Tag Archives: adventure
Maggie vs the Python
I had one of those horror movie plot kind of moments. Everything was so innocent and simple and then we met a python. Before I get into the story, let me just say owning a Python as a pet is ridiculous. Owning a python as a pet when you have a child, should be considered child endangerment. Seriously? It should be illegal. Look what happened in Florida…I’m nervous to visit my in laws in Boca Raton already because of alligators.
On Sunday, my friend Stephanie and I took Maggie to the Wildlife Leaning Center in Sylmar, CA. I was very excited to see this place, I’ve been waiting to take Maggie until I thought she would be old enough to enjoy the animals. I was ready to learn about the local wildlife and show Maggie as well. Let me just say I learned two very important things at the Wildlife Learning Center. First, Maggie is still too young to care, she enjoyed the rocks and the dirt immensely. Secondly, don’t go to the Center on a hot day. Whew! Maggie was miserable and just wanted to leave. We know this because she kept walking over to the exit door and waiting for someone to open it, so we could leave.
In my last ditch effort to show her some cool new things, we went into the Reptile Center. Big mistake. As we stepped into the room, I put Maggie down to run around. As I put her down, the Python had been calmly sleeping in its aquarium, suddenly starts moving around. Following Maggie’s every movement. At one point, the Python was slithering its head toward the roof of its aquarium looking for a way out (I didn’t get a picture of that, but I did get a Python watching Maggie pic). The final straw came when it looked straight at Maggie opened its mouth (like it was panting and ready to eat). Stephanie and I were both watching this scenario, as well as the Wildlife volunteer. I wasn’t worried until the volunteer decides that it was time to unlock the Python’s glass doors and give it a spritzing of water. Really? I picked up Maggie and we left. Steph and I were both creeped out and Maggie was ready to go anyway.
Even though the Python scared me, the weather was ridiculously hot and Maggie was uninterested, Steph and I had a great time. I will definitely be taking Maggie back when she is older and less edible and probably when it isn’t 110 degrees. This is a great place, you get to see the animals up close and personal and the staff does an informative demonstration every hour. Pretty cool.
The worst part is I didn’t get to sleep but two hours that night because I kept having Python nightmares. At one point, while crying during the middle of the night about Pythons eating Maggie when we visit AJ’s parents in Florida. I woke him up. He looks at me, says I love you and ignores me. I get it, I would have ignored him too, but the discussion isn’t over.
What AJ doesn’t know is, we will be discussing all python and alligator preventative measures before our next trip to Florida.
Living life…as Spartans
This past weekend AJ, Maggie and I went to Temecula, CA for the Annual 10K Spartan Mud Run. AJ’s friend Dan talked him into doing the 5K Spartan Mud Run in November with their friends Joey and Kevin, so when the 10K run was brought up, they all jumped at the chance. Actually, they all wavered for several weeks about doing it, then I told AJ he should do it, he told Dan and the rest is history. I guess I’m partly to blame for the agony and soreness, but at the same time they can blame me for making them have an awesome adventure.
From the moment we drove into the parking lot, the craziness began. There were tumbleweeds the size of small cars flying past us. At first, we were thinking that I would just go to the hotel with Maggie, but life goes on and I wanted to see this race. We protected Maggie in her Bob stroller and walked a mile to the lake to find the race.
Of course on our walk to the race, one of our friends, couldn’t stop asking people that had already run the race, if it was hard. This was probably the funniest part of the day, because he kept asking military guys(not realizing they were in the military) and their response was…”Not at all”. Which made him feel good, but then he asked a normal guy and his response was…”Hardest thing I’ve ever (curse word) done. This is when I almost pee’d myself laughing. A good motto to live by before you are about to race…If you don’t want to know, don’t ask. As the guys waited in anticipation for their race heat to begin, Maggie and I danced and ate snacks in the festival area. She really can’t resist dancing to Bob Marley.
In the end, all of the guys finished without getting injured (badly) and there is a possibility they had a good time. Even if they don’t admit it (you know who you are), I know they are happy they did it. I mean, not everybody can say they are a Spartan.
Adventures for free in NYC
We were going to take Maggie to the zoo, but we didn’t want to spend the money. She loves being outside, so going to Central Park was a no brainer, but then we really wanted to show her some animals. AJ had randomly come across an exotic animal store on the Upper West Side, so we took Maggie. Okay really this could be an adventure in any city, but this store was really cool. Maggie had a great time and the staff was really nice. They knew we weren’t there to buy anything when they saw the stroller, baby, and camera. They let us leave our stroller next to the register and we were able to tour the store freely. Maggie loved it at first and then after awhile seemed slightly overwhelmed. I think that rings true for most new adventures though and a long day with daddy too. His energy actually can wear out a 5 year old.
Natural History Museum fun
So the first week we were in NYC, AJ and I decided we wanted to go to the Natural History Museum. Actually, this has been a running joke, because every time we go to New York, I’ve tried to go to the Natural History Museum. So after 7 years of trying, I finally went and Maggie got to experience it with her cousins as well.
