up alongside for moms to stock up. They played video games with the kids and read a story. </div>
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2. There is an awesome covered playground that is fenced in. There are cars for the kids to ride in, benches for parents to sit on, and heat lamps surrounding the area for colder days.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0h8Q9rMv50bZr1zgxwVGXu0QWXtE4vxL_Az5w34tvkKo2aCFj45gu5lQZEu34va7yI9DEyAvIQNSijfx-RPyyiuBNiCjMOH3GydKYVyOLFiUKE_5AwPXatCbcL9H6HOpnKZqfYubHCfhL/s1600/photo_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0h8Q9rMv50bZr1zgxwVGXu0QWXtE4vxL_Az5w34tvkKo2aCFj45gu5lQZEu34va7yI9DEyAvIQNSijfx-RPyyiuBNiCjMOH3GydKYVyOLFiUKE_5AwPXatCbcL9H6HOpnKZqfYubHCfhL/s320/photo_11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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3. QFC is a big market in the shopping center. This market has a large kosher section that includes, but is DEFINITELY not limited to: fresh sushi made daily, hot deli, baked goods, great variety of meats and poultry options with an on location butcher, a starbucks in the store, a KOSHER Einsteins Bros, oh did I forget to mention the FREE BABYSITTING ROOM!?!?!?! They give you an hour to shop without the kids and if they aren't busy they'll usually let you keep the kids in there longer. Every time I let them know I'm walking my bags out to the car (so they know they can't reach me through the store's intercom system) they tell me to go get a coffee or bagel afterward. I love them. My kids actually get excited when I tell them we are going to QFC. Win win!!!</div>
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<b><u>The Bad</u></b><br />
I use the word 'bad' loosely here. We didn't find these to be as awesome as tour books touted them to be. You might have a different experience.<br />
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<a href="http://www.spaceneedle.com/" target="_blank">Space Needle</a> {Adult - $21, Youth (4-12) - $12}<br />
There is definitely a beautiful view from the Observation Deck but for the price you are paying, you will be disappointed. We ran out of things to do very quickly and left within the hour. There are supposedly other buildings you can go up in for MUCH less! Mind you, we were warned this before going but felt that we couldn't live in downtown Seattle without experiencing it on our own.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUGZlK-oBfBd5MmTEZdGQtLKOKntPh_MtkFgW0e8U-eBxJFGSsZKpUxTO79w_gD-Bgwoy8nRt9nTp8UB_fWaAyvaUmQ4MYat8nL_2TNdtpXocV5gjJvSXf77IRpu5Ohkn73hgzkXjUo-N/s1600/photo_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUGZlK-oBfBd5MmTEZdGQtLKOKntPh_MtkFgW0e8U-eBxJFGSsZKpUxTO79w_gD-Bgwoy8nRt9nTp8UB_fWaAyvaUmQ4MYat8nL_2TNdtpXocV5gjJvSXf77IRpu5Ohkn73hgzkXjUo-N/s320/photo_7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Cameras that you can control and zoom in on surrounding areas</div>
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<a href="http://www.empmuseum.org/" target="_blank">EMP Museum</a> {Adults - $20, Youth (5-17) - $14, buy tickets online for a discount}</div>
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This was not such a great family outing. If we had gone as a couple we might have enjoyed this more. The only things the kids actually enjoyed was the <a href="http://www.empmuseum.org/at-the-museum/museum-features/sound-lab.aspx" target="_blank">Sound Lab</a>, where we got to play with alot of different instruments. Honestly, we didn't even make it to the SciFi side. The kids were done before we even figured out where in the building it was.</div>
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<a href="http://fremont.com/about/fremonttroll-html/" target="_blank">Fremont Troll</a> {Just need to find parking for this one, good luck on that!}</div>
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This was impossible to find parking for so we did a drive-by and the kids really could not care less. It's cute but way overrated.</div>
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<b><u>The Undone</u></b></div>
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These are things we wanted to do but never had a good opportunity. They will remain on the list, if we end up back in Seattle next summer I would like to try making it to these places!</div>
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<a href="http://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm" target="_blank">Mt Rainier</a></div>
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This is an active volcano. Case closed.</div>
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<a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/mountsthelens" target="_blank">Mt St Helens</a></div>
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This volcano erupted on May 18, 1980. We have a volcano loving guy who would be thrilled for a chance to visit this site!! (are you noticing the volcano trend on our wish list?)</div>
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<a href="http://www.visitsanjuans.com/the-islands/orcas-island" target="_blank">Orcas Island</a></div>
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Not the cheapest getaway but I really want to make it out there for a weekend. Get some whale watching and beach combing done!</div>
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<a href="http://www.playdatesea.com/" target="_blank">PlayDate SEA</a></div>
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An indoor play space in Downtown Seattle. Opened recently, we just never made it there. Always good to have indoor backup options!</div>
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<a href="http://www.spl.org/locations/central-library" target="_blank">Central Public Library</a></div>
