Back In Town

We're back from our vacation, and what a wonderful vacation it was. Once I get around to uploading the photos, I'll be sure to share a few pictures. We had a blast, and I'm sorry the trip had to end...but alas, it's time to get back to the real world.

Oh yeah, and there should be some cooking going on on this blog, right? Today I picked up a package of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix (wow, that was a mouthful) to try out. The kids will be home from school soon, and I can't think of a better thing to come home to than the smell of fresh baked goodness.

This weekend we're hitting the pumpkin patch and the costume shop. Halloween is just a week away, and this slacker has yet to look for costumes for Ayden and Zoe. Party City here we come!

I'm thinking of making this picture my new profile picture. Thoughts?

Looking Forward to a Vacation

Well, it's almost that time of year again...the Flamenco Family is headed on another road trip! I know, I know, I've been gone from this blog for so long...everyone probably thought I was taking a permanent vacay from this thing. But no! I'm still here, I've just been a slacker.

This weekend we're renting a cabin in Ellijay, Georgia, which is about an hour away from Atlanta. As luck would have it, the Georgia Apple Festival is this weekend, so we'll be there at just the right time. Our cabin has internet access (how rustic!); I'm planning to post at least once while away. Our itinerary includes visits to attractions like Amicalola Falls State Park, the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, the Tennessee Aquarium, and the Appalachian Trail (we hope), so I'm looking forward to some picturesque views and many photo opportunities.

The familia is in some serious need to time out of town. Flamenco Dad and I have been working hard, and the kiddies--especially Miss Zoe--have been putting in lots of time on school work. Ayden is loving kindergarten, and he already has a group of buddies to call his own. We are also bringing my mother-in-law along. She doesn't get to travel much, so we thought it would be nice to take her with us.

We're all really excited about the upcoming trip. I'll try to post here at least once before we hit the road.

Is It Over Already?

So today is Zoe's last day of school. I've been so busy with schoolwork that I really didn't see this coming, and I'm feeling a bit under-prepared. I try to have at least a vague game plan for what we're going to do for the next 2 1/2 months...and that hasn't happened yet. This is especially important for Zoe: she's so used to having a schedule that going through summer without at least a few things planned out is a recipe for disaster! Although I must say that I got a few things taken care of: I foraged through the kid's rooms (more specifically their closets) and I found a veritable treasure trove of crafting kits and art supplies that we're going to make use of this summer. Most of these items were either gifts from family and friends over Christmas or stuff I picked up from craft stores while rummaging through the sale bins. Either way, I've got the antidote for boredom this sumer!

Yesterday I looked into a kids' yoga class for Zoe and Ayden. Turns out there is a yoga studio directly in front of the studio where I take flamenco lessons. How convenient, right? Zoe is really into yoga these days, so I thought that might be something fun for the kids to do every so often. Ayden will be in preschool for part of the summer, so he'll be pretty busy for about 6 weeks during vacation this year.

Aside from that I will certainly have to make time for cooking with the kids. Zoe is particularly interested in learning to cook, so this might be a good time to get her started with a few simple things. She's already a pro at salad, and she's itching to try to make other things.

The kids are hoping to spend some time at the beach. Flamenco Dad teaches on Fridays at a school near the gulf, so that might work out. What about you, internets? Any plans this summer?

Some More Photos

I thought I'd share just a few more photos of the trip. Above is Stone Mountain, and though the photo doesn't give a great detail of it, the face has a bas-relief sculpture of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. The sculpture took 55 years to complete.

Here we are on top of Stone Mountain. There's a skyride that takes passengers from the park up to the top of the mountain.

Here's Zoe catching a (plastic) fish at one of Fernbank's interactive centers. The museum has a variety of activities for children of different ages to try. They give the older kids a scavenger hunt activity at their Discovery Center.

Here's Flamenco Dad and the kids sittin' on top of the mountain. The kids swore they could see the entire world from up there.

Some Favorites from the Trip

We got in a little later than I anticipated, so I'm afraid my vacation roundup will have to wait. Until then, I decided to share a few of my favorite pics. Enjoy!

Why Don't They Tell Us About That?

I've heard that a foolproof test of the strength of a relationship is to travel your significant other; if you can survive the trip, then you're golden. If not, well that's a subject for another day. Flamenco Dad and I have been getting along extremely well on this trip, so I suppose that puts us in the first category.

What they don't tell you is what to do when, three-plus days into your vacation, your kids start to drive you out of your skull! When you're at home and your kids start to rattle you, you can always send them off to play in another part of the house, put in a movie, or send them into the backyard to let off steam. On vacation though, it's twenty-four-seven in your face time. Mama needs a break!

