Hello from Sunny and HOT Florida!!

I was as sick as a dog the day before we were scheduled to leave for our vacation, so I'm happy to report that we made it here safely and ON TIME. Thankfully, Mohammed stepped in and let me rest most of the day on Wednesday before we were scheduled to fly. By Thursday morning, I felt like a new woman.

Florida is HOT, as expected, but almost unbelievably so. At 7am, when it's a mere 80 degrees, it feels like 88, and by mid-day, when it's 97, it feels like 106! No joke...I don't know how people that live here full time make it...except to stay safely indoors next to the AC (like my MIL tells me she survives). Thank goodness it's in the cool 70s in the house or I'd melt. Speaking of the house, it's a gorgeous, 4 bedroom ranch with a wide open floor plan and we are all enjoying it. There is also the luxury of a pool and a covered lanai, which makes this the ultimate fun zone for the kids.

We've only made it out to one amusement park so far, which was Universal Studios. We plan on going back another day to see Harry Potter at the Islands of Adventure. We chose this park because it had the most "indoor" rides that would get us out the heat, but it was brutally hot anyway. Thankfully, we had spritzer bottles and plenty of shade. Adam got a kick out of the props around the park, especially JAWS (ignorance is bliss, right?), but his older cousins (and biggest sister) were not as open-minded. And yes, Mohammed, the girls, and I actually rode on that intimidating roller coaster you see pictured here...in fact, Mohammed and the girls rode TWICE, but once was enough for me! We're off to SeaWorld tomorrow for a day of fun, and hopefully lots of WET fun so we can keep the heat at bay. Looking forward to visiting the Mouse later this week.

Oh, and guess what, today I visited a GREAT scrap store in a nearby mall. Yep, IN a mall. It was huge (over 4,500 sf) and I was like a kid in a candy store (thankfully, they had a "Monday" special of 40% off all patterned paper). And earlier this week, I even went Geocaching with the family and my FIL. He found his first cache just miles from his home. It was fun, but too hot to really get into it, so if we go again, it will have to be in the wee hours of the morning. We searched for 3 and found 2, then went for ice cream.

Hope you are all enjoying your Summer so far. I'll stay in touch thanks to my traveling Macbook and the lovely wifi at my in-laws...

Feeling Inspired...

The recent flurry of photos has inspired me to get scrapping again. It may have also been a challenge posted on Ella Publishing online that made me get a jump start. Either way, I'm happy to report that I made 2 single page layouts in the past 2 days.

I'm also loving my new Macbook Pro. It may be small (13"), but it packs a big punch. And in order to keep that punch, I just installed an external hard drive to back up all my precious photos and files. Now, I can exhale...

Have a great week,

Janet

We're back...

...from Snip-its and Adam has a new 'do!! On our way there, he fell asleep inthe van, so we had to find something else to do while henapped. I suredidn't want a tired, crankybaby going for his first haircut. We decided to find a place to eat and as we arrived, he awoke. He seemed rested and soon after eating, we headed to the salon.

When he walked in, he shrieked with excitement at the bright colors, fun statues and "prize" machine. We opted for "1st Haircut picturepackage" and as I filled out thenecessary paperwork, Adam was off exploring the salon. When it was time for his cut, his stylist lured him into her chair with a path of bubbles leading from the entrance to her station. He was briefly distracted by a wooden tool set nearby, but then obliged andheaded in the stylist's direction. It was a perfect fit when she lifted him into the bright chair and twirled him around to face the television, which had an original "Snip-its" cartoon playing.He watched for a minute or so, but was much more interested in what was going on behind him with his hair.He didn't move an inch, and wasthe perfect 19 month old customer! The stylist was told to"keep it on the long side", but I think she became hypnotized by his curls becauseshe kept snipping and Ithink she went a bit shorterthan I would have preferred. Nevertheless, Adam is as cute as ever. When she was done cutting, we realized that the front desk had forgotten to take his 1st haircutpicture, so we skipped it (thank goodness for Mommy's camera), but at least we were ableto take the certificate and photo frame home. At this salon, they also have aprize machine, so Adam took a bit of his cut hair, and a special key they had put on his wrist with a spiral band, and magic happened. A bright, yellow slinky appeared from the prize slide and he was so happy. So despite his bit too short cut, the total experience was great, and we now know that Adam can rock a little longer hairdo. Looks like it'll be "just a trim" from now on. Happy 1st haircut, baby boy...it was a blast!

On another note, Yasmeen's new glasses were ready to be picked up today, so we headed off to Sears and got them...she picked these out after we THOUGHT she'd lost her old glasses, but low and behold, as soon as we put in the order, we found them! She chose this style to match her daddy...doesn't she look cute?!

And now a note from Yasmeen: "I love my new glasses!!!!!"

Until next time,

Janet

Sleepless night...

Ok, not sure why the wee hours of the morning are so attractive to me as an option to quietly get off the bed, head downstairs, and get on the computer, but here I am, and have been for the past hour +. It's my time to check emails, do a little blog hopping and check out some new recipes. And while I'm here, I thought I'd post an update too.Today is a big day...sort of. We plan on getting Adam's FIRST haircut. It's bittersweet for me since, as silly as it sounds, it'll be his (and our) last "first" haircut. I plan on only a trim so we don't lose all of those baby curls, but you just never know what you'll walk out with. He's reall

y in need though...that poor little boy is looking more like Carrot Top each day sporting his 'fro. I"ll be sure to post pics soon.

