Tag Archives: travel

New York

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I’ve been looking at old blogs recently. My love for the girls and life was so fierce and passionate. I loved the girls so much that I literally wanted to squeeze them so hard sometimes – my patience and love extraordinary for my tiny humans. Fast forward the past few years and somehow they have grown up before my eyes. Yes, they are still little but they are far from toddlers. They whine, they don’t appreciate, and they fight a lot….it drives Justin and I insane sometimes and I turn into a mom, a person I never thought I would be. I’m rude to them, short with them, and honestly I want to just yell and say to them “what the f**k is wrong with you.” I hate that version of me…it is not who I am or who I aspire to be. The girls are not going to get any younger so I need to figure it out…need to figure out how to be that mom that I once was – the mom who simply adored her children, the mom who literally couldn’t stop smiling when she looked and thought of her kids.

This past weekend we went to New York City for the weekend and it wasn’t a good weekend. It makes me sad to write that, to think that, but it is true. We had good moments but the truth is every wrong turn, bad meal, or change of plans got to each of us this weekend.  We will go again to NY….it won’t be tomorrow but we will go and the ugly of this trip will long be forgotten. Pictures were far and few between but there were a few – and this is how we will likely remember this trip in the days to come.

And we will end this on a scrumptious mouth watering worth every calorie cookie because for those few minutes I was in complete and utter decadent bliss!

Baltimore

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Saturday morning we went to Baltimore to spend much of the weekend in Baltimore. Saturday the weather was still rainy and wet much of the day so we spent five hours in The Children’s Museum. The girls had a great time exploring, watching the magician/physics show, playing soccer, participating in a stage show, making a clay craft, and playing in the massive play/slide area. Saturday evening we had about an hour to relax in the condo before our dinner reservations. We said hello to Mike and Susan since they were also in Baltimore for the night. The girls had a great time with Susan! We walked to dinner in Federal Hill, a short ten minute walk, and made a vow to walk there instead of drive in the future. Dinner at Sobe was good and the girls were really well behaved.Followed by a little fro yo….

Sunday morning we walked to Federal Hill again and had a delicious breakfast at Blue Moon Cafe. It was so good and one of the few restaurants we would go back a second time! I wanted a cup of coffee for the walk back so we stopped in a donut shop across the street and while I am not the biggest donut fan, these donuts looked AMAZING! I let the girls get one and told them it would be their lunch! Sometimes it is fun to live on the edge a little and eat treats for a meal!

We walked along the harbor path to the inner harbor, which was great. It was about a half hour walk to the aquarium. The aquarium itself is just so so in my opinion. The dolphin shoe is the highlight and sadly the show we saw was beyond disappointing.  Avery used her monocular to improve her viewing experience! We enjoyed the walk back “home” to the condo and stopped at a coffee shop, Federal Hill playground, and the gift shop of the Art Museum on the way home. We had a great time and can’t wait for our next trip back.

Charleston Trip – Dec 2017

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We spent four full days in Charleston, SC. We had a good time. I can’t say it was fabulous, but it was good. What made it not be fabulous? I don’t know that I can pinpoint it exactly as it was more a combination of things and not one thing in particular.

  • The Weather – The weather was much colder than the average temperatures for this time of year.  Most days were in the mid 40’s and cloudy with no sun in sight. While mid 40’s isn’t that cold, it felt brutally cold outside at times. I don’t know if it is because my expectations were that it was going to be warmer or if it was because the wind chill and the real feel made it feel significantly colder.  Either way, except for the last day (which was mid 50’s and sunny) it was pretty cold outside!
  • The Bickering – The girls seemed to bicker more than we liked.  While they normally butt heads, especially at home, we want to see even less of it while we are on vacation.  And while we did our best to apply our guided principles parenting techniques from the book “One More Time”, the application of the process proved to be challenging.
  • The Parking – One reserved spot came with the Airbnb rental.  The condo itself was great…newly renovated 2 bed/2 bath.  The location, price, and amenities were a perfect match for us.  The whole condo building was recently renovated so the parking spaces hadn’t been paved yet.  It was a park on a first come/first serve basis.  And while there were supposed to be enough spots for every unit, there clearly weren’t.  The first time we couldn’t find a spot, we contacted the owner and within minutes he responded back.  While we did an easy alternative with the help of the owner, the parking situation remained the same for the rest of the trip.  The morning after we parked in the alternative spot, the caps for the tires had been stolen. And the following morning, our car was blocked in by a truck doing renovation on the building next door.  So while we always ended up finding a spot, I know the parking situation was always on the back of Justin’s mind.
  • The Duration – We stayed for four full days and designated two days for driving.  While four days initially didn’t seem like a lot, we ended up having more downtime than some other vacations.  This was in part due to the cold weather (i.e. we didn’t spend as much time as anticipated at the beaches).  While the downtime was good and allowed us to not rush through everything and even allowed for the girls to watch a movie two evenings and spend some time on sigh words, it also meant more time for bickering.
  • The Food – The food!  The food was good!  I spent countless hours reviewing blogs, reviewing restaurant reviews, reviewing menus, and trying to secure reservations.  The food in Charleston is really really good and there are a lot of spectacular restaurants.  Honestly, I probably spent a minimum of 10 hours deciding where to eat!  While the food was great, it was southern.  Southern food (even the healhier options) are not that healthy….and when in the south, it is essential to do as the Southerners do!  For the most part, we only ate one meal out a day; yet, I still feel as though I ate my way through Charleston.

WHERE WE ATE

  • Hominy Grill – Hominy Grill is a hot breakfast spot.  It also happened to be a 5 minute walk from our condo.  We beat the crowds and arrived by 8:45.  I ordered the special, which was a shrimp and hominy omelet with a tomato gravy and a side of home fries. I normally don’t eat shrimp for breakfast and don’t know that I will start. With every bite, it grew on me more and more.  I definitely enjoyed it.  Justin had the country biscuit (2 eggs over easy, cheddar grits, and biscuits with gravy).  He said his was delicious too!  Avery and Harper split the pancakes and Emerson ordered an egg and bacon biscuit sandwich, eating around the biscuit.  The place was packed with people waiting when we left at 9:45. I would definitely go back here again!
  • Butcher and Bee – Butcher and Bee is rated 4.5 stars on tripadvisor.  It is moderately priced and a hot breakfast and lunch spot. We went for an early dinner!  Our dinner reservations were at 5:30.  We made it to the restaruant at 4:50.  We decided to walk there since it was less than 2 miles from our aribnb.  What we did not know, is that much of that walk was through some not so great neighborhoods. We saw an old man with blood dripping down his face who appeared to have just been beaten up.  We saw an undercover drug “bust”.  And we received a lot of looks!  So while my intentions were to take our time and explore King Street, we were definitely on the wrong side of the tracks.  Once we made it to the restaurant, we decided going inside might be wise.  We got an uber home for $10.  The food was really good….it was tapas style and Justin and I shared everything….hummus and pita, bacon wrapped dates, falafel, squash pancake, lamb kabob, mixed green salad, and a crusty baguette with seasoned olive oil for dipping.  It was all delicious.  The bacon wrapped dates and the green salad…so yummy…I could go for those again right now! They had a kids menu, but it was a little too healthy for the girls liking. The grilled chicken was not a hit.  Emerson ate some salad and pita, bread, and French fries along with Avery and Emerson.
  • Slightly North of Broad (SNOB) – Turns out I had been here before…the last time I was in Charleston for a work event with co-workers for dinner. We had a 2:30 reservation.  The place was packed and we had to wait until 2:45 before we were seated.  Justin ordered the famous shrimp and grits and I had the special, which was swordfish with kale, rice, a few potatoes, with a sunflower puree. It was delicious although I think the sunflower puree actually took away from the dish more than it added to it. And there was corn bread…I ate a lot a lot of cornbread.  They had a kids menu…Emerson ordered the grilled cheese with a side salad.  She doesn’t really like grilled cheese that is made with a lot of butter panini style so she attempted to pick out the cheese.  Avery and Harper shared a plain bowl of pasta.  When Harper devoured her half in less than two minutes and asked for more, I ordered another to the tune of $8 a bowl….for just plain pasta!
  • Kitchen & Craftsman Tap House – We stopped in here shortly after 3:00 after our horse drawn carriage ride.  The beer selection is extensive…12 pages of beer!  The food was better than average bar food but I think it fell slightly short of what it could have been.  I think they are trying to be somewhat of an upscale bar based on the menu choices and presentation.  Avery’s pizza was very good as were the potatoes that came with the burgers.  The burgers themselves were slightly overcooked and weren’t made with the best quality ground beef. The beer selection was great though.  I had a local flight plus one more local beer.  Justin had three beers.  We had fun…and this spot was exactly what we needed for that afternoon.
  • Poogan’s Porch – While this place had openings, they had no openings for a party of five. We walked by this restaurant the previous day and I noticed that this restaurant was right next to several of the restaurants that were on my restaurant “list”.  I figured we would check out the situation if we were by the restaurant since there would be other options nearby.  There were people waiting….lots of people waiting!  When I asked if there was availability for a party of five, she said the wait was already longer than when the place closed (which was about 80 minutes away).  In the same breath, she said that there was seating available at the communal table at the bar.  We jumped on it!  We got seated right away and we took up half the table!  We ordered the fried green tomatoes…I felt like we had too!  The only other time I had fried green tomatoes was at Tuscorara Mill and they were barely fried.  The ones at Poogans were delicious, but they were definitely heavily fried.  I enjoyed every bite but I likely won’t rush to order fried green tomatoes anytime soon.  Justin and I both ordered the pulled pork benedict.  I ordered homefries on the side and Justin ordered the grits.  It was very good too, but I didn’t love the barbecue pork….I think I just wanted to order outside my norm.  I probably should have ordered the salad with fried chicken.  They are known for their fried chicken and it was delicious.  One of the kids items we ordered was chicken tenders and Emerson and Harper devoured the fried chicken.  Oh yeah…and we ate more biscuits!!
  • King Street Cookies – This was a quick stop in on the last day as a way to break up the final part of our walk home.  They had every cookie under the sun at this place.  Ironically, Emerson and Harper ordered a slushee and Avery ordered ice cream.  I took one for the team and ordered a chocolate chip cookie!
  • Carmellas – We stopped at this dessert and drink bar one evening after we ate a late lunch at the bar.  Since this was technically dinner, we let the girls go all out.  They all chose gelato, while I chose a coffee and a slice a chocolate cake and Justin had gelato and a real drink. My cake was good…certainly not to die for…I probably should have saved the calories for something else!
  • Christopher Artisan Chocolatier – We stopped by here about an hour before closing on Thursday. The place was busy and the amount of fresh treats remaining were limited, but the girls still managed to find something they all liked.  I passed on dessert this time; I think if more items were still available, it would have been harder to pass up.  I did enjoy a cup of coffee though.

