More of November

It's Christmas time in California and Alexia is decorating the tree November 30th in shorts and a tank top.  It reached about 85 degrees this day.  It was defintely different decorating with the warm weather.  Erick tuned in some nice Christmas music to get us in the spirit.  We were unsure on whether to put up our big tree in our small apartment but we made it work.  Alexia was so excited.  

I volunteer at this place called Hunger Defense Fund.  It helps feed those in need, who are hitting a low point and with the economy today, people like you & me are coming here.   They pay $4 & get a box about 12x12 that they get to fill up with items donated by generous people but most of it comes from the local grocery stores (items that have reached their expiration date that they can't sell but are still good) like fruits, dairy products and frozen items.  On this day Alexia came with me to help distribute the food and organize it on the shelves.  We're in the spirit of giving!!

Thanksgiving Day, Erick and Alexia are making homemade pretzels.  They love to cook together, always.  Now that I think about it, Erick seems to cook/bake much more than me these days :) I'm lucky he enjoys it!  After the pretzels were ready we headed to Diann's house for an incredible dinner.  Honestly I have to say it was one of the most flavorful turkey dinners I've had.  She followed a system and prepared some of the items ahead of time and it worked out beautifully because she was able to sit and enjoy family time instead of constantly being in the kitchen.  It was a pleasant change to spend Thanksgiving this year with Diann's family and my dad.  

Alexia was invited to a school friend's birthday party.  Her friend, and protector, Kouran Mayweather is in her class.  He's the son of Floyd Mayweather Jr. the famous boxer.  He has his own promotion company and limo so about 18 kids literally got the red carpet treatment as they entered the limo, balloons and sparkling cider.  They headed to a car racing place that actually had cars that looked like the Indy cars.  She had to wear gloves, a protective net over her hair and a helmet.  She absolutely loved it.  I thought she'd be nervous but she enjoyed driving herself around the track. She was so proud to tell us that she came in 5th place the first race and 1st place the second race.  That girl is competitive.

There they are getting ready to enter the limosine.  These are some of Alexia's classmates.  Lyana, Bella and Hope, Alexia is on the right.  The birthday boy is wearing the black/red sweatshirt and is holding hands with his sisters.   They got the royal treatment riding to the party destination and back.  

Here we are living it up in Beverly Hills with Erick's college room mate Kaz and his wife Jen.  They were here from Connecticut for the American Music Awards.  They got a great "hook up" from a friend (sat 5th row).  They were towards the front, sitting next to Nickelback.  We met up with them for the day at the Beverly Hills Wilshire Hotel, where they were staying.  We happened to see Kathy Bates and another actor but we couldn't figure out his name.  During the AMA rehearsals that day, Jen got to hang out with Queen Latifa and Alicia Keyes.  She was so star struck.  We haven't seen these friends in probably about 6 years, how about that?  We had to move to the west coast to see them:)

We went to the Anaheim Ducks vs. Washington Capitols NHL hockey game on the 19th.  Our old neighbor Bruce Boudreau, who used to coach the Manchester Monarchs, then the Hershey Bears minor league was promoted to NHL coach last November.  It was so great to see him again.  Their team won that night 6-4.  He got us backstage passes to see him and some of the players.  Which by the way, are better looking with their helmets on.  

There they are Erick and Lexi holding their backstage passes, it was a great time.  Honestly, I don't think we've been to an NHL game in years (back on the East Coast).  We're here 3 months and come to watch one.  They are very loyal fans to their Ducks out here. Erick enjoyed his $9 beer (ay carumba).

As you all heard on the news, we had some terrible wildfires out here.  Apparantly this is the time of year.  We weren't directly affected but as you can see from this picture how close it was.  We could smell the burning, it was as if we were at a campsite and had a fire burning.  We kept our windows closed even though it was beautiful out.  This went on and off for about a week.  

Yes, it's the middle of November and we're still hanging out by the pool, and you?  Ah, I just had to rub it in once.  And of course my 5 month pregnant belly is showing.  It may look little but it feels big.  Lots of movement goin' on in there this month.  I can tell his bones are getting stronger because his kicks are much more noticeable. 

Halloween Night

Here it is, Halloween night.  Many of the homes were decorated so well.  This one was a huge spiderweb with a big furry spider.  You can barely see Alexia and her buddies, Isabelle & Nicholas on the right.  This was one of the first houses we went to.  The weather was beautiful night, in the mid 70's.