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Aside from the amazing architectural appeal, this library has a reputation of having an amazing children's department.</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_M._Chittenden_Locks" target="_blank">Ballard Locks</a></div>
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Supposed to be awesome! Check out some of the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/hiram-m-chittenden-locks-seattle" target="_blank">yelp reviews</a> as well.</div>
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<a href="http://www.mohai.org/" target="_blank">MOHAI</a></div>
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I've heard this museum is great and surprisingly enough, with all the times we found ourselves at Lake Union Park, we never made it in.</div>
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<a href="http://www.argosycruises.com/" target="_blank">Argosy Harbor Cruise</a></div>
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I want to do something a little more in depth than the Ice Cream tour we did.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-54755667768408272072013-06-28T17:46:00.001-07:002013-06-28T17:46:34.553-07:00The Way of WaterToday is Benny's hebrew birthday. Last night, Shuky carved him a birthday message into his hot dogs and this morning he got birthday cake.<br />
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Then, after packing up lunches, the kids and I went on a special birthday trip. I took them to <a href="http://www.atlakeunionpark.org/" target="_blank">Lake Union Park</a> and we hopped onto the <a href="http://www.seattleferryservice.com/seattle-ice-cream-cruise/" target="_blank">Ice Cream Cruise.</a> It was a cute little cruise that took us around the lake for an hour, sightseeing and enjoying the gorgeous weather. The name comes from the little snack shop they have on board!</div>
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On board with us was a cute group of senior women and a couple of their daughters, along with a guy from the senior home they were coming from, acting as their guide. The views were amazing, we saw some awesome things!!</div>
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They sat themselves down for a nice game of chess</div>
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Some of our senior friends enjoying the view from the roof deck</div>
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Having a delicious snack of strawberries</div>
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An old fire boat</div>
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Kayaks alongside us</div>
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And on to a game of checkers</div>
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Adorable little houses on the water</div>
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Nice big house on the water</div>
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Houses and houseboats are friends</div>
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The home and studio of the artist <a href="http://www.chihuly.com/" target="_blank">Dale Chihuly</a></div>
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A window exhibit in his home. The little car thing on the deck is one of many unique birdhomes.</div>
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Just amazing homes on the water</div>
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Oh the natural sunlight!</div>
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It blends with the background but this home has an AMAZING rooftop garden!</div>
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An Alaskan Salmon fishing boat</div>
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Gas Works Park (awesome paintball scene from 10 Things I Hate About You was filmed there)</div>
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I'm sure there are better quality videos out there, just grabbed the first I found :)</div>
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Just liked this one and the next one :)</div>
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Downtown skyline - AKA our current home!</div>
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Boeing's corporate yacht, Daedalus, named after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus" target="_blank">Greek mythological character</a>, meaning 'clever worker'</div>
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What a cute little community to live in!</div>
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The floating home from <a href="http://hookedonhouses.net/2010/02/14/sams-houseboat-in-sleepless-in-seattle/" target="_blank">Sleepless in Seattle</a></div>
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Studying the map</div>
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Smallest houseboat I've ever seen, with lawn chairs on top!</div>
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Another view of the downtown skyline</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKOUP4SynJZ0ybzNNwVmLBEXZvPyP7iv3w0Hg63TTQ210KWqu_yxVc1T4vsha330gMaWCR_WpKq7d5OE1SfBhBp3WH20_vnTyxF0d9paHXMD9F4A2-IeRS2Q-s35auM_NMVMoCjiaFMDo/s1600/DSC04427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKOUP4SynJZ0ybzNNwVmLBEXZvPyP7iv3w0Hg63TTQ210KWqu_yxVc1T4vsha330gMaWCR_WpKq7d5OE1SfBhBp3WH20_vnTyxF0d9paHXMD9F4A2-IeRS2Q-s35auM_NMVMoCjiaFMDo/s400/DSC04427.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Caught some seaplanes landing</div>
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Little class of kids learning to sail. Was so cute!</div>
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Air traffic</div>
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Of course, Benny made a friend</div>
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So, the woman that Benny is sitting with.<br />