What other restaurants were on my list that we didn’t visit: Husk, High Cotton, 82 Queen, The Macintosh, 5 Church Charleston, Toast, and Jenis Splendid Ice Cream. I mean you can only eat so much in one trip!

WHAT WE DID

  • Boone Plantation – I don’t think I have ever been on a Plantation before.  I had heard that there were better plantations in Charleston; however, this one had the famous Avenue of The Oaks….as well as several scenes where The Notebook, my favorite movie, was filmed.  I had to see it!  It is crazy to think about life on a planation…both from the perspective of a wealthy white person as well as a slave.
  • Patriots Point – We toured the U.S.S. Yorktown, an aircraft carrier, and a submarine.  As I grow older, I appreciate history more and more.  Thinking about what life was like back then during World War II just blows my mind away.  There was also a destroyer; however, I think the girls had reached their limit so we opted not to explore it.  There was also a Vietnam Memorial that Justin explored while I took the girls back to the car.  He said it was amazing.  I found a groupon online so we spent half as much on tickets from the regular price of admission, which was another added bonus.  I think overall Justin and I enjoyed it a little more than the girls.  Emerson said only boys would like it…since only boys like planes!
  • Isle of Palms – We went here Thursday morning after the cold weather and precipitation left a coat of icing in Charleston!  Several of the entrances to the beach were closed off for safety reasons.  While it was cold, the girls had fun playing on the beach.  Avery didn’t let her clothes get in the way of building a sandcastle.
  • Horse Drawn Carriage Ride – This was totally worth the money.  The architecture in Charleston is beautiful.  The town is so rich with American history dating back to the 1700’s and it is amazing that our country fruitfully and lavishly existed without so many of the modern day amenities that we have in today’s world. Honestly, it amazes me!
  • Downtown Charleston – We went into historic downtown Charleston three times.  We walked and explored often with no destination in mind.  We strolled by College of Charleston, Marion Square, The Market, Charleston Waterfront, and along King Street and other parts of the town. Harper wore her new hippie hairband the entire trip, along with her many bracelets.  Avery fell and hurt the same knee over and over again…thus the rolled up pant leg.  I came into contact with my own Noah Calhoun:).  We had some downtime in the condo too. The girls enjoyed their Christmas gift! Overall, it was a good trip.  But I am glad to be home…and I think Justin would agree.  My body needs a break, a refresh – some downtime, healthier food, and real workouts.  And as much as I hate to say it, a break from my kids!

Maddys Take on Manhattan

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Our family took a mini vacation this long weekend to NYC.  We really have the travel bug and want to take advantage of the girls time off of school to explore places. Justin and I used to love going to NYC, which we did a few times a year when my sister lived there.  The last time we were in NY was seven years ago!  It doesn’t seem like that long ago but it was a few months before I became pregnant with Avery and Emerson and the last year my sister lived in NY before moving to London. Crazy how time flies!  Anyway, Justin and I like walking and exploring, taking in the scenery and the free stuff, and eating good food.  So that was our mission with kids while still trying to keep it exciting for them.

We took Emerson out of school early Friday to leave for NJ where we spent the night at Mary and Russell’s house.  Avery was out sick Friday as she had been the prior two days at school, thus we didn’t need to take her out early.  We arrived at Mary and Russell’s around 7:00 and enjoyed their hospitality and company as always.

Saturday morning Russell graciously drove us into the city and after we checked in at our hotel, drove us to the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History.  The girls had a great time exploring the space and mammal exhibits.  After staying there for a few hours, we crossed the street and entered Central Park right by Strawberry Fields.  The girls experienced a NY hot dog! Then we leisurely strolled around the lake coming out by the Boat House and then walking through Central Park Zoo.  I thought maybe we would go in, but that was before I realized it wasn’t a free zoo. We then made our way back towards the hotel stopping in Bloomingdales along the way for a bathroom break and then at Serendipity, where I thought the girls would get a  kick out of having a massively beautiful milkshake, but apparently I wasn’t the only one with that same idea.  It was 4:30 so I thought with the off time we would get in, but the amount of people waiting was so abundant that I didn’t even bother asking what the wait time was.  The girls were disappointed, I promised we would find the girls ice cream somewhere else but as you know when you are specifically looking for something is the only time you can’t find it!  We arrived at our hotel before we found ice cream so again the promise of ice cream was made for later.  We actually wanted to fill the girls up on dessert since the place we had dinner reservations at later in the evening was truly an indulgence for Justin and I with very little on the menu that would be appealing to the girls. Once we arrived back at the hotel, we checked in our room.  We were told the happy hour started in 5 minutes so we quickly unpacked so we could partake in the “free” happy hour.  We downed a few glasses of wine and nuts before we freshened up and headed to our dinner reservations.  Our dinner reservations were at Tolache on W. 50th.  It was perfect because we got a chance to walk through Rockefeller Center and by Radio City Music Hall.Dinner was good but Justin and I certainly didn’t enjoy it as much as we would have had it been just the two of us.  The staff didn’t appear to be too keen on the fact that three of the five persons in the reservations were kids.  While it certainly wasn’t a kid restaurant, there were a few others who also had kids so the fact that our waiter really didn’t even make an attempt to connect with us, was disappointing. They rushed us out the door…in seriously in less than an hour, we were done with dinner. The food itself was great and Emerson loved the flank steak, rice and beans.

After dinner we were in Times Square.  Justin and I normally don’t go to Times Square as we aren’t keen on the big tourist attractions and Justin is always weary of crowds for security reasons, but I felt like the girls needed to experience it…at least for a few minutes. We then stopped in the M&M store since Mila had told the girls about it and they wanted to go. Not certain of the pouty faces…perhaps it was the disappointment of Justin and I not letting them buying anything. 

Even though we didn’t go to bed until close to 11:00, we had a pretty good nights sleep.  Harper slept on the pull out couch by herself and Avery and Emerson took turns sleeping with Justin and I alternating nights.  Rock Paper Scissors determined who took turns sleeping with who.

Sunday morning we slept in later than I thought we would.  My alarm went off shortly after 7:00 but after I saw everyone was still sound asleep and the black out curtains made it feel like it was still the middle of the night, I hit snooze several times until close to 9:00!  I hopped in the shower while everyone still slept.  Slowly everyone else woke up and showered.  It had been raining so we were purposely being slow as the forecast said the rain was going to taper off.  When the rain didn’t let up as early as anticipated, we opted to go to brunch right around the corner from the hotel, The Smith.  The wait was an hour and a half but they had some spaces at the communal table, which we were able to snag up right away eliminating our wait time. The food was good, although pricey…very pricey!  Emerson’s apple juice cost $6!  After breakfast it was still raining some so we headed back to the hotel room for a little longer.  By 1:00 p.m. the rain stopped and we were on our way.  We walked to Grand Central Station.

We then went to the Empire State Building, although we didn’t go to the top. We then walked to Madison Avenue Park on 23rd and the girls had fun playing on the playground.

Next we walked to Union Square where the girls enjoyed the street performers, specifically this man juggling.  He was actually pretty darn talented!  

When his performance was over, we told the girls it was ice cream time!  We had promised them ice cream the day before and when we were unsuccessful in finding it, the promise rolled over to Sunday.  They hadn’t asked about it in quite a few hours so I wanted to show them that they didn’t need to pester us about things for them to happen.  Avery and Harper and along with their dresses and hair indulged in chocolate ice cream.  Emerson indulged in blackberry and true to her nature stayed pretty clean.