We started off the day picking up our nephews Leo & Zeke. Leo is 9 years old and had to give us directions to walk there. This is typical of a NYC kid, they can tell you how to take a cab, ride the subway anywhere you want to go and of course how to walk to local places.
We get to the Natural History Museum and head straight to the Discovery room. I highly recommend taking your kids here. We all had a ton of fun. Zeke, who is 5 years old, enjoyed learning about the items in the drawers, while Leo was fascinated with building the dinosaur. Maggie was just as interested, she watched Leo build the dinosaur and then watched Zeke figure out the chest of boxes. Obviously, at 10 months old Maggie is a little too young to fully enjoy the museum. Thankfully, I enjoyed it twice as much as anyone else. Before having a kid, I wouldn’t have gone into the Discovery room, now I feel I get to enjoy the best of both worlds. Watching the kids discover, relearning history for myself while living every moment for what it is…Priceless.
I’ll have to take Maggie back to the museum when she is older, so she can experience it all over again…for the first time. I’m sure it’ll be in 7 years, when I get back around to it.
A Guatemalan Wedding
Hola! I’m back from Guatemala and another amazing adventure with AJ and some of my closest friends. Okay, I’ve been back for a week, but I was sick, then I was busy. First things first, if you ever get invited to a wedding that is out of the country…GO! We have had a couple of destination weddings in the past few years, and it would seem it’s now becoming a tradition/mandatory for my friends to get married in another country. Yes, it can get expensive, but these weekend adventures have been some of the best moments of my life. (Not including any moments with Maggie, she is top of my list).
There is so much to say about this trip. I flew to Texas and dropped Maggie off with my parents (Grammy and Pops). I wasn’t sure how she was going to be without me, so I stayed in Texas a couple of days and then went to Guatemala. Maggie had no problem adjusting to my parents, which made it easier to leave. The hardest part about leaving was figuring out how to travel efficiently.
I ended up just taking a backpack, a big backpack. It made getting around so much easier. I didn’t want to arrive in a foreign country and be weighed down with a bunch of suitcases. This is probably the most efficient I have ever packed. I had 3 pairs of shoes, several dresses for day and evening, a bathing suit and some extra casual clothes. It was liberating knowing I could pack minimally. Of course, I only wore my bathing suit on the last day because I ran out of underwear. Oops. I was planning on wearing it at our hotel, but the pool was actually a fountain (AJ still swam in it, while the waiters laughed at him). I took a picture from our bathroom window, because I had to get ready for the wedding.
The wedding was simply beautiful. Lisa and Henry got married on top of some ruins in the middle of the city. The view was breathtaking. Of course, it started to rain during the ceremony (common for Antigua) but Lisa was the most calm I have ever seen her and she isn’t a calm person. She just smiled and waited out the rain and talked to everybody under the covering. The rain actually made the pictures even more beautiful.
Because of the rain, my hair started to turn into my “Trailer park” style. Luckily Stephanie, pulled it back into an adorable, messy, bun. She then fixed her own hair and we both looked great.
We proceeded to have an amazing night with old friends, new friends and our new Guatemalan friends. I spoke my Level 101 Spanish and AJ spoke Spanish too ( better than me, but not much, he’s probably Level 401) 
. Of course Leslie’s husband Eric speaks 3 languages and decided to immerse himself with the Guatemalans so he could speak as much Spanish as possible.
But Eric wasn’t the only one socializing with the locals. AJ had a great conversation at the bar and later on I find my friend Jenny Schuster dancing with her new friend.
All in all….an amazing wedding with even better friends. And an adventure we will never forget.
PS: Sorry to all of my friends who aren’t in this picture. I tried to find a group shot with everybody, but realized I don’t have one. :(
Time flies
It is such a cliche to say that time flies by, but it really does. I can’t believe that Maggie is 6 months old today. It seems like yesterday that my water broke and I thought I had peed all over myself. I remember every detail of that day 6 months ago…the funny, the scary, the emotional and the love.
I drove myself to the hospital (after taking a shower and blowing out my hair). I actually think that this was the most calm I have ever been in my life. I don’t know if I was in denial or if I just didn’t want to bring Maggie into this world with my anxiety. Probably a little of both.
So much has happened in the last six months. There has been a lot of love and loss. We never knew how much we actually would love this precious little girl. At the same time we had to say goodbye to my wonderful dog Paxton, whom I had for 16 years.
The last 6 months really have been an adventure and I wouldn’t change a minute of it. Thank you to AJ, my family and friends for being a part of our lives and Maggie’s.
PS. Maggie is now a few days away from being 7 months. Time really does fly because I forgot to post this .
Wow, this was really sentimental. On a different note, screw you to everyone that gets annoyed that I don’t have time for you. Now that’s more like it.