I ADORE my children. Actually, I'm not sure there's a word strong enough to convey how I feel for my babies. But I'm really craving some me time--as in me by myself time. Guess it'll have to wait till we get home.

All complaints aside, we visited the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta today. We saw lots of great dinosaurs, sea creatures, and a pretty neat frog exhibit. We saw the IMAX film entitled "Sea Monsters," which was an interesting and well-done film. I enjoyed it even though my son was acting like a bit of a monster of the two-legged variety. The museum has many interactive exhibits that are great for inquiring minds and little hands. There was also a fascinating exhibit about different cultures and the various ways cultures use adornment to tell stories about their history. Pretty cool stuff.

Tomorrow we load up the Flamencomobile and head back to the hacienda. Once I've unpacked and gotten the mountain of laundry started, I'll work on getting some photos and video up here.

Stone Mountain Day

It's 10:20 p.m. here, and we just got back from spending the day at Stone Mountain Park. By spending the day I mean we got there around 10 a.m. and just walked in the door 10 minutes ago. We went up to the summit of the mountain via a skyride, which was a cool experience for all. Sorry I can't post the photos here yet, though I will when I get back. Internet service is sketchy here right now, such I wanted to get to the meat of my post and not spend too much time fussing with pics right now.

We did just about everything there was to do at Stone Mountain Park, with the exception of the antebellum plantation stuff. We rode the scenic railroad twice (Ayden's head nearly exploded over that one!), we saw the 4D Polar Express show, the Christmas Parade, the Laser light show, the Great Barn--man, I'm so tired I can't even remember all of it right now!

Tomorrow we're going to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Hooray, dinosaurs!

The Life Aquatic

Our first day in the greater Atlanta area was full of activity, with lots of fun things to see and do. We spent our day at the Georgia Aquarium, which is now my number one pick for best aquarium I've ever seen. First of all, it's huge! Second, we got to see these lovelies in the photo. They were so beautiful to behold; so graceful, they just glided around their tank looking like they were in flight. And third, the aquarium has a humongous viewing area called the Ocean Voyager Theater, where you can sit and view what appears to be millions of watery creatures in an absolutely beautiful environment. The kids were enthralled by the entire aquarium experience; and Flamenco Dad and I were just in awe of it all.

As I had suspected, our GFCF choices have been a bit limited on this trip. Our hotel has a breakfast selection which has fruit juice as its only GFCF choice. Fortunately for me I brought the banana bread I made earlier in the week. The aquarium had some GFCF foods, mostly salads and fruits. We totally lucked out on the dinner front, though. We had dinner at a fantastic Thai restaurant in Tucker, L'Thai, which is just minutes from Stone Mountain. To top it off the restaurant offers organic and conventionally raised meat, for those who prefer organic. We had a terrific meal, and the staff was attentive and friendly. We feasted on delicious curries and steamed jasmine rice. The restaurant has a large fish tank with koi, and the owner was nice enough to let the kids feed the fish. Zoe and Ayden were thrilled. We are all exhausted, so it will be an early night for us this evening. The kids were out cold by about 8:00, and I'm off to bed now too.

Getting out of Dodge

Well, we're finally heading out of here--off to Georgia for our much needed break. We're driving back Monday afternoon. Until then, I'll be posting from on location in Stone Mountain. I've got my camera, laptop, and USB cables so I will try to post some pictures daily.

I meant to take a picture of the pair of western boots my mom gave me for my birthday, but of course the camera was already packed. But you can see them here. I got the denim blue ones. Zoe also got a pair of boots from her grandma, and they are too cute! Did I mention they're orange? We're both going to put our hot new boots to good use while we're away. More to follow tomorrow! Adios!

We Are a Travelin' Family

We just got back from a short trip to southwest Florida. We visited Grandma and Great-Grandma, and we spent a few days exploring Naples and the surrounding areas. We visited the Naples Zoo and Carribean Gardens, where there were several opportunities to take silly photos such as the one above. Also, the zoo offered a short boat trip around a lake with small islands that are home to all the zoo's primates. We saw a snake and reptile show, which Ayden loved. When the zookeeper asked if we wanted to see some scary snakes, Ayden yelled "YEAH!" louder than any other kid or adult at the show. The kids got to see the lion feeding too, though Zoe was a bit put off by the fact that the lions eat raw meat.