It was after 3:00 by the time the girls finished their ice cream.  We decided we didn’t have enough time or the girls enough stamina to walk to Battery Park so we hopped on the Subway.  We took the 5 but as usual I didn’t understand the limited weekend subway service and it didn’t stop at Battery Park.  We were forced to get off at The Brooklyn Bridge if we still wanted to be in Manhattan!  We decided since we were so close to go for a short stroll on the bridge but with the need to go to the bathroom, that stroll didn’t last too long.  We then made our way to South Seaport.  The girls were getting a little tired and cranky so when they saw a playground and asked if they could go in, we said yes.  Two minutes after they were playing I spotted one of my sister’s friends and her family.  I had never met her before but I recognized her from my sister’s wedding and pictures I had seen of her before.  Anyway, I introduced myself and we chatted for a few, took a picture together to send to my sister, and she told us about the free bus loop that would take us to Battery Park from South Seaport!  After the girls played for a few, we headed to South Seaport. The girls each bought themselves a fidget spinner (the latest craze) from a street vendor (I negotiated 3 for $10) with their own money and they were ECSTATIC!  Seriously, they were so excited to have their own fidget spinners.  Honestly, I thought they would ask for something else since they still had birthday money remaining, but they were quite content with their purchase. Justin and I then grabbed an adult beverage (or two) at an outdoor bar while the girls played with their fidget spinners.  We were sitting at a big picnic table in a cool location; weather was beautiful, and it was chill and awesome.  Honestly, it was amazing.  I’m sure the fact that I was buzzed after one beer had something to do with it, but it is moments like this with my family that I feel so content and happy.  While we were hanging out there I got blessed by a Hasidic Jew.  Emerson had previously called me out on it when I earlier said no thank you to a Hasidic Jew on the Brooklyn Bridge asking me if I was Jewish.  (I thought he was trying to sell me something).  Anyway, Emerson and I talked about it afterwards and she asked me if I would say I was Jewish the next time.  Well the next time came when Justin was grabbing us beers.  My Hebrew was so horrendous….I’m sure the Hasidic Jew boy with peach fuzz was internally laughing hysterically. By the way, the Hasidic Jew families with young kids are the cutest families ever.  Anyway, after our drinks, we were going to scratch Battery Park but when the free bus was literally at our feet and the ride was less than 10 minutes away, we hopped on.  Where we hopped off, we could see The Statue of Liberty from afar.  We took a picture of it on the phone so Avery could see it.  We honestly stayed there for less than 10 minutes but at least the girls could say they saw The Statue of Liberty.  Justin had fun taking pictures of the girls.

As we made our way to the Subway, we saw behind us Freedom Tower. Justin had wanted to go to the World Trade Center Memorial but we knew it would spurn to many questions from the girls, and while the time will come that they will be exposed to harsh truths, they are still at an age where we can foster their innocence without sacrificing their knowledge…that time won’t last long though so we are savoring the days while we can.  We got off the subway at Grand Central Station and on the way back we looked for a pizza joint that was appealing.  We did have dinner reservations at The Stanton Social but I cancelled them…it was hard to do because I felt like we scored with getting these reservations but the truth was it wasn’t a kid’s restaurants and we had already subjected them and ourselves to that the previous night.  So we settled for a slice of pizza at $3 a slice.  It was fine…not to die for, but not bad.  We finally made our way back to the hotel room close to 8:00 p.m.  A few minutes later we went back out for one more drink.  We didn’t want to go far so we went to a restaurant down the block.  The reviews said it was good but overpriced.  While that normally would have turned me off, there weren’t many options right around us and we literally wanted one drink.  I figured even if it was overpriced it really wouldn’t add up too much. Justin and I each ordered a beer and I ordered cookies off the dessert menu for the girls.  The cookies were disappointing!  I expected overpriced, which they were ($10) but I still expected them to be good…i expected warm melt in your mouth cookies and these were definitely already at least a day old).  We were back at the hotel by 9:00 where Justin gave the girls a hose down in the shower while I packed.  NY is dirty and seriously dirt was just caked on the girls!

Monday morning we went to NY Jumbo Bagels on 56th and 3rd.  We opted to go somewhere that was good, reasonably priced, but that wasn’t insanely popular with lines out the door. Avery enjoyed her plain bagel, Harper her plain bagel with cream cheese, and Emerson her bagel with lox.  Justin and I equally enjoyed our bacon, egg, and cheese on a whole wheat everything and a cup of steaming hot coffee.  We stopped at Buttercream Bakery on the way home for some dessert as I hadn’t yet indulged in any NY dessert.  We got cupcakes to go…two for me….a pumpkin that I ate with the rest of my coffee when we got back to the hotel and a chocolate buttercream.  Both were absolutely delicious.  Russell picked us up at the hotel again, which was awesome, and then after a quick bathroom break at Russell and Mary’s house, we were back on the road.  We made great time and even made it back in time for Avery and Emerson’s ballet class.

I can’t stop thinking about the fact that we ran into my sister’s friend. It wasn’t so much the specific friend but when you think about the chances of it, it is just crazy.  We took a few turns and changed our plans slightly that day…had we not done that, we wouldn’t had run into her.  It makes me wonder about all the times that you just miss someone too and have no knowledge of it. Anyway, it was just so symbolic of life….and how all things, even the so called “wrong turns” happen for a reason.

What would I have done differently:
– paid a donation instead of the suggested fee for the Museum of Natural History.  Since we were only there a short time, I totally would have been okay with that.  Not to mention that the primary reason we went there (the Hayden Planetarium) was a special exhibit and I had thought it wasn’t…thus I didn’t even purchase the ticket that allowed us to experience it.
– Stay at the same hotel…but book for 4 persons allowing us to stay in a smaller room with two queens (the girls can triple up for one weekend)! Also, potentially ok directly with the hotel versus Expedia.

Minneapolis: ANN Conference

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Justin and I took an extended weekend trip to Minneapolis with Avery and Emerson to attend the bi-annual American Nystagmus Network (ANN) conference. Justin attended the conference four years ago in Orlando when I was eight months pregnant with Harper. Attending this year was somewhat of a last minute decision. Avery knows she wears glasses and she knows she has to see things closer up to maximize her vision; however, she doesn’t know that her eyes move and that she has nystagmus. With the conference being every two years, we worried that if we waited until she was going into third grade, it would be too late and we would have missed out an opportunity. On the flip side, we were concerned that we would be introducing her to a concept that could change her outlook when it wasn’t something that was currently bothersome to her. In the end, we chose to go and are happy with her decision.

In terms of medical answers, we didn’t necessarily gain a lot of knowledge….more just some reaffirmation of things we already knew about Avery’s condition. Avery’s case is truly rare and there was not another single person at the conference whose nystagmus presented itself like Avery’s. As the research on the Internet and YouTube videos show, most persons with nystagmus have a horizontal eye movement. Research shows not all nystagmus is horizontal…there is vertical and rotational but again those persons seem to be far and few between.

Nystagmus is not a death sentence like some cancers or other diseases can be. Additionally, it is a symptom…usually the result of another underlying condition, of which there are many, but not always. So while there is progress being made on the research, it is very slow as there isn’t a vested interest to cure the symptom. It also seems that the doctors and scientists who have devoted their careers to this condition, don’t always agree…in fact, it seems that collaboration amongst doctors/practices is not really occurring and there even seems to be some strong feelings of disdain for other doctors within the same exact field of research. Whether surgery helps dampen nystagmus and increase visual acuity seems to be a very controversial topic making the course of treatment a parent seeks for their child that much more difficult to make. Dr. Hertle was not at the conference, for what I believe was to be the 3rd conference in a row. He did appear via a video message but it makes you wonder why he wouldn’t show up for this conference that takes place every other year only if this is the subject for which he has devoted his career. Dr. Avery Weiss, a new name to us, was a guest speaker at one of the sessions. He was quirky and to the point and he was pretty confident that his practice always finds the correct diagnosis. He didn’t go too into his treatments but again he made it clear that visual acuity general doesn’t improve with surgery. They were offering eye movement recordings (EMR) on Saturday. Avery previously had one three years ago, but we figured we would get one again just to have as a reference point. Justin took Avery to do it…it was being administered by Dr. Weiss and Dr. , one of the other scientist who was a keynote speaker. The goggles wouldn’t fit properly on her head and with the direction of her nystagmus, they didn’t proceed with the EMR. Justin did have an opportunity to talk with Dr. Weiss specifically about Avery and interestingly enough in their brief conversation once Justin provided him with Avery’s health history and gave her a visual look over, didn’t feel he had anything additional to offer. In regards to surgery, he said, “he wouldn’t touch her with a 10 foot pole.” And when Justin had indicted our willingness to tack on an appointment to see him in Seattle when we visited our friends, he clearly told Justin to just go visit his friends. He thought Avery’s eyes were aligned and was pleasantly surprised to hear her visual acuity. I still question if Avery has a null point…I don’t think so but the conference made me wonder if perhaps her downward and upward positions of her eye balls were more associated with null points than light sensitivity. Justin posed the question and Dr. Weiss seemed to think it was a light sensitivity. So did we learn anything completely new at the conference? No, not completely. But things were reaffirmed and we certainty took away some good pointers in the various sessions (the teen panel of kids with nystagmus, nystagmus in a school setting, low vision optometry, etc.) and we had a chance to meet other kids and adults with nystagmus, many of whom were quite successful. We met a few families from the D.C area and Avery and Emerson had fun at the kids camp, which was taught by teens with nystagmus and their siblings. Avery does now know the word nystagmus and that she has it and that it means that her eyes move. I have tried to downplay that some so she knows it isn’t a big deal and it doesn’t define her. Time will tell if coming to this years conference was the right timing. I want to say it was, but again only time will tell for sure.

