John C Maw

John C Maw: NTAF Southwest Kidney Transplant Regional Restricted Fund
John Maw has applied for assistance

Leah's brother-in-law is getting a new kidney after Labor Day!! But insurance only covers part of his medical expenses and none of the donor - NOT COOL. So, they found a way to raise funds on this website and it's tax deductible. I really like this idea better than a bake sale. I only hope I don't have to use this resource in the future, but I'm awfully glad that I am aware of it.

strollers

I had my first child in a city - a real city - a beautiful, magnificent, enchanted city...I'm getting carried away. As an urban mom, I revered strollers as most would mommy-fied minivans and SUVs. A stroller says an awful lot about the family. Today I was sent a link to a stroller that has me lusting and wishing that it was around 4+ years ago. Meet the TAGA stroller, a stroller which embodies everything I have ever wished for in a stroller: capacity for more than one baby, 3-wheels/jogger, and pretty sweet looking with the bonus of turning into a bike!!

I had the Bugaboo - oh, yuppie-doo. It was like a cadilac for my baby. It was a super smooth ride, but it was a bulky pram not meant for speed, more passengers or transporting.

Enter phil&teds. This stroller left me content but it is not as sexy as a kid kustom. Which would have been the coolest stroller in Inner Richmond yet... but, it was only meant for one and my sweet babe needed a friend.

If I had trusted the drivers in the city with my precious cargo I would have drop shipped this amazing creation - the bakfiet. I still find myself daydreaming of piling the kids in that and browsing the outdoor markets, cruising along the canals or meandering through the tulip fields in Holland.

But, now, the TAGA!!!! It's a pity I will soon be saying farewell to strollers. This thing is SO amazing!

Dinosaur Museum

I would have a membership if it wasn't such a journey. Thanksgiving Point is an incredible place. My first visit was when I was 14 and my mom had our family portrait taken there. I had forgotten about it until last year when I was looking for Halloween activities. I am so looking forward to Cornbelly's this year. But today I'll focus on our recent visit to the Dinosaur Museum.

I am not about to hop in the car for a trek to Utah Valley without first prepping Beez full of excitement. The past two days we have been talking of going to the museum and what we were to do there. Today may have been the best experience in a museum yet (not including trick-or-treating in NYC). This museum is so hands-on! Not only does it have an IMAX with 3-D Dino movies, it also has a junior palentologist sand pit for the kids to dig, fossils to touch, a torso of a dinosaur so the kids can build their own dinosaur with the spikes, tails, legs, heads, etc laying around and even a giant window so you can watch paleontologist work on fossils. We did it all!! And at the end as we were in the lobby preparing to leave, we stopped Rick Hunter the 'resident paleontologist'. After chatting for a bit, he offered to take us into the lab (behind the giant window). I can't wait for my kids to realize how cool this opportunity really is. They both got to learn about preparing the bones and even had a chance to use a tool to brush away the sandstone. This is a video of Evelyn at work...

Heeding old advice

Years ago, when Evelyn was still 'Chuck', a girlfriend (Sobe) pressed me to blog mommy advice and family adventures. I thought it was silly. I didn't think anything I was doing was unique enough to pique the interest of others because, frankly, I'm not often asked about the 'how' part of our outings but the 'where'. Well, skip a few years and I have found my inspiration - Sharon. She has shown me that blogging day-to-day can be exciting. Her fabulous adventures are just blocks from her doorstep and yet they still capture my interest.

A brief description of me pertaining to the blog: full-time mom, wanderer, checklist traveler, weakness for memberships and adoring wife.

I noticed that I have ignored 2010 which in no way reflects the importance of the year. So much was learned and far too many miles accrued. I will try to skip around and cover the adventures and experiences later.

Now off to start this blog thing and see where it takes me...