We also paid a visit to a Lionel Train museum; my kids went nuts over this place! There was a humongous exhibit of trains complete with a Lionel city and all the accompanying buildings. Many of the buildings had sound or visual effects that could be activated with the push of a button. Once my kids realized they could make lots of the features work, they squealed with delight. The museum also offered a train ride around the outside of the museum building. It was a mini train operated by this adorable older fellow (honestly, he was about ninety--but he would probably knock me out if he heard me call him old!). Flamenco Dad and I joined the kids on the train ride, and we loved it just as much as they did.

In other news, Zoe was "glutened" on this trip--at least, we're pretty sure she was. She was okay on the drive home, although she was oddly quiet. She had a horrendous night went we arrived home, and unfortunately threw up in our car the next morning. Yesterday she was a total wreck with stomach problems, shakiness, and lots of uncontrollable stimming. Thank God she is much better today, though she is quite exhausted from the lack of sleep.

Kids Rock

This is what summer looks like at the rockin'est house on our block.

Nature is a Wonderful Thing

Thought I'd post a few more photos from my trip to the mountains. As you can see, there were many beautiful views to photograph. The first two are from our visit to Blowing Rock. It's funny because the rock actually looked much larger when we saw the photos on the brochure. We kept searching for it while standing on the observation deck...

Blowing Rock, NC

The view from the observation deck was lovely, as evidenced by this photo. What we didn't realize, however, was that while we were walking towards the deck...

Blowing Rock, NC

We actually walked passed the rock, which is in the photo above. It was small enough that we could have climbed it (even me with my limited climbing abilities).

Linville Falls, NC

We also hiked at Linville Falls, which has three trails of varying levels of difficulty. Last year I was here with Flamenco Dad and the kids, and it was lovely. It was also autumn, which meant it was cooler outside. This time, I looked like a drowned rat by the time I reached the end of the trail, that's how much I was sweating. Ick. But the reward for making it to the end was so worth it.

Linville Falls, NC

Even though I was a big old sweaty mess by the time we made it to the falls, I was pretty proud of myself for not giving up. After being sick and not able to breathe this past winter, it was good to feel like I was able to push myself to get to the end.

We spent lots of time enjoying just being in the outdoors, in the company of people we love and respect. I've known my friends for almost half my life now, and I really look at these women as sisters, as well as close friends. The girls and I spent tons of time gabbing away about everything. In fact, on Saturday morning we had plans to visit another mountain, but those plans got sidetracked due to the gabfest. We sat down to breakfast and started talking, but before we realized what had happened it was already 3 p.m.! And the three of us ended up looking like prunes after more than one lengthy chat in the hot tub. Did I mention this cabin had a hot tub?

Wish You Were Here

I'm almost fully recovered from my weekend getaway with the girls. We had a fantastic time! It was the first time my girlfriends and I had gone away for a weekend in...well, ever. We're already talking about when we can schedule another getaway. There's much ground to cover, so the recap and photos will be broken up into two (or three) separate posts. On with the photos!

Blue Ridge Mountains; Blowing Rock, NC

The Blowing Rock was one of the stops on our visit to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Everywhere you looked, there was something beautiful to see. And considering that I live at sea level, the scenery at the higher elevation was a most welcome sight. There were miles upon miles of what appeared to be untouched mountains and trees. It took my breath away, literally and figuratively--it's tough to breath up there!

Duke University Campus

I toured the campus at Duke University for a bit while L stopped in to check on a few of her patients (although I think I would have made a darn good candy striper). Duke reminded me of what I used to imagine a college campus looked like. Love the stone buildings and the tree-lined walkways.

Stained Glass Window; Duke Univ. Chapel

Duke is home to a beautiful English Gothic inspired chapel. It has 77 stained glass windows like this one. The photo doesn't do it justice. I loved looking at the stained glass windows at church when I was a kid instead of paying attention to Father DiLorenzo(okay, I know I'm not the only kid who wasn't paying attention). Oh, and that reminds me--I'm supposed to go to confession.

Duke University Chapel

Here is the exterior of the Chapel. The portal features sculptures of some well known Christian reformers like Martin Luther, as well as Southern leaders like Thomas Jefferson. I was really blown away by how beautiful the campus at Duke was. Unfortunately I didn't have time to see more of it--we had to hit the road. It was a three hour drive up to the cabin, and we were hoping to make it before it got too dark. Well that didn't happen, but we got there just the same. More to follow...

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

My vacation starts at o'dark thirty tomorrow morning. I'll be gone before my babies wake up, so we had our good-byes this evening. Sniff, sniff--even though I know a good time is awaiting me, I'm going to miss my kids and, of course, Flamenco Dad. I'll be back here on Monday with a recap and pics. See ya!

Fun With Animals

We visited my mom and her hubby this weekend. As if there aren't enough animals on mom's property (horses, goats, sheep, and a recently rescued labrador), we decided to take the kids on a field trip to the local zoo. The kids had a blast!

