Los Angeles and Fresno

After being home from Miami for about 12 hours we found ourselves leaving our children in the trusting hands of Grandma and Aunt Lindsay once again and heading to the airport for some more adventure and airline travel. This time we were heading out to Los Angeles. Dan and I had both gotten head colds from our trip to Miami (at least we were told that EVERYONE who flies into Miami gets a cold) I didn't really believe it and still don't really except that I did get a cold. So our ears were all plugged and it hurt like crazy from all the pressure on the airplane. I kept blowing my nose (sorry this is gross) because that was the only thing that would pop my ears and make it stop hurting. Dan kept blowing his nose too and I am sure the poor lady sitting next to us has a story now of her worse airplane experience thanks to us. She kept putting on hand sanitizer--seriously.

Our hotel was actually in Anaheim and just 2 short blocks from Disneyland (our kids were jealous, but we didn't go to Disneyland so it was OK--hotels are just cheaper there, and um, yeah, I go where it's cheap) and it was really close to where Dan needed to be the next day. Dan didn't have any meetings until the next day so we checked out the area and found a great outdoor shopping mall which Dan quickly grew tired of but I knew I would be back to the next day while Dan was occupied. We found a really good Mexican restaurant that had fresh Guacamole and the best salsa I can remember. In fact it was so good we went back the next day! There is no good Mexican food anywhere near us back in Michigan so we have to take advantage when we get the chance :)

While I shopped to my hearts content with no husband or kids slowing me down. I found out later that Dan got a tour (keep in mind this is for a surgery fellowship where you never get to leave the hospital) of the two local beaches!!! So, I didn't get to even see the beach while in California but they took Dan on tour. Whatever, if we actually move there I will have to make up for that bit of injustice. After our second visit to the Mexican restaurant we left our UC Irvine adventures and we drove to Fresno, CA.

This is a view of the mountains between LA and Fresno, I heard they call this "the vineyard". It was beautiful and this picture does not give it justice because I took it while going 75 through a car window. Oh, don't worry I wasn't driving and taking pictures. Dan was driving see picture below of Dan--driving. Try not to be too jealous of the TWO (yeah, we only took two!) really great pictures that we took while in California.

At least we were both in the picture--look into his glasses and you can see a little miniature me taking the picture of him.

We had a great time while in Fresno and we were even able to see the Poulsens, some friends from Ann Arbor. We had fun seeing them and their cute family, eating good food, watching the Jazz game, catching up, and getting the low-down on Fresno from them. Thanks Poulsens for being great hosts and sharing your mothers day with us!

We left Fresno at 5:00 Sunday night and got back to Ann Arbor at 5:00 AM the next day! We had a 3 hour layover in Los Angeles. Dan being his usual charming self got us into the sky perks lounge. Where we had free drinks, snacks, Internet access, private bathrooms, and couches and chairs to lounge around on. This seemed like such a luxury (compared with normal airport accommodations) way to go Dan! The three hour layover went by so fast when we went down to board our plane we just about missed it--we were the last ones on.

I really missed seeing my own kids on Mothers Day, but when I got home Jake had made me such wonderful cards and they were all so happy to see me it was great to be home and see my cuties. It was also much easier knowing Dan's great mom was here with the kids and that they were safe and happy and even a little spoiled :)

Jake's Mother's Day artwork--I love it.

Jake made me such nice things for Mother's Day. Grandma said he spent hours coloring this tiger picture--what a cutie.

While were gone Abby was in the Science Olympiad in two events--Mystery Architecture and Write it/Build it. She did a great job and I felt bad to miss it and miss seeing her in it she is so smart and talented. Andy was in two track meets and he did really good. He has come so far from hating running to actually being on the track team and loving it. I love watching him want to improve and working hard--makes a mom proud.

.....Get set.....

..Go!

Suffering through the rain and ready to relay.

Jake had a couple soccer games which was fun for Grandma and Lindsay to watch. Estee spent a large portion of the time playing barbies with Grandma. She had a grand time and now won't sleep without her barbie, and I'm sure she is bored to death with mom now that Grandma is gone!

