Snowball Express 2008

Mary and I just spent the week doing Snowball Express 2008. Snowball is an organization that gives hope to children of America's fallen heroes. They are amazing!!! Please visit their website: http://www.snowballexpress.com/ It was such a fantastic experience. I am still in awe. It is not only awesome to get together with other families, but it is nice to see that there are still so many people in this country that care about us and the heroes we have lost. It is a time where the kids can get together and just have fun.


Day 1


On Tuesday, Mary and I had to catch our shuttle to JFK at 4:45 am! Those of you who know me know that I am not a morning person. I couldn't sleep at all because of the fear that I would oversleep and I had to get up at 3:30am anyway. Thank God for Stacey who drove us to the shuttle and helped me get ready. Hopefully she was able to get caught up on some sleep. When we got to the airport, American Airlines had a special check-in area just for Snowball passengers. Then a very nice soldier escorted us to security, and then from security to where the Snowball passengers were gathering. They had a little breakfast buffet and goody bags for kids and moms. The goody bags contained things that would be good for in-flight entertainment, such as coloring books and crayons for the little guys and puzzles for the moms. (I wish I hadn't packed so much entertaining stuff for Mary in our carry-ons, but I had no idea what to expect). Then we were escorted to our gate and onto the plane, which was only for Snowball families. We stopped at Dulles and again in Nashville to pick up more families. Did I mention that Andy the Bacheleor and Tony Orlando were on the plane with us?



While we were stopped at Dulles, one of the flight attendants asked Mary to come help her decorate the plane. So Mary taped up some garland along the wall of the airplane. Then she made friends with some little girls sitting near us. They found a hiding place behind a curtain near the galley. I think Mary was the boss--dictating who could come in and when.


While we were stopped at Nashville, a Ladies Auxilery and Mickey Mouse came on board to greet the children and bring more goody bags. As we backed away from the terminal the Patriot Guard lined up outside to see us off as well as several American Airlines employees. (All of the Flight Attendents and Pilots donated their own time to do this and the jet fuel was donated by BP). As we turned onto the runway, the firetrucks did a water salute.


This was the greatest flight I have ever been on! However Mary will probably never be a good flier again. The seatbelt rules went out the windows and the kids were up and down the ailes playing with eachother. Tony Orlando sang over the intercom and the kids danced and sang Christmas Carols. The children helped the flight attendants: walking down the ailes offering on their trays; candy, cookies, fruit, and cheese and crackers. The supply of food and beverages was never-ending.



We finally made it to LAX. As we walked into the terminal there were hundreds of people there to clap, cheer, and give us their support. It was amazing. I don't think there were too many dry eyes in the terminal--except the kids who were super excited. Even the TSA agents sang Amazing Grace.


The buses took us to Anaheim and thankfully Mary slept all the way. We checked in and headed straight to dinner at the Hilton across the street. Our dinner entertainment was Terry Factor, a ventriliquist. He was amazing! Most people can't sing that good with their lips moving! Mary thought he was hilarious. I am sure she will very much enjoy the Terry Factor DVD she received.


Day 2


Wednesday when we woke up, it was pouring down rain and it looked completely miserable. We boarded the buses to go to Universal Studios. When we arrived the Patriot Guard lined the entrance with their flags. Those guys are awesome. Even in the pouring rain, they stood at attention to support all of us. When we got off the bus they handed us much needed ponchos. I put one on Mary and I also put the rain cover on her stroller. We were all quite a sight.


They hearded us all down to the center of the Universal Walk. I found Eileen and Krista and their kids--Yay! There was a quick speech and then we went into the park. The first "ride" we did was Shrek 4D. I wasn't sure how Mary would do. I have heard some parents say that 3d can be really frightening for toddlers. Although Mary is always fascinated by what frightens her. I don't know if that is good or bad. But she sat through Shrek and I think she was just in awe. Either that or she was just so glad to be out of her stroller and out of the rain? Next we did the Studio Backlot tram ride. We were the last ones on the tram were the wettest seats. So needless to say, we got pretty wet. I don't think Mary was interested in the tram ride at all. Obviously she doesn't know the movies or tv shows and I think it was hard for her to see. I thought it was interesting. I thought the falling bridge and the Jaws bit were incredibly lame and I can't believe how much they frightened me when I was a child.


Next we headed to the tent set up for Snowball Express. The kids got their faces painted and some giant cookies to decorate. Then Eileen and I took the kids to lunch at the Hard Rock (which Mary slept through) and then we decided to just head back to the hotel. It was just too miserable and I think we were all exhausted after our travels from the day before. I thought Mary would fall asleep on the bus, but instead her an Jolie (Eileen's daughter) laughed and played the entire drive. They were really cute.


