November photo contest: #capturingLife Wk2

I normally don't post photos of the kids in public. This week however is a total exception. I cannot not use this photo. It is not the best photo I have ever taken. It is hazy. I shot it totally on the fly, as I watched L's gym class. She wanted me to snap some pictures.

It is just so amazing, how she can just be upside down like that. The idea is to walk over quickly, but she is strong enough to hold it in place, to hesitate going over. Some of the other girls just flip over. Too fast to snap a photo, but L is cautious, even upside down.

I could be trite and say, look, life is about working hard. Practice, practice, practice.

But I think this photo says something else entirely.

Novemeber photo contest: #capturingLife Wk1

This month, I am participating in Allie's #capturingLife photo contest.

The goal is to take a photo that, well captures life. It is a totally open ended, unjudged personal challenge.

I shot this at the park, on election day. It was an awesome day. Perfect weather and great day to be home and enjoying the kids and H.

 

Go check out all the wonderful entries. Also, jump in. The ins and outs are up on her blog! 

As for my entry, I thought the bright green grass, popping out of a pile of dead leaves and brilliant orange leaves was very symbolic of the life cycle. We are dying from the minute we take our first breath... and on and on it goes.

New Month-- New me!

I want to kick start or restart or shake things up. I haven't decided. What I have decided to do is take on Lindsay's challenge. The Lean Green Bean is an awesome fitness and clean eating blog!

Who is with me??

I will post a weekly round up of my photos here on the blog or you can follow me daily on Instagram or Twitter.

from The Lean Green Bean

The new Nationwide Children's Hospital

Lobby leading to Hospital Pharmacy and the Emergency Department

 A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend a blogger open house at the new Nationwide Children's Hospital. I was tickled to be invited. I am a mom and a blogger and I do live in the area. I have to say the new hospital is one of the most beautiful places I hope to never visit again!

We met in the underground parking lot on Saturday, June 2, 2012. I think there were about 18 bloggers in all. It was exciting to meet some of my twitter pals.

The MBA in me was totally impressed. This beautiful building, campus and total process overhaul took only 6 years to accomplish. From strategic plan to reality in 6 years. Amazing. Simply amazing. As on friend, who was Twitter timeline bombed by our hashtag #everythingmatters, said this hospital and their process, very well could change the face of health care delivery. I am inclined to agree.

On the tour our guide emphasized over and over that the process included all stakeholders. Doctors, nurses, staff, parents, kids, families, patient educators, architects, and construction professionals. #Everythingmatters and that included opinions and ideas from the stakeholders. They looked at what worked and more importantly what wasn't working in the existing hospital and processes and changed them for the better.

Corridor. Lots of forest botanical motifs in the new design

After a brief stop in the main lobby, we began our tour in the ER. Let's face it, if we are likely to be at the hospital with our kiddos, the ER is a very likely stopping point. The new ER doubles the capacity of the existing ER and they have revised treatment plans and staff allocations to better serve the kiddos and parents. While I loved hearing about the process changes, I couldn't help being so surprised by just how beautiful the new hospital is. 

Custom Fish Tank in the ER waiting area

New ER trauma room. The pass through supply closet and efficient stock management is just on of the many processes being redesigned to ensure speed and accuracy.

The little ER bed is sobering. While it is good we have hospital ready to care for the littlest patients it is heartbreaking to see the little beds.

 From the ER we went up to the 9th Floor, to take in the spectacular city views and see a standard room and explore the in patient rehab gym and therapy spaces.

View from the 9th floor. The garden is built of special materials because they are built over the underground parking garage.

More of the gardens.

Across Campus view. The views are spectacular.

The standard hospital room is anything but standard. One of the changes in this process, was to redesign the hospital rooms and standardize them. Every room is the same and the layouts are the same. This will help the staff when they have to float. Again, the planning team went to the staff and asked them about everything from lifting and turning practices to bathroom design. They redesigned the family chairs and couch/beds. They rethought infection control and how to make everything more homey. The LCD headboard and state of the art TVs, make sure the kids feel in control as well. Feeling blue? Change your head board. Orange your favorite color, no problem you can have that too... The magnetic paint on one wall, that means you can decorate your room with cards or pictures from home.

Our guide telling us about the many features of the room. The LCD variable color head board is awesome.

All rooms have a standard dry erase board. I like that the pain scale is kid centered.

View of the room from the hallway.

The rehab gym and related areas make it possible for kiddos and their parents to practice a variety of life skills and make the transition from hospital to home easier. Honda even donated a car, which was airlifted in during construction, so kiddos and their parents can practice those ever important transfers in and out and stowing a wheel chair correctly and safely.