Another house that was decorated for Fall & Halloween.  Alexia enjoyed herself running from house to house with her new friends, but it just wasn't the same as last year and years before with her friends Courtney or Jake & Haley.

Here are the 3 ghouls, Isabelle was a pirate, Nicholas was a zombie and Alexia was a Navy girl.  The Madison (the place we live) had trick-or-treating bags and candy for the kids set up in the lobby, it was really nice to go and see the other kids from here dressed up.  

We were one of the first people on the streets, as you can tell it's still a bit light out.  It was almost 6:30 but still too light.  We're used to beginning at 6:00, here there are no set hours, just begin at dusk.  Since we were going to the neighborhood near Alexia's school and we were sure there would be tons of kids, we wanted to get in early.  Some of the areas are gated so we had to sneak past the gate when a car drove in or out.  

There was this one lady that had this spooky house. It was all dark  with scary music. She came to the door all hunched over and giving a slight moan. Isabelle just ran. Lexi took off say that it just wasn't worth it. It was pretty funny.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Boo Bash at Bridgeport School

There were 4 themed rooms for our Haunted Stage.  The first was a tarot card room, second was the haunted forest/graveyard, third was the strobe light room with hanging spiders and bats and the fourth was the cafe with "finger" sandwiches, bloody wedding cake and amputated arms with rats eating them.  In this room we had a standing mannequin as the waiter.  We had some dummys sitting in the chairs and a couple of real people dressed up in costume so when the people came through they didn't know who was real.  Erick did a great job with this, he scared LOTS of people by being still until they came right up to him.  He was great!!!

When Alexia began school here in August I wanted to get as involved as I could.  They are huge on parent participation and because of it they are an accredited, distinguished and blue ribbor school here in California...which isn't easy to do.  I joined the PTA and have enjoyed all the new friends I've met as well as how the school runs, their beliefs, how the fundraisers work & where the money is going.  I'm so happy that I have done that.

Here was the tarot card room, with a spooky talking witch inside a glass ball.  Battery operated candles, old books and skulls were all part of this room.

I volunteered to help out with the annual Boo Bash.  It's a Halloween festival that has games, prizes, contests and the main attraction...the Haunted Stage.  I was fortunate enough to work with 2 other women on this enormous project (little did I know what I was getting myself into)  We spent several hours a week planning, shopping, decorating and working together to make this better than last year.  Luckily one of the women, Sabrina, had a great vision and the accessibility to many "real props".  Here husband, Al, is the master prop person for the TV show "Criminal Minds".  I have to say, we had some very real looking limbs, teeth along with professional fog machines and whatnot.  The other woman, Dianne is a graphic design artist and created all the signs and menus for the Bistro. It turned out to be bigger & better than any of us could have imagined.  We spent a whole weekend setting it up, lucky Erick was recruited to help and believe it or not had fun and met some great people.  All the hard work paid off and even 6th graders were impressed (they are always the most critical since they are the oldest in the school).  We heard so much positive feedback

The haunted graveyard/forest with spooky music and live branches hanging from the celing and taped to the walls.  We had real leaves, bark mulch and moss on the ground so it made it crunchy and smelled just like a forest when you walked through.  Erick had fun hanging the branches from the ceiling :)  Thanks babe!  Alexia was so proud that Erick & I worked on this project and I got a chance to see her during school hours now & then since I was there.  I love that part, knowing that she sees our participation and how important it is to volunteer.  

We hope you all have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Fall season in Cali

So here they are, Erick and Lexi atop a hay pile at Lombardi's Ranch.  This is a popular place here that everyone goes.  It has the horse drawn carriage rides, train ride around the corn fields, pumpkin patch, sunflower maze, music and food.  It's really pretty, on this day it was in the low 70's which was a pleasant change from the 100's we've been experiencing since we arrived in August.  I guess our blood is beginning to thin because it actually felt cool to us.   

Alexia and I are chowing down on the caramel apples we made as we soak our feet in a warm bath and watch Extreme Home Makeover.  This was a Sunday night ritual we did together in NH and we've tried to continue all the fun things we used to do with her, out here.  I was really looking forward to these caramel apples.  They were so yummy, although we don't have Macintosh apples out here...bummer.  Fall is definitely different out here.  We miss the beautiful tree colors of New England.  In this picture you can get a glimpse of our apartment. But we don't miss the cold and front of October either :)

Alexia picked this pumpkin out of the thousands on display.  When we carved it that night, it came out so awesome, of course I didn't take a picture:(  We used the stencil and carving utensils from that little kit.  Unfortunately it didn't even last a week before it started rotting and becoming moldy inside.  We wanted to preserve it until Halloween so we went online and they mentioned coating it with vegetable oil, so we did but within a day it was looking & starting to smell nasty.  Make a note: no vegetable oil on pumpkins. Guess we learned for next year!
 