Well, since the last post, we bid farewell to our lovely visitor, Rania, from Egypt and made a trip up to JFK to see her off. Along the way, we drove past Coney Island (waaaaaaaayyy too crowded and no parking whatsoever available--guess the nearby beaches and sweltering heat had something to do with it), and also checked out my old stomping grounds in Canarsie, Brooklyn. It was fun to drive by old HS, apartment, neighborhood library and recreation area, but I am grateful to be out of there...I don't do well with crowds :-) Other than that, we've been chillin' around town. We made it to the pool again when the mercury hit over 100 this past week. We've also hosted a Moms Club playgroup at the park (Adam took a GOOD nap that day) and last night, a BBQ with our neighbor and his 2 girls. This Monday begins our Summer Enrichment week and then the following week, we are off to Florida, so I'm sure time will be flying by.

Here's a couple of pictures, since I feel lost without them :-) The first one is of our old apartment, currently being occupied by a kindly, Caribbean woman. The next one is a sign as you enter Canarsie Pier. So many people out that day fishing (THAT hasn't changed), but the area has really gotten crowded and taken a bit of a nosedive. The classy restaurant that was once there doesn't seem to be operational anymore. Next is my old HS, which sad to say, is either closed or scheduled to close fairly soon. Not exactly sure why, but boy do things change in just two measly decades! After that, we have one of the last snapshots taken at the airport with Rania, Mohammed and the girls. This was right BEFORE security told us to turn around and take pictures facing the OTHER way (we were by the security checkpoint-OOPS). Up at the top of this post is a picture snapped as we entered the airport. If it weren't for the fact that it's about 2+ hours away from home, and a misery to get to through all that NY traffic, it's really not a bad airport. Clean, uncrowded and fairly easy to navigate. Enjoy, and until next time!!

Happy 4th of July!

Just sending out wishes for a great day. Give thanks for your independence and eat a bunch of hot dogs in my name! We celebrated a day early, going into Philadelphia last night to see fireworks at Penn's Landing. What an awesome sight!

A Whirlwind Week...

Wow...we've started the summer with a bang. First off, some dear, old friends of ours invited us to an end of year pool party last week, and we had a great time. The girls and my friend's oldest daughter played together like time had never passed, and it's been YEARS, people! It was so nice to sit and relax in the pool, sunning myself, while drinking a nice, cold beverage....WAIT, what am I saying, I must have been daydreaming. The reality was, while the girls played, I was chasing Adam around trying to keep him from feeding the family dog all of the watermelon slices at once. He also kept dumping their pool toys into the pool, so I was chasing after those, too. It was a great reunion, but hectic as ever.

This past weekend, my in-laws came into town to visit and brought along Mohammed's nephew, Derrick, and a cousin visiting from Egypt. We started our festivities by taking a trip out to Hershey Park for Mohammed's birthday on Sunday (Happy Birthday, Baby!). We had a great time and for the first time in a WHILE...I was able to get on a bunch of rides, including a couple of awesome roller coasters, while Grandma watched over Adam. We surprised (well, not really) Mohammed with a boisterous rendition of "Happy Birthday" at Red Robin while out for dinner. We didn't get home until well after 1am and hit the sack like a sack of bricks.

The next day, I took the ladies to do a little shopping and then we were off to a baseball game at night. The oppressive heat, the outdoor seats, and the fact that it was a double-header and painfully slow going put a damper on things, but it was fun to get out and see some familiar faces in the crowd (the Moleski's and Paolillos were there). Too hot to finish the game though, so we left early.

On Tuesday, Mohammed took off and we were off to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Another scorcher, but thankfully, being near the water afforded us a slight breeze that made all the difference. There were amazing views and a fun Barbie display at Ellis Island entitled "Barbies around the world". I made sure to take my photo next to the Puerto Rico Barbie. The girls posed with the American Barbie and Mohammed's cousin, Rania, sought out the Egyptian doll.

Yesterday, Grandpa took his nieces and nephews to the mall and afterwards, we came home and finally relaxed a little. At dinner, that Grandma prepared for us...THANK YOU SHOO-SHOO, Adam ate a little and conked out at 6pm for the rest of the night. He fell asleep right in his high chair, the poor baby, and we took him upstairs after we finished eating. He slept until 7:30am this morning with barely waking at all through the night. Looks like he needs to be worn out more regularly :-) !

Today, the in-laws and Derrick returned to NC and Rania stayed behind until she is scheduled to return to Egypt early next week. With the house empty (Rania headed out to meet friends in NYC), the girls asked for playdates and I agreed. We took Lili and Nicolette out with us for lunch at the White Rose "System" and later to feed the animals at Johnson Park. Afterwards, we all came back here and the girls went into the hot tub and played while Adam and I watched some TV. It was beautiful out today, barely hit 80 and by the evening it was in the low 70s. Mohammed was able to get some tickets to another Patriots game for tonight, and we decided to go. It was gorgeous out and we were quite happy to be back in the Executive Box seats again. Adam fell asleep on the way home and I decided to tackle my (re)organization of the scrap room. Hope it goes well...

Have a great holiday weekend and remember to cherish your independence!! Until next time.

Janet