The conference started Friday evening and since we had never been to Minneapolis before (my two night work trip in February at the 3M building eight years ago didn’t really count) we decided to extend the trip by about 24 hours and see Minneapolis. Due to the price and wanting to get the most out of the conference, we opted to leave Harper at home with Janaina and Grandma and Grandpa. We chose to take Emerson since her and Avery are twins and Avery’s nystagmus likely affects Emerson more than Harper.

The weather all weekend was beautiful. Thursday evening we went to Target Field to check out where the Minnesota Twins play baseball. A and E - Minneapolis4 A, E, S - MinneapolisFriday morning we went to Minnehaha Park and Falls. 1111 111

We debated going to The Mall of America, which is the largest mall in the U.S, just to say we had been there. But with time limited, we chose not to. Now, we can say, we almost went to The Mall of America. Instead we opted for a nice Italian lunch and went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which was the number one rated thing to do in Minneapolis and one of the largest art museums in the U.S.aabbccdd

The conference was all day Saturday and when there was a break at 4:30 we took a walk outside to U.S. Bank Stadium, where the Minnesota Vikings play football.IMG_0065IMG_0064The food was okay. I scoped out a number of restaurants on TripAdvisor. For restaurants that were rated in the top 20 restaurants for Minneapolis, I would have expected mouth watering. They were good but certainly not mouth watering. My favorite meal was probably Sunday morning breakfast at The Hen House where I had an egg white omelette with tomatoes, grilled onion, quinoa, goat cheese, and bacon. The restaurant gave out not only coloring books and crayons for kids, but little goodie bags of fun items.A and J - Minneapolis rotatedIMG_0837We did see a ton of food trucks Friday morning along the street where our hotel was on…perhaps food trucks are Minneapolis’s thing.

We missed Harper but we know she had a great weekend with Papa and Grandma. Truly another great trip, less than three weeks after our trip to Sweden. I truly feel so fortunate and blessed with my life and my family right now.

Sweden

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I sit here on the plane back home from Copenhagen to  Dulles writing for the first time the entire trip.  I thought that perhaps I would write about the days adventures some evenings; however, with the Stockholm extended summer days, many nights it would be 11:00 before the girls would even go to bed and it was only at that time that I began doing my research of things to do and restaurants on tripadvisor. Overall the trip was amazing…a few little minor bumps in the road (a lost cell phone in the taxi on the way to my sister’s wedding, a few wrong turns navigating the streets extending travel time by a few minutes, and one missed boat stop in Stockholm Archiepelgo and one missed ferry ride back to the riverside hotel in Gothenburg. Truthfully all were minor though and will all be a distant memory in even just a few days.

I can’t even believe I am writing this post because it seemed like the trip was so far away for so long.  My sister is finally married and our Swedish vacation is in the books. There is so much to write and probably a thousand pictures so we decided we would make a photo book of our trip…that way I feel a little less complled to make this the longest post ever.  I still have a lot to say though so I figured I would document our travels day by day.

Monday June 26
We flew overnight from Dulles to Copenhagen and then to Stockholm. Since our flight was overnight, I was hopeful that we would all catch about 5 hours sleep.  We all slept two hours only.  The girls did great and Harper enjoyed her first time on an airplane.

Tuesday June 27
We arrived in Stockholm about 10:30 local time.  We took a van taxi to the city (about a 45 minute drive).  Our hotel wasn’t ready for us to check in when we arrived so we grabbed ourselves a cup of coffee and some water while my sister and Gabo met us at the hotel and then took us back to the flat that they had rented for the week where we again rested for a few and then went to eat at a typical Scandinavian restaurant for lunch.  I ordered a potato pancake with lingonberry and bacon for the girls as there was nothing else the girls would eat on the menu (besides French fries…which I ordered as well). (They ate none of it…which was pretty typical of what they ate our entire trip….while Sweden is extremely kid friendly, their options for kid friendly food for Americans used to eating chicken fingers and mac and cheese is quite limited). Harper fell asleep while eating…literally she was chewing and eating at the same time.  She would catch herself and then start talking like nothing had happened because she was embarrassed.

After lunch, Gabo took Justin to buy a 7 day subway pass for each of us.  Kids 6 and under ride free in Stockholm with an adult. Gabo suggested we do the Skansen Open Air Museum Tuesday afternoon since it was fairly close by.  He pointed us in the right direction for which tram and subway to take and we were off.  The girls thoroughly enjoyed Skansen as did Justin and I because anything they enjoy is a win for us! We stayed there for a few hours exploring.  We could have stayed longer but we knew with only two hours sleep the night before and still not having checked in, we were on borrowed time.  We took the tram back and attempted to take the subway but walked in the wrong direction so we decided at that point to just walk.  We were less than a mile away but the girls started to fade and Harper literally fell asleep while we were walking so Justin had to carry pure deadweight what seemed to be mostly uphill the whole way back to the hotel.

Wednesday June 28
After much research and debate on what island to visit in the archipelago and for how long, we decided to go to Grinda and then Vaxholm.  We all got a pretty good nights sleep…granted we could have slept for longer but at the same time we wanted to get on the boat in the morning.  The hotel had a breakfast that was included in the price…it was really excellent…lots of meats, cheeses, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and of course fresh baked breads, which I managed to stay away from early on. It was the same breakfast everyday so we did get a little tired of it by the end, but again that is because I chose to eat the same thing everyday.  Also, at breakfast, we ran into Russell and Mary who had just arrived from their overnight flight.

We took the subway to T-Central and then walked to where the boats departed.  We got on the 11:30 departure…the one way trip to Grinda was an hour and forty minutes.  The archipelago was gorgeous and we took turns enjoying it from the inside upper deck and the outside upper deck when we could finagle a space.  We managed to find a really good space as we neared Grinda.  We thought there was a North and South stop for Grinda so when we got to the first stop and were capturing photos, we figured we would take the next stop.  It turns out there was only one stop for Grinda!   So we got off at the next stop not knowing anything about it.  We got off with a few others and for a few minutes I was pretty scared.  It was clearly a small island (permanent population of 30) and there was no one to ask when we got off the island.  We just started walking along the path….i was a little scared as I only had a few snacks in my bag and no water.  Granted our cell phones worked so it wasn’t like we were totally stranded.  The girls were a bit panicked but we tried to keep them calm. After following the path for 15 minutes, we encountered the island’s market and restaurant along the water.  The picturesque scenery was gorgeous, the sun shining strong, and we knew that it wasn’t the wrong stop after all.  After inquiring abut the boats departure times, we decided instead of rushing back and going to our originally intended island, we would spend a few hours at this island.  We picked up some groceries including some fresh strawberries and tomatoes, hummus, salami, and a some refreshments.  I think we scored big with our missed boat stop.

We caught the 3:45 boat trip back as we were one hour and forty-five minutes away and we still had to factor getting back to the hotel.  We made it back to the hotel where we said hello to my parents who had arrived earlier in the day.  And then we quickly freshened up for a few minutes before heading to dinner at an Italian restaurant by Lauren and Gabo’s flat.  Dinner was Lauren, Gabo, my Mom and Dad, Russell and Mary, and of course us.  We walked back from dinner – a leisurely half hour stroll through the crisp air and daylight at 9:30 at night!  The girls shared a pizza…thank goodness Avery will finally eat pizza!  Usually just one slice…however, that is progress in my books!

Thursday June 29

Thursday morning was another beautiful day…we quickly learned that the correct way to dress in Sweden is in layers and that the forecast really means nothing as it was not so accurate.  When the sun is out and the winds are at a minimum, it actually feels warm and quite pleasant.  But when the sun goes away and you add a slight breeze, a jacket becomes necessary at a moment’s notice.  It’s was interesting that most the restaurants actually had blankets placed on chairs outside…good strategization to keep customers when it all of a sudden gets cold!

We took the subway to T-Central and headed to Junibaken (Pippi’s House). We were going to attempt to walk from T-Central, however we took a wrong turn and headed on the wrong side of the water.  By that time, we figured our best option was to hop on the paid ferry to get there.  We spent a few hours exploring the stories of Astrid Lingrid and Villa Villuka.  The girls had a great time.

