Last Stop on the D-Train

I can't believe I cried! Yes, on the walk home from the train today, I teared up a little. The city has been good to us the last two years. Well, except for the seemingly endless humid, summer days! Q and I took a break from looking at the house and took one last chill at Battery Park and did some street shopping that I had yet to do! Yes, two years and I had yet to buy from a street vendor...oh, well, technically, Mike bought me a hat for my 28th birthday, a crystal statue when the Pierce's visited and a phone cord for my phone. But..whatever. These were MY first purchases!!

We were thankful the Salvation Army pick-up arrived early (time frame of sometime between 8am and 5pm...)...but it was also our last garbage and recycling pick-up today! Q loves Tuesdays and Fridays.



We waited for the D-train in Brooklyn, and Q enjoyed watching the one across the track head towards Coney Island.





We stopped to see the Statue of Liberty one last time.










We remembered those Coast Guards and other military people who helped fight in WWII at the memorial near the water.



Q sat in her very own subway seat on the R-train from Battery Park! I can't believe how big she's getting!



And, what subway stop is complete without a cheesy Q smile . . . and . . .



... rodent control notices.




One of the rooms in our new home will be "places we've been" themed. We have some sort of art or decor from places we've been (either together or not) and I needed some NYC art. We did get a Niagara sketch...but, nothing NYC related. I picked out a few smaller shots of various NYC areas (including the Brooklyn Bridge where you can ALMOST see Grimaldi's) and some shots of Central Park "through the seasons". I plan to do something different with that for Q's room though to help her remember her 2 years she was here! (FYI, Nikki, I may need some help with that project when I get to it). SO, Q had her last subway ride today, as did I (unless something terribly crazy happens in the next 72 hours). The slow trains made me sad...but then I realized if I had been in my car, the trip would've almost definitely been twice as long...including the walk to and from the subway and the waiting times for trains!




This may very well be my last post until we're in our new home!! My parents get in tonight to help with the final cleaning (ha ha, I say final, but I don't think they realize how much more there really is to do yet...). Mike gets back from Toronto tomorrow night. And movers come Thursday!! Off to the hotel for a night, and me, Grandma Mary and Q will be on a plane for Milwaukee Friday morning. We drive to Minnesota on Saturday ... and then the fun on Sunday of unloading our stuff!! So much to do...yet I blog about how much I should be doing. It's so gosh darn hot!!

Bye Bye, Brooklyn! You've been great to us, and we will miss you.

Hello, Minnetonka! You have some high standards to meet, good luck to you...we shall see before long how happy we are with our move.

"san-n" and "fishieses" and other

We attempted graduating to no tray and no back on the booster seat. It works okay for snacks, but meal time was NO good! Overall, she enjoyed it for the 1/3 of a day it lasted!

30 is hot

We went to the beach and aquarium "before it got hot" today.

Unfortunately, I consider 80 hot and it was almost there when we left home at 9:45am...and on the way home it was 87 (30C).

ANYWAY, I feel good about where the house is at packed ... cleaning is another story. I wanted Q to get one more dip in the ocean and one more trip to see "fishies, oooh!" We managed to catch the sea lion show on our way out, too. Q was well beyond tired, but enjoyed the music anyway. A little too young to enjoy the live animal shows, I guess. But I enjoyed it!

There were some crazy ladies at the Coney Island bathroom that had a fit when I temporarily sat Q on "one of our chairs in our space, you rude lady". Uhm, one was on the phone and the other was reading a book. I thought maybe they were just on break. OH, I was/am pissed. Sorry they dislike people so much, I guess.

Anyway, I ended up changing Q in the aquarium bathroom then and I felt bad for all the sand, but noone seemed to mind there and I cleaned up after ourselves.

As for now, she was sleeping in the car, transferred her to her bed and she's up talking. I just realized she's still pretty sandy so we're going to take an afternoon bath so can go "smimmingggg" and get all the sand off her body!

Photos/videos to come when I need a cleaning/packing break and Q is napping for real.

E L M

O!

ELMO ELMO ELMO ELMO ELMO.

It's been a week now. Of wanting nothing but ELMO! It's absolutely crazy ridiculous. No parent warned me of the danger Elmo possessed.

To those who have children yet to encounter Elmo...DON'T DO IT.

That being said, Q sure is persistant. I took her pony tail out before bed and laid her down. 2 minutes later PONY PONY PONY PONY (although it sounds like "babe-eh"). I thought...whatever, she'll calm down. 10 minutes later she's SOBBING for her pony. I go and put her pony back in and she was almost instantly happy. Except that she had just sobbed and cried for so long so she wanted/needed a drink (in this heat, I'll give her anything to calm her down!).

So, if she gets that upset about a pony tail...just imagine when she sees Elmo or puts her Elmo book down and can't remember where she put it 20 seconds later. It's nuts, i tell you.