Anyway, I got a little camera crazy at the park, so let's get on with the photos, shall we?

Watch as Zoe gets into a staring contest with an ostrich with an attitude:

The bunnies were oh so friendly! Also, it helped that my kids were feeding them banana chips:


This toucan was sooo ready for his closeup! After I took this shot, he proceeded to get in the way of the other toucan in the cage, to the point that I never got a clear shot of his roommate. Talk about a camera hog:

Never in my life have a seen an iguana as big as this. He also decided to ham it up for the camera. I wonder if the William Morris Agency is representing these guys:

I kept waiting for the iguana to bust out a bottle of Lubriderm lotion, but it never happened. Maybe next time.

P.S.--do any of you internets know why my text is looking all smooshed together? I can't figure it out. I know, that's not surprising given my lack of techie skills. I've given up trying to fix it today, so please forgive me if the text looks a bit wonky.

School's Out for Summer

This morning when I woke Zoe up, her first words were the following: "Summer 2007--The wait is over!!" Gee, think she's excited about school being out or what?

I decided that the best way to get through summer vacation was to develop a plan to keep the kids active, so I picked up a book called The Family Manager's Guide to Summer Survival. It was written by Kathy Peel, and it's full of great ideas to keep the wee ones from being bored, as well as help for setting goals for the summer.

What I find great about the book is that it helped me to look at the different ways I can help my children grow over the summer. Yes, we need to work on helping Zoe develop her writing and math skills; and we want to help Ayden with school readiness. But we want to also promote developing better social skills, get the kids more physically active, and get them to be more responsible around the house. And we want fun!

Tomorrow we're kicking off the summer with breakfast together as a family. I'm making gfcf waffles! (Zoe gets a kick out of that statement--she tries to say it like Donkey in Shrek). Then it's off to the library, and maybe the park. The kids want to have a guitar lesson with their dad in the afternoon--sounds like a full day already! Did I mention my kids still wake up at 6 a.m. even in the summertime?

No More Classes, No More Books

Flamenco Dad wrapped up the semester this week, and all I can say is "Whew!" This has been one crazy semester. Aside from his normal workload, he was asked to teach a class in music theory at the community college. On top of that, he took a graduate course in Philosophy. I'm not quite sure how FD got all that accomplished in one semester; seems he's quite good at multi-tasking too (just like his wife).

There is a downside to all the chaos that was this semester. Namely, he didn't get to spend as much time with the kids or me as he would have liked. Summers are always great around here though; Flamenco Dad's schedule is much lighter during summer break. We're looking forward to weekend getaways, field trips with the kiddies, and just vegetating on the couch with great movies and great company. And popcorn.

Now that Dad is home I can tend to pressing matters like my hair, which is rapidly turning gray. I had jet black hair just a few years ago--now, if I don't color it I look like Tip O'Neill. Oh, and maybe I'll get a manicure and pedicure. Did I neglect to mention that my gnarly fingernail NEVER fell off? It looks like I'm a goth girl who was too lazy to break out the nail polish remover, but the nail is still there. I'm on the lookout for a nail polish that will do a good job of covering my partially-black fingernail. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Planning My Getaway

Eunice, my college roommate, paid me a visit in January. And during that time we talked about going on a girls' weekend with one of our other girlfriends from school. Planning a trip for three women with very different jobs and responsibilities proved to be a challenge--but was so worth it. Well, after several e-mails to each other, and talks with our respective spouses, jobs, and the like--the trip is on! I'll be sans husband and children as I venture into the mountains of North Carolina come June 7.

I'm beyond excited about this trip (although I've never been away from the Man and the kiddies for that long). One of Liana's colleagues was nice enough to let us use his cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains for our stay. I saw a few pictures of the place, and it is gorgeous. I've gotta say, as a Brooklyn girl, the word cabin conjures up images of a small, rustic building with four walls and raccoons hankering to get into the place so they can eat you. Not very realistic of me, I know. Good news: Liana is a doctor--so I've got medical care available in the event that a killer raccoon attacks me.

This cabin that we're going to? If the pictures are any indication, it's bigger than the house I live in now. And guess what? It's got a hot tub, fireplace, picturesque mountain views, the whole nine yards. The girls and I will spend four days in the mountains, hiking and communing with nature; heck, I may even pick an apple or two. Of course, my husband's idea of girls' weekend was a days-long slumber party with pillow fights, sappy movies, and marshmallows. Well, there may be marshmallows. But beyond that, it's going to be a non-stop gabfest for three friends that haven't been all together--just the girls--in YEARS.