Thanks Grandma and Lindsay!

Miami

Map of Miami

Dan and I had a great time in Miami. We left late Friday night and arrived early Saturday morning. We stayed at a hotel that we Pricelined for $75 that night and the next morning, I found a fun little shopping place where I bought some jewelry and a cute purse (for cheap!). The amazing food we had during the trip started that day with the best salad I think that I have ever had. It was kind of like a shrimp chopped salad with avocado that was so yummy. I can't believe that Dan has finally converted me to loving shrimp!

After lunch, we went to Key Biscayne and enjoyed the beach there after spending a bunch of money at a CVS buying things we forgot--like beach towels, flip-flops for Dan (How do you forget flip-flops when you are going to Miami?), and a swimming suit for Dan (Again, Duh?!?!). When we left the beach, we stopped for dinner at this little roadside place that sold Cuban food. In addition to the fried plantains, shrimp tacos, and delicious Cuban fruit drinks, we also had to buy Dan some sunglasses there (Once more, DUH!!!!).

Here we are at North Miami Beach.

The next day, we went to North Miami Beach. When we got there, we decided we wanted to rent some chairs and an umbrella. One of the lifeguards told us that they were rented from booths at the north and south ends of the beach and since the north end was closer, we headed that way. After hiking, in the sand and hearing Dan's complaints about his sensitive feet (Yes, he has VERY tender feet), we arrived at the north end. As we approached the umbrella rental stand, we could see in the distance that some of the people seemed to be wearing very, very small swimming suits that turned out to be...their birthday suits--we had wandered towards the NUDE beach! Before turning around and heading down to the complete opposite end of the beach, we unfortunately caught site of numerous old, pendulous, and saggy body parts that should never be exposed to the beautiful Florida sun! We were REALLY tired and sweaty by the time we got to the other end (we probably walked 2 miles in the hot sand carrying all of our beach gear), but once we had settled into our chairs and sat for a few minutes under the umbrella, we quickly forgot about our trek and had a great afternoon swimming and relaxing in the sun. That night, we went to a fun Cuban restaurant by our hotel that had delicious ceviche and grilled shrimp.

Tanning my (clothed) backside at North Miami Beach.

The next day, Dan had meetings in downtown Miami. He went to this really high end Medispa located in the Four Seasons Hotel. He said that it was very fancy and everything was beautiful--especially the receptionists and nurses! It was a little intimidating at first, but they were all really nice and he enjoyed meeting them all. I went to the Bayside Market and had fun looking around and shopping. The time passed quickly and I made Dan late to his next meeting because I got on the MetroMover thinking that it would quickly take me back. It took me 15 minutes to realize that we were going in circles (Duh to me this time!). I finally found him and everything turned out OK. His next meeting was at this new, beautiful hospital (they told Dan that they had just closed part of the hospital the week before for the filming of a movie with Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson) and everybody was really nice there as well. While Dan was at the hospital, I enjoyed chilling by the hotel pool.

Don't you love the '80s collar?

That night, on the recommendation of one of the doctors we met, we went to Fort Lauderdale to this restaurant (15th Street Fisheries) that was really good. It was fun to sit next to the water, eat delicious food, and watch all the ships coming and going as dusk fell.

15th Street Fisheries. Don't we look like we're having fun?

Our last day there was probably the funnest. I went with Dan to the University hospital for his last meeting and, after being bored to death for 2 hours (there is nothing to do around the University of Miami hospital in case you ever wonder!), we decided to go down to South Beach just to check it out. It was AMAZING! We found metered parking right near the beach, stocked up on food and water, and walked over to the beach. When we got there, we rented an umbrella and chairs from this posh club. The water was amazingly clear and we could even see fish swimming around in the water with us. It actually kind of scared me to see the little school of fish swimming by me. We found that our guidebook was correct about South Beach--women really do walk around "casually topless". I kept thinking how I was really glad our kids weren't there to see that!