Mary and I took naps and then we went out to dinner with grandma Teresa and aunt Susan. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and had a great visit. I think Mary was very pleased with the Disney Princess things that her grandma brought her.


Day 3



Thursday was the day that I was most excited for--Disneyland!!! So Mary and I hopped on the bus to Disneyland. Luckily it was not raining, although it was a little chilly for southern California. After entering the park we saw Mickey and Pluto. Mary didn't want to see them close up and was content to watch from a distance--thankfully because there was a very long line to greet them. We headed to Fantasyland first and did the carasel--Mary's favorite. Then we rode every ride in Fantasyland except the teacups. It's a Small World was all decked out for Christmas and singing Jingle Bells. I couldn't believe there was actually a line for it. After that I saw that we were right by the Princess Village so I thought we could go see what was going on. We ate lunch there and saw Cinderella read the story of her life. How enchanting. Then Mary and I got our faces painted and I had Mary's hair done up like a princess. She looked so adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish she would let me do her hair at home. The girl who did her hair was amazed when I told her that she usually throws a huge tantrum when I come near her hair because she sat so good for her.

After our make overs we went to Tomorrowland. We did Autopia first and I let Mary drive. She was pretty excited but then we kept hitting the divider in the middle. That just made her laugh even more. Then we waited in line for the Nemo ride. It was actually pretty cool. I think Mary really liked it. Then I put her in her stroller and we strolled over to Adventureland. I was hoping she might fall asleep for a bit since it was way past naptime, but she was just way to excited about everything. There was no line at the Tiki Room and we went right in. Wouldn't you know it--she fell asleep. I thought I could just put her in the stroller and she would continue sleeping. Nope she was ready to go as soon as we got in the stroller. I even walked for a while to get her to sleep, but she wanted to go on another ride. We got in line for the Pirates of the Carribbean, one of my favorites. She was pretty thrilled with the drops. I thought that would scare her but she just giggled. Too bad she isn't tall enough for Splash Mountain! (It was way too cold to attempt that ride even if she was tall enough). After Pirates we got some dinner and then waited in line for the Haunted Mansion. The line was super long and I really hate when it has The Nightmare Before Christmas theme. I thought that might be the last ride for us since it was getting late, but I didn't want Mary to have this image of The Haunted Mansion/Nightmare Before Christmas running in head the rest of the night, so we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, which is very sweet. As we walked by the Tarzan Treehouse (formerly the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse) I asked Mary if she wanted to go up and check it out, but she said no. She was tuckered out and fell asleep right after that. I picked up some souviners and we went back to the hotel. It was such a fun day. Mary and I spent good quality time together because for the entire day she had my complete attention and we just had such a blast together.

Day 4

On Friday, Mary and I met up with Eileen and her kids again. Everyone lined up in front of our hotel for the "Walk of Gratitude." Hundreds of people came out to cheer for us as we walked to the Anaheim Convention Center. It was so amazing! People held signs that said things like, "Your daddy is my hero" and waved flags. The day at the convention center was sponsored by Oakley. There were so many things for the kids to do and lots of giveaways too. Also there to support the children was Stephen Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, Eric McCormack, and various actors from the Pirates of the Carribbean movies. Mary caught side of the bouncy houses and wanted to go bounce or "bouncth" as she says. Tina volunteered to take her over there so I could wait in line for some of the giveaways. There was so much to do even besides the bouncy houses: there was a giant bike/bmx half pipe, lots of face painting and makeup, the reptile people were there (I averted my eyes), an aquarium on wheels, live bands, a dj, balloon people, and other things we didn't even get to. The ghostbusters and Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew were there (not the real actors). It was just an awesome event. Mary also like all the therapy dogs that were there, but they were all little dogs and she was kind of treating them like big "Max" dogs. Mary had fun once again with Jolie and she especially liked the bouncy obstacle course. No one thought she would be able to do it because she is so little, but she really showed them. The only problem was she didn't want to wait in line. Finally we went back to the hotel so Mary could nap.

That evening there was a farewell dinner. Gary Sinise made an appearance and the entertainment was The Cactus Cuties. They were these cute girls from Texas who sang lots of Christmas songs. They were pretty good. Mary was enthralled by them and danced and clapped. (http://www.thecactuscuties.com/)

Then it was all over. It was so sad saying goodbye to all our friends because we don't get to see them too often. I love these girls because they are going through what we are going through. Our common experience of losing our husbands in war gives us a very special bond. As usual Mary wouldn't say goodbye. Neither of us wanted to say goodbye. It was such an amazing week and experience. I am so thankful for Snowball Express. I hope we will be able to do it again next year.