On the way back, we stopped for ice cream (something we did on the trip quite frequently) and then we made a quick stop at a park by our hotel to let the girls get some more energy out.  Stockholm is extremely kid friendly and has a ton of parks.

We were back in the hotel room a little before 4:00 and Justin and I showered again before heading over with my parents to the suburbs of Stockholm to Gabriel’s brother Pablo and his wife Pia’s house.  We met Gabriel’s two brothers (Pablo, his wife Pia, and their two kids Sebastian and Rebecca), his brother Mario, Gabriel’s Mom Eva, and one of their good childhood friends who was named after Gabriel’s dad.  They had a lovely home and we enjoyed a traditional Argentinian barbecue outdoors.  Lauren and Gabriel have been together five years and it was great to finally be able to meet her new extended family.  They really made us feel welcome.

Friday June 30
Friday morning we woke up and it was the first time the weather truly wasn’t great.  But considering it hadn’t rained to date (which was in the forecast daily prior to us leaving) and the fact that they were calling for 80% chance of significant rainfall Friday, strong winds and a tiny bit of rain were nothing to complain about.  After breakfast, we went to Fotografiskia, the Photography Museum.  They had three exhibits…one in which was horses.  I’m personally not that into horses, but it was probably my favorite exhibit…I think the girls really enjoyed the horse exhibit as well. We finished going through the museum within an hour so we stopped off at the cafe for a decadent snack and to enjoy the awesome view.

When we left the museum, it was slightly drizzling but very windy and dreary.  Justin did some quick research and found the Transportation and Toy Muesuem was only about 15/20 minutes walking.  We headed there next…the girls enjoyed going on the little train and checking out the old buses.  It was really cool to step foot and sit in some of the buses.  Some of them were from the 60’s and while they were Swedish vehicles, it still made me think of the Civil Rights Movement.  It is just so unbelievable that less than 15 years before I was born blacks had to sit at the back of the bus. Justin took a quick peak at the toy section of the museum as the girls really weren’t interested.  We headed back via the bus.  (By the way, Justin was awesome navigating the subway, trams, and buses and we literally never waited more than two minutes for any subway, tram, or bus).

Friday night was the dinner for all the out of owners.  My sister said there were about 70 people.  They rented out a restaurant for the evening.  It was a cool place, with good food, and it was really wonderful to meet some new faces and see some old friends of my sister’s who I hadn’t seen in years. The girls spent a lot of time hanging out with Katy!

Saturday July 1
Wedding Day!  I woke up a little bit nervous…I’m not sure why…Lauren was getting married, not me!  We ate a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and then I showered and walked over to the salon with my mom a little after noon.  Justin took the girls to the park in the morning with my dad and was in charge of getting them ready.  I was a little nervous about this but I figured getting them in their dresses would be fairly easy and I could do their hair once we arrived at the ceremony location.

I had my hair and make-up done.  I debated about it…my make up was heavier than I would have done it (but I think that is what i wanted) and my hair was okay…I wasn’t in love with it but I also didn’t hate it. Either way…it wasn’t about me.  In traditional Swedish fashion, the wedding was scheduled to go until 3:00 a.m.  Dinner didn’t end until after midnight as there were over 17 speeches!

The wedding was really beautiful and you could feel the love between Lauren and Gabriel. We are thrilled for Lauren and Gabriel and while they are far away from us, we are still excited about what their marriage means for our family.  Harper fell asleep on Justin at about 11:30 p.m. and slept on the concrete floor until we left the wedding at 2:15 a.m.  Avery wavered between dancing and falling asleep after midnight and Emerson was a dancing queen until we left!  The wedding went for one more hour after we left.  By the time we got home and I was finished washing up and getting the girls into bed, the sun was almost close to coming out again!

Sunday July 2
This was the only day of our trip that we truly didn’t have anything planned.  While we didn’t set our alarms, we ended up waking up earlier than I thought we would.  We made it to breakfast around 10:00 where we saw Russell and Mary…my parents were still sleeping and Stewart, Lynn, and Katy had caught an early flight to Amsterdam. We took the subway to Gamla Stan area where we explored the cute streets, ate some ice cream, and walked through the exterior of the Royal Palace before making our way to the restaurant on the floating dock that my sister and Gabriel had arranged for some post wedding drinks.  One drink was enough for me!  Justin and I were hungry though so we ended up ordering food off the menu…I got the halibut in a burre blanc sauce…it was yummy!  We hung out there for a few hours chatting with friends and family before saying our goodbyes to Lauren and Gabriel.  It was bittersweet….i was so happy for Lauren and Gabriel but hard to believe this day that they had been planning for so long had finally come and gone. Sunday evening when we got back to the hotel, I packed as we were headed to the Swedish countryside for the next part of our adventure.

Monday July 3
Monday morning after breakfast we checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to the Stockholm Arlanda airport where we picked up our rental mini-van. By 10:30 we were off and on our way….driving in Sweden means taking lots of round-abouts!  Justin surprisingly did an amazing job navigating during the trip. The first part of the drive was typical highway – nothing much to write home about.  Our first stop was in a town called Norrkoping.  I didn’t do much research on the town prior to getting there so we just parked and walked around.  The one restaurant I was hoping to go to was closed so we just went to their nearest cafe as it was already approaching 2:00 and the girls were hungry.  It was okay.  We walked around for a little while afterwards…the city was somewhat grubby but still fun to explore for a short time. It was a University town and many of the buildings were on water.

After another hour in the car, the next stop was Linkoping. Linkoping was definitely more upscale.  We stopped at a beautiful church…took some pictures of the girls outside…and then explored inside. I cant say that I am totally into churches; however, European churches built centuries ago truly amaze me.  The architecture that was done centuries ago without electricity without technology…just hard manual labor that took more years to complete than often one’s lifespan.

The weather was gorgeous and I figured since the girls barely ate anything at the cafe in the prior town, that it was best to have them eat something in this town since there would be no options once we arrived at the cottage. Since I actually wanted them to eat, we opted for hot dogs from a street vendor followed by some dessert at The Coffee House (Sweden’s equivalent of Starbucks) primarily because we needed a place to use a bathroom.

We got back on the road and while we we were still on highway, it was rural and the scenery of the red roof cottages and water was really beautiful. As we approached Smaland, the two way lanes became very narrow and Justin was definitely nervous of what would happen if a car came in the other direction.  None did.

By the time we arrived it was 8:30 p.m. but again it was still light out so after unpacking some in our cottage, we walked around the grounds for a little while.  It was crisp, quiet, and peaceful.

Tuesday July 4
After another typical Swedish breakfast (eggs, bacon, veggies, cheeses, salami and ham, and breads), we played soccer.  It was actually a lot of fun.  I did quite a bit of laundry (5 loads since the load was so small) as well starting in the morning and throughout the day at the cottage. The girls enjoyed the scenery (the rabbit right outside our cottage), the mansion (not the black cats though), the cows, and the horses.  We took a nice hike on part of the lake.  And we did some sight words during some down time.

We took a nice leisurely stroll to the dock before dinner where we had fun taking pictures.  We even let the girls take turns taking pictures of Justin and me.

Dinner was at 7:00 and it was delicious!  It was pricey though…it would have been cheaper to book the dinner as part of the room rate but I didn’t do it and likely should have…oh well.  Dinner was great food, great light, and a lot of laughs.  It was an evening that made us feel truly blessed for our family and this wonderful vacation – seriously we were in a cottage on a lake in the Swedish countryside!  I can’t say that was ever on my bucket list yet there we were!  After dinner, we played some more soccer (a.k.a. Football).  Again, some great family time!  We capped off the night visiting the horses…taking more amazing pictures at 9:30 at night!

Wednesday July 5
After breakfast, we checked out and got back in the car to go to Gothenburg.  With the destination being three hours away, we decided we would go straight there. Fortunately the girls fell asleep for quite a bit of the ride and nobody (not even Justin or I) had to go potty.  We arrived at the hotel at about 2:00 p.m. and after unpacking some, we took the ferry across the water (our hotel was on the riverside) and headed for some lunch/dinner at a restaurant named Beerista (yum!) before heading to Liseburg amusement park for the rest of the evening.  This was actually the girls first real amusement park and they had an awesome time.  Avery and Emerson liked the roller coasters the best. Harper meanwhile buried her head into Justin’s lap during the first roller coaster ride.  The second one was a little “simpler” (the one I went on with the girls) and she seemed to like that one better. The girls went on a few other rides besides roller coasters including the bumper cars. Emerson navigated pretty well. Harper was a little unsure of herself and Avery had me cracking up as she simply went in circles for a good minute giving me flashbacks to my sister in the go carts as a kid.  Lauren hated the go-carts!  The girls didn’t want to leave and we promised them ice cream (yes again) a little later as a way get them to walk the 40 minutes back to the ferry without too much whining.

Thursday July 6
Since we only had one full day in Gothenburg, I stayed up way later than I should have Wednesday night after everyone else had gone to bed to come up with plans for the day.  After another great breakfast, which was included in the daily price of the room, we hopped on the ferry to cross the river.  First stop was Slottgarten, a massive park that kind of reminded us of Central Park.  The walk should have taken us about 40 minutes but a few wrong turns and a bathroom stop made the walk closer to an1 hour and 15 minutes!  The girls were getting ancy so it was a good thing that we came across the play area of the park first. Avery and Harper and even Mommy enjoyed the equipment.  Emerson loved watching the performance.  The fact that it was in Swedish didn’t deter her one bit.