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As we were all getting off the boat, the kids and I stepped to the side to let the group of seniors off. We were enjoying just standing and looking at the boat next to us. All of a sudden we notice the woman from above, instead of turning to go up the ramp and off the dock she just kept going forward and walked right. off. the. pier. She hit her head on the boat next to us and went in the water, walker and all. Benny and I both started screaming and everyone turned to see what happened. The man with the group jumped right in after her and pulled her up from under the water and held up her walker with his foot, while a bunch of people pulled her out of the water. They set her down gently and asked if she was ok. She said she was fine and that nothing had happened so I went over quietly (holding my kids' hands tighter than ever before) and told them that she had actually hit her head pretty hard and should be checked carefully. She kept insisting that she had not hit her head. Someone lifted the hair off her forehead and saw quite the bump so 9-1-1 was called. I could see that she was being taken care of and Benny was starting to get very nervous so I left. When we got to the parking lot, there was a fire truck pulling in to help her. We pointed them in the right direction and off we went. That was about five hours ago and Benny is still asking me every so often if I think she was ok. We talked a lot about it. I was pretty shaken up by it as well so we discussed what happened and why it's so important to always be careful and look where you are going. And we talked about how young kids and older people sometimes don't realize what is going on around them. I'm sure the topic will come up quite a bit over the next few days and hopefully he will really understand. I actually circled back around the area about half an hour after leaving and both the fire truck and senior shuttle were gone. Hopefully everything was ok.<br />
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And now, I need to start making our food for Shabbos, we have a new guest coming tonight and the cleaning service left our apartment sparkling clean!<br />
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Have a beautiful Shabbos, a relaxing weekend, and keep your kids close!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-56245146374291801512013-06-23T20:28:00.001-07:002013-06-23T20:39:31.320-07:00Too Much Fun and SunWe've had a busy month here. Sometimes that translates into multiple posts, on a very regular basis. Sometimes it turns into a lump of silence. Time to get rid of that lump!<br />
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So we had two weeks of fun here in Seattle where the kids and I did some major exploring and became members of a few of our favorite spots. We basically became locals, starting giving tips and directions to tourists, that sort of thing. We were mostly downtown, getting tons of miles covered by walking everywhere. We had a few days of discovering other areas in the car, which was nice as well. We started setting up our own little routines. Whenever I had to go to a specific market, we got smoothies and people watched. Whenever the monorail wasn't too crowded, we snagged the front seat and got to know some of the drivers. From that seat, Benny always managed to get invited to honk the horn. We were true downtown-seattlites.<br />
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Front row seats on the monorail.</div>
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Being a fireman at the <a href="http://www.thechildrensmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Childrens' Museum</a></div>
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And exploring the 'woodlands' there.</div>
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In the story time exhibit. That is Benny's work. Found it still hanging on the wall when we came back another day!</div>
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Trying our hand at planting. These are chia pets. The yellow one has since died. The green one is vibrantly growing still!</div>
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Space capsule at the <a href="http://www.pacificsciencecenter.org/" target="_blank">Pacific Science Center</a></div>
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Enjoying the amazing view from the sky-deck of the <a href="http://www.spaceneedle.com/" target="_blank">Space Needle</a></div>
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And a quick visit back at the Childrens' Museum.</div>
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Bella, earning her keep.</div>
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Being jellyfish at the <a href="http://www.seattleaquarium.org/" target="_blank">Seattle Aquarium</a>. That's Bella's fish face in case you were wondering.</div>
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After about two weeks of being here, the kids and I headed out to California for our annual summer visit. My mother and sister met us there and we had an awesome time. It was more of a family visit than I had originally intended [I usually book two weeks, hoping to do one week of family time and one week with friends] but it was just so much fun that I didn't mind that much. We had a lot of low key days and a few hectic, fun-filled days and it totally balanced out.<br />
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Waiting patiently to board the plane.</div>
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A gorgeous day at the beach</div>
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Looking fabulous for my cousin's graduation party.</div>
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Benny and Uncle Shmuly had so much fun together. Here, he got an awesome ride into <a href="https://www.knotts.com/" target="_blank">Knott's Berry Farm.</a></div>
