The journey

 I need to document this now of it will never happen.  So, the flights ended up being something that we really didn’t need to freak out about that much.  Easy peasy from ORD to DTW.  DTW to Amsterdam was over 7 hours.  Each of us had out own television screen with on demand viewing and games.  The kids watched what they wanted.  We watched what we wanted.  There was a screaming child three rows in front of us that was shrilling and ear piercing for the entire trip.  The headphones had to be turned completely up.  We made it through the Amsterdam airport with little to no issues, but as we waited for the plane the kids started to melt a bit.  Not get out of control, but they were literally melting with sleepiness.  Finally we landed in Barcelona.  Went through customs (there really weren’t any) and made our way to a cafe in the airport to wait for my parents whose plane was not working!  We finally got to the rental car company.  I really thought about the insurance issue long and hard.  I do get coverage when I reserve and pay on the VISA so I decided to forgo the 50 Euro a day insurance fee and just wing it.  Mind you, I haven’t driven a stick shift in a LONG time and I have never driven in another country.   I have never driven on such narrow paths, I ran more red lights that I am SURE were photo enforced.  I stalled the car a couple of times and when we finally made it to the hotel the parking garage was the size of a sidewalk at an angle of about 30 degrees.  I freaked out.  But, we made it.  Aida in the meantime couldn’t keep her eyes open.  She slept in the hotel lobby, in on the chairs at the swimming pool and for a while longer until we finally got our rooms.  Once we go the rooms, Samir and I were excited to get the kids in their suits and have some beers on the deck of the pool.  We had a few beers and let the kids swim.  Finally we had to go take a mini nap at about 3:30.  We passed out completely.  When we woke up I had no idea what time or day it was.  The phone battery was dead so I couldn’t tell what time it was.  I was convinced we had slept through the night.  Samir went to the front desk explaining that we had checked in the day before and didn’t know here my parents were.  We were really in a state.  Finally the phone battery woke up and I had gotten a couple of txt messages from my dad who was down the hall sleeping.  We had only slept a couple of hours.  Once my sister arrived, we showered and headed out into Barcelona for a wonderful meal of paella and roasted chicken.  Again, we had a couple of San Miguel beers, headed home and slept for 12 hours….straight.

Electronics Hell

How many cords do you need to travel to france???

I borrowed a DVD player from friend.  Noticed that the AC adapter for the wall charger was missing, so, I decided, surely the igo would sell a tip to convert and charge it at the airport.  I then visited my neighbors.  They were taking us to the airport this morning so I thought we should discuss departure time.  During the discussion, B mentioned she has an igo as well, it has a huge charger with all sorts of cords and such.  I thought, “Great, I’ll borrow hers and return mine…saves me some $$”  We woke up this morning frenzied, but not too crazy.  S dropped us off at O’Hare, we made it through screening with not one single problem.  As I was putting the laptop back in the bag I realized…..I forgot the laptop charger.  AGHHHHH.  WTF??!!  So we made it to our gate, I took the sack of igo cords and pieces and went to Brookstone.  They do not sell an igo tip to go with the laptop or with the DVD player.  So, here I am, completely panic struck.  What am I going to DO?  I finally decide to by an igo laptop charger.  $89 later I am sitting in the flight waiting area and I decide to charge the itouch.  Well, the little tips I do have don’t fit on the apparatus that the neighbor gave me.  Not only that, but I left the itouch wall charger where??  That’s right folks, plugged into the WALL at home.  So, I have the laptop issue figured out, I now have to buy another converter to plug into the laptop to charge the phone and Nintendo.  What about the DVD player you might ask?  Not only does it not have a wall charger, but the charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car is broken.  I should have stuck with my first instinct and focused on charging things in case we have no wall power.  But, I got all sidetracked with cords, power and buttons.  As I sit here on the plane $100 poorer with no good solutions, I am reminded that the kids can actually draw or read if they get too bored.  It is a good thing too, cause I forgot the DVD case at home anyway.  Here is a photo of just some of the cords and attachments I have.  Mind you, they don’t work.

p.s. Luckily Big Sister is sent some DVDs to us via the grandparents 🙂

Well our bags are nearly packed…
I am hoping I don’t need this and can return this and the 3 adapters, but just in case….

Yesterday as I was putting the idea of the bags together I realized I have these Leap Pad electronic books that will be great for A to use on the plane.  All I needed was a couple of the books and cartridges.  Took a drive down to Toys r us and was shocked.  They don’t even make that older version of the leappad anymore.  I couldn’t believe it.  Is it true that I was shopping for these things 6  years ago?  Where did the time go?  So, I may not be taking these things on the plane, I have lost way too many of the cartridges to make it worth carrying the them on the plane.  That doesn’t mean that we’ll be traveling light at all.  How many gizmos does it take to go to Europe?  I’ll tell you, about 9 million.  Not only that, but I spent a good deal of the day wondering how I am going to keep the things charged.  I called Delta to see if they have outlets on in coach.  Apparently, we hit the jackpot on the way there.  OUTLETS.  The way home it is unclear because Delta hasn’t updated their entire fleet.  I am hopeful we can get seats with chargers.  Just in case, I needed a solution to the inevitable power drain of movies and games.  Since I didn’t plan this far enough in advance, I couldn’t do any bargain shopping.  I stopped in at Radio Shack and bought an igo.   With the igo, I bought an adapter for the ipod, the nokia/blackberry and the nintendo ds.  Here’s what we are taking for the plane:

  • A wealth of apps downloaded onto the itouch
  • 2 additional ipods with kid movies, spongebob, chowder and other silly shows
  • Maze books
  • puzzle books
  • books
  • bendaroos
  • travel games
  • coloring books
  • markers
  • colored pencils
  • paper
  • journals
  • portable dvd player
  • laptop
  • we’ve also decided to bring snacks, it sounds like there might not be as many snacks on international flights as their used to be

I am really getting excited.  Oh, the items listed here are just for the plane.  I haven’t even mentioned the camera, camera charger, tom tom and other things that require power.  No wonder we use 80 percent more energy than our neighbors.  For Christmas I need a solar back pack.