NYC for Mommy's Birthday

For my birthday, I wanted to go to New York City and eat good food and just walk around and inhale that city air. Cough cough. We went twice actually--once with uncle Skyler and grandma and then once with Stacey and grandma. With Skyler we went to the Toy R Us in Times Square and we all rode on the Farris wheel. Mary was pretty thrilled. We got to sit in the "lellow" Bob the Builder Lego truck. We also looked at lots of toys. Mary was frightened of the giant T-Rex from Jurassic Park--and she has talked of nothing since. So I told her that her daddy liked dinosaurs too and I went into the attic and I found her a little t-rex that I got Chris at the Museum of Natural History. She loves it--she goes around saying that daddy's dinosaur is "my sinosaur." It's so funny she's scared and yet fascinated.

We went to New York with grandma Kathy and Stacey the day after Halloween. Mary was crazy all day long! She is never having candy again! I don't know if it was all that sugar or what. She couldn't sit still to save her life! I had thought that it would be fun to take her to Alice's Tea Cup because a friend of mine said that they put fairy wings on the little girls and sprinkle them with fairy dust. Then you have tea and little sandwiches, or cakes, or whatever is your fancy. Well Mary didn't want to wear her fairy wings and she was just all over the place. They serve tea in these dainty little china teacups and it is all very cute. I was afraid that she was going to break something. So the food and the tea was delicious--but not the place for a destructive two year old.

I had wanted to go to the Met, but since it was a beautiful day and Mary was full speed ahead, I decided we should just walk through Central Park. Plus there are not many beautiful days ahead.

After we walked through Central Park we just continued walking down Fifth Avenue--where we made a very important stop: World of Disney! Mary loves 101 Dalmatians, so she was scared/thrilled/frightened to see the very large Cruella De Vil there. Well she loves the Cruella De Vil song--"if she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will..."

Then we continued to walk down until we passed by the Empire State building and decided it was time for dinner. All in all we all had walked fifty blocks--Mary too. And she was still going. We had dinner at this great Venzuelan arepas bar. It was delicious. Mary was luckily positioned between my mom and the window--so she couldn't go too crazy. She did however manage to conceal a place setting in the diaper bag, which I found a few days later. We all had a really fun day and thankfully Mary seemed more like herself the next day--only 75 miles an hour instead of 100.

Halloween

For Halloween, my little princess dressed up as the Princess Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty. She looked so pretty! She had these little princess shoes with heels that would light up as she walked. I was afraid she would fall and packed the crocs with us in case she couldn't walk in the heels. Mary was born to walk in heels and she has had lots of practice with my heels. She walked, she pranced, she frolicked and even ran in her heels and I don't think she once fell. She did however tire from the weight of her crown, and so mommy wore it--happily I will say.

We met up with Jasmine, Batman, and a few other of Mary's other buddies for trick or treating. Even though I told her what she was supposed to say--and even though she would repeat it back to me, not once did she ever say "trick-or-treat" at some one's house. A lot of the houses just left the basket of candy on the porch. This made Mary think she was entitled to at least two pieces of candy. The best house served the parents wine and beer, and offered an array of cheeses and even chips and salsa. The children were offered fruit on toothpicks and caprisons. This was definitely the favorite house among the parents. If a house looked frightening, Mary would say, "not that one" and keep on walking. After all her friends finished up we went back to our neighborhood and hit a few houses. Mary didn't want to stop. I think she could have gone door to door all night.

Apple Picking

Today we went apple picking with our MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) group at the Eastmont Orchards in Colts Neck. Although by the looks of all my pictures it looks more like we went pumpkin picking--which you can do there also. But today was just apples, the pumpkins just provide good photo ops. The day started kind of crazy as I locked us out of our house as we were trying to leave--which meant I didn't have my car keys either. I was pretty calm about it actually, and remembered that I leave the basement windows open. So I tore off the screen and pretty much fell into the basement. How I didn't break the window (it opens inward) or myself is a miracle.

It couldn't have been a more perfect day for being out in the orchards. It was sunny and clear and I think like 70 degrees. Mary was insistent upon carrying my pajama shirt with her all through the orchards. (We had to carry it through the commissary the other day too. Most of her attachments don't seem to last too long--hopefully this one doesn't for sure). We picked some Golden Delicious, some red ones that I don't remember what they are called, and some Crispins. They look delicious! Mary carried the bag until it became too heavy and then she just wrapped herself in my pajama shirt and we walked to the check out and to the car. I think all that walking through the orchards tired her out because as soon as we drove away she fell asleep. It was really fun and we may have to go back to pick some pumpkins and maybe more apples. Maybe if I am feeling ambitious I will bake some yummy apple desserts. Hmm...we'll see.

