Visiting Great Grandma - Day 8

On Thursday, the day before we left to go home, we visited with my Grandmother, Aunt and Uncle, and cousin. They all live in Cleveland, OH, where I was born. We drove from NY to OH on Wednesday and then spent the entire next day with them. We had a wonderful time and I am so glad Miles got well enough to go, because if he had continued to run a fever, we were planning on cutting this portion of our trip out to get him home sooner. We lucked out and we are so happy that Miles had a chance to meet his Great Grandmother.

Getting presents

Great Grandma shares her candy

Great Grandma wants to have a catch

Miles is ready for any game

Quick lunch at Burger King

Who was harder to feed, Miles or Great Grandma?

Dinner out with my cousin Andy and his fiance' Julie,
Great Grandma, Aunt Alice and Uncle Bob

Miles really liked Great Grandma's flashlights

Nice family picture at Great Grandma's place


After lunch, we had a few hours to kill before everyone else got off of work, so Aunt Alice was nice enough to drive us around for some sightseeing and then suggest that Miles might like to ride the rides at Kiddie Park. To put it in perspective, my Grandma took my dad and his two sister(my aunts) there when they were little. When I lived in OH (until I was 8), my aunt and uncle brought me there too. It was one of the few things that Miles will do that is at least three generations old. So we were really excited to go. I am sure this was his favorite part of the whole vacation:

We had such a nice time in OH it was a shame that we only had one day. We really wanted Miles to meet his only Great Grandma and for her to meet her first and only Great Grandson. I hold this part of the trip very close to my heart, and I hope we get back to do it again real soon. Thank you so much to Aunt Alice and Uncle Bob (and of course Grandma) for making this trip so special and to my cousin Andy and his fiance' for taking the time to come visit with us while were there.

Kisses for Great Grandma

Belated Birthday Wishes

I just realized while we were gone, I missed posting Auntie Kristina's Birthday. We gave her a small surprise party before we left for vacation, because her bday fell while we were out-of-town. Here are some pics from the party thanks to her mother-in-law Linda:

Happy Belated Birthday, Sis!

CNN Article - Wish this was true!

Mother's love worth $117,000 per year, study says

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- If a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she'd rake in a nifty sum of nearly $117,000 a year.

At-home moms reported working an average of 94.4 hours per week, said the survey.

That's according to a pre-Mother's Day study released in May by Salary.com, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based firm that studies workplace compensation.

The eighth annual survey calculated a mom's market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs, ranging from housekeeper and day care center teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer.

This year, the annual salary for a stay-at-home mom would be $116,805, while a working mom who also juggles an outside job would get $68,405 for her motherly duties.

One stay-at-home mom said the six-figure salary sounds a little low.

"I think a lot of people think we sit and home and have a lot of fun and don't do a lot of work," said Samantha Russell, a Fremont, New Hampshire, mother who left her job as pastry chef to raise two boys, ages 2 and 4. "But they should try cleaning their house with little kids running around and messing it up right after them."

The biggest driver of a mom's theoretical salary is the amount of overtime pay she'd receive for working more than 40 hours a week. The 18,000 moms surveyed about their typical week reported working 94.4 hours -- meaning they'd be spending more than half their working hours on overtime.

Working moms reported an average 54.6 hour "mom work week" besides the hours they spent at paying jobs.

Russell agreed her job as a stay-at-home mom is more than full-time. But she said her "job" brings intangible benefits she wouldn't enjoy in the workplace.

"The rewards aren't monetary, but it's a reward knowing that they're safe and happy," Russell said of her sons. "It's worth it all."

Upstate NY Visit - Day 5

After the last post, I realized I had skipped a day. So without trying to mess things up to much, I am backtracking to Monday.

On Memorial Day, we headed upstate to visit some more friends from college. They all have kids now too, so it was nice to have all of our families get together. We spent the day at one of their houses and then got a quick bite to eat. The kids really got along, as much as 2 year olds can and we all had a great time reminiscing.

Playing with new toys

Comparing golf notes in the playhouse

Big boys in the fort

James and his dad, Jim

Jim, Amy and Erin

Who would have guessed, fifteen years ago, we'd be taking this picture today?

BBQ - Day 6

The day before we left NY for Ohio, we had a small BBQ at Chris' parents house. Miles was finally starting to feel better and of course we were heading out the next day. But he still managed to share a few more smiles before we left.

Anniversary Dinner Day 4

Sunday evening we had a wonderful time at Lola and Lolo's 50th Anniversary party at Alias Smith and Jones, their favorite restaurant. It was a small, quaint party made up of their family and closest friends. Everyone had a good time helping them celebrate their Golden Anniversary. Even Miles managed to make out with quite a few presents at this outing too. In the end he started running a fever again and had developed an all over rash, so this time we figured it was time for a trip to the ER.

After the party we headed back to Lola and Lolo's for a little more celebrating and then off to Long Island Jewish for our emergency room visit. We got to the hospital at about 9pm and stayed until a little after 2am. Miles was looked over thoroughly and then fell asleep shortly after our arrival. While we waited for a chest x-ray he caught up on plenty of sleep. The only ones who really suffered through the whole experience were Chris and I, since we were the two without a bed to sleep in.

After a repeat diagnosis of "viral", the same thing we heard back in Florida before we left, we headed back to the hotel for some well deserved rest and our last round of Ibuprofen. This, of course, was the last time Miles would run a fever for the remainder of our trip. The virus was just waiting for us to spend $100 at the ER and then it was on its way. By the next morning the rash was all gone and Miles was on the road to recovery........what a relief. Now if I could only say the same for the two of us, life would have been perfect!

Lola and Lolo at their party

Having fun with family and friends

Hugs for Daddy


Miles learned how to use the camera on this trip and these are a couple of his pictures that came out well:

Uncle Tony giving the "thumbs up"

Auntie Steff taking pictures of Miles taking pictures of Auntie Steff

Playing with the Barrel of Monkeys

Hanging out with Mommy

Visiting Friends Day 4

On Sunday morning we met up with some friends from college and visited with them and their little girl for a few hours. Miles was still not feeling great, but he wasn't running a temperature and as soon as he saw all of Julia's toys, he perked right up.

Julia and her dad, Rob

Dads and kids

Isn't that the cutest little face?
She's going to get her way A LOT