Alexia is enjoying a dish of shaved ice as we took a break from the train ride and pumpkin picking.  Look at us in our pants, isn't that funny.  Every day other than this we've been in tank tops and shorts and still are.  It's been in the 90's this month, average.  I thought they said it was going to cool down in October...oh yeah, it has from the 100's.  Although the heat is different, we are loving it.  Sure is better than the 30's and 40's you guys are experiencing back East, and the snow you're already getting in upstate NY and NJ, what's up with that?  Better put snowsuits on the kids and winter boots to go trick-or-treating tomorrow.

We went to a park in Castaic, just minutes from us here in Valencia.  Alexia is in a play area climbing a tree.  It was an interesting visit there, pretty park but not a lot to do.  The lake was beautiful, we had a picnic lunch and watched the model gas engine airplane competitions.  These little planes sure looked like the real thing just smaller and they were performing some cool stunts in the air.  

  Here she is, Alexia in high heels in a store on the famous Promenade in Santa Monica. Doesn't she just look fancy. She just seems to enjoy wearing them.  She is already a size 6 in ladies.  Look how happy she is!
     Here's Alexia with one of the ghouls from Hollywood Blvd.  There were so many characters out.  What a beautiful day it was.  We went on a Beverly Hills/Bel Air tour of the stars homes.  We saw Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck, DR. Phil, Angelina Jolie, Victoria & David Beckham, Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise...well, we saw their homes not them.  Just a gorgeous area.  Alexia got a big kick out of it.  And for all of you Borat fans...we went to the sandwich place owned by Azamat. We just missed meeting him. He is so funny.
    Alexia's costume for Halloween tomorrow.  She's a Navy girl.  Can you belive she's actually wearing a dress?  She's usually Darth Vader, Grim Reaper or Spider Man.  She actually wanted to be this, my dad is proud (since he was a Navy man himself).  It's going to be nice to trick or treat without jackets and coats this year.  She can actually wear her costume just as it is.  
Here's the big stud!  He's playing volleyball now on Monday nights.  Alexia and I look forward to watching him now.  He plays with friends we met through Diann and my Dad.  Although Erick is about 15 years older than the other players he keeps up and then some.  Although he's in amazing shape, his body was pretty sore the first few weeks of playing.  He's improved his game quite a bit and the team is excited to have him because he brings some competitiveness to the game.  They play 3 games a night and they have won every one of their games except for one night they lost all 3.  They are really good and hope to continue through the rest of the season undefeated.  We're keep you posted.

California bound

Today is Wednesday July 30th.

We had a 7:00 a.m. flight. Jay was sweet enough to get up early and bring us to the airport by 6:00. We had no problems getting checked in and all. Our flight took off ontime, we flew a different airline than ever before called Sun Country. They even served us a breakfast sandwich. Which we all know is unheard of these days.

We slept for most of the 4 hr flight to L.A. Alexia must have been pretty tired because this kid never seems to need sleep. Before we knew it we were touching down and Erick and I were looking at each other saying "this is it". This is what we wanted, starting a new life here in beautiful California. It was kind of hard to believe it was actually happening.

Dad and Diann picked us up promptly as usual. It sure was nice of them to drive into L.A. to meet us there at 9:00 a.m. (2 hr time difference) After loading all our luggage (we had to borrow a duffle bag from Jay & Toni to fit everything on the plane) we headed off to pick up Erick's car which had come in a few days earlier. It was about 20 minutes south of L.A.

Erick's car had a slight scratch on one of the doors about 2 feet long, later we were lucky enough to have it buffed out. We went to the Corner Bakery for brunch and then off to the apartment to meet the owner and get our keys. It was strange walking into this place knowing that's where we're going to be living for the next 12months but if if we're going to live somewhere temporarily, this is THE PLACE to be!
We've taken pictures of the pool area, which we overlook. It sure cuts down on any road noise.

Erick then had to go to the DMV to get his new license and registration. It was expiring the next day. Unfortunately he needed a passport to get a new license and didn't have it with him. Guess he'll go back another day.