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Best restroom sign. Ever.</div>
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Doing hard time.</div>
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Enjoying the rides!</div>
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Workin' on the railroad.</div>
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My mom took the kids back home and left the bigger kids to play at the park.</div>
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And play we did!</div>
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After a rough day of hanging out by the pool, who has the time to walk all the way to bed!</div>
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Even Minnie Mouse was enjoying herself on vacation!</div>
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Benny and I explored the <a href="http://www.tarpits.org/" target="_blank">LaBrea Tar Pits.</a> Definitely a major highlight of the trip for this guy.</div>
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We were being squirrels.</div>
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A paleontology lab with fossils being identified before our eyes!!</div>
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A special visitor at my grandmother's house. Biggest raccoon I've ever seen.</div>
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All nice and dressed for a family Shabbos dinner!</div>
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Spent a Sunday at a rodeo festival with the kids. Of course Benny rode the bull.</div>
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Pony rides!</div>
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He spent the entire circle petting and talking to his horse.</div>
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Seeing how strong he is.</div>
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Riding the little train together.</div>
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Come here rabbit!</div>
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Not the best picture but a fun one no less. Uncle Shmuly is an awesome uncle!</div>
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And she obviously needed her own turn.</div>
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Had a bbq dinner with Uncle Shmuly in his adorable backyard after the rodeo.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrH_QXTojEjhBYHJZk-gPGpEGU1MTkeTrp_XOzMPbB2cqWQocO1DrRmNzkD3z1x1r_ZcSU8flWVoDKViHiN4SF2nKeZqM21OedXXybn0Bg5eb4_u2MuYn85ePuwJ0oCUcVJ_ugZ4OG5ZKb/s1600/photo_13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrH_QXTojEjhBYHJZk-gPGpEGU1MTkeTrp_XOzMPbB2cqWQocO1DrRmNzkD3z1x1r_ZcSU8flWVoDKViHiN4SF2nKeZqM21OedXXybn0Bg5eb4_u2MuYn85ePuwJ0oCUcVJ_ugZ4OG5ZKb/s400/photo_13.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I took the kids to visit my friend at her shop, which happens to be <a href="http://pygmyhipposhoppe.com/" target="_blank">the cutest shop in L.A</a>. No big deal. Anyway, she has a huge vase of little bouncy balls and offers a free one to the kids walking into the store. We found Bella stuffing them into her pocket.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1z_I-tBiay0Hz-eeYr55nKUlJMF35tBSWe0xCkRtOdW7GgrtMYBbN9bcHhCE629KJmgM2TwW-gd_putzA7jgYEBcUnxaudvD6zYSFMhV0mxcx1OlD2_uka1uErkj-OCOKlV3i34u_PxQ1/s1600/photo_14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1z_I-tBiay0Hz-eeYr55nKUlJMF35tBSWe0xCkRtOdW7GgrtMYBbN9bcHhCE629KJmgM2TwW-gd_putzA7jgYEBcUnxaudvD6zYSFMhV0mxcx1OlD2_uka1uErkj-OCOKlV3i34u_PxQ1/s320/photo_14.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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There were nine in that little pocket. I asked her a few times how many she had and she continuously insisted there was just one little ball in her 'poppet'. </div>
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My parents are awesome and helped me get a new shaitel :) Loving it so much!!</div>
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I have a special relationship with <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/orange-delight-and-grill-sherman-oaks" target="_blank">Orange Delight.</a> They are usually one of the first places to know I've landed :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxcZ4CuuFafhzBzvfXQUcli6n1P5Hy8cPQkPrh6YEuMPytLwGK9Op23vDLC2uwm0az9Rkm4TVAxgAhToV04YwyQ-gpDoTnwhn4Yq9YzTLTZmCnYXiX74V7ufzA388QXB01MJVzJPsXP6a/s1600/photo_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxcZ4CuuFafhzBzvfXQUcli6n1P5Hy8cPQkPrh6YEuMPytLwGK9Op23vDLC2uwm0az9Rkm4TVAxgAhToV04YwyQ-gpDoTnwhn4Yq9YzTLTZmCnYXiX74V7ufzA388QXB01MJVzJPsXP6a/s400/photo_2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Got some shopping done.</div>
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Took a ride on the train in the mall.</div>
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I finally cleaned out the last of my belongings from my room at my grandmother's house and had so much fun going through my old things. Especially an old shoe box of pictures ranging from shots of me growing up to me as a teen and onward. Memory lane beyond belief!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyMZAJHnN08NyJlETGC1_pZU-pBDjkdx4S4o2bPgjxBHGCGs_A6ak_gKU3p9ZlNcRSYjT2q0kTr4Mp8-2K-EtgxxM7Y7xG83MprfaJ-YGh0VLa_Ocvcqlst_zalhYGbMyspzSd5WOIoIV/s1600/photo_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyMZAJHnN08NyJlETGC1_pZU-pBDjkdx4S4o2bPgjxBHGCGs_A6ak_gKU3p9ZlNcRSYjT2q0kTr4Mp8-2K-EtgxxM7Y7xG83MprfaJ-YGh0VLa_Ocvcqlst_zalhYGbMyspzSd5WOIoIV/s400/photo_8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My older brothers and I. Back when life was better as a blonde.</div>
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Apparently I was sporty. Or just had to do whatever my brothers did. Let's go with sporty.</div>
