Three weeks and counting. That's how long it's been for all of us. Sick that is. On and off. It all started with the damn daycare. I know I know. It's a Rite of Passage for children, but the whole family has suffered long enough.
Isa got a sinus infection who in turn gave it to her little brother where they ping ponged it back and forth. That led to El getting bronchitis and me getting a hybrid of everything in between. Isa has gotten "Fifth Disease" which is literally the fifth disease a child gets which results in a "slapped cheek" kind of look and a rash all over. Antibiotics, coughing, runny noses with yellow boogers, crusty eyes dried shut, cough drops, omaxacillin...geez what else?
I'm over it mostly with a slight dry cough once in a while. El is still fighting her bronchitis, Isa is pretty much over everything other than her snot, and Nico (poor little guy) still has snot and a phlegmy cough. And lucky us get to see the kids off to the petri dish, called daycare, to start the cycle all over again this coming Tuesday.
Here they are on doctors visit 2 of 4 in 3 weeks to "unslap" Isa's cheeks and get them some meds. Note how El doesn't look so thrilled as she pacifies Isa with a lollipop swiped from the receptionist's desk and Nico clings to his mommy for comfort.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 09, 2009
Voracious Boy
VoraciousBoy
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527
Where Old Carnival Rides Go To Die...
With so little time to do anything as a family El and I decided to see some of the lesser known excursions of Orlando. Most people know of SeaWorld, Disney, Universal Studios and the outlying beaches, but hardly anyone knows of OLDE TOWN in Kissimmee.
With the first week of daycare under our belt and me feeling pretty good overall with the experience El and I decided to take the kids to this mini carnival. Right outside of Disney's front door this little gem of old school carnival rides, arcade, shops, bars and restaurants is the poor man's vacation theme park.
I've seen TV ads of the place, but never really thought of coming in here in the 10+ years we've been living here. Glad we did. It's a whole different experience than the overblown, overpriced, overstimulating theme parks Orlando is known for.
I've seen TV ads of the place, but never really thought of coming in here in the 10+ years we've been living here. Glad we did. It's a whole different experience than the overblown, overpriced, overstimulating theme parks Orlando is known for.
Once we were here it instantly took me back to the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk when I was a child. All those rides with their colored lightbulbs and simple designs brought back great memories for me, especially the motorcycle carousel that did wheelies and the bumping cars with the mirrorball, blacklights and rock music. Killer.
Talk about brave. Since she's such a shrimp Isa could only ride two of the rides at the park - the carousel and the Tea Cups. A little worried about her getting scare on it I kept the spinning to a minimum until almost the end. After that it was a free-for-all for me. It surprised when spinning madly I heard her screaming "wheeeee!" and laughing.
Emboldened by her stint on the Mad Tea Cups she tried coaxing me to get her on the kiddie roller coaster and the high flying swings.
Emboldened by her stint on the Mad Tea Cups she tried coaxing me to get her on the kiddie roller coaster and the high flying swings.
And It's Off To Daycare...
The trigger was pulled this week. After almost 2 1/2 years we, out of necessity, put the two kids into daycare two days out of the week so El could pick up a couple of extra shifts each week. My boss, Al, (along with a team hit by James) allowed me to shift my schedule somewhat during the week to pick them up at nights. The choice of places we could go to was very limited since we needed a place that was open later.
Children's Academy at Loch Haven, luckily, was open til 8pm. Too bad it was quite the drive off (about 45 minutes one way). Since El's shift started at 7am and ended (typically) 7:30pm to 9:00pm it was mostly up to me to drive them early in the morning and pick them up at night. Quite the task when you have to get up much earlier than I was used to to wake up, feed, change, pack and dress 2 kids and myself and still make it to work at 10am after driving them there thru downtown traffic.
This was week one and El and I both were nervous about how the kids would take it. Ideally we wanted to put the kids in daycare when they got a little older. I wasn't so worried about Nicholas since he was just a baby. Isabella was a different story. I imagined, eventhough she recently became more social with other kids, that she would want to go home to her toys and all things familiar to her. We couldn't sleep.
Children's Academy at Loch Haven, luckily, was open til 8pm. Too bad it was quite the drive off (about 45 minutes one way). Since El's shift started at 7am and ended (typically) 7:30pm to 9:00pm it was mostly up to me to drive them early in the morning and pick them up at night. Quite the task when you have to get up much earlier than I was used to to wake up, feed, change, pack and dress 2 kids and myself and still make it to work at 10am after driving them there thru downtown traffic.
This was week one and El and I both were nervous about how the kids would take it. Ideally we wanted to put the kids in daycare when they got a little older. I wasn't so worried about Nicholas since he was just a baby. Isabella was a different story. I imagined, eventhough she recently became more social with other kids, that she would want to go home to her toys and all things familiar to her. We couldn't sleep.
That first morning I was up after a restless night and things were going pretty smooth and on schedule. By 9:15 I was at Loch haven turning in paperwork, doing the tour, asking questions and informing the caregivers of their routine. Nicholas' dropoff was simple enough. Once I walked Isa to her room she immediately started playing with toys and the other kids. Wow! I think I was more upset than she was. I told her to be good and play nice and I would be back later. "OK. Bye Daddy!" What the hell?!?
Ha! At least it was easier than I thought. All day at work all I wanted to do was get back to them and see how they did. As soon as 7pm rolled around I was off to pick them up. The caregivers informed me that all in all the kids did great. Surprisingly Nico cried most of the second half because of another baby that cried incessantly. Isa didn't nap at all and cried once asking for me :( but was soon appeased with coloring books and puzzles while the other kids slept.
Ha! At least it was easier than I thought. All day at work all I wanted to do was get back to them and see how they did. As soon as 7pm rolled around I was off to pick them up. The caregivers informed me that all in all the kids did great. Surprisingly Nico cried most of the second half because of another baby that cried incessantly. Isa didn't nap at all and cried once asking for me :( but was soon appeased with coloring books and puzzles while the other kids slept.
The second day we were running behind and I barely made it to work on time. I did get the live feed video monitor set up, though, so I could see them at work thru the internet. Pretty neat! It was cool to see Isa running around playing. A quick call to the daycare let me know that Isa and Nicholas did even better. Seems she will take to it better than we thought. Awesome.
Can you spot the little asian kid making his escape on the floor?
Can you spot the little asian kid making his escape on the floor?
Happy Valentine's!
Not to let this day go by unnoticed I planned to bring Valentine's to Eleanor since she had to work. Kids were dressed in their red shirts and we planned to have lunch with her at the new Lakeside Cafe (She recently moved to a new building - quite nice actually).
Not to get too crazy with the spending we got each other little things for each other. The kids, of course, got new shoes, clothes and candy. For El I bought her some things to make her long days at work more comfy, but I also got her a bottle of perfume no longer sold and hard to find. I'm so resourceful. For me she scored a sweet percussion massager for my achy shoulders.
Dinner is always a big deal for me. For days like this I try to indulge her with something she enjoys so I picked up a pair of 2 1/2 lb lobsters and did them up with an herb salad. For dessert I decided to wimp out and bought a tasty chocolate mousse cake, which Isa seemed to REALLY enjoy. Yum!
Great day!
Great day!
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