Back from another Fab Journey...

Hey Y'all:

I know it's been a while since I've posted and that's because I was off on another fab journey with the Brown Crew! We had an absolute blast in California but honey I have plenty to share with you.

I'll give it to you in small bite sized pieces. Lets start with travel...
If you follow me on twitter (which you all should of course @MrsDeveter) I'm sure you've read about my disastrous travel situation both coming and going! I must start by saying that after this past travel I don't heart Delta not even one tiny bit. I know that many things are out of the control of the pilot, flight attendants and desk workers but honey... being 'marked' late for a flight that you were in the airport to hear board and take off is NOT late in my book. That's a whole nother story, one that I really don't think I want to regurgitate. Needless to say Delta is not on my top list of travel providers, the one good thing they have going for them is the play area in their Salt Lake City terminal.

Here is a little something I wrote that I must share...

5 Minutes
Five mins or 300 seconds seems like a short amount of time but in actuallity it can change a whole lot of things. Within 5 mins a baby who was safely snug in it's mothers womb could make their entrance into the word; 5 mins can turn you from fiance to wife with the simple words 'I do'. Five min early or late can cause you to lose or gain a job and 5 mins late can cause you to miss a plane and spend five hours in an airport with three children anxious for a trip to California!

Our flight from NYC out of JFK was at 7:05 a.m. on a Sunday morning. We reached the airport check-in line at 6:05 a.m. Delta told us we were too late to check in. How about that? We stood in the airport and heard our flight board and take off because of 5 mins!

Here is what I learned... First off don't time time for granted.

• ALWAYS check in online. Don't leave anything up to chance. If you have the ability be sure to check in before you even reach the airport it will just make your life a whole lot easier
• ALWAYS get to the airport an hour and 45 mins before your flight is due to depart
• ALWAYS pack the DVD player and cell phone chargers in your carry on (my beautiful husband packed them in the darn checked luggage so by the time we were at the airport for hour 2 Erick's DVD player was dead and so were our phones.
• ALWAYS bring enough snacks for the kiddies. Thankfully we were well prepared, airport food is EXPENSIVE and unhealthy for three under six year olds.
• Last but certainly not least ALWAYS keep your cool! If my husband wasn't handling the folks trying to rebook our flight it would have been ugly. I might have hurt somebody and allowed Leah to scream her very high pitched scream into somebodies ear!

Stop by often because I'll have plenty of updates for you regarding our trip especially information on the beautiful Escondido area, the Lawrence Welk Resort, Disneyland, Lego land and A Day Out with Thomas in lovely Fillmore, CA.

Until next time...

MUAH! and I missed you!

VACATION: Cali here we come...

Hey Y'all:

While watching NickJr last night a song came on about going on a trip.


Erick asked me if we went on vacation yet and I told him no, but we are going on vacation in April.

"where mommy" he asked
"to California" I said
"California that's great" he said
"where's California?" he then asked

He was too cute with his mock excitement about a trip to a place he didn't know anything about. I explained where California is and that we were going to take a plane to get there. He was really excited to hear that we would go to the airport and wanted to know if we were going after school today. After that bit of the discussion he thought about California some more and then it clicked, to him California is where Red Car (Lightening McQueen from Disney's Cars) lives. It's where the Piston Cup race was held!

"Mommy can we see Red Car" he asked.
"Yes we can. Mommy is going to make you a count down calendar so you can count the days until our trip."

Needless to say my little boy is really excited about our upcoming California vacation to Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, Legoland, Sea World and Universal Studios! I think I'm more excited though as he's much older this time around for a Disney trip and will really enjoy himself.

Here is the calendar I created... whatchathink?















Until next time...
MUAH!

Spring is ALMOST here.....

Hey Y'all:

The sun is FINALLY shining here in NYC and I am oh so glad! It's getting darker later and I'm thinking SPRING which ultimately equals spring break.

Since I'm thinking spring I thought I would share some spring break actives that you can enjoy with the little ones. Some of these do require taking time off of work but it's always nice to spend quality time with your dear hearts don't you think?

Check out your local library - My oldest still doesn't have his library card so that's definitely on my list. There are always plenty of free activities at the library that you can participate in. Go to your local library website and see what they have going on.