Honda Civic practice car. Airlifted in during the construction process.

All common areas have a dishwasher, for washing toys. On each floor there are playrooms.

 Not only are the rooms impressive, but the hallways and common areas too. Everything is a child level, the artwork, the creative decor, the wonderful niches, that tell a story.

"Butterflies eat with their feet"

All of this interactive art is at kid eye level

 All throughout the hospital are these amazingly charming animals. Made here in Ohio by The Carousel Works in Mansfield. I love that the hospital is featuring some Ohio craftsmanship front and center.

If I could have figured out a way to bring him home with me... so cute!

The lobby is spectacular with its nature themed landscape. Something out of a fairy tale really.

The gardens are impressive and since they are built over the underground parking lot, they are a marvel of gardening talent and unique weight reducing materials.

The indoor imagination forest is lovely as well. Instead of sticking with dead space or generic lobby, the new hospital has a magical forest, which is just perfect for children and adults alike.

There is no question that the new hospital is beautiful and designed with both adults and children and mind. The attention to detail is amazing, but what I think is most exciting is this truly the intersection of public and private. This is OUR hospital, put together through the collaboration of corporations, hospital staff, and the community.

While we all hope that we will never be the ones sitting in the ER or spending the night on specially designed trundle futon, it is comforting to know, that in Columbus, Ohio-- a town well known for a Big 10 school and related medical center, that we ALSO have a world class and state of the art Children's hospital. A hospital that not only can provide top tier emergency care and treatments for a variety of diseases, and research and scholarship but also a hospital that is committed to community outreach and partnership. 

June 10th is the Community Open House! Your chance to see and experience the new hospital in the way I did. There will be activities and tours all throughout the day.

Community Celebration Day

Sunday, June 10, 2012
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Main Campus

 

It truly is our Nationwide Children's Hospital.

 

The Big Apple, with a curious 7 year old, Part 2

Saturday.
We were up early again. Breakfast was a hit. When an older British gentleman sat with us at the breakfast table, he asked E if we were going to the natural history museum. E told him, "I like my animals live, which is a zoo and bugs on sticks and pins is just weird."

Saturday was the Intrepid. Something I knew nothing about until my friend DC mentioned it at lunch the day before we left. Located on the West Side, near Hell's Kitchen - it should have been an easy commute. This is the one and only time my directions and transit knowledge failed me. HopStop had me exiting the Time Square station in at a nonexistent exit point.

We eventually got turn around and got on the bus and then on 12th Ave we see this:

The admission includes access to the Intrepid and the Growler sub. We arrived two minutes after the museum opened and left about 2.5 hours later. E loved this. The planes, the access to the sub and the aircraft carrier. Hands on air, space and sea exhibits. I found the staff to be super helpful and friendly. It wasn't crowded until we were about to leave. Just perfect. Well worth the price of admission.

My plan had been to do the Central Park Zoo, but E was tired, I was hungry and there was no good way to get from the Intrepid to the Zoo. We could however, take the tour bus, do the Uptown Loop and end at the zoo. Even still it was a walk to the Uptown Loop stop.

So we began the trek thru Hell's Kitchen to the bus stop. Half way through, E announces he is hungry again and needs to go to the bathroom again. I am beyond hungry at this point, so we duck into Ocha, a little sushi place.

Best decision ever. Very clean. We were after the lunch rush and the only ones in the place. I think I had the best peanut avocado roll of my life. It was exactly the refueling stop we needed, before continuing our trek.

E wasn't thrilled about the bus trip, but I needed to rest and it was a much nicer day. I have never done the Uptown Loop and it sounded like a nice trip. E feel asleep as we neared Harlem and slept until it was almost time to exit the tour, so it was perfect for him too.

Highway near Riverside Park

The famous Apollo! I would have liked to check this out, but E was asleep and it wasn't the time.

A mosque - - in Harlem. It is being repaired. There was a great Halal market just down the street.

Prolly my favorite Museum in NYC. It was physically difficult to not drag E thru there...

We jumped off at the Zoo, but we were both tired and the Zoo would close before we could finish our tour. So I suggested we just walk in the park and enjoy the sunny afternoon.

We hit pay dirt. You can see into the zoo and just as we got there-- the seal show began. We had a great view and E loved the show.

After the show we had some ice cream and decided it was time to head back to the hotel for a rest. I had no trouble guiding us back to the hotel despite my mornings series of miscues.

One of the strange things about the block we were staying on is the abundance of Kosher Vegetarian Indian Restaurants. So after some rest time, E and I headed out to dinner. He loves Naan, so the vegetarian places aren't the best option as their isn't likely to be a clay oven.

