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Back home July 1, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Seeing the World Through Astronomy , 4 comments

Hey everyone!

I am back, busy and trying to get back on EDT! I have a tons of blogs to catch up on. I am over welmed, so I am sorry if I suck at posting the next few days!

Recap of the trip:

Oui, we are here! June 22, 2008

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We have arrived in France. Wonderful. We did come via Germany and I really needed Dirk to translate for us.

Slowly, slowly, French is coming back to me.Now, I need some sleep. AFter stuffing myself at a dinner where everybody eat fish (and I am allergic to) we are finally going to bed.

 

G’night all! 

Bon Voyage June 21, 2008

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See ya! We’re off to Marseille. I will update as I can, but I have lots of time in the meeting!

 

 

About that paper? May 22, 2008

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Yes, well, I am kinda blowing it off right now.

I know, I know, I will get back to it soon.

I need to world to slow down a little. I survived yesterday (still not sure how). Jay had a major breakthrough on his data for his talk and we discussed the view graph slides and BANG! He has one kick ass talk for Spain now! Yippie! However, he got a call this morning from the hospital. He DID break his finger, so keep it splinted for 4 weeks.

My parents are in and settling in for their long stay. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but sometimes, family needs to be far away, you know what I mean?

Luna’s still a little out of it. She has an ear infection and fluid in the other ear. Lovely. She told me yesterday that she needs to take 1 teaspoon of the medicine. I asked her how she knew and she said that’s what the doctor said. Oh great! She’s paying attention to the world! This could be good or bad! On the other hand, she’s walked into two walls in the last 12 hours. Methinks she’s having some perception issues.

I am also contemplating sending a letter to a friend. She has blown me off lately. Of course, she has blown off her family, kids, husband and everything else lately because she has taken A JOB. Not that she hadn’t worked out side of the house before, but suddenly this JOB is the only thing in her life… Sigh… I am torn between ignoring this or working it out with her.

Anyway, I should do this paper, eh? It IS my ticket to France in June!

 

Climb! June 5, 2007

Posted by spacemom in : Life...otherwise, Seeing the World Through Astronomy , 2 comments

Tuesday was a busy day here in Oahu. The morning started with a hike up Diamond Head Crater. The original plan was to not take my parents,but they decided to come. The hike has 100 stairs at the end, and very uphill trails. My dad suffered a minor stroke a few years ago that took out his hearing in one ear and his balance. Some parts of the trail were too rough for Dad, so he and Mom went back.

But the girls did it. Soleil did the whole thing without help and Luna needed some carrying at times.
As a treat, (and for hydration), some shave ice at the bottom. That really got the girls excited…

Then, swimming in the ocean, in the pool, watching Hawaiian Dancers and finally, Jay and I got out for a well deserved night off…
Sigh….

Soleil and Luna (with Dad's hat) climbing up Diamond Head Soleil and Luna (with Dad’s hat) climbing up Diamond Head

Home June 4, 2007

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But our luggage isn’t…..yet

Sigh

Aloha May 28, 2007

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Ah, the first day survived! Hello all! We left our home around 6am, and arrived in Honolulu at 3:35pm, Hawaiian Standard Time. By the time we got the kids in bed, Soleil had been up for 21 hours straight and Luna had a single 1.5 hour nap on the second flight.

***Note to Figlet*** The kids were great on the flights. We had one whiny episode where I had to talk to them, but the rest of the time we watched movies (Snow White, Fairytopia and Aladin) and colored, drew and talked.

Today we had serious whine. Soleil woke up at 4am and I invited her into bed. She fell back asleep once I started deep breathing. Then Luna cam in at 5 am. At 5:15, I sent them both out to the main room to watch tv. After half of a show, they turned it off to watch the sunrise. By 6, we had sent them down to the grandparents room and we showered and got dressed.

Soleil REALLY wanted to go to the pool, we FORCED the poor kiddo to go see the ocean. After 10 minutes of being at the ocean, she turned to Jay and said “daddy, I am so sorry I wanted to stay at the pool. This is much better.” Then she said “Can we still go to the pool today?”
I had left the single most important item in the suitcase that we switched out of at the last minute, sunscreen. Fortunately, I picked some up and had mom’s for the morning. They were not pleased that mommy kept sunscreening them today.

Luna was a fruitcake as usual. I love this kid. She would run into the ocean when a wave receded and then scream like a little child when one came in and tickled her feet. Yes, I KNOW she is a little child, but come on, it’s fun!

After movie and lunch (the only way we could convince them to leave the ocean was to suggest the possiblity of a movie) we took a drive to diamond Head and Manalula Bay. They loved it and Mom and Dad loved having a tour guide.

An hour dip in the pool and a failed dinner attempt later, Jay and I headed over to the meeting for the first evening tonight. Mom and Dad stayed with the girls. They both stayed up for the movie and both crashed within 20 minutes of the end.

And now it is my turn to crash! We have a ton and a half of photos! I want to post some, but we will see what I can get….

Planning Hawai’i May 5, 2007

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In just a few short weeks, we will jet set across the continent, breifly stop on the west coast and then hop skip and jump (not literrally) over the ocean to Hawai’i. Now this time around, we are flying directly to Oahu. No stopping at the paradise known as the Big Island.

Yesterday, I started searching the web for things to do with kids on Oahu. I have already promised them a trip in the rainforest and Jay has promised them sweet sweet bananas.
Sigh.

I am looking up: hikes, the temple which I forget where it was, ocean trips, etc…

I am actually getting psyched for this. I need to bug the woman in the director’s office to start figuring out a schedule so I know when my parents will be out at the pool with the kids and when I will be with the girls…

The funny thing is that the girls are expecting to go back to Hawai’i. Granted, many meetings occur there just so people will go….

Traveling worries March 21, 2007

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Ah, Jimmy Buffett and I are still jamming! Gotta love it!

We are getting our travel stuff together for our trip to Hawai’i. Yes, the American Astronomical Society is having their summer meeting in Hawai’i. It is on Oahu, not my favorite island, but hey, it’s HAWAI’I! My parents are coming. This is good. I am helping the director’s office by helping man our booth. That is cool. I will have a few set hours to work and then I can pick what talks I want to see, which posters I wish to see and then I can also spend time with the girls.
Ah… that will be nice.

In some senses, our girls are spoiled. We are so lucky to travel so much. Imagine going to Hawai’i twice before you turn 3. That is Luna.

When I grew up, we went to Disney once. I remember, vaguely, a trip to Chicago. I barely remember it so I often don’t count Illinois as a state I visited although we stayed for 2 weeks.

So far, my girls have been to Buffalo, NYC, Cleveland, Baltimore, Seattle(Soleil only), Florida(Orlando),  The Great Smokeys (NC- Soleil), Atlanta, Hawai’i. There are plenty of places we have been.

We have been on planes with the girls often. We travel often in cars. Wow, we have been everywhere and we are now planning bigger trips, to Sicily for example for Jay to work with some collaborators.

Is this spoiling them? We already talk about how we help others out. We discuss Tzdaka- The sharing of our money with others. We try to explain how lucky we are to get to travel this much. I just hope we can really get them to understand how lucky they really are….

Now, if you are a parent, get yourself over to JenEx’s place and check out this post….

I so want this…. January 14, 2007

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Wishes
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