The next stop in Slottgarten was the petting zoo. It turns out there were only goats…goats of all sizes that you could roam around with.  Emerson, Harper, and even Daddy enjoyed the close proximity to the goats, while Avery’s heart was racing and she just wanted to get out.

The park is massive and you could literally spend all day in it and probably still not see everything so we decided to be happy with the parts we saw and we headed towards Skansen, our next stop.  We walked up the hill to the top; from the top you could see an amazing view of the city.  The girls were so excited to enter the fortress and I was excited that they were so excited so you can imagine the disappointment when we saw that the Closed sign on the entrance.  To this day, I still don’t know why the fortress was closed that Thursday, but it was.  We tried not to make a big deal out of it…a promise of a special treat may have helped that diversion!  We headed towards the Haga neighborhood.  It was quite small but it was cute.  We stopped at a delicious little bakery/eatery.  They were bringing out warm pastries and I decided I hadn’t indulged enough on this trip.  Avery, Emerson, and I got a huge chocolate chip cookie and cupcake while Harper took a nap on Justin.  After we devoured it, we stumbled across this group playing music, which the girls enjoyed listening to.

After leaving the Haga neighborhood, we went back to the hotel for a little to freshen up before heading back out.  We took the ferry across the river and then strolled through Hortiultural Gardens, which was another huge outdoor space, with what appeared to be several cafes and restaurants and more play areas.

After dinner, we headed towards a Mexican restaurant.  We waited close to an hour and the girls were getting tired!  The food was pretty good.  Avery ate tortillas….only tortillas…oh well. After dinner, we moved quickly to make the 9:30 p.m. ferry.  The public 9:30 ferry never came and it was close to 11:00 before we got on the ferry…and by then it wasn’t the public one, but we didn’t care…we just wanted to get home as the girls were exhausted, still needed showers, and I had to finish packing to leave the next morning.

Friday July 7
Friday morning, we ate our last hotel breakfast 🙁 and then got on the road.  We decided to take the north route back to Stockholm in order to see some different scenery and stop at a different town on the way home.  The total ride was six hours non-stop.  We made it a few hours before needing to stop for gas so we stopped at a 7-11 (which by the way there are a TON of in Sweden).  Since we were already stopped, we figured we would go to the bathroom and get the girls hot dog too. A few more hours in the car, we stopped at a town called Orbero.  Orbero was another university town.  They had a gorgeous castle. We walked around it and when I saw what appeared to be the Swedish tour of it about to start, I knew we had to have a tour.  We went to the touring office and signed up for the next tour, which also happened to be in English!  Imagine my disappointment when the tour of this massive castle, was literally two rooms!  Two rooms and the guide just talked about four different pictures in one room!  I have read reviews on tripadvisor and the reviews are quite mixed and I’m still not certain if the Swedish and English tours are truly different tours…I’m thinking they were but who knows.  I think the girls were a little disappointed in the tour as well, but I tried not to let on too much. The city was having a modern art exhibit as well, which intrigued Justin especially.  We finished off our stop at Orebero with an early dinner at a pretty good Italian restaurant before heading back in the car for the final leg of our trip to the Radisson at the Stockholm airport.  Ironically, we were at the Radisson airport hotel for a total of nine hours including the five hours spent sleeping, and it was the best hotel in terms of sleeping accommodations.  Avery and Emerson slept on these cute little bunk beds; Harper her own pull out sofa, and Justin and I our own bed as well!
Saturday July 8
We somehow got out the hotel door fairly easily and on the 5:30 a.m. shuttle ride to the airport.  The airport was packed and since it was already light out, it was hard to believe that it wasn’t even 6:00 a.m. in the morning.  The flight back was better in the sense that while still long, the time change worked in our favor this time in terms of not losing a nights sleep. Emerson watched movies and shows the entire time, getting angry when I tried to get her to take a nap or even leave to take a bathroom break.  She somehow managed to through up as we were landing. Luckily it wasn’t anything a quick strip of a cardigan and change of pants couldn’t fix.
Looking back a few months later:
Looking back, the trip was really amazing.  I could have told you that at the time though. We took over 1300 pictures and seeing the joy in our faces especially in the unposed pictures, really makes my heart happy as it is proof that we were living in the moment.  Now that we are home, we are back to reality.  But to some extent we have managed to apply some of things we want and learned on vacation since we have been home so as to enjoy the weeks at home just as much as the weekends.  We have a little bit of the travel bug in us as well which we have already put into motion.  We were truly blessed to be able to make this trip with our girls and further blessed to be able to continue to plan for more amazing experiences along this life journey of ours.

This is Compton

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This is Compton.Washington - winery_MG_5040_MG_5056_MG_5053_MG_5058Okay, so not exactly ghetto!  This is the Compton room of the Foster Harris House Bed and Breakfast in Washington, VA where Justin and I spent a weekend just the two of us. We left Friday a little before noon and arrived at our first destination an hour and a half later. We did a wine tasting at the Galdino Cellars followed by a picnic lunch that I had packed.  We walked the grounds and then made our way to The Little Washington Winery where we did another wine tasting and took in the gorgeous scenery.  washington - winery3 washington - winery2We then checked into our B&B and took a stroll along Main Street stopping in a few antique shops, galleries, a chocolate shop (where we each got a single decadent truffle), and walked the perimeter of the grounds of the Inn at Little Washington B&B.  Yes, that is a llama._MG_5050washington - winery4We did some more exploring of a neighboring town Sperryville in the evening and ended up eating at The Thorton River Grille, an excellent find. While the menu looked mouthwatering, we both settled on the cheeseburger for $12 knowing that food was a big ticket item in terms of quantity and price the remainder of the weekend.  The burger did not disappoint.

Saturday morning we woke up to rain and a temperate in the high forties, as the forecast predicted. We ate a delicious four course breakfast at the B&B, the main reason I booked the place.  It was excellent and ended with a chocolate soufflé….my first ever!washington - winery5  Despite the rain, we stuck to our original plan and went to Skyline Drive for a hike.  We hiked Mary’s Rock and despite not making it to the top, we still managed to have an enjoyable two hour hike in the rain and cold.  It was quite the hike…my fitbit registered 129 flights of stairs! It was quite foggy and visibility poor so the views were not as breathtaking as I am imagine they normally are, but again I truly came for the workout and not the views so mission accomplished.IMG_2237IMG_2232 _MG_5044  Justin and I left feeling good AND wet.  Copper Distillery was on the route home so we decided we would make a quick stop there.  Before we found it, we found Pen Druid Brewing company so we stopped in for a beer (Mercury) where we also pulled out Trivial Pursuit to see how smart we were…were not…no surprise there!  IMG_5061A huge antique shop was between the brewery and the distillery so we stopped there to shop.  Yes, we were still in our hiking clothes. And yes, this is my man.washington - winery6Sorry ladies, but he is taken!!!! (hahahaha)

Saturday evening we dined at The Inn at Little Washington. FullSizeRenderWhile I got reservations there about a month ago, the decision to actually eat there or not (we were still within the cancellation window) weighed heavily on me.  I certainly wanted to eat at a world renowned restaurant but the associated price tag was tough to swallow.  I’m glad we seized the opportunity and went for it.  I had read a lot of reviews on TripAdvisor so I utilized some of those tips including asking to be reseated when we were sat in the café section and not the main dining room, to which they happily obliged.  We opted for a reasonably priced bottle of wine instead of the wine pairing, which “saved” us about $200.  The service was excellent and not at all stuffy.  I debated my first course between the duck liver or the asparagus.  I decided to go for the duck liver with the waiter’s recommendation.  I’m glad I ordered it but I couldn’t get past the consistency.  The waiter happily brought me the asparagus instead, which was excellent and I appreciated the service.washington food 1  There was a ton of wait staff who were on top of everything! The amuse bouches were excellent as were all the entrees.  washington food 2washington food 3And the dessert was truly sinful.washington food 5 washington food 4  I’m definitely glad we went and while it was a once in a lifetime experience, I actually hope that it isn’t.  I’m not looking to go back anytime soon….but one day.  We left feeling full but certainly not disgusting as evidenced by my attempt to take some Inn at Little Washington bathroom selfies.  washington food 6The worst part about the evening was that I was literally up from the time we went to bed (about 10:30) until almost 2:00 a.m.  I was miserable and upset and on the verge of tears.  Honestly, I don’t know what it was.  Either the coffee I had with dessert was laced with something, I got too much sleep the night before, it was mental, none of the above, or a combination of the above. Anyway, besides my restless sleep Saturday night, our weekend in Compton was amazing!_MG_5061_MG_5039

Chicago

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This past weekend Justin and I took the older girls to Chicago for a long weekend. We decided to do a trip with just the older girl’s months ago. Initially we were going to visit NY but realizing we wanted to have the girls to have their first plane experience sooner than later, we decided we would go to Chicago. I had never been and felt like it was one of those cities I may never visit if I didn’t make it a priority. So…Chicago it was!