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And quite stylish!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJV7FuXKuQGYxtU1iT5WqFzlOKC1AyXE8ktH9zhX4XnrmgxxkBNmEt2qfVjCWPeDj2fYL7HmmpdCP4t5bEHvwrkZFb7N924RnYVir0CQKczRqBg8PqgnUcBx5_jsPl9AhA4OrPnHxNiMU/s1600/photo_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJV7FuXKuQGYxtU1iT5WqFzlOKC1AyXE8ktH9zhX4XnrmgxxkBNmEt2qfVjCWPeDj2fYL7HmmpdCP4t5bEHvwrkZFb7N924RnYVir0CQKczRqBg8PqgnUcBx5_jsPl9AhA4OrPnHxNiMU/s400/photo_11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Me and my younger sibs.</div>
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We are back in Seattle and getting back into our routine. Aside from local traveling, we are done until it's time to head back to Iowa in August. As far as I'm aware.<br />
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We spent Shabbos in Steward Park with a really nice family and had a great time.<br />
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Today we took the kids to see Monsters University with friends and loved it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetc-XsidqSm02FaC9ObaM3De2ogWc0Kq5ODlY_U92dfjV7b8hCi21FI-WKm7HDHocNivZ2NTGE0phLuAbHADKycP27PVeyfYSDVAjg60jLN7JX01-a0cNgQVdOX_8SExxp8BibeKsd7z4/s1600/photo_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetc-XsidqSm02FaC9ObaM3De2ogWc0Kq5ODlY_U92dfjV7b8hCi21FI-WKm7HDHocNivZ2NTGE0phLuAbHADKycP27PVeyfYSDVAjg60jLN7JX01-a0cNgQVdOX_8SExxp8BibeKsd7z4/s320/photo_5.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSQY28TMB-7__7kEjw-iisDijvRV_pSOs1d9xIfykmGPn8JotQzgJovJLArR8JIshDUzbekZ0aIEo5EKOKnS562alyOVugO8m2iAsFLrTUZrKbBoMXRv_YdTU25_1EkG__msk_07nvAyd/s1600/photo_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSQY28TMB-7__7kEjw-iisDijvRV_pSOs1d9xIfykmGPn8JotQzgJovJLArR8JIshDUzbekZ0aIEo5EKOKnS562alyOVugO8m2iAsFLrTUZrKbBoMXRv_YdTU25_1EkG__msk_07nvAyd/s320/photo_6.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinYPqV5qkTzNJKVC2DeTkSB-WIkhpoTo7aTXltni1cqsIkhAJ_7JLF9T8oOMkQa8kaATU-UjDxAqk755daWnY9YDLdSeERBzuyrGzqgTuPOoRq75UrhylbC4IvKXNK4R8A4P8tD32J3aMR/s1600/photo_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinYPqV5qkTzNJKVC2DeTkSB-WIkhpoTo7aTXltni1cqsIkhAJ_7JLF9T8oOMkQa8kaATU-UjDxAqk755daWnY9YDLdSeERBzuyrGzqgTuPOoRq75UrhylbC4IvKXNK4R8A4P8tD32J3aMR/s400/photo_8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Benny starts camp July 1st and we are all super excited for that to come around! We have a few things planned to do until then so hopefully I will get back soon with more bloglovin for you guys!!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-36926587710767097872013-05-29T11:01:00.001-07:002013-05-29T11:01:56.707-07:00Getting ThereAlright, for the sake of really getting caught up, here is another photo dump! These pictures are from different parts of our road trip to Seattle.<br />
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Enjoy!!<br />
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These first few are from Bear Country USA. The rules were no opening windows and we gladly complied so please excuse the reflections or window spots in the pictures.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IBkEGZyUbTC1ywxsKVQyzy9kX9_tlMIBwK3WxdfqDilZ-4nbBNeLhaskwSF7Ov6qGVfI9ei6E-5m1VvzBTF-GWnC68Np3n36AN3GASSl48gpen1w6Do9c4L2pE6twNUgkKJxr7nK-NzW/s1600/DSC04002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IBkEGZyUbTC1ywxsKVQyzy9kX9_tlMIBwK3WxdfqDilZ-4nbBNeLhaskwSF7Ov6qGVfI9ei6E-5m1VvzBTF-GWnC68Np3n36AN3GASSl48gpen1w6Do9c4L2pE6twNUgkKJxr7nK-NzW/s320/DSC04002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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There is a bear scratching his back on that tree stump. </div>
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Instantly brought this song to my mind:</div>
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Just walking by</div>
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Crossing in front of us</div>
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And getting SUPER close to the car!</div>
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Taking a sandwich break. (The red glare is from the window)</div>
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Then we moved on to Mt. Rushmore</div>
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Got Washington's profile</div>
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Coming into the Rockies</div>
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Stopped at a scenic stop off alongside the Rockies</div>
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Getting some air time</div>
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Posing for their rap album cover</div>
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Stopped to see the Columbia River</div>
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This picture makes me laugh. Look at Shuky's beard to truly understand how windy it was here.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-77285567073013933822013-05-28T22:41:00.000-07:002013-05-28T22:41:11.981-07:00North CarolinaWhile going through the pictures on my SD card to post about our road trip, I realized I never really posted any pictures from our Pesach trip either and I had some really cute ones to share, so while I finish going through my newer files, I will share a bunch of pictures from March/April. Enjoy!! Quick reminder, we drove out to Raleigh, NC to be with Shuky's mother and step-father and a handful of siblings. Had a great time!<br />
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Fish cloud!</div>
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A lot of this on the drive</div>
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And a lot of this</div>
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A rock slide</div>
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Huge pile-up, blocking an entire direction of the highway</div>
