I was so looking forward to this weekend: Jenny's wedding, a visit to Sea World and spending time with the whole family. But when travelling with small children I am learning that it's best to keep your expectations low. Looking back, I can piece together all the dismissed signs of impeding disaster that even if we had paid attention we couldn't have changed, just perhaps been more prepared or less disappointed.
At least Sea World was a total blast. Zoe was incredibly clingy and cranky in the morning but she soon warmed up to the adventure and had a pretty good time. She didn't eat much and was really hot, but it was sunny out, so we didn't think twice about it.
On Saturday, we hit traffic going to the wedding and missed Jenny walking down the aisle (my favorite part). Even though we were rushed getting ready, we managed to look pretty good, Chris in a suit, me in my new dress and the girls in their girly, pretty wedding clothes. The wedding started right around Zoe's naptime and she slept in my arms for the entire ceremony. She was really hot and sweaty but I just thought it was warm in the church.
We got to the reception and Zoe continued to be unusually clingy. By the time dinner came around, she was just stuck to my chest and not moving, not sleeping but not moving. And then she started to vomit. All down my (backless) dress, in my hair, all over my lap, her dress. Chris came over to help, picked her up and then she started to throw up all over him, too. It was like a scene from a Monty Python movie. I ran out of the dining hall as quickly as I could and tried to scrape the worst off in the bathroom. And then got the heck out of there. No dancing for me!
Zoe and I went back to the hotel for a bath, snuggle and bed. Chris and Athena stayed at the wedding and had a blast and I watch Ghost on t.v. After a solid 12 hour sleep, Zoe woke up totally dehydrated. Of course, I gave her water and tucked her in bed with me, she downed a huge sippy cup and then got sick all over the hotel room. Bath, once again, change of clothes, etc. etc.
This is when it really comes in handy having an urgent care pediatric nurse practitioner in the family (love you Laura, mean it!). Even though she closed down the dance floor and went to the after party, we were her wake up call asking her to please call in a prescription to help settle Zoe's stomach so that we could get her home.
So, no next-day brunch for us, didn't get to see the newlyweds or chill with the family some more. Instead we comforted our miserable, sweaty wet rag of a child on a long car ride, trying to urge her to drink little sips Pedialyte at a time and suck on ice chips. Not the weekend we expected. Oh well.
Here's our sweet little sick baby. Keeping it together, for the moment.
Athena and her Daddy all dressed up.
The only picture of me before I got yakked on.
How she spent most of Sunday, sucking on ice chips on her Daddy's chest...
P.S. She's doing much better now. Still a little fussy and not 100%, but on the mend for sure.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Great Expectations
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sea World Rocks
What a great place.
Who doesn't love performing dolphins, sea lions you can feed, walking underneath swimming sharks, penguins and Shamu...Shamu...Shamu...!
We even got to meet Elmo and Big Bird. The girls were a bit over tired and sunburnt at the end of the day but we had a fantastic time with Ah Katie, Robert and Uncle David.
Elmo is a rock star! Athena went in for a big hug
Big Bird was very big.
The girls were totally enthralled watching whales dance.
Feeding sardines to seals and sea lions.
Aren't they cute.
Zoe pretending to be a seal or sea lion.
This is how we rolled. We totally abused the handicapped lines. And one of my favorite moments was Katie going against traffic through a crowd yelling in her best crazy old lady voice "'Scuuuuz me! Scuuuuz me!" paving the way for the rest of us.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Cinder-bear
Athena achieved her brass ring this weekend. She reached the ultimate prize for a certain, uh "consistency" in the potty arena. This brass ring has been held in front of her for more than a month now and was finally cashed in - a much anticipated trip to Build-A-Bear.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
First Days of Summer
The first weekend of summer brought a sweltering heat...106...
104...eh, no problem. We still went to the California Living Museum and familiarized ourselves with all the animals indigenous to our area that you must stay away from: bears, bobcats, eagles, rattlesnakes...
Then we hurried back to buy a grill and make dinner for Ah Katie and Robert who were stopping in for a visit on their way home to San Clemente. Ah Katie looks so fantastic, healthy and beautiful, and Zoe immediately clung to Robert as if no time at all had passed.
Robert has TWO girlfriends.
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Return of Unca Stu
Unca Stu swang by for a quick visit to reclaim the hearts of his two favorite nieces. There's been lots of squeals and giggles since he walked through our door this morning. Even though Stu was coming off a four day business trip in Vegas, baby, Vegas and not much sleep, the mean sister that I am, I planned a trip to a local farm to pick some fruits and vegetables. In no time, Stu was covered in girls in the blazing heat, pulling a wagon and searching for berries.
Gathering berries, although seemingly an idyllic pastime, was not that easy. The blueberry bushes were really picked over and the ones we did manage to find were quickly eaten by the little one in the wagon. She fed a couple to me and I realized she was on to something - fresh blueberries warmed by the sun are quite tasty.
It was pretty hot and getting hotter. We couldn't find the strawberries, the peaches weren't quite ripe and although the blackberries were ripe, who eats blackberries?
As everyone was beginning to get pink, flushed and dehydrated, we made a break for it and ran back to the main store to purchase some fruits and veggies so we wouldn't go home empty handed.
We bought delicious cherries, heirloom tomatoes, yummy nectarines, strawberries, zucchini, avocados, and lots and lots of blueberries. Plus a peach pie. Hmm, maybe we were shopping hungry? 
So, we went to get something to eat. Unca Stu even makes restaurants fun and is just plain awesome to have around.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Pizza Night
Zoe cooked dinner tonight. No, really, she really did. 
It was suppose to be a fun project for all three of us, but Athena quickly tired of taking one bite of each pepperoni and placing it on the pizza and soon returned to her 1,086th viewing of Peter Pan.
In the end Zoe was covered in pizza sauce, there was cheese all over the floor, but she was so proud of herself (as you can see from her "cheesy" grin). And, you know what, aside from the half eated pepperonis and uneven distribution of cheese and toppings, it was darn good!
Monday, June 16, 2008
100 Degrees!
It's suppose to reach a high of 100 degrees today. Forcast for tomorrow is 101 and 102 on Wednesday. Pfft. No problem! We've got spray toys in our parks, a freezer full of popsicles and swimming pools. I say, bring on the heat!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
My Daddy is Great
My Daddy is great because... Saturday, June 14, 2008
House Hunting
We went house hunting today and looked at a new home community a short distance from our current apartment. The new community has playgrounds, parks, a swimming pool and landscaped front lawns that are cared for by the HOA. They are about halfway built with a new block that should be completed at the end of August. The model we fell in love with is just out of our price range. But, maybe, by the time they complete the next house grouping, the market will be so bad that they may be desperate enough to cut us a huge deal. It would be wonderful to live in new home!
Athena loved walking around the model homes with their fake food and well decorated rooms.
But she especially loved the doorless electric car that the real estate agent whisked us around in showing the available properties and manicured neighborhood. It was just under 100 degrees today, whew. We not ready to buy yet (gotta sell our house in NY first), but we can dream can't we?