E liked the look of Anjappar, which was literally around the corner from the hotel.

What a good call E! It was amazing. The decor was amazing, the staff super helpful and attentive. We settled on trying a Ghee Dosa to begin with and it was the most amazing things. A huge thin pancake, wrapped into a cone shape, served with chutneys.

E was amazed and ate an amazing amount of it.

Then we had some Chicken Bryanini, which was possibly the best Bryanini dish I have had anywhere. E doesn't really like rice, but he loved the boiled egg and the chicken from this dish.

As we ate two older women, obviously native New Yorkers came in and were sat next to us. They looked over the menu, commented that nothing looked familiar and got up and walked out. The next morning at breakfast, E said: you know, they should have tried something new like we did. I found out I like Ghee Dosa and gunpowder chutney. They missed out mom."

And that was the entire point of this trip. Trying something new. Going somewhere were things are different and having the courage to try new things. I was so proud of him. E is my introvert, my thoughtful homebody child. He would just as much prefer to stay home than go anywhere. But he is embracing new things. Normally he doesn't try new foods easily, but in NYC he ate a variety of new foods.

When people ask me why I travel with my kids or look sympathetically at me or disbelieving at me, that I am traveling with my kids, I think, you know what, if you don't start them young, it is so much harder for them. I was 16 when I left this country for Germany. My first ever plane flight, my first experience with a different culture and a big city for that matter. My first experience with different food.

We live in a global world now. I want my kids to always feel willing and able to say: I tried X and found out, I liked it.

On Sunday we ate breakfast, finished up E's homework, took the train to Grand Central, which underwhelmed E and then took the Airporter Shuttle to the airport. We caught our desired flight without a bit of nail biting and then ate dinner with H and L at the North Market.

It was a great weekend in the Big Apple, which I think will leave an impression and taught E and I both lots about NYC and ourselves!

The Big Apple, with a curious 7 year old

When L was 6 1/2 and my mom was 60, I took them to NYC. My mom had just gotten the cancer re-diagnosis and her super endo suggested she not put anything off. So a bit earlier than I had anticipated, I was packing L off to NYC. It was Christmas time and we did the Rockettes, China town, the Holiday Market in Bryant Park and naturally the tree at Rockefeller Plaza.

I was surprised last spring when E announced -- "hey, I am six now and L got to go to NYC when she was 6!" Large crowds and noise are just not E's thing, but he was right, it was only fair. E however did not want to go when it was cold and last fall, well there was no going anywhere. ( I ended up taking him out of school for two days, but I think hands down he learned so much in NYC that it was totally worth it.)

This past weekend, E and I set off for NYC. It was a trip like nothing I have ever planned before. E wanted to ride the subway, a bus, a taxi and "look around." He vetoed shopping, China town, the art museum, the natural history museum and the Statue of Liberty. He also was not totally on board with the idea of the Empire State building either. I mentioned seeing a show and he just shook his head solemnly.

One of the few bonuses of H's job is he and his immediate family can fly for free -- on a space available basis. This is a nice perk that isn't that easy to take advantage of. We can only go if there are unsold seats available. One of the few places that we seldom have trouble getting to is NYC. I have never not made it to NYC. Getting home on the flight of my choice has been an issue, but getting there has never been a problem.

This time around was no exception. E and I cruised in style last Thursday, in first class.

We took the city bus from LGA to Flushing/Jackson Heights and then caught the subway into Manhattan. From Grand Central we took the 6 two stops downtown to 28th Street.

I cannot say enough good things about our hotel. It was right by the subway station, between Lexington and 28th Street on Park Avenue South. The staff was amazing and the room just right. Was everything brand new, no, but it was clean and neat and served a continental breakfast that was wonderful and just perfect for us. Included were breakfast, newspapers and WiFi, in the day and age that many hotels are going out of their way to charge you for even opening the door was refreshing.

The best thing? The view. Well maybe not for the average person, but for my 7 year old transportation junkie, the view could not be beat.

E sat and looked out the window and watched the car stacker every chance he got. That made this view priceless.

If you are going to NYC and do not need to be right on top of the action and want comfortable, cozy and reasonable, I think the Park Avenue South is a great bet. I certainly plan to go back.

After checking in, we decided to head to Peanut Butter & Co. We love their peanut butter and we were not disappointed. Our peanut butter, banana smoothie was yumm-o. I loved my ant's on a log and E tried a fluffernutter and decided that it was just ok. Getting there was easy and we might have spent a bit of time exploring the neighborhood, but alas it was raining and we were tired, so we headed straight back to the hotel and went to bed.

(I must confess that I really wanted to check out The Fat Black Pussycat. However, even in NYC, 7 year olds in bars just won't fly.)