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Luckily we were on the other side</div>
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The beginning of the traffic jam</div>
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Ten miles later, it still looked like this.</div>
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At a science museumy place we went to. Love Benny's expression!</div>
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A simulated tornado. Obviously had to drag Benny away from this one.</div>
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Watching a weather station. This kid.</div>
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In a space capsule</div>
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You can see him in the little window up top</div>
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They had fun commanding missions</div>
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This cool screen. Standing in front of it made it look like all these small particles were falling on you and pouring over your arms. Can't think of a better way to describe it. Benny looks pretty powerful in this shot though.</div>
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Me and Benny joining forces.</div>
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Bringing in a small head of curls for reinforcements.</div>
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One cool llama. </div>
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As big as this spider looks, it was MUCH bigger. And there was no glass/cage/wall around it. The spiders were apparently not at flight risk.</div>
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Took some cute pictures of the kids enjoying the back yard. The grass and trees and rocks and branches and everything that was not concrete had them so excited!</div>
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Tattooed baddie.</div>
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Tiny little "ravine" that he was studying</div>
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''Too windy!"</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-27097561072989202902013-05-21T12:40:00.001-07:002013-05-21T13:07:20.098-07:00Settling in SeattleThis move has been like no other we've done. And unfortunately we've done quite a few!<br />
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We had the option of shipping things and magically came $3 under the shipping budget! That meant that our car was only loaded with road trip necessities and a few last minute things that we forgot to stick in boxes. It was perfect.</div>
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So, coming into our FULLY furnished apartment (think nice hotel suite in terms of furnishing styles), we had four boxes to unpack, a big duffel bag, and a couple small bags. That was it. The apartment is brand new so we have a kosher kitchen again, which is unthinkably amazing! The kitchen items they stocked it with all still had the labels on them. Again, way more than we were expecting in terms of awesomeness! There were a few things that didn't have labels so we have them on the side, waiting to hear back from the company on whether or not they are new as well.</div>
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We made a trip out to Ikea for some basics we needed, a couple extra kitchen accessories, some laundry baskets, things to set up a small play area, and just because I absolutely love Ikea and don't have one near me.</div>
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We made a trip to Target for toiletry needs.</div>
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We made a trip to one of the markets with a great kosher selection for a couple things.</div>
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We made a HUGE order on Amazon Fresh for the rest of our food stocking up and I can't wait to see how that works out. The delivery will be here this afternoon!</div>
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Ok, here's a little tour of our Deeeeluxe Apartment In The Sky! (We are on the 9th floor!!)</div>
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Entryway, coat/storage closet to the left and bathroom to the right</div>
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Said bathroom, with dryer line open and kids' territory clearly marked by the bathtub</div>
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Kitchen</div>
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Another view of the kitchen</div>
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Master Bedroom</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HP04t1YWtVJYCeG2ayTcdI1FxQCozOEazpTTmuHY_8Dvx8_4MOmH0Nec3Q5Hz_S7qBNJSv6V3finagXJoeU7DOjJhrwexMD2TMzR-uUiUBagz7gNXQAfUnTGZU6nm-IYAl2XT4QhAWZg/s1600/DSC04245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HP04t1YWtVJYCeG2ayTcdI1FxQCozOEazpTTmuHY_8Dvx8_4MOmH0Nec3Q5Hz_S7qBNJSv6V3finagXJoeU7DOjJhrwexMD2TMzR-uUiUBagz7gNXQAfUnTGZU6nm-IYAl2XT4QhAWZg/s320/DSC04245.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nother view</div>
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Living/dining room being guarded by our soldier</div>
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She was dressed up as Buzz Lightyear about ten seconds before I came through with the camera</div>
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Dining area</div>
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Play area. The pile of dress-up clothes will be hanging off hooks on the wall in a few minutes. Hopefully.</div>
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Kids' Room</div>
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Love the sliding door to their room!</div>
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Part of the view from our balcony</div>
