Weeks, herbs and babies...

As I awoke from my Sunday Nap, on the bottom bunk, by Paisley coming in to lay next to me (for the 6th time in two hours), I thought to myself, that this is the 2nd week in a row, that I have enjoyed a Sunday nap. Naps are not something that happen very often around here. I'd be stretching it if I said that I have had 5 Sunday naps since Ella has been born. Let me know if I'm wrong, Scotty. And then I started thinking about how I've been living my life in weeks lately. Scott has a two week break. The girls go back to school in a week. Lately, there is a very distinct line between my good weeks and my bad weeks. I've been dissecting my life, I don't know if that is how I remember important dates or occasions, but it has found a natural way into my life without me noticing, until now. I'm almost believing that because Scott has got less than 52 weeks left of school left that I am subconsciously thinking that we are less than 52 weeks away from Scott Graduating and having an income again shortly after that! That may be a good reason.

Anyhow, what I wanted to originally post about is herbs...
Every WEEK we go to Fairway, one of our favorite, grocery stores around here. One of the reasons my father-in -law loves Fairway so much is because they have HUGE buckets of olives and other pickled items. Scott loves their hand pulled mozzarella, the girls love their freshly baked french bread...and I, I love their herbs. Their fragrant, bouquets of fresh herbs that I can take home and enjoy. However, because they are so large, it is hard to use all of the herb before it either freezes, wilts or turns black, so I have created "Herb of the Week." Three weeks ago it was Basil (the biggest, most beautiful bouquet of all.) Two weeks ago it was cilantro (which we made carne asada eggs benedict out of, added to salads and ate with Mexican food) And last week was mint (I've been adding it to salads and lemonade like crazy.) We're going grocery shopping tomorrow and I need to pick my next herb of the week. I'm having a hard time choosing though...I can't think of any others that are as widely versatile as those three. Any ideas?

And with the whole nap thing...We've been talking baby business around here...when the next one's coming, what would it be, what would we name it and then Scott and I noticed a couple laying on the huge rock slates in Central Park..."If we wait to have another baby, next year we can come here and lay on the rocks together, on my days off, while the girls are in school! That sounded mighty appealing...and besides, our girls are finally at an age where they can kind of silently play, find food for themselves and only make a minor disaster without my supervision! But, I still want a baby more. It would only take 40 weeks, after all!
Love Our Babies...

Mariella at 9 months old
Paisley at 6 months old

NYC, you have been our backyard and we LOVE You.!

Tonight I wobbled to the Post Office to get our Netflix movies in before the last pick up at 7pm. Scott has a system down, as to how to get movies coming in and out as fast as possible. Anyways, I say wobble because my ankles and legs are swollen and gooey from 4 mosquito bites.(So I itch them every so often!) I called my mom on the way, during my alone time for the day, to ask a question about back pain that I've been having...

Although this week has been quite lovely with Scott on a break and us enjoying each other's company at places like ALL the Central Park Playgrounds, The Bronx Zoo (got to love donation/FREE day!), double stroller jogging in the parks, visiting the Belvedere Castle at 79th in CP....THE MOSQUITO'S HAVE BEEN on duty! I have been eaten. But what worries me is that after being at the Bronx Zoo yesterday(Can you imagine all of the "special mosquitoes" they probably have there?) , I awoke in the middle of the night in extreme pain...itchy all over, backache, stiff neck...I had to SMEAR toothpaste all over my legs and ankles at 3 am to try and ease the pain...WEB MD has diagnosed me with a mild reaction to West Nile. (Along with several other diagnosis ;) I think I might have them checked out tomorrow.

Back to the walk, I decide to stop at CVS on the way home, b/c I love their rewards system, we needed more toothpaste and I decided that I WANTED something to make me feel a little better...I ended up with some of this....

...It has a fun pump that has color care on one side and anti-breakage on the other...yea, yea...it's probably just VO5 and Suave, side by side, but I also thought it would look pretty next to our moldy shower tiles and sand infested bathtub (we've been spending LOTS of time at the park.)The bottles are tall and slim, which is pretty much the only size that will fit on the edge without falling.

And some of this...

(Diet Arnold Palmer Half Lemonade/Half Iced Tea)

...What can I say? Tea helps with inflammation!;)

As for my mosquito bites, I also got a hold of some cream that Scott is going to anesthetize me with tonight....muahhahahaa !!

Central Park- West 80's

Central Park was torn up last week b/c of a severe thunder storm. Some of these pictures are of one of the tree's that fell over. Scott is giving a basic lesson on "How to tell how old a tree is!"
The Bronx Zoo

The girls had the choice of either going to the Children's Zoo or Riding a camel. They jumped right on that Camel! Right before it was their turn!!
Scott was already uncomfortable and it hadn't even started moving.! Poor guy, it dislocated (sp?) his hip!
He walked like a cowboy the whole way home.