Diann and Dad made us a wonderful dinner and we feel so fortunate that Diann opened up her home to us for as long as we needed to stay.

Tomorrow the fun begins, coordinating the movers, teh ABF truck and the POD...Oh Joy!

Today's Jay's birthday!

Today is Tuesday July 29th.

Jay turns 37 today! I'm so happy we were here to share this day with him. What are the odds of our trip working out this way? We went to watch Alec play soccer this morning at 10:30, it was pretty hot already. He is such a great little player, very assertive. I believe he got 3 goals that day....Go Alec!!!!

We took Jay to Benihana. It's a Japanese steakhouse where they cook in front of you and put on quite a show. The kids love it and to be honest so do we. There was so much food, even the lunch sizes. We had the waiters come over and sing Happy Birthday to Jay trying to embarrass him but to no avail. They sang in English and Japanese, it was cool.

Guess what the kids did when we got back, you guessed it, the water slide. That was quite the smart investment. We couldn't have asked for better weather here, it was in the 80s and sunny everyday. It really is a nice place to visit.........in the SUMMER! Seriously, it really is very beautiful and they are known for their 15,000 lakes.

Tomorrow we're off to our new home!!!!

Mall of America

Today is Monday July 28th.

Again, a wonderful breakfast. I'm liking this place, I can't wait to get the bill.

We dropped my car off to be shipped to CA. It should be there in a little over a week. Then we headed off to the Mall of America so the kids could enjoy the new Nickelodeon Amusement Park (it used to be called Camp Snoopy) It has new rollercoasters and is much larger than it used to be. You see they had to put the themepark "inside", it's so darn cold there in MN it would be such a short season to enjoy outside. I think it's brilliant. People come from all over the world to visit this mall. It's quite amazing to see.

We went to Bubba Gump Shrimp for lunch, it was delicious. Alexia ended up with a tall plastic souvenier cup that lights up on the bottom, pretty cool!

After lunch the kids headed off to the Fairly Odd Parents roller coaster. Alexia was so nervous but not Alec. At 6 1/2 he is so fearless. Once the ride was over Alexia was jumping up & down about how much she loved it! We spent a few hours there watching the kids have a blast on all the rides, it was so nice that they had each other to go on the rides with. Jay went with Alec on one ride that was a pretty intense loop rollercoaster, Alexia wanted no part in it.

For dinner Toni made these amazing tacos with all the fixins' and then some. My cousin Paul (Jay's brother) came over with his wife Sara and their 3 children. They brought these amazing homemade pies made by some old man in his 80's. He still bakes them daily in a town nearby. There was peach and apple, mmmmmm! Paul's three kids, Alesia, Noah and Drew all played on the waterslide with Alec & Alexia, they were having a blast.

Later that evening after Paul and his family left we all watched Talladega Nights, even Aunt Nancy. I wasn't so sure how she was going to like it but she watched the whole thing. The kids watched their own movie upstairs.

Another wonderful day with my family, I just love it!

Lemonade stand

Today is Sunday, July 27.

Today we awoke to Jay & Toni making pancakes and scrambled eggs, sausage and lots of fruits. This was better than any hotel we had been at so far. What a breakfast! We wanted a lazy day today, from all the traveling we'd been doing it was nice to sit back and really do nothing. We hung outside and watched the kids go up and down the waterslide. Erick and Jay took turns throwing a sponge ball (no, not sponge bob) to them as they slid down. It was cute to see how many times in a row they could catch it or not, depending on the throw :) It was nice chatting with Aunt Nancy and Toni while we watched the guys and kids play. Again they enjoyed some ice cold beers!

Later in the afternoon Alec and Alexia decided to put together a little lemonade stand in the front yard on the curb. It was .50 a cup and there were many friendly neighbors and kids that came by. Even someone in a minivan drove up like it was a drive-up window to get a cup. They each made almost $5 each. They were so proud of themselves.

Later that evening when the sun went down, around 9:30. It's amazing how late the sun stays out there. We made smores around the fire pit, they were soooo good.

Chicago Day 2

This morning we had room service, Alexia wanted breakfast in bed. She explained to us how on Mother's & Father's Day we get breakfast in bed & she doesn't. So we gave in and spoiled her a little. It was so nice, they brought the little table with the food and drinks on it. You should have seen her face. She had her little robe (the thick terry cloth ones) on from the hotel and sat there and ate her omelet & strawberry smoothie.