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And I made a quick video walk through to really get a feel for the place. For some reason my camera kept giving me problems, so this was my third attempt and I was clearly lacking in the pep I initially had.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/94MhSC3wN84" width="560"></iframe>
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The building itself is pretty much its own little eco-system. I don't have as many pictures of that yet but I will try to get some soon.<br />
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The concierge desk has every bit of information you could need and every imaginable service, including dry cleaning.<br />
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In the first week of June, a few restaurants will be opening right off the lobby, along with a juice/coffee bar and small market.<br />
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A hair salon is also slated to open soon.<br />
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There is a theater room, fully loaded with two huge screens, a kinnect, a wet bar, probably more systems that I didn't catch. You can reserve it for private use or just hang out there. Not the greatest picture, shot it with my phone, not my camera.<br />
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There is a bike shop on the first floor. Along with a shower room and vertical bike storage space.<br />
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There are four zip cars available for rent on the property.<br />
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The public bathrooms on the first two floors have tvs integrated into the mirrors. Even the single bathrooms.<br />
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The elevators all have tvs with the news playing for your quick trip. And you need to have an access code or FOB to get to any of the residential floors.<br />
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The second floor offers an area called The Mezanine, offering multiple seating areas to chill or enjoy your food from one of the restaurants, a pool table, two shuffleboard tables, and two Pac-Man tables. At the end of the second floor is the gym. I don't want to keep using the same adjectives over and over so let me just get this out of the way. Everything in this building is a whole lot of awesome, amazing, enormous, gigantic, insane, unimaginable, and so much more. The gym has state of the art equipment and I would like to pretend that I will be there daily.<br />
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The building is pretty tall and consists of two towers but on the seventh floor, there is an enormous deck called The Pavilion. It connects the two towers and has multiple areas to hang out. Some fire pits, a nice water feature, a great sun bathing area with a little outdoor shower, grilling spots, amazing views. There are four enormous, top-of-the-line kitchens with tvs and seating space available for private parties.<br />
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That should be enough to hold most of you over for now! Enjoy, I know we will.<br />
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I still need to backtrack and post pictures of our road trip. Think good and it will be good. The post will get posted!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-35744867800845419312013-05-13T20:56:00.001-07:002013-05-13T23:46:04.162-07:00Oh What a Day!!When I was younger, I was lucky enough to go on a traveling summer program called Teva Tours. We got on a bus and saw the country. We camped every night, we had amazing day trips mixed with a little learning, we learned to appreciate the beautiful wonders of God's creations.<br />
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Today was like a page out of my photo album from that experience. More like ten pages actually. </div>
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We started out with a breakfast on our little waterfront deck and headed back out on the 90. We had originally decided to save the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm" target="_blank">Badlands</a> for our return drive in August but both kids were sleeping so we hopped on the scenic loop to enjoy the view. Benny woke up about two thirds of the way through and was in awe of everything he was seeing. It was adorable! Until he had made an urgent bathroom request with at least twenty minutes until the next restroom. Then it was a mad rush to get out of there!!</div>
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We headed to a town called Wall to see the famous <a href="http://www.walldrug.com/" target="_blank">Wall Drug</a> -- the billboards began calling to us at least 200 miles back! It was cute and the kids really got a kick out of all the old timey stores. </div>
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Next on our agenda was <a href="http://www.bearcountryusa.com/" target="_blank">Bear Country USA</a>. I had been psyching up both Benny and Shuky for this, I knew it would not disappoint. And it didn't. Benny willingly kept his video off and was just as excited as we were with all the animals. Especially the bears coming up to the car!</div>
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From there it was just a skip, hop, and jump over to <a href="http://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm" target="_blank">Mt. Rushmore</a> but we wanted to get to our hotel at a normal hour so we did a drive by on the presidential faces and mentally added it to the 'way back list'. </div>
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I need to mention -- the weather was in the 80s and 90s all day. I am loving it! :)</div>