Friday we were up and at the breakfast buffet the minute it opened. This is what happens when you go to bed at 8 pm.

We took the train to Brooklyn and checked out The New York Transit Museum. Located in an old subway station, the transit museum is hands on and is part history, part science and is totally hands on for little tranport junkies and older history buffs. My favorite part was the history of the building of the subways and the over 18 historic train cars.

Circa 1930 train car

Really? This kind of sign was needed?

I loved looking at the old advertisements. It was great fun.

There were also bus mock ups and a turnstile maze as well as an electricity conductivity experiment station. Well worth the price of admission and a great way to learn about something that really is integral to the fabric of New York life.

From the Transit Museum we walked a few blocks to the Dekalb Market. I learned about the market from my friends SS and JC via facebook. They live in Brooklyn. The market is new and still in the growing stages, but that said I love the idea and the concept. It is a urban garden plot and a market made up on food stands and arts and craft boutiques and artisans hosting small store fronts. The super neat thing, the entire market is comprised of these little businesses having their operations or stores in scavenged shipping containers. Think adult sized legos!

One of the many water towers. This was my view from our lunch table. E insisted I take a photo!

Some art and some more shipping containers.

I had the stir fry with a fried egg. So good. It was fantastic.

This is @Hi_Im_Chrissy. She made me the amazing fried egg stir fry and agreed to let me take her photo.

I did some shopping at the market and scored some great made in NYC by residents' of NYC souvenirs.  E had a burger form a gourmet burger and sandwich shop and then he ate a lovely brownie from a bakery at the market. The market is only a few weeks old and is still growing. I think this will be a must revisit, next time I am in NYC.

The subway station was right next to the market, making our return trip Manhattan, super easy.

And our next stop... the Lego store at Rockefeller Plaza!

E was excited to check out the flagship store. It did not disappoint and even though it was Friday afternoon, the crowd was manageable! 

Rockefeller Plaza, lego style

He looped around the store

The tallest pick a brick wall in the world.

I am glad we checked this out. By this point, E and I were tired but not ready to be done. It was decision time. As I studied my notes and the map, I spied out of the corner of my eye, the Grey Line tour bus! I had considered this double decker bus option, as E had seemed very excited about the prospect of a double decker bus ride. You can buy tickets at the Rockefeller stop and I decided to purchase the 48 hour option. It isn't cheap, but E and I were able to get two tours in and it was worth it. For one, it made getting around and seeing a good chunk of the city possible and it was something I had never done before. Did I mention it was a double decker bus?

There are three loop options. The downtown, the uptown and the Brooklyn loop. The Uptown and Downtown are hop on and hop off tours, which means you can get on and off with your ticket either for a day or for the weekend, depending on which option you purchase. Sometimes there is a tour guide and sometimes there is a per-recorded message.  My advice, hold out for the tour guide, the recording is annoying.

Had traffic not been totally insane, I think E would have enjoyed this more, but when it takes 5 minutes to move two blocks... well the Downtown loop can last forever. It was also about 7 degrees too cool to be truly comfortable on the upper deck. After a major traffic jam around the Southside Sea port, E was all done with that bus tour and I decided I could get us safely to the hotel from the East Village stop, so we bailed in the East Village.

The best view of the Empire State Building I have ever had!

The famous "BALL"

Time Square

More Time Square

Hard Rock and a glimpse of the guy who sat next to us and behaved worse than E. He and his wife argued nearly the entire tour.

The view from the upper deck was amazing.

So it is 6 pm and E and I are standing in the East Village and with the help of my GPS on my iPhone, I plot our walking course. It will be a bit over 1.6 miles. Totally doable. Totally doable until E starts to panic and informs me he has to go to the bathroom, immediately.

Ugh. Ugh and double Ugh!

Finding a bathroom in NYC isn't as easy as one would think.

So as we are moving quickly up the street and the level of panic is increasing and I am beginning to really worry, when I see a sign and think, ok this place will do.

It turns out to be one of the best choices I could have made. Bite has amazing food, had a bathroom and they were wonderful to E and I! We hit the bathroom and stayed for a great dinner. E tried and LOVED a turkey and mozzarella panini with sun dried tomato mayo. (I would have sworn he would never eat that, but eat it he did, with gusto!) My tuna salad was huge and yummy. I had a great glass of wine also.

After our meal we strolled the rest of the way to the hotel, stopping off in a bakery for some cookies for E. As we walked, I remembered being in this neighborhood with my friend SS, when she had an apartment in Gramercy Park, back before E was even on the scene.

All in all an amazing Friday in the Big Apple. Stay tuned for our Saturday adventure!