New York City, Day 3

Busy and productive day!

This morning we had our first meal at AQ Cafe, the casual dinning of Aquavite (a five-star Swedish restaurant). Lox and herring, plus swedish meatballs and potatoes. Then we spent some time in the Heimbold Damily Children's Center at the Scandinavia House. Garrett enjoyed the icelandic themed playroom, the Lego Blocks, and especially the Brio trains.

Next we proceeded to Radio City Music Hall. The theater is impressive with gigantic hydrolics for the stage elevators. However, the tour drags on a bit as though they felt the need to extend it to an hour in order to charge for it.

After the tour Andrea and Garrett headed uptown to the American Museum of Natural History, while I headed to get discount theater tickets (tried before RCMH, but had to come back). Got half price tickets to see Mary Poppins @ 8.

Andrea and Garrett arrived at the museum just before they started letting people in for free. I would have gladly paid for the experience, but Andrea made it up to them by buying Garrett a horse from the gift shop. I might post separately on how amazing the museum was, but suffice it to say it completely exceeded my expectations.

After the museum we headed back downtown to meet Crystal for dinner. Unfortunately her recommended spot was totally overbooked, with an hour and a half wait, but it worked out because we stumbled upon a fun restaurant, called Havana, that sat us immediately and we all enjoyed. Garrett slept through dinner, which has become his standard nap in New York!

After some delicious Cuban food, we said goodbye to Crystal at our theater and went inside for Mary Poppins. The musical must take a lot from the book as it is very different from the movie version, but that makes the experience fresh for fans of the movie. Andrea and I both agree that the first half ran a bit long and dragged a bit with plot setup, but the second half was very strong. The actor playing Burt is fantastic, acting and dancing really well and singing perfectly for the part. Without running it, he does an amazing manuever during "Steppin' Time" that had our jaws on the floor. Garrett was so good and only got antsy near the very end.

As a reward for sitting through a 2 1/2 hour show, we stopped at Toys R Us (in Time's Square) on the walk home and picked up a new car.

Tomorrow is our last day, but it has been an incredible trip. We are looking forward to a fun morning and hopefully an easy flight home.

New York City, Day 2

Central Park Day! We had lunch food for breakfast on the go and headed to Central Park Zoo. Met up with Jen, a friend of Andrea's from elementary school and junior high, who works in Manhattan and had never been to the zoo before. We saw the Sea Lions and the Seals being fed. The penguins were just hanging out, but too crowded, so we past right through to the Puffins. We had a great view of the Polar Bears; one was sunning itself and scratching an itch. Then we saw monkeys, turtles, rain forest birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, and red pandas. The children's zoo is full of barnyard animals and some cool fish.

Our next adventure was finding the carousel. Google failed me by taking us clear to the other side of Central Park (supposedly about a half mile) only to come back half way to the middle. But it was worth the walk as Garrett loved it! After a little refreshment, we found the horse carriage rides and rode through the park.

On the taxi ride to dinner, Garrett fell asleep on his Momma's arm. We had a delicious dinner at Turkuaz (Turkish food). Garrett woke up in time to have some, but he decided he preferred eggs and sausage back at the hotel. We rode the subway with Jen to the nearest stop and said Goodnight, then walked a few blocks to the hotel. Garrett is finally having his dinner while we plan tomorrow's adventure. We have too many things we want to do for only one more full day here!

New York City, Day 1 Part II

Ruby Foos was delicious for dinner. They have some really fun sushi and the company was also a lot of fun. Crystal reminded me that 3 of us at the table are CLMAs.

Afterwards we took Garrett to the M&M store and he bought a bag of all blue M&Ms! Then we walked to Rockafellor Center and took the trip to the top. The view is really amazing up there and Garrett enjoyed the lightroom too (impossible to explain, pictures and video should follow when we return home).

Central Park tomorrow!

New York City, Day 1

Slept in until Noon since that is only 9 back in CA. Took the hotel a long time to finally put us in a King room, but we are there now.

Had a delicious lunch and walked up to 5th Avenue. Garrett had a blast in Disney Store and didn't want to ever leave FAO Schwartz, although Andrea and I were expecting a bit more. Andrea found a nice sweater to keep her warm. It's a little chilly but not cold.

Dinner tonight at Ruby Foos, our favorite place when Andrea and I came five years ago (no pressure).

New York City, Day 0

Today was all travel. Ontario to Atlanta was 3 1/2 hours. Garrett was very good, but quite antsy near the end. Seemed like the longest descent in history. Note to airplane GPS makers. If it says "Time to Destination: 0:00" for 10 minutes before landing, you need to go back to the drawing board on that feature.

