Road Trip...

HER: Vacation time was coming and we were about to go on our family adventure.
I had packed in advance, organizing the "must haves", "must take" and the "must not forget" items.
Frank and I had brought one of the puppy cages and assemble it a couple of times while inside the vehicle the prior weekend for two reasons; make sure it fit, and time efficiency. It was just right too! - We had enough space left for the luggage and Sebastian's seat. All that kept us motivated and in good spirits.

The day finally came and on July the 30Th after a long but successful day at work it was time to start loading the vehicle and get on the road.

Coffee cups, bottled water, pigs ears (for the dogs) activity bag for Sebastian, maps, Texy, rumble. check!
A Burger king stop and on the road we were. (*We have this tradition. Every time we travel somewhere, whether we fly or drive. We always stop at Burger King).

The original idea was to stay overnight in Nashville but we change our plans around 2am and decided to load ourselves with MC D's ice mocha's and pull an allnighter. Frank was behind the wheel, Puppies content chewing their treats and bones, Sebastian was enjoying the adventure while enjoying the audio book we were playing... " A Benjamin Franklin autobiography", I was enjoying the whole experience. It was the perfect drive. We stopped every 3 to four hours for drinks, gas, and potty breaks.
I drove the last 3 and a half hours. Avoiding all the traffic jams we were pulling into the Newkirks driveway at 8:30 am.

Recovery..

HER: Like I mentioned on the previous post. --We were sick for 16 days straight!
I still had work duties to complete.
Bed rest, countless cups of tea, shows, several naps, Nyquill, Dayquill, Advil, soup, lots of liquids, several tissue boxes and toilet paper rolls... Great family care and love... I was strong again! Luckily, Sebastian didn't get sick. In fact, he was very helpful and sweet; the puppies behaved well and kept noise to the minimum; Frank, reminded me of my daily dose of pharmaceutical supplements and vitamins. Accompanied me to tea time several times a day, kept me distracted from house work while watching House and supported my food choices by eating the same.

Frank healed faster than I did. We were both up and ready to go again just in time for our "First Family of 5 road trip ever"!.

July

We got to sneak the pups to the pool!

Legos are different now than when back when...

Sebastian welcomed a new friend.. Rumble.


Frank turned 30! and we celebrated an ice-aged birthday extravaganza at the T-Rex restaurant in Orlando.

Party table.

Behind the cool bar. Everything came to life every 10 mins.

Check out the mammoths!

Sebastian started to read whole books with less pictures!

Here ready Nate the great book of series.

HER: Things were back to normal after my parents left. We required a few extra hours of sleep to catch up with life itself.

We spent a weekend watching a Harry Potter marathon and then went to the cinema and catch the latest movie.

We got sick for 16 days!!!

Absent for the summer..

HER: Summer was great. We were a busy, happy and a very sleepy family.. =)

June: My family came to Jacksonville to visit with us throughout this month. We visited, played board games, cook, ate, shop (A LOT), went to Disney, movies, mini golf among other activities.

After watching "UP" with Sebastian, I had to convince Frank to watch it with me. We met them while at Disney!!!

Dinning at Rainforest Cafe in Orlando.

Outside the Avenues.

"Night at the museum 2 night".

My sister and I picking chickflick books.

Sebastian learnt to swim on his own this month!

My new NITRO!

I turned 27 and got to be a Pincess on my birthday =).

Potty mouth...

HER: Raising a child has been absolutely amazing in different ways.
One thing, you have to watch the things you say around the house or around him at all times, because he will hear from the other room, come running and give his opinion or ask questions of the conversations.
If you know me, I am rather polite and here at our home, we don't swear. Our friends respect our values and try to watch what they say. -----Couple of nights ago, a couple of friends joined us for dinner. Dinner was great and the conversation to follow absolutely entertaining, the funny thing was that one of our friends kept saying "O.M.G" quite a bit and Sebastian kept calling on her. She kept apologizing every time and told him that in New York they use that a lot...
Tonight I took Sebastian to a dinner event at an Italian Restaurant, I translated a few things and taught him some other phrases and while I was talking I let an OMG out.. Sebastian called on me and said.. "Mom you are talking like a New Yorker now...

Glorious caffeine!

HER: I usually start my mornings with a cup of iced green tea, which its particular bitterness helps me wake up. - Like most, I struggle most mornings, if not all. Once I am set with the tea, I am on the "go". I get Sebastian ready, pack his lunch box, a morning glass of milk, Frank's coffee, get ready and off I go.

Once I am at work, I get an iced coffee, my bottled water, diet coke or more iced green tea depending on the mood... and programmed myself to achieve the morning goals. ---- I time myself and try to beat my own timing all time, it is as if I was racing with my own self... I have been called "Machine girl", which is funny but being productive makes me feel good, plus is really like a fabulous workout for me.
Between 7:30am and 4pm I drink around 5 cups of coffee, 6 cups of diet coke, 3 cups of tea between 7am and 4pm.....
Not that was important.. but thought I would tell you anyway..