Correction

I have been informed that I incorrectly posted the year of the Nome diphtheria epidemic as 1929 when it in fact occurred in 1925. But really, The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against and Epidemic by Gay Salisbury & Laney Salisbury is such a great book--especially if you know Max. These dogs are amazing! For me it is a very special book because having it read to me by Chris was probably some of our best times together. And just for fun I put up a picture of Max and Mary together even though it is almost a year old.

NYC

On Friday Stacey and I braved the city with little miss Mary. I must say she was a gem!!! I don't know why but I always have a bit of anxiety at the thought of taking Mary into the city. I guess I just think of her trapped in her stroller all day and her having a tantrum because she doesn't want to be in her stroller any longer. Besides the fact that I think New York is not one bit stroller friendly! How do these New Yorkers do it all the time? Maybe some day I will just stock some poor New York mom all day. I have learned bits and pieces of how they do things by watching, but it is still not enough.


First stop: Serendipity for some very delectable desserts. Wow that place must go through a lot of whip cream. So for lunch Mary had a bowl of strawberries and whip cream--yummy! Plus she shared Stacey's frozen hot chocolate, my apricot smush, and this lemon, peach, berry sunday we ordered--all with loads and loads of whip cream.

Next we walked to the Central Park Zoo. In the center of the zoo are the sea lions. We watched them for a bit and then we moved onto the rain forest rooms. Mary is still afraid of the monkeys and she clung to me throughout the rooms. She also clung to me when we saw the turtles, the polar bears, and even the penguins. So we decided to go sit and watch the sea lions for a bit and see if Mary would maybe want to run around for a bit. We did good because it happened to be feeding time--yay! As you can see from the picture that Mary thought the sea lions had some pretty cool tricks. After that she felt brave enough to go back and look at the monkeys. The big ones were gone, but she watched the little tamarins run around for a bit. Then we walked to the children's zoo, which is pretty cute. We saw peacocks and sheep. Mary was very excited about the cow--I think because making the moo sounds is one of her favorite animal noises, but when she does it, it sounds like a mad cow. We also saw goats and pigs.


After we finished at the zoo we walked further into Central Park to see the statue of the statue of the famous Balto. Ever since we got Max I have wanted to see it. Back when Max and Tiger were our only children, Chris and I talked of taking Max to Central Park to see Balto, but quickly decided not only would it be a nightmare with Max in the city, but it was completely ridiculous. Also when I was pregnant, Chris read me the story of Balto and the Siberian huskies that saved the town of Nome in 1929 from the Diphtheria epidemic. So here we are with Balto.

After finishing up at Central Park we headed downtown (in which Mary napped and dropped a bag of goldfish somewhere between Rector Street and Century 21) for some bit of shopping. For those of you who know about how much I love the store MANGO, I am pleased to announce I visited the one in Soho and I was in heaven. After a fabulous day we had a fabulous dinner Gonzales Y Gonzales. I love their guava margaritas--mmm...yummy. When we got to Penn station, our train was boarding, we made and it, and were ecstatic to find out that it was an express train. Perfect ending to a perfect day!

Crazy Month!

The monthe of May was a little crazy for us. We had to move out of our Point Pleasant house, but we still didn't have a house of our own. Luckily our very good friends; Stacey, Cory, and Amy let us put our things at their places. Then we flew to California to visit family and do some packing and after that it was off to Texas. We attended a Memorial Dedication there. Mary was able to spend lots of time with her aunt Susan and grandma Teresa, as well as other family on her daddy's side. Mary also had fun with Tina and TJ, who even took her swimming. Pretty sure he is her best friend for life now.

After we got back from Texas, we drove down to Washington DC for the TAPS National Seminar. It was a great time for me to spend time with other widows and survivors. Although Mary got to spend some quality time with her uncle Skyler, she was mostly stuck in daycare, where she picked up a lovely little stomach bug. But we survived it and returned to DC a week later to visit with Megan and Jack. The picture above is from our picnic at the National Zoo. I think Mary is saving her lunch in her mouth. Yummy.

Well Mary and I are finally getting settled into our new house (and are planning to stay put for a while)! Yay! Max is also adjusting and we are so happy to finally see him again. (He stayed at the Dog Daycare for over a month--but don't feel too bad for him--he was showered with lots of love and he was able to play daily with all of his doggy buddies). He is a little nervous about the blue--yes blue hardwood floors in the kitchen. I am not sure why but he does not like walking on them. Right now we don't really have any furniture except a bed, so Mary gets to spread her toys everywhere! I admit I am starting to couch envy because we have no where to sit except the floor and the stairs. But Grandpa Joe and Grandma Kathy will be bringing our stuff next week--so that will be exciting. I will have to post some pictures next time.

