Things that happened this weekend

Loyal readers will recall a Kraxaw tradition of enjoying dinner at Buca di Beppo on or around September 15. Our tradition hit a bump last year, when we arrived at the only Buca location left in the whole state, only to find that it had closed. So, we did make it to a Buca last year. We just didn't get to eat there...

This year, we decided to be totally silly and drive out to the nearest Buca still in business -- about 2.5 hours away. It's too far to drive out just for dinner. (We're not quite that crazy.) But we figured we could make a weekend out of it. We looked online for recommendations of things to do with kids in the area, and went for it. We drove in on Saturday, went to a mini theme park and went out for our traditional meal. We got to sit at the kitchen table, and we ended the meal with the colossal sundae, and we planned to go to the state museum the next day.

It wasn't until we were across the street from the museum that it hit us that we were walking into the New York State Museum. On the 15th anniversary of September 11.

Choosing to spare the children (but not ourselves), we each took a turn looking at animals and things with the kids while the other walked through the exhibit of photos, videos, and remnants from the World Trade Center.

It was a lovely visit. The drive home was beautiful. The sky was so blue, the trees so green. And every airplane or helicopter in the sky reminded me of how empty the skies were after the attacks. And how startling it was when air traffic finally resumed.

Heavy heart tonight.

Pretty Great

Updates & Observations

• Sylvia is 7 (and a week... and some change...) !!  (More on this later...?...)
• My phone broke on our first weekend here. Fortunately, we had an old iPhone that we had been using as an mp3 player, so  I was able to put my SIM into it and it kinda works, but it's much less reliable and powerful.
• ...Being in a non-English speaking country would be easier with a fancy translater app (that my phone cannot handle).
• Random strangers have been asking my kids to pose for pictures and sneaking photos of them. 
• You can tell you're watching CNN International (not regular American CNN) because they are not constantly running the "Breaking News" banner. 
• ...Also, after Anderson Cooper says "next on, Don Lemon", you actually break to a British guy in Los Angeles. 
• ...And Richard Quest is the expert on everything. (See: "Senior XX Correspondent" on Daily Show.)
• In some places, "yogurt" is considered a flavor.
• In some places, McDonald's delivers, sells green tea McFlurries, and is adorned with Hello Kitty.
• Boston drivers arevactually not the craziest in the world.
• Clean air should not be taken for granted. 

(2nd) Wednesday evening

It's been raining pretty constantly for the last 2 days, but it hasn't affected me too much -- I just haven't left the hotel!

My phone went dark a few days ago and is down for the count. Fortunately we happened to bring my old iPhone 4 as an mp3 player, so I do have that, but it doesn't have all the same functionality.

Otherwise, we're doing fine. We went to a giant museum on Sunday. We spent a few hours there and only made it through 1 of the 7 levels. I took lots of pictures...on my phone...before it died..........

Stay posted -- Sylvia has a birthday coming up!

Thursday night check in

I had a longer post written but the internet went out so I'm resorting to using the cellular network from my phone.

We are doing fine. Mostly adjusted to the time, I think. And enjoying the authentic local cuisine:

Still here & doing fine

We arrived at 4pm local time, which corresponded to 1am Pacific Time (which was what we were coming from). We had slept some on the plane, but we were tired enough to come in, eat food, and crash. It was a wrestless night sleep and we were all up and about by around 7am (times from here on out will refer to local time). We explored a bit and met some people. We were supposed to go out to dinner with some of said people, but Hannah fell asleep around 4pm and was obviously down for the night. Needless to say, she was up around 2am. So that made for a fun second full day. We managed a fairly reasonable night from 8pm to 6am-ish last night without too many disturbances, so maybe we're close to being adjusted.

Mighty Kraxaws head east again...

Believe / Remember it or not, this thing started out as a travel log. Here we go again!

With 2 additional Kraxaws in tow this time, and we actually flew west to get to the east.

The first airplane (which actually went north) was a Disney plane, on the outside and in (but I only got pictures of the inside):

The second plane had the strangest safety information presentation I've seen in a while -- at least since the last trip east. Presented as a video:

The hotel has a nice complementary breakfast next to a lovely garden area

And it's close to a Domino's with a special spot for kids to watch the "Dough Show"

All things considered, we're holding together pretty well. A bit run down and disoriented, but nothing more than one would expect!

Hannah is 4.06, Sylvia is 6.95, and Mommy is SLOW

I just logged in to create a late post for Hannah's 4th birthday, only to see that I totally missed Sylvia's 6th last year! I guess I'll have to do a 2-year catch up when she turns 7 in a few weeks...

So, Hannah is 4!

   

In the past year, Hannah has lost her curls, picked up a bunch of words (some of which we can even understand), and has grown (this is just an estimate) about 15 inches.

She changed schools last September -- a change which coincided with her becoming somewhat more shy and reserved, but most of the time she's still our little ball of enthusiasum.










Her classic Hannah enthusiasum may be most pronounced in the gymnastics classes she's been taking since September. I first signed her up for the 'Beginner' class, but after the very first class the teacher suggested she should move up to the more advanced group. Then, 7 months later, she moved her up again -- but that move was unofficial because she wasn't technically old enough for the next class. So for the last several weeks of the spring session, she was in class with 4-7 year olds, and fully holding her own.

She's an epic thrower of tantrums, but also a fabulous giver of hugs, so I suppose it balances out.

       And did I mention about her hair?