View from my chair.

Dan had two companions during the trip. His amazing wife and..."Home Study Course." This book came with him everywhere, but I'm not sure how much reading he actually got done!

Dan's other companion.

It was a great trip and we had lots of fun. It was so amazing, relaxing, and fun break. We didn't have to worry about the kids at all because we knew they were in good hands. Thank you Grandma and Lindsay for making it possible!

Do I HAVE to go home?

Click here to see all the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/janieward1313/Miami2008

Life after the frozen tundra

I love spring. It is always so amazing to see the little flowers come up out of the previously frozen ground, and birds magically reappear and start singing, and trees sprout leaves. This year we took pictures of our tree daily as the buds came out. It's amazing how fast it changes. There is only one day between each picture!

The beautiful tree in our backyard over the last ten days.....





























































Thanks to our budding photographer, Jake, who took lots of these pictures. :)

TV Junkie

I am afraid I am making a TV junkie out of Estee, not to mention my other kids, but Estee is still young enough to control. Anyway, it all started when I needed to shower (you know that thing that adults do daily so they don't stink) and Estee would destroy everything in the house while I was showering. So I decided I would get her to watch TV while I was showering, and give her a snack for good measure. It almost always works like a charm. But the problem is now she asks for TV (wee-vee) when I am not showering. I can usually distract her with some books or toys, or shoes (she loves shoes), but I am afraid she is getting old enough she won't be distracted and I will just give in because I don't want to hear her scream, I know it's hard to believe I would let that influence me. Below I have some good hard evidence that this is becoming a horrible habit for my little 20 month old--and it's all my fault!

She is really close to the TV (wee-vee) just so she won't miss anything. I figured this was OK because she was only interested in Baby Einstein, which makes her smart like Einstein, right?

Until I left Estee with the boys one day and came home to find them all completely engrossed with STAR WARS!!

Look at her pointing at the Storm Troopers!! I mean isn't this suppose to scare small children?? No way, she thought this was the highlight of life hanging out with the boys watching Star Wars. Again, I am afraid this is all my fault--she got my genes--I love hanging out with the boys and watching action movies including Star Wars!

Dan at work

One of the PAs that works in the oto department is also a professional photographer. He came in one day and took some pictures of Dan operating (they were drilling out the bone behind the ear and repairing an ear drum). I thought it was kind of fun to see what Dan looked like in the OR. I'm not sure what I expected he would look like, but I guess I didn't think he would be so, I don't know...sterile looking. I guess I am glad he looks STERILE in the OR. Anyway, it was fun for me to see him busy at work in these pictures.

This is my favorite shot.


In case you just can't tell what is going on here. He is operating on the patient's right ear with a microscope, which is all wrapped up so it's sterile. It looks to me like it would be hard to see what the heck you are doing.

Closing the incision.

Dan operating with somebody watching.

http://picasaweb.google.com/janieward1313/DanOperatingMarch08

Toledo Zoo

This week has been Spring Break for the kids. We loved having nothing to do all week! We went to the Toledo Zoo one day and the weather could not have been better (we don't get to say that much lately!) Everybody had a blast here are some highlights.

Andy checking the map for our route through the zoo.

Don't worry Estee knows what she wants to see! OK, check out her cute little pig tails. Aren't they adorable? Her first time with her hair back, and in pig tails, she looks so big!

Ride'em cowboys. Ride the turtles boys.

The polar bears were giving us quite the show, they would jump in the water and play with this little ball and swim around. It was really fun to watch them, Estee was riveted for quite a while. She kept trying to tell Dan later that day what we saw at the zoo. She kept saying over and over "bear, wa-wa, ball".

Getting a closer look at the Amazon.
Estee with her cute friend Lucy who is one month younger than her--and taller, but Estee has more hair so I guess it all equals out! They are so cute.

Abby and her friend Ellen who both just hatched out of this giant egg!

Oh, wow Estee and Abby just hatched!

Andy, Abby and Ellen

What a fun day at the zoo!