Happy Birthday Sami

Happy 6th Birthday Sami honey xxxxx

Today Sami woke up full of a cold so we have had a quiet day today. 

He started with the fun of opening his presents. 

We played some games before lunch. 

The best part is always the cake!

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New York New York

This is the view from my sister's apartment and sunset is my favourite time. It is the time of day when the kids are over tired, over stimulated and things goes pear shaped very quickly but just glance up and sigh ...

Earlier we went out for a walk to Central Park with Sami and Eyad and then we met up with Sharon, Laith and Lulu who had been to the movies. 

Earlier in the afternoon Sharon had taken Laith and Lulu to an art class on Sketch at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and they loved it. I will have to get photos from Sharon later for that.  Sharon treated us to some lovely italian icecream from GROM. 

This morning I met up with Lulu and Sharon as Lulu had a sleepover with her at her hotel so we thought we would meet for a coffee before doing some domestic retail at Bath, Body and Beyond. It is such a great experience to be in a shop with so much choice. Before they came along I stood at Columbus Circle and watched the world go by ...

On Tuesday morning Sharon took me to MAC to get a makeup consultation and then she spoiled me with some great makeup, it was so mice to have some child free time and just focus on something for me. I am so grateful to her for taking me and spoiling me. My challenge is find an elusive lipstick that all MAC stores seem to be out of but we we keep trying !

Tomorrow is Sami's 6th birthday but it looks like he might have a cold developing poor little guy. He has been really off the charts for a while and my patience can run thin but lets hope for a great day tomorrow. 

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On the Road Again

Farewell San Diego hello New York. Yes we were on the move again today. 

Although the flight is only 4.5 hours it is a long day of travel leaving the hotel at 10.30am and arriving at Aunty Sharon's apartment at 11pm. 

When we arrived I asked the doorman if Sharon had left us a key and he looked rather strangely at me and said no but he did have a spare. I was surprised that she hadn't as I didn't expect her to be there so late. Then he said let me ring up and I was like "oh is she there?" and he said "yes but I am worried she might be asleep". Asleep , huh?

So I sent the kids ahead and waited with Ali to bring the bags up. When we got upstairs Sharon did in fact look like she had been woken up, and then she said "you said Monday". Ahhhhh yes in fact I had said Monday the 11th but I realized a few days ago that the 11th was Sunday but I completely forgot to tell Sharon. Oh dear, poor thing she was totally bamboozled. I told her later that maybe that was payback for all the surprise visits she has done ;-) 

Anyway we are here. And I am glad we have the week to forget about how horrible it is to travel with Eyad and Sami so that we have the courage to get on the plane home next Wednesday. 

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A Quiet One

We had a chill day today. The boys have been pushing the limits so we decided to cancel our plans today and just stay at the hotel. 

Ali and the kids went swimming but it was pretty cold so they did not stay in too long. 

Then they played in the hotel play area to burn off some energy. 

Later Lulu and I went for a walk up to a close shopping mall for a little girl time. 

Tomorrow we head back to New York.

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San Diego Zoo

Today we went to the San Diego Zoo. This zoo is huge, in fact it was a little too big for us to handle.

When we arrived we took the 35 minute bus tour around the zoo and actually it is probably the best way to see the zoo as on foot it is a maze of trails and you find yourself back tracking and climbing up hills. 

That is Pheobe the 11 week old giraffe, quite a cutie really. 

We arrived there around 10 and had a good 2 hours looking and exploring before the kids lost their energy. The line for the pandas was way too long and the thought of standing in the sun for an hour to see them was not very appealing at all. 

The kids like the children's zoo and Eyad was very fond of the little fat goats. 

Laith loved the reptile exhibit but Sami just raced ahead and had no interest in stopping and really looking at the amazing snakes, lizards and turtles.

Eyad also did a runner out of the reptile house and made Ali chase him down the zoo. For that reason i strapped him into the stroller regardless of the screams and soldiered on. 

It was a warm day and the sun was shining bright so many of the larger animals found cool spots in the back of their caves / enclosures which was a little disappointing for the kids. 

We stopped in the "outback" and had lunch across from the koalas and giraffes. Then we headed over to the skyrail to see the park from the air but somehow between lunch and the skyrail i dropped our passes! OMG can you believe it. Then Sami had the mother of meltdowns and we called it a day. As I was loading up the stroller I asked Ali where his backpack was and suddenly we realized he had left it back at the lunch table. Laith kindly offered to go all the way back there but unfortunately it was gone. I think it had just snacks in it so it was not a huge loss but still it is an inconvenience. 

Overall not our best day out. We came home tired and a little cranky. 

After a few hours of calm time in the hotel we ventured down to the seaport village for some dinner. 

We had a little display of fireworks outside the hotel on the bay which was a nice way to end the day. 

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Downtown San Diego

We left Legoland this morning to come downtown to the Hyatt for the next three nights. It is in a great spot overlooking the bay with beautiful walkways and a great Seafront Village to wander around. 

After we got some lunch we took a walk. It windy down on the bay but we encouraged the kids to run and play and burn off a little energy. 

Our hotel is right behind this walkway / park. 

There was a guy flying great kites I could have sat for a long time watching the zoom around but with the four munchkins sitting still is rarely an option. 

There are some huge naval vessels across the bay and I believe a naval museum too. 

We came across a lovely carousel and the kids had a ride. It was originally made in 1875 and has travelled around a bit and been restored once until it found its home at the seaport in 2004. 

Tomorrow we hope to do the zoo. If I am brutally honest I can tell you that Eyad is exhausting us. He just runs off. He thinks it is all a game and he wants to be chased. The problem is if you don't chase him he still runs off laughing. Today he managed to duck through a small side entrance and then ran straight  into the middle of a car park. I was mentally exhausted when we got back and the thought of the zoo tomorrow ... well you know what I mean. As my Mum would say if I was talking with her "it's all a phase"! 

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Legoland Waterpark and Day 2

THe Legoland hotel has so many things that kids like but there is one thing that most of the kids really love and that is the Disco Elevators. Yes you read right their elevators are moving discos. Once the door close the music comes on and the disco ball rolls, it is so much fun. It was hard to get a good shot using the iPad but you get the gist I am sure. 

Then as you get out of the elevator on the ground floor there is a whoopee pad and lets face it what kids doesn't like to hear fake fart noises! 

After breakfast we headed over to the park for another day of sun and fun. 

As you can see the weather was very overcast and it was a little cool so I was not sure if the kids still wanted to go to the water park but they were sure it would be okay, lol. 

After riding the Costersaurus again we had the very exciting Lego safari ride, okay I am being sarcastic, it was very slow and boring. 

The water park is definitely geared towards the little kiddos and it is not deep anywhere but even so there are racks and racks of life jackets just in case. 

Here are some pictures from our 2hours there ...

This is Eyad and Ali. 

The lazy river is very cool as you make the brick creations on the side. 

Sami loved standing under the water tower, it was such a giggle. 

The kids were cold even though the sun had come out there was still a breeze that was icy cold after getting out of the water. 

We had a relaxing lunch sitting outside the Castle Hill play castle. 

We loved the Duplo play area.

And then next door there was a center where you can build a car and then test it on the track. 

After a great day we jeaded back to the hotel ...

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