Garrett played tag and jumping at the airport to get out some energy. Then we got back on the same plane for the second leg of the trip. For some reason this time, we were not allowed to sit in front of the exit row with a car seat, so we had to move back. It's just funny because we had just flown across the country in that row.

Landed in NYC anf took a taxi to the hotel. So much traffic for 10:30pm. Garrett fell asleep on the ride. I was mesmorized by the mapquest display in the back of the cab. Andrea tried not to get sick from the way cabs drive in New York.

The hotel gave away our King bed, but promised one tomorrow. I transferred Garrett into the bed (he gets his own with two doubles), but he woke up and wanted to eat with us. Had a pastrami sandwich and matza ball soup from Carnegie Deli, super delicious. Garrett had some yummy mac and cheese from another deli very close. Then off to bed.

Tomorrow morning we'll explore the city.

New York, Day -1

Too much to do to get ready for our trip and I'm spending most of it playing with Garrett. Citrus Spring video is too frustrating to finish before we go.

Tomorrow will be mostly spent on the plane, so we're planning lots of games and activities to distract Garrett from the fact that he cannot run around. Wish us (and the other passengers) luck!

Spring Funward

Last Tuesday Garrett completed his first session of little kickers soccer. He is having a blast playing and his favorite game is "Hungry Hippos" where each goal is a hippopotomus and he has to remember their names to know which goal to score the ball in.

We just signed Garrett up for another session of soccer and a new activity, T-ball. We have been playing at home, but now we'll try it with a coach and teammates.

Garrett had a wonderful time in Pasadena at the Kids Museum. He got soaking wet while playing with the water toys and enjoyed climbing to the top of a giant stairway.

FYI, Andrea is in the latest Edition of Scripps Magazine. The issue features a long article about the Dance Department which mentions Andrea and her current endeavours.

PS: Thomas video finally posted

So, I promised a video of Garrett at the Day Out with Thomas, which was actually on YouTube, but never linked to the post. But now that it is down there, I wonder who will actually see it, so I'm reposting it here in case you are interested and do not scroll down to look for new content on old posts!

Happy New Year

The Cordova-Caddes' family had a wonderful holiday. We went on a cruise around Huntington harbor to celebrate Aunt Betsy's birthday.



We enjoyed family celebrations of the Christmas holiday and a trip to New Mexico with Mormor & Papa to ring in the New Year.



Then this week we went to Disneyland with Kelly & the boys and started our new soccer class!

Day Out with Thomas

We had a wonderful time at the Day Out with Thomas. Pictures on FlickR and video below.

LA Fair & Laguna Beach Pictures Loading

As I type this I am uploading some new pictures to FlickR. There are some from our trip to Laguna Beach with Sam, Darren and Eric, and also to the LA County Fair. Garrett really enjoyed the Carosel as well as the Merry-Go-Round.



Coming up this weekend, we are taking Garrett to the San Diego Zoo with Grandma and Aunt Betsy. Then the following weekend is Garrett's 2nd Birthday party! I cannot believe that he is going to be two years old already.

Busy Birthday Business

Today we finalized plans for Garrett's 2nd birthday party. We checked out a location called Wiki Waki and decided it is the perfect spot for the event. Of course we had to try it out for a few hours to be sure. Here is a video of Garrett playing Air Hockey.



Then he and Andrea scrambled through the obstacle course!



Overall, Garrett and I spent a few hours playing there. This evening we went to Grandma's house to celebrate her birthday with Aunt Betsy, Aunt Bev, Rachel and Betsy. We had a wonderful time and discovered that Garrett likes pineapple!

Bless You

This morning when I was in the kitchen I sneezed and Garrett responded with no prompting "Bess You". When I sneezed a second time, he said it again! I'm not sure where he learned it, because I always say "Guzun"... um... I always say it in German.

New Nigh-Night News

Tonight Garrett went to sleep with less help than ever before. I decided to keep reading bedtime stories longer than usual to see what he would do. Sure enough, after about 10 minutes (about half way through his Big Book of Bear Stories) he turned on his side and shut his eyes. I kept reading for about 10 minutes more (finished the book) and when I stood up he stirred slightly, but once the lights were off he relaxed and stayed asleep. He looks so peaceful when he's asleep. I would have taken a picture if I hadn't thought it would wake him. Sweet dreams Garrett.

Weekend with Duncan

After attending the Ice Cream Social at Tutor Time on Friday evening, we took Duncan home to be with Dada and the parakeet, Tommy Bahama, we are bird sitting. We went outside to play with our favorite toys, including the slide, tricycle, scooter and roller coaster. Then, we went for a walk in the "bus". Sophia, our neighbors' pug hoped in to join us on the walk. We spent some time in the patio playing cars with our neighbors, who Garrett calls "Yaya", and their two pugs, "Fafa and "Dala". We made dinner - Garrett's favorite - meatball pizza, which he calls "zaza", and ravioli too. After dinner, we took Garrett to the video store for the first time and let him pick a movie. Duncan and Garrett chose "Happy Feet". When we got home, we put on our pajamas and snuggled on the couch. A few minutes into the movie we decided it was a little scary and fell asleep cuddling instead. We transfered Garrett and Duncan into his new "Cars" toddler bed.