After breakfast we headed to Buckingham Fountain but got sidetracked when we saw signs for the Art Institute. Alexia enjoys looking at artwork even as an 8 yr old. We have her teacher Mrs. Siedel-Slango to thank for that. We walked around and saw paintings from Monet and more(can't remember all their names). Unfortunately the wing of the building we really wanted to see, was under construction. That included Van Gogh and Michelangelo. We spent a couple of hours in here walking around, Alexia and I were getting bored and wanted to leave but Erick insisted on looking around more so I took Alexia downstairs to the kids area where there is hands on stuff. They had a new exhibition from ancient China. They had sculptures from the Ming and Tang dynasties as far back as 600 AD. It was really something to see.

After leaving the Art Institute we headed back towards the fountain. It was enormous and so pretty. The spray from the water felt refreshing. We admired that for a bit then began our trek to the Navy Pier. On that city map, it looks so close, we could even see the ferris wheel from where we were standing at the fountain. So we walked and we walked and we walked. Ok, we had been walking around this city for over 4 hrs now and both Alexia and I were tired of walking. Even though we were close to the pier, we didn't feel we'd enjoy walking around on the pier so we decided to head back to the hotel to swim and take a break. It was just what we needed. The pool area at this hotel is like a spa. It is really well done. Very classy. We had some really fresh sandwiches around the pool area with a caesar salad. The spa was serving tangerine and mint smoothie. Wow, I didn't think that would be good, but it was.

After that, we had dinner at one of Chicago's other famous deep dish pizza places. We walked to Ginos East. We gave our name and we told it would be about 40 minute wait. When they came by the line to see if anyone with 4 people or less wanted to be seated, Erick spoke up and got us a nice table outside. You should have seen the evil stares we got from the people ahead of us, but they didn't speak up so we were seated before them. One lady up front complained and the waitress just smiled and said "you didn't speak up". Once we sat & our waitress took our order, it was another 45-50 minutes before we got our pizza (remember, they take that long to cook). It was a great table outside and the weather was just perfect. It was pleasant, we were people watching, which is always fun in any city. Our waitress was so so nice and fun and we just loved her. Erick said the local brew ("131" which is the area code) was really good. After a 22 oz, Erick was feeling good.

On our walk home we stopped over a bridge near the hotel and checked out the boats along the river. It looked like some were rented out for entertainment. It looked like everyone was a having a great time. The city is so pretty lit up at night, very
full of life. Once we got back to the hotel we checked out the 2nd floor where the Grand Ballroom was and Alexia stepped inside and was so impressed, she told us she wants to have her wedding there.....let's not rush things.

We went back to the room and got in our comfy hotel robes and watched some TV and relaxed. The bed in the room is soooo comfy.

Tomorrow we're leaving for Minnesota to see family:)

A long ride

Today we traveled from Baltimore to Chicago. We were up at 6:00 and out of the hotel by 7:15 to hit the road.

Here's the summary of our car trip:
Ohio: corn fields and large trucks
Indiana: more corn and more large trucks
Illinois: even more corn and more large trucks

We ended up at the Renaissance Hotel along the river in Chicago about 6:30 central time. It's a gorgeous hotel, marble everywhere, grand staircase and as soon as you walk in the door it smells like you're entering a spa. The aroma is soft yet floral and clean all at the same time.

Erick parked the car. The people in Chicago cross the street anywhere at any time; at cross walks or not; with the lights or not. They are crazy. They would be killed in Manhattan.

We checked in & of course asked where the best place for deep dish pizza was. We headed to Giordanos around 7:45, not far from the hotel. There was quite a line even though it was only a Thursday night and it was 8 o'clock. It was an hour wait and then I was told to get back in the same long line in 20 minutes to place my order (the deep dishes take about 45-50 minutes to cook). Ya, that makes sense to me. What was he talking about come back and get back in line. While we were waiting we went to Millenium Park which was really beautiful. Oprah has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the park. Chicago is this very busy city with lots of large buildings yet beautiful parks and large fountains all over.

By the way, the wait for the pizza was well worth it. It was unbelievable. I'm honestly not a big fan of the deep dish but it was just sooooo good even though it was $21 for a 10 inch pizza! The cheese is amazing. So fresh.

We had to walk off some of the big meal we just stuffed ourselves with and headed back for a good nights sleep in our luscious cozy bed.