parenting 101

Disneyland was amazing as I stated earlier in my blogs.  One of Ben's favorite rides was a ride called Astro-blaster.  You are in a car and you have blasters.  As you navigate via car thru the attraction you blast at any Zurg targets.  It's a fun ride for all.

As we were waiting in line, my nephew Justin so a little guy standing alone and bent down to ask him if he was lost. The little boy told Justin that his grandma said to go in and find someone to ride along with him.  He was lucky that he found Justin and us being the good people that we are.  After the ride was over, we walked the little boy over to his grandmother and tried to explain how wrong it was to send a six-year-old boy in by himself.  I don't she got it.  In today's scary world putting a child on a ride without an adult with him/her is ballsy.  As we walked away from the boy and his grandmother I couldn't help thinking about Ben and all the adults that surrounded him at Disney.  Every ride he wanted to go on was a challenge for Ben.  Who would be the lucky rider with him.  Ben was astounded that any loving family member would let a child go on a ride unsupervised.  His exact words were that the grandmother should go to jail.  

Ben has grown up with the attention of tons of adults and loved ones looking out for him.  He could not fantom this ever happening to him.  Even at home, he is watched over and cherished.  We have built so many safety nets around him.  Thank goodness for this! 

My impressions of the City of Angels

Okay-here we go.   First of all, our vacation was so great, but I did leave LA with some definite impressions-

LA was:

-a city with definite traffic issues

-almost bug-free; not a mosquito in sight.

-smoggy-fog and smoke together make smog-Calabasas was way better but the city itself on some of the days we were there was covered in a blanket of this

-beautiful people many of whom worked for "the industry"

-crowded

-full of every kind of food imaginable and most of it being healthy-can you imagine a cart full of healthy snack options that we saw at several stands at Disneyland existing at Cedar Point.

-skinny-size 2 is the average size there.  No real curves in sight. 

- filled with oceanic views.  Malibu is the place you want to be for great pics of the ocean and you might even catch a star or two hanging around.

-busy-City Walk was a great example of that.  Tons of people were just hanging out at 10:00 in the evening.  No stores except Meijers or video stores are open past nine here.

-dry heat-you don't have bad hair days there-you also don't sweat the minute you step outside like you do here.

-filled with the richest of the rich living the easy life

-a town that is the home to 5 of the best people in the world-we miss you so much.

-a great town to visit.  We'll be back

One last impression....LA is a rock and roll kind of city-I am so glad we weren't around to experience the quake!

Disneyland

Here are some picts from our fabulous Disney day.  My all-time favorite ride was Space Mountain with astro blasters as a close second.  

interesting food and drink

Ben's "milky" We found 

the world's largest bottle 

of milk just perfect for him.

                                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                          This is an example of some of Jay's brother Jeff's candy creations.  He mixes these candies together to make a trail mix minus anything healthy-lots of yummies in the tummy!

san diego

It is Thursday here in San Diego.  My body has reset somewhat.  I got up today at 6:00 CA time.  San Diego was as exactly as I remembered it-the perfect climate-sunny all year rounds and in the 7os.  

Tuesday we arrived here and hung out at the hotel.  We went to Old Town for sight seeing, shopping and dinner.  Old town is actually considered a historic park here in CA.  It is basically little Mexico with street vendors pedaling all the same fare-pottery, wind chimes, ponchos, blankets and lots of toys calling out to the young at heart.  It was a great place to purchase some little trinkets for our loved ones.  We had dinner at this restaurant called Guad-a-something.  The food was mediocre but the strawberry margererta was thirst-quenching.  

Wednesday was Sea World day.  We got up and had breakfast at the hotel and off we went.  Accolades to Janice for finding a great hotel (Residence Inn by Marriot) that not only serves complimentary breakfast but also dinner-go figure)  First we (as in Jay and I ) got soaking wet on this ride called Atlantis.  Ben was with us but did not get as wet as we did.  It was a great water ride.

We pretty much did Sea World.  We saw almost all of the shows offered.  We went on a tour called "Saving the Species".  The highlights of this tour included petting bamboo sharks and feeding the sea turtles.  We also got to handle star fish and pet rays.  By the way, the best deal for Sea World is definitely thru the AAA discount-We got $15.00 off for each ticket.

The best part of the day was our visit to Mission Bay-where we honeymooned almost 15 years ago.  We visited our hotel, which has weathered time quite nicely.  We walked the trails where we rode bikes up and down; we went to the beach where we meet the sweet little girl leukemia patient ( I will blog her story at a different time); and we went to the board walk and Belmont park where Ben left with a plethora of stuffed animal winnings.