Little big girls – Shopping Solutions

I have a fear.  This fear is completely contradictory to the essence of this blog, the reasons I started this in the first place.  I remember when I was pregnant with my daughter I telling my mother that I hoped the genetics of my husband won over mine for her body shape.  I could die for even obessing over this, but I know and remember the challenges of being a big girl in a world that loves small.  Flash forward to today.  I have an incredible, loving, adorable, generaous, beautfiful and fantastic daughter who just started Kindergarten.    I took her out shopping for new school clothes only to find that she can’t fit into the clothes that are supposedly her size/age.  Unlike my son who has been linked to sizes based on age, she is wider than her clothes age. I was excited to find clothes at Target that fit her well, only to be disappointed that with one wash, this dress shrunk so much that she couldn’t fit into it for the second wear.  School is stressful enough, combine that with a dress that is too tight and small and you get disaster. I want you to understand that I am not at all saying that she is too big or there is something wrong with her.  What I do know is that she will likely outgrow Gymboree before she is ready.   I started to do some research.  She is in the company of a lot of other girls and boys who are bigger than age/size wear.   Do you know of any other places that our little big girls can shop?

I found the following sites:

  • It Chick Clothes
  • RealKidz
  • Jeenybeans
  • Land’s End
  • Children’s Place

    • Big Sister Pumps

    This isn’t going to be some gushing prose detailing the flawless characters that make up my family.  I am the middle of three sisters, each of us more different from the next.  My older sister, who I have mentioned a couple of times on the blog  commented on an a post of mine  from the past about fat girls wearing pumps.    I am not quite as pump wearing as I once was, but I have worn a certain pair of Jambo wedges all summer long.   I appreciate that she shares and opinion with me.  Sometimes we don’t agree, but that’s okay too as long as she knows I am right.

    What to bring what to bring?

    Yay, the kids are in school.  I can’t tell you how cute she was on her first day.  She is up and ready in the morning unlike the boy who drags his feet along the way.  Sorry I’ve been away from blogging lately, too swamped, and uninspired.  Muse fled.  Despite the fact that I am excited about school and all, I am consumed with thoughts of our trip to France this fall.  What should I bring folks, what to bring these little people for the flight and the time we are spending there.  I am having  rough time dreaming up the packing list.  Anyone else out there traveled to far away places with young ones?  What was an item you were glad you brought?  I need help here.

    Sleeping in Satan’s Hut

    Back in the day, I was in the Peace Corps.  I lived in the south of Thailand where monsoons, scorpions and hot air was the norm.  Air conditioning was something you only enjoyed in the capital city bank lobbies.  After the Peace Corps in the early to mid 90s, I moved to Chicago and as you may remember, nearly 1000 people died from heat one summer.  During this time, I was still accustomed to the Peace Corps heat and would cuddle up under a down comforter, in my bedroom on the 3rd floor of a non-airconditioned building.  Fast forward to today.  Post 2 kids and many years and pounds, I live in a modest bungalow in Oak Park, Illinois.  We have radiator heat with no central air.  We operate window units, except in my bedroom where we have a portable air conditioner.  This serves as our air in the summer and our heat in the winter.  It has been a lifesaver the past couple of years.  In early June, however, Danby, as I call him, died.  No longer did he pump refreshing cool breezes into our chamber of heat on the 2nd floor of our house.  We have had a VERY hot summer.  For those of you who think Chicago is like Alaska it is not, it gets frigging hot and on the 2nd floor, it is like an oven, or as I like to call it…Satan’s little hut.  Given that we are saving for a European trip this year, I decided, “We don’t need an air conditioner” My husband, who happens to be from Africa and should be able to handle the heat protested and resolved to sleep in the kids’ bedroom!   But, I have decided to stick it out for the summer.  One night recently, when the humidity was 100% and the temps were in the 90s I fell asleep and at some point woke up delusional and convinced it was raining on my pillow.  There was a pool of water on the pillowcase.  I guess I didn’t mind too much, because I flipped the sucker over and went right back to sleep.  Don’t call me sister sustainability, ask anyone, I am a sweaty pig who would live in front of an ac vent if I could.  But, to save the money I am going to withstand this summer of heat in hopes that they’ll finally make a window unit small enough for my bedroom window next year.   Suggestions for a 10″ verticle window opening?

    Lazy is an understatment

    I am old enough to know that what comes around goes around.  What I am continually surprised by are that life’s lessons seem to be on shuffle/repeat these days.  I go from doing a 10 mile run combined with months of training, to nothing….NOTHING.  I am not entirely sure of the reasons for this.   I stick with my usual “blame Kitty” for all of my workout blunders.  But, as the lather, rinse, repeat cycle continues, I wonder if there is something I could do to ramp up the interest in exercise.  What do you do to remain motivated?  Summertime should be the time when I am out doing laps around the track in the pool and living on my bike.  What is my problem?  All I want to do is enjoy the weather, wine and friends.  Then again, is that really a problem??