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We found a cute hotel with an indoor water park, got the kids right into their bathing suits and went down for some fun. And fun it was. For all of us!! Benny had his floaties and went down the big water slides with Shuky (each on their own slides, right next to each other) while Bella and I did the toddler slides at least thirty times. And the lazy river too. She was a shivering raisin when I wrapped her in the towel, but she was still yelling 'I REBBY FOR LELLOW!!!' {translation: I'm ready for the yellow slide}</div>
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The cherry on top was coming back up to our room and finding out I won a gift certificate to Florsheim Kids Shoes (hello snazzy shoes for Benny!!) from one of my go-to spots for Benny's styling, <a href="http://www.boysbecool.com/" target="_blank">Boys Be Cool</a>!!<br />
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Shuky has a car mount for his cell phone and took some cool footage of the day, creating some time lapse videos to share part of our experiences. I love these so I had to share!<br />
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Cloudy moments during a bathroom break<br />
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Crossing the Missouri River to our hotel last night<br />
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Nice little stretch of highway on the I-90<br />
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Scenic route through Badlands National Park<br />
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Bear Country USA. When the car stops, we are busy being enamored by an amazing animal and snapping pictures with the real camera.<br />
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I had a bunch of pictures I wanted to post as well, but I am wayyy too tired. I will try to do a condensed picture post at the end of the road trip with all the pictures that did not make the regular posts. In the meantime, sleep beckons to me and I will not ignore it any longer!!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-43050923146598764162013-05-12T20:18:00.001-07:002013-05-13T23:50:46.840-07:00On the Missouri River<div class="mobile-photo">
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Today, we began our westward bound journey toward Seattle. The kids tune into their shows and yell out for the occasional food/drink/bathroom request. Shuky and I get to actually have normal adult conversations and normal music playing! And we love seeing the different cities and sites we pass.<br />
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Tonight, we stopped at a cute little hotel on the Missouri River. Like literally right on the river. There's a door from our room to walk out to a cute little waterfront deck. </div>
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We got a late start this morning (surprise!!) so we got into the hotel later than planned tonight. The kids are both still up, unfortunately, and super kvetchy so I need to get some snores going on in this room, for everyone's sake. I will leave you with some pictures though!<br />
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Happy Mothers Day to everyone out there!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548470559571226708.post-62572244425287456542013-05-05T21:10:00.001-07:002013-05-05T21:10:30.832-07:00Ready For AdventureA week from now, we will be sleeping in a hotel on the first night of our road trip as we head to Seattle for the summer. Shuky's internship with Amazon has us all extremely excited! The fact that our housing situation will be so much easier on us this summer has me way more calm than I would normally be this close to our annual migration. I have lists galore around the apartment and have theoretically packed three times over. In my head. The physical part is moving slightly slower.<br />
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Being that we are getting put up in corporate housing for this experience, we will be shipping a box or two with kitchen essentials and then packing our car up with our clothing and a few basics and away we will go!<br />
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We plan on stopping at Mt. Rushmore and hopefully picnicing at Badlands National Park.<br />
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Shavuos will be spent in Bozeman, MT.<br />
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Our first Shabbos in Seattle will be spent with friends, low key and just what we will need.<br />
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This week, my to-do list is extremely intimidating. Which clearly explains why I am sitting in front of the computer, 'window shopping' for cute summer clothing for the kids. And blogging. And facebooking. And pinning nail polish colors. And watching HGTV.<br />
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Oh, and of course I am going away with the kids a few weeks after we get to Seattle. My annual family visit to the lovely world of California! We are super excited, my mom will be meeting us out there and Benny and I have put together quite a list of things we'd like to see this trip!<br />
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It's finals week for Shuky and that generally means I don't see him. Not this week, not last week, and quite sparsely the week before that. It's 11:10 pm as I sit and write this and he is still at school.<br />
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And this is Benny's last week at his school with his amazing teachers and friends. We are sad to be losing our UCC family but look forward to the new experiences we will have when he goes to kindergarten in the fall. Wow, I have a kid going into kindergarten. Insanity.<br />
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I'm exhausted and overwhelmed and in denial of how much needs to be done right now. I apologize for the rambling and with that I say good night!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0