We left on a 12:55 p.m. flight Thursday afternoon. It was perfect as we didn’t have to rush in the morning but with the time difference, we still had most the afternoon to explore Chicago once we got to the hotel. Justin especially had done a lot of talking about the flight to prepare the girls so they wouldn’t be frightened of flying and it paid off. The flight was non-eventful and the girls did great!img_3683 img_3686 img_3689 img_3691 img_3693img_3696 img_3699

We took a cab to our hotel (Springhill Suites in River North Area). It was the girls first time a cab and they were without car seats so they thought they were living it up.img_3700 img_3701

We settled on Springhill Suites as the hotel room was a little bigger and breakfast was included in the rate. The hotel room was ready early so after quickly unpacking we set out towards Navy Pier. While we traveled with the double stroller, we decided the girls would walk. They complained some, especially Emerson, but overall they did pretty well walking. First stop was the beach. Seriously, how cool to just go to the beach surrounded by city buildings. The girls put their feet in the cold water._mg_3794 _mg_3800 _mg_3801 _mg_3797

Next stop was Navy Pier. The girls rode the carousal by themselves. Emerson wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel…Avery didn’t. It would have been ridiculously expensive to ride so we managed to divert our attention elsewhere and somehow never made it back to the Ferris Wheel._mg_3807

The Children’s Museum was on the Pier and it was just our luck that the high admission prices are waived every Thursday from 5:00 to 8:00…we arrived at 4:45! The girls had fun playing in the fire department area, climbing, and exploring a few other exhibits._mg_3816

We didn’t stay as long as we probably would have had we paid to get in but without having dinner reservations, wanting to get into a good restaurant, and knowing time was against us with regards to the girls behavior being that we had gained an hour, we decided an hour would have to do.img_3831

I had done a bunch of research on restaurants prior to the trip and I identified several top rated in each of the areas I thought we might visit. That led us to Volares, which was excellent Italian food. Great find…we were very happy with our choice! Justin and I shared a kale salad that was excellent. I had salmon for dinner. Justin had the chicken parm. Avery had plain pasta and salami. And Emerson shared a little bit of all of our dinners. Yum…my mouth is watering just writing about it now. And the service was excellent!

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We strolled back to our hotel, gave the girls a bath, and were all in bed at 9:58! Since we were all in the same room we all went to bed at the same time. We all slept great and for over 9 hours…probably not great for the girls, but awesome for me and Justin!

Friday morning we woke, ate breakfast in the hotel, and then headed out for our next adventure. Again, we had the girls walk. We headed to the river as we were planning on taking a 11:00 boat tour; however, when we got there the tour we were planning on taking wasn’t recommended for children. We decided to take the 4:15 boat tour recommended for children (the price was half as much as well). So we decided to head towards Millennium Park. We saw the Bean.img_3720 img_3722img_3728_mg_3851 _mg_3858 _mg_3860 _mg_3861

Emerson wanted to take some pictures as well. She went finger happy and probably took at least 20 of the same shot.img_3726img_3730 img_3738 img_3739_mg_4034_mg_4030

We just walked and explored more including walking past the Museum of Art, which Justin would have LOVED to go to had we had the time to fully devote to it and Avery and Emerson appreciate it.

We then made our way to the Crown Fountain. I had packed bathing suits so the girls stripped down and let loose. At one point they ran into each other and fell and Justin managed to capture it on video. I managed to capture it on camera._mg_3880 _mg_3881 _mg_3886 _mg_3887 _mg_3889 _mg_3890 _mg_3891 _mg_3892 _mg_3894_mg_3895 _mg_3897 _mg_3896 _mg_3898 _mg_3900

While the girls were playing some twenty something workers were doing a random act of kindness for their company and started giving away ice-cream._mg_3902 _mg_3905 img_3908

We then made our way to The Gage for lunch. It was excellent. I had an heirloom tomato salad and Justin had the NY Strip sandwich special. Emerson was thrilled because she got to have her own mac and cheese and Avery ordered (but didn’t eat) chicken tenders and fries.img_3749 img_3748

After lunch we headed back to the hotel and rested for about an hour before we went back out again.  Again, Emerson took about 30 pictures of Justin and me. img_3756 img_3757 img_3763 img_3765 img_3766 img_3767 img_3770 img_3771

We left the hotel a little after 3:00 so we could get to the boat tour early. We decided to bring the stroller since we knew we could store it on the boat and the girls had already done a lot of walking that day. The boat ride was great….it was 90 minutes but went by really quickly.img_3775 img_3777 _mg_3911 _mg_3914 _mg_3965

Chicago is just a really cool city and it was neat to hear about the history of the city. Avery fell asleep about halfway into the trip.img_3937 img_3949

We didn’t get off the boat until 6:00 and we knew the girls were tired and hungry so we decided to go to Portfillos, which was a well-known “fast food” restaurant in Chicago. Based on the reviews I knew it was an order at the window type place. I anticipated it to be small; however, the place was huge and a little overwhelming. We got hotdogs, burgers, and chili. It was okay…definitely cheap and I’m glad we tried it out, but that type of food always leaves me feeling blah. For dessert Emerson had a smoothie (she barely ate her dinner as I think she was saving up for the smoothie) and Avery had a chocolate cone. Justin and I shared the vanilla and chocolate custard…it was cheap and delicious!

We took a few selfies on the way back and pics by the canal before heading back to the hotel.img_3786 img_3787_mg_3994 _mg_4001 _mg_4003 _mg_4004 _mg_4007

Saturday morning we headed back towards Millennium Park with the girls in the stroller. We hadn’t seen everything we wanted the day prior. We walked past the Art Museum and took a picture with the Lions that was part of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off…I only vaguely remember the famous sight after Justin telling me._mg_4010

We then headed to Buckingham Fountain. Again, Emerson wanted to take some pictures and probably took about 30…some of me and some of me and Avery. When she was taking one of me and Justin, a man offered to take one of the four of us.img_4013img_4018 _mg_4022_mg_4024 img_4015

We then walked along the river and past Cubs Stadium, where a pre-season game was about to start. We headed to Lou Malnati’s for some deep dish pizza, which was pretty good. After lunch we headed in the direction of the Lincoln Park Zoo via a quick stop through the Crown Fountain._mg_4027

We walked for a bit before deciding that while the trip was walkable, we would waste too much time and energy if we walked there. So we hopped in a cab and saved about an hour of time and energy.

Since the zoo was free, we probably didn’t explore as much of it as we would have had we paid an entrance fee, but we saw a few exhibits and the girls got a kick out of watching the gorillas.img_4035 img_4041

When we exited the zoo, this was the view…just gorgeous._mg_4045 _mg_4048 _mg_4049 _mg_4050 _mg_4052

We walked back to the hotel from the zoo. We were planning on going to the beach area right across from the zoo, but somehow missed the path to cross the highway and had we turned around, we most definitely would have had to get a cab ride home. We stopped at Portfillos on the way home for custard and a smoothie for Emerson. The day was very hot and we were so sweaty so Justin and I took showers in the hotel while the girls played together and colored. For dinner we went to Frontera Grill. The wait was an hour…we strolled around trying to buy some time…passing by the firehouse._mg_4057img_3867 img_3871_mg_4056

Then Avery fell asleep before dinner and Emerson sat at the bar with me complaining that the wait was taking too long.img_3875img_3873 img_3874

The food was good quality but not superb….as I expected it would be.  Again, Emerson was practicing her photography skills.img_3876 img_3879

Sunday morning we took the girls in the stroller and just started walking. We headed along the canal and the river and just kept walking for about an hour….it was a hot day again….we came upon Maggie Daley Park, which was an awesome outdoor playground. Avery had some trouble and kept crying so we didn’t stay for too long. For lunch we headed back to The Gage since it was so good and we knew we could expect one last good meal in Chicago.img_3884

And after a quick walk back to the hotel, our trip in Chicago was coming to an end. Our trip was great. The weather was great. The food was great. Our adventures and the sights were great. The girls were overall well behaved. It was busy but relaxing at the same time. While we sure missed Harper, Harper was having a great time being alone with Papa and Grandma. I don’t know when, but we will go back to Chicago again!