Belvedre Castle- Central Park- 79th Street

Belvedere Castle (1865) sits atop the second highest natural elevation in the park. It is known as the most Magical Monument. The castle serves as a weather station! All weather reports of the park are taken from the castles reading.
The views include the Delacorte Theater, home to the very popular Shakespeare in the Park series, the newly-restored, 55-acre Great Lawn, once one of the Park's original reservoirs and, directly below, Turtle Pond. (centralpark.com)

Two days in the life of the Allred Fam.

We were out of a camera for a couple of weeks while we were in Utah and Vegas. Thankfully, we were headed to spend a few days with the picture taking queen, Mona-Kay and her 3 sweet, giggling kids...Caleb, Sage and Gavin. (I made sure to download her pictures before we headed back to Vegas! She's the one who got me started with all of this blogging business!) Both of our husbands were off in separate big cities doin' what they do best...working! So we dealt with the craziness together for a couple of days. A BIG thank you goes out for always making things special when we come to visit! And for the pictures! And for the Sonic Ice which I devoured, b/c I'm deprived of ice in NY! And for the snickerdoodles when Ella requested them. We feel so special :) We started the festivities with some backyard play...something my girls NEVER take for granted.

Homemade mini pizzas were next! Our bbq chicken ones were soooo yummy. It's all about the Rhodes Rolls...why can't I find them NYC?!

We were in Utah at just the right time.... During the Oquirrh Temple Open House. I remember the Las Vegas Temple Open House as a young girl and am so glad my girls got to walk through the beautiful, peaceful temple. The kids were very well behaved. After the open house, we met Bryan (Scott's Brother), Kalyn, Ali, Josie, Carter and Nicolette at Chick-Filet to say, "See you next time!"
They were flying out the next morning.

Things got a little crazy, with two moms and 5 kids, but it didn't stop Mona from filling Mariella's only request! Snickerdoodles, anyone?! They were gone very FAST! MMM...

We got very lucky on a hot afternoon and got to jump on their neighbors water slide!

It was so fun to meet up with Christina (Spencer's Sister) and her 3 kids! We try to meet up at least once a year, right?! We spent time together (our husbands played XBOX)during our young married life, in the Silverado Ranch area of Vegas! It is always fun to see children that we knew as teeny tinies!


We also did some face painting and animal balloons right before we headed out! Mona said that Caleb was crying big, blue tears when we left....the face paint was smearing. We love you Cubby...and Sagie...and Baby Gav!

What we like to do best on Saturdays...besides chores...

Scott really would have made an excellent College Cheerleader. We're known to do our own stunts occasionally...like right after we watch ice skating or cheer leading or when Scott needs something to bench press! We get riled up, especially if it's raining or if we're getting close to cabin fever.

Multi-tasking at it's finest...he's watching tv.

MOMMY'S TURN!!!

You didn't believe me, did you?

Paisley was the photographer. I was all the way up in this one!

And for the grand finale, at Paisley's request, the heaviest of us all...
...the stuffed puppy/bear....we can never decide what it is, actually.

But, it is loved. That's for sure.

She has no fear!

(Ella's Cannonball at the Hilton Bayfront in San Diego August 2009. When Scott was there watching, she would come up from under the water, look at Scott with her hands in the air and "WOOOOOOO!!!")

Our goal was met. Ella learned how to swim this summer! A few more times at the pool and she'll be swimming from one side to the other without floaties. We may be starting at square one by the time we make it to a pool again though! Winter is coming fast around here!

Scott agreed that our girls have enough adventure and daredevil in them that he doesn't feel like he needs a rowdy little boy. We've already got two of those, rough housin', piggy-back riding, wrestlin' princess'!

Ella's just getting too big. She starts Kindergarten in 2 weeks and I'm sad to report that she probably feels like she was ready to go last year! She thinks nothing of her next big step and I hope that it goes as smoothly as she so naturally, knows that it will!

Sea World

Guess Who?

Yup, it's SHAMU!

Glad I wore my suit, b/c Ella LOVED sitting in the "Splash Zone" at every show. We were completely drenched in salt water thanks to the dolphins and Mariella's fabulous seat choice. Ouch.Burn. And Hay like Hair after it dried.

A hungry Ray. Some of them thought they were dolphins, jumping around and splashing people. It was just silly.
Fish Guts for the Rays. Ella proceeded to dissect the head before handing it to Scott to feed the Ray. She's all about dissecting anything.

Cool Shark Exhibit
Love this statue...and the little girl standing in front of it.

This is Mariella, holding a sea star. Don't worry she told it to hold its breath! Gasp! This was before we read the sign that said to keep them under the water.
The same tortured sea star.

Mariella's Favorites were the Sea stars, by far! She got very into her role as the sea star patrol child, helping other children properly touch them after learning from her mistake. We couldn't get the child to leave the area. Of course she liked the whales, dolphins and sharks too.