My check list here in San Diego has been completed!  

We have arrived

Yea!  We are here.  It never ceases to amaze me how fast plane travel is.  Four hours and forty-five minutes to go from the rainforest of Michigan to the scorching oven-dry heat of southern California. The trip was uneventful-thank goodness-with only minor turbulence by the Rockies.  It was a great day for flying

We deplaned and met with Jay's brother Jeff.  Then we lunched with the rest of the family and went back the Chez Weiss Calabasas and hung out.  Great first day!  

Today we awoke at 4:45 (7:45 our time) and hung out waiting for the rest of the world here to wake up.  Here Ben and I are-Ben is wearing his LA Dodgers hat.  Happy Tuesday and soon we will be off to sunny, wonderful San Diego.

Off we go...

It is the day before our big trip to sunny California.  We are so excited-Ben wants to get up at 1:30 in the morning so we won't be late!  Actually, jokes aside, we will be greeting dawn tomorrow from the airport.  Our flight leaves at 6:30 am so that means we need to be up at 3:45 and out of the house by 4:15.  When I delved deeper into this thought it occurred to me that we are probably taking what is known as the "red eye" to CA.  Yawn-I am already sleepy-my hope is to sleep some on the plane.

So to all my readers, please be ware.  Stories and pictures from our trip will be posted here.  See most of you in a blink of an eye!

Updates on the Z Man and Bennyhana-also known as Big Show

The Z Man and Bennyhana (Ben's camp nickname) just completed their 4th week of camp.  They have had 3 weeks of Heritage Park and 1 week of Camp Invention.  I have to say, that they are definitely buddies.  Yesterday after camp, they came home and went right upstairs to Ben's room.  Toys that have not been played with in so long were out and when I checked on them, they were in imagination mode.  The tv was off; the Wii sat idle and the boys had a blast.  A couple of times Z when downstairs to check to see if his mom had arrived, and cheered when she hadn't.  

It was one of the best decisions on us as parents to hook these two boys up for camp.  I think these two little guys are going to be seeing a lot more of each other.  When Sheri did pick up Zach, she invited Ben to come over for a playdate today.  Bennyhana's reply-Yea!  

Being Recognized

As most of you know, last week got a new Mac-book and i-touch.  Both of our new toys are fun and we are all becoming more and more proficient on the workings of each.  However, there was a small glitch on the touch that Jay could not figure out so today we went to the apple store to rectify a minute glitch called the same song keeps playing over and over again.  When we walked in we were greeted by a concierge and within a few seconds of talking to us he stated that he knew us-from of all places-Game Stop.  He then listed my favorite game cube-Monkey Ball and knew that we had a young boy.  

Now this alone is a very sad commentary about us.  Our son is so completely spoiled that the staff at Game Stop recognized us from going there so much!!!  Wow-reality flash!  

Same song-Different tune

10 some years ago I found out that a friend, that I had known since I was 2, wife was pregnant. My wife Carol was also in her late months of pregnancy. When he told me that he was having a son, I thought that this is way cool. There will now be a new generation like he and I who can be great friends. After we hung up and I thought about it for a few seconds and I quickly called him back and told him I did not want his son anywhere near my kid. This took him aback somewhat. I then pointed out to him, to think about all of the things that we did together as children (most can not be written about do to the statute of limitations have not expired yet). I then pointed out that our kids will likely be smarted and have more tech at their disposal. We both shuddered. Well the best laid plans oft go awry and as it turns out they are great friends now. Go figure, mini versions of Dave and me getting along. But as the title states while they are mini versions of us they are different in many ways. Dave as a child was more on the reserve side. He was not going to do roller coasters or try anything that was too unusual. Zach(his son) gobbles up roller coasters and flosses his teeth with the rails. He is willing to try foods that I could not even pronounce at his age. As a child I was somewhat out going. I loved roller coasters and did many a stupid and dangerous things, and have the scars to prove it. Ben(my son) is far more reserve he likes to think about what he is going to do and prepare for it. He is less adventurous than I was. He also has no scars as result. Now both Ben and Zach do have their dads creative minds, heaven help us all. But again the different thing is they have a much stronger sense of moral obligation than Dave and I had. I was discussing with Dave some silly behaviors the kids were doing at my house and we agreed that we were never that silly. We also agreed that we were a bit more larcenous at that age(again details can not be given do to agreements with the witness protection bureau). So all in all I am glad they are friends and I hope in 40 years they can be discussing how their children are getting along.