Baltimore: A Girl, A Boy, and Three Little Ladies

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We spent this past weekend in Baltimore where we stayed at Mike and Susan’s condo. Ludmila was off for a few days so my original plan since we didn’t have childcare Wednesday through Thursday last week was to go to Baltimore mid-week and stay through the entire weekend. But I had previously signed Avery and Emerson up for dance camp that week and I chose not to reschedule it. That meant we couldn’t leave for Baltimore until Friday afternoon. Friday evening we went to Federal Hill for dinner and ate at a Mexican Restaurant called Blue Agave. We actually went there three years ago and the girls loved the salsa and rice and beans the first time. It wasn’t so great that I felt we needed to go back, but many of the other options were bar type food and I prefer a fish taco over a burger and fries any day. Anyway, the girls ate…it was reasonably priced and we were in and out of there quickly…so a win in my book. We walked for a while and since we couldn’t find an ice-cream place for dessert, we ended up going into a restaurant and sitting at the bar Mother’s (a restaurant that Justin and I went to once pre-kids) and the girls ordered a scoop of ice-cream. Vanilla ice-cream for Avery, chocolate for Harper, and lemon sorbet (fancy, fancy) for Emerson. Emerson also told her famous joke to the waitress: “What did the pencil say to the other pencil?  You are looking sharp today.”  That caused Avery and Harper to attempt to tell a joke, which wasn’t funny, but they were cute.  The waitress in turn told the girls a joke: “Why did the banana go to the doctor?  Because it wasn’t peeling well.” Justin and I were both super proud of Eme for her courage to tell the joke to the waitress. After dinner and dessert, it was bath time for these girls at the condo. All three girls took a bath in the master jetted Jacuzzi tub where they were all giggles. Yes, that is a glass tan on Avery’s face!   And YES that face is SO Harper.  Isn’t she so stinkin adorable?  This is seriously how she looks 75% of the time making me just want to constantly eat her up and making it so easy for her to get away with everything!!!  She knows she is that cute!_MG_3458     

Saturday morning we woke up early and made our way to Port Discovery. We debated walking with the strollers, but the forecast was calling for rain so we decided not to chance it. We arrived at 10:30, took a lunch break at The Shake Shake (our first time with the girls). Harper slept through lunch so we stopped in Panera for a coffee and to buy a little more time for Harper to finish her nap. While we were in Panera, it started storming….the rain was literally blowing sideways. We awaited the storm to pass (Harper had woken up in the meanwhile and eaten her hot dog and fries) and then headed back to Port Discovery where we stayed until closing time! IMG_0379

We ALL had an awesome time playing on the three story urban treehouse (a.k.a. massive indoor playground), making art, role playing in the gas station/convenience store, cooking and serving food in the diner, exploring the temporary Korean exhibit, playing on the train, reading, exploring, and playing all the random other games. I didn’t know how long the girls would last…I was thrilled we made it to closing time! The girls were exhausted by the end of the day!_MG_3468 IMG_3476

Sunday morning we decided to go for a walk….the destination was a coffee shop but Justin and I wanted to walk long enough to get a “workout” in. With both strollers, we headed towards the inner harbor. I’m so glad we walked as we saw so much more walking the harbor from the condo. We realized that some more trips to Baltimore were in our future as there was so much more to do (paddle boating on dragon boats, touring submarines and ships, the science museum, and more!) We took a break from the heat for a few minutes. IMG_3490IMG_3500_MG_3509 _MG_3513 _MG_3506

And we rode the carousel. We were the only ones on it and the girls were all loving life. _MG_3521_MG_3517Justin and I both rode it with them….I swear every time I am on a carousel with my girls for a few minutes in time, my mind forgets everything and the only thing on my mind is pure joy. Seeing and hearing the excitement in my girls faces and voices when they are on a carousel is so amazingly innocent and beautiful. It really was a great weekend. I love getting away because while at home, I always have the best of intentions to stop and smell the roses, I get caught up so easily in the never ending list of things that need to get done.  In Baltimore, there was no list…we didn’t have a set agenda or a schedule we were trying to meet…it was just a girl and a boy and their three little ladies.

Don’t Talk To Me

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Another vacation in the books. We got back from a week in Nags Head, NC with the Brophys and the Nidays.  The girls had a great time and it is so awesome watching all the kids play together. The girls don’t have cousins (at least ones their age and ones that they see) so it is really neat to have such great friends that are our extended family. Avery and Emerson are the oldest kids by almost a year and a half so we told them they had important jobs to do in helping with the other kids and being the sharers of the bunch. They really are growing up before my eyes…and I just watch in awe of these precious little human beings that they are becoming and I am so blessed to call mine.

We spent a total of four mornings at that beach._MG_2993_MG_2995 _MG_2985_MG_3000IMG_3565IMG_3575IMG_3573IMG_3578

None of the girls truly love the ocean but Harper and Emerson did make good strides this year and even waded in the water a few times with an adult on one of the calmer ocean days. Avery is fearful of the ocean…the sounds of the waves crashing send her heart racing if she thinks she is close to the water and she runs away from the ocean. She does enjoy playing in the sand, building sand castles, and being buried as a mermaid. One day I got her to go for a 20 minute walk with me on the beach…I was trying to get her close to the shore….she wasn’t having that but at least I got her to go for a walk.

Two days we switched up the order and went to the beach in the afternoon instead.IMG_3558_MG_3327 _MG_3323 _MG_3312_MG_3316 _MG_3302IMG_3602 IMG_3597

Two mornings were pool days. This year we had a pool at the house and while the kids still can’t go in the pool by themselves, it made a big difference and allowed for more time to be spent at the pool without too much schlepping.  The girls have been taking swim lessons weekly for a few months now.  Emerson is doing great and is officially a swimmer.  Avery is making great strides as is Harper. Both do great in the water with their floaties.IMG_3264 IMG_3283 IMG_3282IMG_3287IMG_3256IMG_5315

One afternoon we took the girls miniature golfing for the first time. We went at 4:00 so it was still crazy hot outside but it also meant that crowds were small which was perfect because I didn’t want to feel rushed.  We made it to the 13th hole before we were in complete meltdown mode. Overall, it was a lot of fun.  We talked about going miniature golfing last year…in fact, we were on our way and then it started to rain so we ended up not going…so I’m glad we finally went with the girls and also think it was worth waiting the extra year for the girls to have their first mini golf experience. IMG_3551 IMG_3552 IMG_3550

One afternoon we went with the Erin, Hannah, and Quinn to the Nags Head Pier. Avery was scared off the pier.  I think a lot of it had to do with the visual and sound component of it.  Sounds are intensified for Avery and I think she fears we are in danger by walking on the pier as she feels we are so close to the water. _MG_3019_MG_3034IMG_3041 IMG_3049 _MG_3053 _MG_3056 _MG_3054 _MG_3065

One afternoon we went to Jockey’s Ridge, which are sand dunes. We had gone two years ago and Justin and Karolin had taken the older girls on the dunes while I walked around in the stroller with Harper. They were not big fans two years ago, so my expectations this year were low.  We were going right around snack time so I wanted their bellies to be full and happy so that hunger wasn’t the cause of their dismay.  So….we before going to the dunes we surprised the girls with ice cream at Booty Treats.  They were pleasantly surprised! IMG_3560

To my surprise, we climbed almost to the very top of the dunes and the girls overall were fairly good troopers. We got more complaints on the way down but by then we had already reached the half way point and were headed home. I am actually still shocked at how well they did…in a great way!_MG_3096 _MG_3103 _MG_3105 _MG_3108 _MG_3109 _MG_3115 _MG_3124 IMG_3129 IMG_3133 IMG_3139

One morning Justin woke up early to watch the sunrise….and what a beautiful sunrise it was!_MG_3182_MG_3207

One afternoon the entire crew went to Jeanette’s Pier. We attempted some family photos, some group photos, and some obligatory photos of the kids…it always seems there is one kid who won’t cooperate each time…this time it was Harper…she refused to get in the picture.  I even tried to bribe her…nothing worked._MG_3331_MG_3342 _MG_3353_MG_3358_MG_3364_MG_3368_MG_3371_MG_3380_MG_3382_MG_3384_MG_3398_MG_3417_MG_3443_MG_3444_MG_3448_MG_3451

That same evening Justin and I went out to dinner just the two of us to Blue Moon Café. That is our one spot that we must visit each trip.  We were supposed to go the night before but Justin had some 24 hour bug and wasn’t feeling well so we put it off a night so that he could thoroughly enjoy.  We got there around 6:45 and the wait time was 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Luckily there were two seats open at the bar so we took them.  I have never ordered a full meal at a bar but everyone at this bar was doing the same so it was actually kind of a cool experience.  We started off with a mozzarella and heirloom tomato appetizer.  It was good but not to die for.  Justin got the shrimp and grits and like always it was mouthwatering pure deliciousness.  I got the bronzed corvina special.  It tasted and looked very much like sea bass and it was served over butter beans, sweet corn, Idaho potatoes, grilled andouille sausage, sweet onions, heirloom grape tomatoes, and garlic and fresh herbs and it was mouthwatering.  IMG_5312 IMG_5313I savored each bite and had my don’t talk to me face on as I took in each bite of pure goodness.  Seriously, the food was amazing and I look forward to this experience each year. The food is so good that it doesn’t even warrant conversation with each bite because that would just take away from the total mind body experience.

After dinner Justin and I went back to Jeanette’s Pier since our tickets were good for all day. We leisurely strolled the pier three times since I was so close to hitting 15,000 steps again for the 5th day in a row.IMG_3589

In between all the outings, there was time spent hanging out….kids playing puzzles, pretending to be superheroes, reading books, relaxing, dance parties, and simply enjoying time off from work and making life long memories with our family and friends._MG_3077 _MG_3234

And to top it off my step count and activity minutes for the week was insane!!