Paisley's favorites were the little otters. She thinks they are so stinkin' cute. She also loved the Pet's Rule show, seeing that she loooves dogs so much.

The last time we went to Sea World was with Scott's Parents, Sean and Elena and Lara and Jeremy in 2003, I think it was! I am hoping that it will only be another 5 years before we make it back. We'll introduce it to our second round of children, by then, maybe.

Alright so seriously...

I have a hard time just relaxing sometimes and I must say that San Diego cured me! Call me bratty, but I love, love, love for my bed to be made and for clean towels to magically appear and to have a bike peddler peddle me home from dinner! And I don't need these luxuries everyday, but...may I please have them everyday?! I don't know if there is any mom who would disagree, but I may be wrong. Let me know.

(Thanks for the creme brulee, Scotty.

He and the girls went to the giftshop and got Drumsticks for dessert! )

What made it the most enjoyable, is that I could just play with my family. No cooking, minimal cleaning, no Internet. Just having fun, being together as a family...and we hadn't had very much of that lately.

The Famous San Diego Zoo was visited...

we had the 3-in-1 passes, so next we headed there! Scott met us in between his day of meetings. I got a foot massage as you can see, Ella itched her back on the animals itching post and Paisley fell in love, once more with the petting zoo.

Ella's favorite's: The very large snake exhibit. King Cobra, Anaconda, Rattlers

Paisley's favorite's: Koala's and anything that was a baby. The gorilla especially. "Mommy, look at that baby __________, it's sooooo cute!" This includes the "baby fans" that are hanging from ceilings. AKA- ceiling sprinklers! :)

Next up on our very much needed family vacation...

My parents, the girls and I went to the Seaport Village the next morning, where my mom and I got to look and shop, while my dad and the girls found their own fun things to do!

Then, Scotty had a long break, so we picked him up and headed to La Jolla for a picture perfect scenery and the most delish Carne Asada Eggs Benedict ever! My sister-in-law, Elena had recommended this sweet little Villa on the beach to eat at. Conveniently enough, there was a cove right across the way for the girl's sand digging pleasure! It was beautiful. We know where we want to live next...haha. Ya know? The 2nd most expensive city in America!
(The Brockton Villa)

A Detour...

I apologize for these huge postings...I'm trying to remember all that we did during this summer! We were all packed and arrived to the airport to fly back to NYC... To find that our flight had completely sold out because of canceled flights and bad weather (we flew standby)...so that was my definite sign that we were supposed to head to San Diego, to meet Scott while he attended a Nurse Anesthesia Conference!! WOO HOO! To sum it up, it was the most relaxing, carefree vacation that I'm pretty sure I have ever experienced! So here goes all that went on...

My parents were the BEST to offer to drive the girls and I down there and they even got to stay a night and day! Thanks Mom and Dad! We of course had to stop by the McDonald's in Barstow for breakfast, eat in the train and Grandpa brought back my favorite "rock candy" for the girls! It's a tradition ya'll!



I'm just so glad we decided to make this trip! Anyways, next we stopped in Escondido at the Wild Animal Park. Ella's favorite exhibits were the Meercats and the Flamingos. Paisley's favorite was the petting zoo. She and Ella just fell head over heels over a small goat that had lost an eye because of an infection. Now if that isn't unconditional love, I don't know what is! THey kept making their way back to the same lonely goat to give it their TLC.

So we went on the bus tour of the park, which was very informative and fun! We saw the giraffe, elephants, rhino, all kinds of deer, lions, zebra flirting, red-eyed bulls. I loved the place, except for the very large amount of bees and hornets that were very thirsty and were EVERYWHERE. My kids were freakin' out and I wasn't a very good example at being still and not screaming and running in the first place either...thanks for putting up with us mom and dad.

Once we where in San Diego I told Scott, "There ain't no way you were gonna come down here alone for a week long vacation, without us!" We hadn't seen him in a month! It was a sweet reunion, we had missed our boy.

Friends.

I was very fortunate to visit several long time friends this trip out...

Beth, Jube, Karisa and Pais too! Ella and Beth's daughter, Aubrey are special little friends. Karisa and I have been friends since 6th grade. Beth and I grew up in the same ward as little girls.

Beth's son, baby Josh had no fear! Karisa was teaching all the kids how to swim!

Holly and I have been friends since Kindergarten! I can't believe Ella is the same age right now that Holly and I were when we met!
(April and I became good friends our senior year, when I played Sandy and she played Frenchie in our school version of Grease! We had fun during our first couple years of college...apartment hunting, getting ear piercings, highlighting our own hair and having movie nights. April just had her first little son last week. )

Two of my favorite girls. You've seen them before!

Third generation friends, right there! Kaitlyn and Mariella- Can I just tell you how special and rewarding it is to see my friends children and mine playing together?Tara and Jube
(I love the Slack Sisters...all of them...so much! So happy I got to meet baby Gianna! Thanks for letting us swim in your pool Karisa!)