NOTE: I never posted this because I was going to add pictures, but now it is sort of behind (because we have a couch now:o) But I thought I would go ahead and post it anyway--so keep in mind it is from the beginning of June. I'll try to post a more current one soon.

Well Mary and I had quite an eventful weekend. Mary attended her first shoe party (like a Tupperware party--but with shoes!!!) and was the life of the party--as usual. She attached herself to Kelly and was her helper. She arranged shoes, made phone calls, and made us all laugh with her crazy new expressions. It was pretty hilarious.

Sunday morning got started bright and early. I made a collage of baby Mary pictures for Mary's first birthday. Well she decided she wanted to look at the collage. I got it down for her and put it on the floor. She pointed to herself and said, "baby?" Then she proceeded to kiss herself in every picture. It was very cute. She also kissed her "mommy?" and "daddy?" in the pictures too, which was very sweet. Then we danced and played with hula hoops until she tuckered herself out and fell asleep.

So there we were having our usual Sunday night dinner at Stacey and Cory's house (which was delicious and super fun as usual) when Mary did something terrible. Cory and Mary were looking through Trader magazine (boring I know). Cory was pointing out different things in the magazine, when they came across a picture of Britney Spears and Mary pointed at the picture and said,"Mommy!" I was horrified!!! So maybe if it was a picture of Britney when she had her life together, I might not have been quite so horrified, but it wasn't! On a good note--I think?--after that she pointed to all the women in the magazine and said "Mommy!" I didn't know whether to be relieved or worried that she seems to think all the women in magazines are her mommy.

This week is going to be busy for us as we will be getting ready to move out of our Point Pleasant house. It has been a good house to us, but it is getting ready for the summer season and we are getting ready to be in a house of our very own! I am excited to live closer to our friends, have a dishwasher, and have my very own permanent address!!!!

Note on the pictures: They were taken with my cell phone so the quality is not the best. Lately when I try to take a picture of her with the regular camera, she covers her eyes because of the flash. But they are so cute. In the first one I had told Mary that it was time to get dressed, so she ran to her chair and started "lounging." Lately she will not get dressed without a fight (nor will she bathe without a fight). The next one she was wearing my high heels (its hard to see that in the picture) and she wanted her sunglasses on (which do not stay on her face because she has tiny little ears and a tiny little nose--thanks to her dad:o) and that means I had to be speedy to get the picture). She is a good little walker in mom's heels. I'm impressed. The last picture was taken after the shoe party. She was so exhausted from the excitement that she fell asleep reading her books. When she saw that picture just now she said, "night, night." Then she put her finger to her mouth went "SSHHH."

Today Mary had her 18 month check-up (Yes she is 19 months, but March was a very busy month for us). She is always so scared and clingy. When the doctor examines her--you can see that she wants to cry, but is holding it all in until she is all red-faced and tears are running down her face. She did the same thing when she got her shots--didn't even cry. Well she is healthy and in the 50th percentile and so on and so forth.

I am constantly amazed by the fact that only yesterday she was just my little baby and now she is truly a little girl. Although sometimes she crawls up into my arms and says "baby." This means that she wants me to cradle her in my arms--like a baby--and say "aaawww, look at my little baby." Then she laughs and squirms free. She doesn't really want to be held like a baby--she is too independent.

Right now we are working on (among other things) trying to leave our hair in pigtails. Her hair is finally long enough for pigtails and it is so adorable. She likes the word pretty, so I tell her how pretty her hair is and sometimes that is enough for her not to mess with it. In the last couple days we have gone from pigtails lasting seconds to hours. We are making much progress.






Mary's phrases of choice right now are, "I sorry," "I fall," "Thank you," and "Okay" which is pronounced, "Otaaaayyee." "I sorry" is used even if she's not sorry, but you should be. And "I fall" is used when she falls, which is often, and if something is dropped. "Thank you," like "I sorry" is said when you give her something or she gives you something. It's very sweet and I am excited that she has some manners. I AM doing something right!

Lastly, Mary now loves to talk on the phone. She went from preferring to speak to the phone when nobody is there, to now preferring a person to talk to her. What do you know? So now unfortunately, when I am talking on the phone, she is yelling "talk, talk!" and reaching for the phone.

If you are wondering about the top picture: it is Mary with her bikini bottoms on her head. Apparently I haven't shown her the correct way to wear them. Alrighty well that's it for now.