AND NOW that being said, If you bring anything Elmo into my sight for Quinn to be kept at our house, it will either get sent back immediately with you to return, or it will go in the trash. We have 1 Elmo book and that is more than enough Elmo for my day. She gets to occassionally watch parts of Elmo's world if we catch the end of Seasame Street. But that's her Elmo for her day. She also has a cute outfit from Auntie Krissy, but it's still too big, so it's packed away already.

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT buy Elmo or you'll have a high chance of being on my hit list.

On other news, we will have an exam-free late winter/spring! YAY!!

At this time next week, Mike'll be returning from his trip to Canada for work and we'll be enjoying our last night in our house in Brooklyn. Who knew how fast 2 years could fly by...

New Home!!

That's our home! In less than 2 weeks, our stuff will be there too!

On the way out, Quinn wanted to see if she was an okay size for me to carry-on...




...part of me was hoping she wouldn't fit so they'd check her for me and I could enjoy the flight without getting wet, chocolatey, or full of crayon!!! It took about 30 minutes to "process" the cats to fly, so she was getting bored and anxious waiting for me. Thank God Daddy came in to help out, or my patience would've been done before even getting onto the plane (which again sat on tarmac for take-off for well over an hour).

All that craziness aside...

I'm so happy with our new purchase! We spent the weekend at our new home and we had(I guess when I say we I mean "I had") high hopes for accomplishments.

I was hoping to get at least paint colors chosen..but everything took so much longer and days went so much faster than I thought! We got paint samples...but that's about all. I think MAYBE we decided on one color for Q's room...maybe...ha ha. Oh well. Lots of time to "worry" about that soon enough.

We met about 4 (?) families in our neighborhood and talked with each at least 30 minutes...some longer. So, when the days are short...that 2 hours flew by! And may I add, our new neighborhood is sooo friendly and happy and QUIET and wonderful...people included, of course. Part of me expected casseroles and beer to show up at our door step at meal time! Hopefully beer will flow freely! :)

Q enjoyed her new space. Grandpa Joe took her on a walk through the nearby park preserve ... that he thought was much smaller! He was hoping to walk the park in an hour or two and it's a much larger park than that!

We even got a night out to visit with friends on Saturday as Grandma Mary and Grandpa Joe stayed behind to watch Q sleep and clean out the kitchen. Without that help that night, almost zero cleaning got done! We got a few cabinets left to clean in bathrooms and the kitchen. I didn't want to "worry" about floors and carpets until the furniture comes in. The previous owners didn't have pets, so a little less to worry about there too!

The house here is SOOO much quieter without our cats! My parents were overly generous with taking in Eggo and Killer until their new home is prepared for them in Minnesota. They spent a week there with me 2 years ago when we transitioned between Minnesota and New York. Now, though, they're there without me! Q hasn't asked about them...until she found some left-behind toys this morning and she ran around the main floor calling for them to come play! It was cute...I almost called Mom to have her talk to the cats...but that's just weird so I didn't. When we left them yesterday, they each had their new favorite hangouts in the basement and on the main floor. I'm glad they transition well in new spaces...Eggo even found a way to get under my parent's floor in a tiny crawlspace the first night there! I'm almost sure he was chasing spiders, but he got in and out so, that's good!

I can't believe next week is moving week already! That time FLEW by! My parents come in on Tuesday night and we get our truck on Thursday, we all travel back to Milwaukee on Friday and off to Minnetonka on Saturday! Crazy quick...

We also intended on getting out of Minnetonka quicker on Sunday, but it took awhile to get around town and deliver back all the borrowed goods (thanks Thomas' and Kachs!). We had an 8th birthday party for my oldest niece, Elizabeth. We were several hours later than planned...but really, can a Rebarchik ever be on time?! :)

My nephew and Godson, Alex, learned a new trick in Disney....



..."uh oh, I closeded my eyes"... he now purposefully closes his eyes when you take a picture of him...I guess there were a lot of people saying that during photo sessions in Disney! It's so cute coming from a 3 year old!


And Auntie Jen got Liz the CUTEST suit and goggles....she's just sporting the goggles here.



Thanks to everyone who helped with the house so far, and thanks to everyone who has volunteered to help us unload our truck in TWO Sundays! Anyone else who wants to come help out...more than welcome! You'll be even more welcome if you bring beer and food! But, we'll provide the house, boxes, furniture and hot tub! :) Kidding, you know we take care of our company (if you know where the fridge is, you're all set!)

Back to boxes while the Q-ster naps!!

Pickle Dance Video

Didn't load on the last post...hmmm....

AHHH Summer!

Pickles and Pools...what a summer! As you can see in the first photo, she's been a helper with moving! She's helping take the trash to the curb!

Pickle Dance

Coming soon to a blog near you!

The video is taking FOREVER to load, but I'll keep trying as the day goes on...Q's got the best dance moves she learned from little Claire (vs my sister Claire).