On saturday morning we all snuggled together and then went downstairs to play with "Hama". That is what Garrett calls the bird. After breakfast, we packed up the car and drive down to Orange County. GarreBear (as we call him) and Duncan sat nestled in their car seats and watched Garrett's favorite movie, "Cars". We arrived in Fountain Valley at the classic car show and meet up with Aunt "Dasu" and Uncle "Snuffy". Duncan and Garrett strolled around as we walked through the aisles of well manicured cars. Our favorites were the old fashioned firetruck and police car.

We played in the park - climbing up the jungle gym and sliding down the slide as well as swinging on the swing set. Then, Garrett and Duncan took a nap as we drove farther south to have lunch at Taco Mesa. Aunt "Dasu" treated us to "fro-yo". We went to "Dasu" & "Snuffy's" house to play hockey and introduce Duncan to Daisy, their dalmatian. We went down to the barn to ride the horses - "heheheheeeeee" Garrett says imitating a neigh. Duncan rode "Mai" - short for Mairaush. Garrett fed "Bebe" - short for Briget Bardot. We also had fun chasing after the bunnies and watching the tractors! As we were leaving, we said "Ba-bye" to all of the ants. "Dasu" let us play in her off-roading jeep. Garrett loves to inspect the tires, which are taller than he is!

We drove down the street to "Mormor" and "Papa's" house to go swimming. After lots of splashing and a trip around backyard in the wagon, we took a bath and had dinner. We introduced Duncan to Bella, their italian greyhound, who loves to give kisses. After dinner, Duncan and Garrett played chess and played with the artwork. We love to play with the little glass panda bears and ladybugs. Our favorite was to sit on the statues - "Mormor" says its okay. In fact, it was her idea! Before bed, we introduced Duncan to "Papa's" bear collection. We felt right at home with Papui and the other teddy bears, so he spent the night snuggled with them. "Papa" was ready to adopt Duncan forever, but Garrett firmly told him "No, mine".

On Sunday, we played the piano as a morning wake-up call to the house. We also played with Garrett's "Choo-choo" and relaxed with "Mormor" and "Papa". After breakfast, Garrett took a nap with Duncan and we packed up the car. We drove home to meet "Dasu", "Snuffy", "Daci" and "Nat". We went to "Dada's" martial arts studio and played in the game room (which is filled with trucks) while Sensei taught "Mama", "Dasu", "Daci" and "Nat" self-defense techniques. Garrett took another nap while we drove to Victoria Gardens. We all went out to dinner. Duncan liked that we got to grill our own food at the restaurant. After a delicious Japanese meal, we went to Pink Berry for shaved ice and fresh fruit. It was refreshing! Once we arrived home, we said "Ba-bye" to "Hama". "Dasu" was taking him to his new home. After everyone left, Duncan and Garrett got ready for bed and and we read a few stories. "Ny-nyte!"

Pictures Available Now

Garrett's Tricycle

I just posted a video of Garrett riding his tricycle behind our house.

New Words

Although Garrett's favorite word is still "Bubbles", he has been saying several new words. Last week he said the name of the mermaid in his tatoo "Lu Lu". On Saturday he said "Joe-Joe" (it sounded like "Doe-Doe"), which is the name of cookies from Trader Joes. Tonight he said "bye-bye" and then while watching an "Elmo's World" video he said "El-mo"!

Garrett's a Prodigy (like we didn't know that)

This is ridiculously late! However, a story about Garrett was featured on one of my favorite podcasts Buzz Out Loud, Episode 403 on February 2nd. Despite my tardiness, the episode is still in the RSS Feed if that means anything to you. If you download the file, jump to 32:31 to hear them discussing the email that I sent in about Garrett (I left his name out, but it is him). Or you can click HERE to listen to the section featuring our little prodigy on Podzinger.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today was a very big day for our little man.

First he turned 16 months today. Also it is Valentine's Day and Garrett had a celebration at school with his friends.

However, the most fun news for me to report is that Garrett used his potty for the first time. He's been curious about it since we unpacked it, and has been sitting down on it for a few days, but this morning when I sat him down on it, he actually peed inside the potty! I could tell from the smile on his face that he knew how proud we are of him. He understands so much it amazes me constantly.

Goodbye

We said goodbye to our beloved Yorkshire Terrier, Kiss Me Kate on February 5th. Katie gave so much love in her 17 years of life.