Heating up

It's here-the dog day's of summer.  Where exactly did that phrase come from?  Today it reached 90 and the heat will continue on into the weekend.  I love and hate it and the same time.  I love it because this kind of day is what keeps me upbeat while I am shoveling my driveway for the 50th time in the winter.  I love it because it is the perfect day to be outside, but only if I am submerged in water.  I love it because if I get too hot I can go indoors to chill out.  I love it because when it's this hot it means that I am enjoying summer vacation-no more pencils, books or me giving naughty students dirty looks!  I also love the beach.  Nothing is better then sand in between my toys and building sand castles.

I also hate the heat.  Humid head is not a look that is becoming on me!  I doesn't matter how much time I take to try to style my hair because the minute I step outside-instant frizz.  I hate it because sometimes of the storms that humidity can bring.  Thunderstorms are unpredictable and can be a bit scary-especially when they are severe.  I hate heat because it makes me constantly sleepy, but when I do fall asleep,  I get overheated and wake up.  

However, when I  debate what is worse sweltering on a hot summer's day or shivering from the bone-chilling cold of winter, being hot on a muggy summer day wins by a landslide.  So bring on the heat!

friends old and new

I am sitting here typing on my new apple book computer.  We set it up today and seems strangely familiar but oddly different then my desktop downstairs.  But being so hooked on the net I am eagerly attempting to write my blog on this new friend.  Welcome to the Weiss' new and old friend.

The next topic of old/new friends centers around Mrs. Alisa Wrobel. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting this person this weekend.  Her and my hubby Jay grew up together in Oak Park.  It was so weird talking to her-it felt like we already knew each other.  I am a pretty friendly person but don't immediately bond to someone.  But I did with her.  We must have been BFFs in another life time or something.  It was awesome.  Good vibes are being sent to her and her hubby to move back here.  

Competition

Competition is an inherent feature of many peoples nature.  It seems that all you need to do is show someone a record and they will do what ever they can to break it.  I had the dubious honor of holding all the records on the Wii Fit for Hula Hooping.  Considering I am 42 years old and male, that is a major accomplishment.  I however made a terrible mistake.  I made a challenge to a 10 year old girl to try and beat my record.   Little did I know that she is like some kind of bionic super human Hula Hooping machine.  Raised in Russia during the cold war to do nothing but destroy American morale by beating all at a true American sport, the hula hoop.  Cryogenically frozen and made to look like an American girl, she re-emerged to strike down a true American in his Hula hoop prime.  She systematically destroyed all of my records.  So now with an arsenal of Rocky theme songs, I am on a mission to regain my title and bring back pride to all of the real Americans.  Flowers can be sent to me care of Henry Ford Hospital Orthopedic wing.

August Rush

As a teacher, I have grown to despise the month of August.  It means that the good times of summer are almost over and it is time to get back to work.  However, this year I can hardly wait for August.  Our very close family friends are coming home from Germany!!!  

Jay and Betsy became friends when Ben and the twins were in Gymboree together.  I remember him telling me all about her and how I should meet her.  Life changed so much for the better when we did have this meeting and became very close friends.  In fact, we had ever intention of vacationing in Germany this summer with them.  However, their move home came a little earlier then expected and they will be back on  August 2nd.  So come on August!  Yes, I am in a rush to greet you!

Maxi-revisited

It hits you just when you think you are doing better.  We had been gone on a very long shopping excursion today and when we got home Jay suggested that I take Mickey for a walk.  Mickey very excitedly waited for me to put on his leash and practically jumped out the door as it was opened.  I decided to take him on the path across the street from us.  As we were walking, it came to me that the last time I walked this path was with Maxi.  It was a very difficult walk for her especially the end where she had to go up a little hill.  I had to practically drag her up the hill.  I was in a hurry that day, I had to go to work and it was almost time for me to leave.  I was not very patient with her and even muttered a few profane words.  Sorry Maxi, for the attitude on that particular day and for many other days as well.  I would give anything to walk you one last time.

Mom's 70th

My mom turns the big 70 in August.  Last night we had a party for her at Andiamo's/Novi.  My mom is 70-I can't believe it.  It was a wonderful time had by all.  I was thinking about the people that are in her life-her children and grandchildren (she has 5), her brother and sister and their children, her extended families accrued to her by our marriages, and her friends both old and new.  All these people were there.  In fact, there were only 3 people who weren't able to make it. As I looked around the room last night and all these people who were there to help her celebrate this milestone, I thought about how lucky she was.  All the treasures of the world were in that room with her.  

Jay and I are truly blessed in the fact that we both still have 2 sets of wonderful parents that are actively involved in our lives and Ben's.  So many of our friends have lost one or both of their parents.  It so hard to see your parents getting older.  But I keep thinking to myself that it so much better then the alternative.