A Day in the Bronx

Like every kid, my kids constantly ask when we are going to see "Grandma Pookie and Grand Da" (what they call my parents.  Actually, they also constantly ask about going to visit "Grandma Kerrie and Grumpy (aka Norm)" and "Patrick" (sorry to the twins, but Hannah is smitten with your brother), and a number of other people.  But, we can easily accomodate trips to visit most of Mike's family.  Because my family lives further away, visits require vacation days, long trips in the car (which equals tons of money in gas).  All of which (unfortunately) adds up to less frequent visits.  Definitely the down side of living in Massachusetts. 

So, I was pretty pleased with the solution I came up with last month.  Why not meet in New York for a day trip?  My dad always said I should take the kids to the Bronx Zoo.  It would take us 3 hours to get there; 2 hours for my parents (if they hadn't missed their exit).  Add in the fact that the Zoo had a Lego exhibit, and it seemed like God himself was telling us "Go to the Bronx Zoo". 

As you can see from our slideshow, we all had a great time. I ordered the tickets through AAA, so we got a discount on the full experience, which included admission to the zoo plus unlimited rides and Dora 4D experience. We all enjoyed the Dora experience, Hannah especially, because it felt like it was raining on you (key when it is hot and humid outside).

The only complaint I have was the cost and quality of food. The increased cost you pay when going to a museum + the increased cost you pay when in NYC = EXORBITANTLY overpriced fast food. I paid just under $100 for lunch, much of which was thrown away because the kids wouldn't finish it. Plus the stops at the ice cream vendor, slushy vendor, soft pretzel vendor... Amazingly, the least amount of money we spent was in the gift shop, where Mikie got a stuffed Gorilla to use for his summer book report for $10. Plus Hannah's mugs, we left the gift shop having spent less than $15. That NEVER happens.

Love, The Trahans

Blogging. . . Documenting my Flaws for Posterity

They say you should never post anything on the Internet that you don't want people to find years from now.  Because once it's in cyberspace, who knows what happens to it. 

Thanks to my blog, I realized that I have not documented the birth of my first born child in the last three years.  I will blame this in part on Hannah (because, looking back, she has monopolized blog coverage like everything else in this house) and in part on my job.  And, thanks to the Internet, all of my future grandchildren will know this as well. 

Regardless, I am writing this post with 20 minutes to go before September 6th, 2012.  Eight years ago, I was trying to sleep after eating Tex Mex Spring Rolls from Damons, followed by a Strawberry Fields Salad and Oreo Madness at TGI Fridays (hey, I was pregnant).  But, I was having muscle spasms in my abdomen that kept making me get up and empty my bladder.  Eventually, it dawned on me that these abdominal muscle contractions might mean I was in labor (again, pregnant = loss of brain function).  By 11am, Mike told me we should drive to the hospital, even though I was convinced I was just really constipated.  I didn't let him bring in the hospital bags, I was so convinced I would be discharged.  I mean, what were the odds I would go into labor on Labor Day?

Evidently, pretty good.  Ten hours later and you were born. 

Celebrating your first birthday in Maryland:

Your first BMW, just like Daddy's:

Celebrating your eighth birthday with a sombrero after the Woodstock Fair.  When the owner said you couldn't keep the hat, you asked him to buy you one.  When we told you he got it in Mexico, you said, "Well, can you at least give me the plane tickets?"  Because, clearly, that's the cheaper way out. . .

You may not think we're perfect, in fact, lately, you have a knack for pointing out all of my flaws, in a nonchalant, just-trying-to-help kind of way that isn't supposed to offend me. But, when I see how far you've come, when you amaze me with your reasoning skills, or your compassion for others, I know that, at a minimum, we did one thing perfectly right. We had you. And, I look forward to all the other birthdays we get to share together. Even if I don't blog about them ;-)


Happy Birthday, Trouble!

Love, The Trahans