Chill with family - It's always nice to see Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill when there isn't an 'occasion' (you know a wedding or funeral) go for a drive and visit someone you haven't seen in a while. You never know, they might volunteer to watch the kids for you so you can have a break!

Hang out at the museum - Every city has one, most even have children's museums find yours and spend the day. It's educational and fun.

Go on a Factory Tour - I know what you are thinking "MrsDeveter I have no interest in a factory" but your children might. Wouldn't you be the least bit curious to see how they make crayons or even cereal? There are factories all over the country many who are open for public tours. Search the net and find one in your area.

Participate in a volunteer project - Y'all know I'm all about volunteering... head over to the Disney Give a Day Get a Disney Day site and volunteer for a project with your family and be rewarded with Disney tickets

Host a spring time party - If you have a backyard this will equal toooo much fun, if not visit a community park and have a scavenger hung. Spring is a perfect time to celebrate the rejuvenation of the earth and what better way to celebrate then with a party?

Plant a garden - It doesn't have to be in your backyard, visit a community garden in your neighborhood. If one doesn't exist START one! Again a perfect opportunity to teach your little one about the earth, it's also an opportunity for your child to learn how food is made.

Bring your kids to work - OK so not everyone can take a day off of work... but wouldn't it be cool to bring your kiddies to work (check with your employer first) they can see what mom and dad does all day while they are a school learning. This is a great experience for older children especially. I mean really, who doesn't want to show off their cuties?

Get the spring cleaning DONE - OK, nobody really likes to do this but we all must. Spring is the perfect time to pack away the winter clothes and unpack the fun short sleeved tee shirts and spring jackets. To make it fun for the kids help them organize their books and toys and encourage them to donate their gently used items that they don't play with anymore.

Take a vacation - Why not visit the spring break 2010 #1 destination? Orlando, FL. Who's in Orlando? Mickey Mouse and the crew of course! Orlando is just a fun place to be during a break so why not spring break? Oh and you can use your ticket to the park from your volunteer project! (MrsDeveter always makes the connection!)

Do you have any spring break ideas? If so share them in the comments section.

Until next time...
MUAH!

Honey I locked the kids....

Hey Y'all:

Yesterday was quite an eventful one for the family.

My Husband locked his keys in the car, no problem we have AAA.

The twins were in the car.

Problem!

Here is the story as it was told to me, wayyyy after the fact.

My beloved and the twins were at the laundromat, the twins are super active at 19 months old so hubby decided to keep them in their car seats. At this point they were eating Burger King and watching a Nick Jr. DVD. The clothes were done washing so Daddie (that's what the twins call him) decided to run in and put the clothes in the dryer. He loaded the twins up with french fries, picked up the fabric softener sheets, put them in his pocket and put the clothes in the dryer. By the time he was done he realized it was time to pick Erick up from school. He runs back out to the car, reaches in his pocket for the keys to disarm the alarm and....

They weren't there

The keys weren't in his pocket

The keys were in Erick's carseat besides Leah who was strapped in her carseat eating french fries.

He paused

Didn't panic this time like he did when he locked the keys in the car on our 13th anniversary while we were away in CT earlier this year. This time he didn't call 911 he called AAA. They told him to hang up and dail 911 since the kids were in the car!

The dispatcher sent auxilary police and two female police officers. They checked to make sure the twins weren't in danger but had to wait for the crew to come and unlock the car doors. Once they determined the twins were physically fine (all the french fries were now gone, so they were crying their little heads off) and the hubby wasn't in trouble.

He then tells them he has another problem... he needs to pick Erick up from school! The auxilary police take him to the school, while the two police officers wait with the twins. Hubby picks Erick up in the auxilary police car, when they get back the crew who unlocks the door is there. Hubby takes Leah out of the car and one of the officers take Myles out of the car...

Erick taps his father and say "oooooh Daddy, Myles and Leah are going to jail" hubby says "no they aren't" and chuckles.

The twins are fit to be tired.... The police officers tell hubby that he's ok and to just be careful. The clothes are dry and the twins are now running around the laundrymat!

Fun times for the Browns! What a Journey! This bought to mind the one and only episode of Modern Family i've seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wezT5rTaCmQ

I'm thinking we need OnStar! Do they make that for Camary's.

Would love to hear a story from you.

Until next time...

MUAH!