We've been working on please and thank you (as we have since always) and she can't quite get the words all the time. So her way of saying "please" is by dancing. Whenever she wants something, she'll spin in circles ("dance") and repeat the word over and over. Her top three are "pickle" "cheese" and "juice".

Packing is going okay...it'll be nice to have Mike home for the weekend to get some of the big furniture taken down. Namely our behind the bed shelf, desk, and few bookcases are left. We may need to hit up Home Depot again for a few larger boxes, but most of what I kept have worked so far! It's promising to me because I got rid of a TON of cardboard when we moved out here and I've only purchased about 20 boxes...and LOTS of stuff that wasn't boxed on the way here is in boxes already (fans and stuff of that sort that wasn't packed before the moving crew got there and it just got thrown onto the truck). Of course, diapers.com helped much with the not needing to buy boxes as I saved 90% of the boxes we've gotten the last year...they send a box of diapers within a box!

I found that wardrobe boxes worked well for most of our large paintings and wall hangings (only 2 movie posters don't fit and they didn't have a home on the way here either). The guest bedroom is ALMOST empty and the room of packed boxes and furniture ready to go is almost full!

Anyway...naptime seems to be over...so off to do something for awhile! :)

Home...

A story from our first moments in Orlando...once we finally got there after sitting on the runway at JFK for almost 3 hours (storms from Boston to Orlando were pretty much cutting out all flights south to flying over the ocean or not flying at all....).

We get to the hotel and we're walking to the room. I ask Quinn, "Where are we?"

"HOMMMEEEEtel", she replies.

Yes, we've been gone so much they're not hotels anymore..they're home-tels!


AND TODAY, we're driving to get more boxes from Home Depot (awesome deal as far as boxes go) and I say, "Where are we Quinn?"

"Hommmmme Depoooooot!"

I was floored...I guess she was listening to me this morning...and maybe she recognized the logo from all the boxes we have around the house?

It has been misearble here...especially for packing weather. I feel bad having all the ac's in the house on...because I'm just sweating buckets anyway. However, I can only imagine how miserable I'd be without them! It's "only" about 85 but the humidity just doesn't go away. It dropped to a chilly 74 last night...our ice cream melted on our walk down the block! And today, our drive to Home Depot is along the ocean and I could barely see it because the haze is so thick...so it's been fun trying to just breathe the last few days! I've been meaning to get to the beach...but what fun is the beach in a cloud of smog?

Lucky enough we started packing early so I'm not in chaotic "just throw stuff in boxes" mode....yet! I'm hoping for no Indian summer in Mn this year...I'm really looking forward to enjoying time outside not in a kiddie pool drenched in water!! Maybe around a campfire making s'mores and enjoying a hot tub soak!

And a video from the vacation to end the post for now. Me, my sisters, my brother, and my brother-in-laws were lucky enough to get away for a night to explore the Magic Kingdom WITHOUT KIDS! Grandma and Grandpa were exhausted from the day and offered to keep their ears open for all 7 of the little ones. 3 were still awake when we left...but they were all sleeping soundly upon our arrival home! One of the rides I swore I'd never do again...the Teacups...was on our list to do when we went back. I immediately regretted not giving Q this experience...she loves spinning in circles! What was I thinking earlier that day!? Oh well...overall Q enjoyed her time there...I think. It'll be fun to take her back when she's older...or take her to other amusement parks. I think she'll be a little daredevil!

Successful Potty!

BUT FIRST---photos!











Q has been OBSESSED with toilet paper and flushing for about a week now. Unfortunately for her, her desire to want to use the potty couldn't be at a more inopportune time! I try to get her to use the potty a few times a day...but let's face it--I have a few things I've been doing lately!

Tonight we're reading her favorite "poop time" book (she seems to always poop when we're reading her numbers book) and she goes, "potty time". And runs upstairs (with me close behind). We pull off her diaper (already wet) and she sits down and farts and then giggles. Right behind was pee! She got sooooo excited and grabbed for the TP and throws it in her potty chair and then stands up to flush the real toilet. I guess we have some logistics to work on...but I'll take what she'll offer!!

WDW

Wow, was that place fun to take Quinn! I'm sooo glad we met up with the family this week for a few days. We spent almost an entire day at the Magic Kingdom and Q enjoyed everything she was awake for! I have tons of photos...to sort through when I get a few minutes! My sisters, brother, and brother-in-laws and I went back to the MK Friday night without the kids and it made me realize why I swore I wouldn't go back until I had kids of my own. It was all stuff I had seen and done before...but having Q with me all day made the experience soooo much better. She got to meet and talk with Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Belle! They took time to talk to EACH child! It was so incredible...it brought tears to my eyes. My niece, Hailey, was SO adorable with each princess. She asked to see Belle's shoes!!

It was a great couple days. Now Mike is in DC for the week for work...then only a few days until we pack up the cats and head to Minnesota to close! This week is bound to be ridiculously busy...but I'm going to try to find some time to hit up zoos, aquariums, and a few visits with our NYC friends!!

Wish me luck! :)