Kaplan Books for Sale

We have a full set of Kaplan step 1 review books that we are selling on Ebay. Click on the link below if you are interested in finding out more about them or bidding on them:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-2009-2010-Kaplan-USMLE-Step-1-Books-Full-Set_W0QQitemZ160428016028QQihZ006QQcategoryZ2228QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Dinosaurs

 
Here is Alex at the Minnesota Science Museum in front of a Stegosaurus skeleton.

You should of seen her face when we walked into the museum and saw all these dinosaurs! She was in awe!!! It had been a long time since I've been to the Minnesota Museum and they had more stuff on dinosaurs than I remember. Alex got to see skeletons of Diplodocus, Allosaurus, Compsognathus, Triceratops, and more. We spent all our time down in the Paleontology section and didn't go look at anything else. We'll be going back! The best part is that I didn't have to pay! Since I have the Miami Science Museum membership I got in free! Yay!

Keith left for Chicago today and will be there for seven weeks doing a Kaplan Step 1 Retreat course. Tomorrow Alex starts her gymnastics class! I'm so excited for her. We went out today and got her a new little leotard! I will post some more pics soon.

Slumber Party

 
Alex is so excited to be back in Minnesota with her friends and family. This past weekend a couple of her cousins came over to Keith's mom's house for a sleepover. Alex had been counting down the days to this sleepover! She was SOOOO excited! Alex's cousin's, Kaylee and Kara, came over around dinner time. The girls played with stuffed animals and had a little dance party (Alex's new favorite song is Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas). When bedtime rolled around we got out their sleeping bags and put them to bed. Unfortunately they we're in no mood to sleep. They we're so wound up and just wanted to play. Nine and Ten O'clock came and went. Then 11:00 came and Aimee (Kaylee and Kara's mom)and I figured this was not going to work. That the best thing to do was for them to head back to their house and let the kids sleep in their own bed. So they left at about 11:15 and Alex fell asleep soon after. I figured she'd sleep in the next morning but that didn't happen. So needless to say she was pretty cranky the next day!

Video from Teddy Bear Park

Video from Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater:

Teddy Bear Park, Stillwater, MN

A few days ago I decided to take Alex to Teddy Bear Park, in Stillwater, MN. Stillwater is a cute little town along the St. Croix River full of antique shops and restaurants. I have been to Stillwater many times but have never been to the park before and I don't know what took me so long to check it out because it is the nicest park I have ever seen. Alex loved it too and can't wait to go back!

Here are few pics below:

Teddy Bear Park

Good-Bye Miami, Hello Minnesota

Before we left Miami we got to spend a lot of time with friends. Here is Alex with her two little friends Kara and Kaya. We're so glad we got to spend time with them while we we're in Miami. It's so nice to have friends in a new city. Kara and Kaya's dad is a semester ahead of Keith in med school. He is doing some rotations in Miami and is planning to finish them off in Atlanta. Atlanta is one of the places we want to go too so hopefully we will be able to see them again, along with many of our other friends we met while in Dominica.

Homeless Voice

The day before I left I saw someone going around to cars at a red light and he had a Homeless Voice vest on, but he didn't have any newspapers so I rolled down my window to ask him about it. Apparently they we're out of newspapers and he gave me a few fliers instead and I donated 1.00. After looking into the newspaper a little more it seems like a great program. All the profits go to a shelter for the homeless and they employ the homeless to sell the newspaper.

I've seen an article about some towns trying to get them off their street because they don't want them hassling drivers and passengers for money. I don't know what they mean by "hassling" because I see them all the time and nobody has ever "hassled" me. If you can't read the fliers you can click on the picture and it will open the picture up in another page.

We are back home in MN now! It was a loooooong drive! We did it non stop. We left Miami at about four thirty in the late afternoon and finally got to my parents house about nine pm the following night. If we would of stayed in a hotel it would of taken more money and three days! Keith and I just traded off every few hours and drank lots and lots of caffeine!

Some Recent Videos

Here are some videos that I've uploaded to my youtube page:
This first video is of Alex and her friend Kara playing pretend at their pool in the Brickell area. They are sooo cute and Alex is so dramatic when she is pretending to read a book to hello kitty.

This next one is a short video of a crocodile monitor at the Miami Zoo:

The last video is the view of Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne, from the lighthouse. This is such a beautiful beach! I loved it!

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and Lighthouse

This was my second time to this park. The first time I forgot my camera! :( I love this beach!!! and I love Key Biscayne!!! The beach is more family friendly than South Beach and the parking is much easier. I climbed to the top of the lighthouse and took some pictures from the top. It was soooo beautiful. I took some video as well that I will have to post when I have more time. I need to get back to cleaning and packing.

Click below to see pictures:

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, FL

Another Day at the Miami Zoo

Yesterday Alex and I went to the Miami Zoo again. It will be our last time. We've been here so many times before that I didn't take a lot of pictures of the animals unless they we're doing something fun. I did take a couple of videos that I will have to upload and post at a later date because I don't have time. We are packing to move back to Minnesota for a few months!

I've added some pics to the Miami Zoo set in Picasaweb. Click below to view the pictures:

2010-1-23 Miami Metro Zoo

Another Common Sight in Miami

The man above is one of the many homeless people in Miami. He is holding a sign that says: "Homeless, any help would be appreciated". When the light turns red he walks up and down the rows of cars with an empty cup for the drivers to put their change. There are a few of them that work this interesection and they are a common sight at the interesections of Miami. Not all of them carry signs, some of them sell juices and water and some of them sell "The Homeless Voice", a newspaper put out by the homeless of Miami. The Homeless Voice is a member of the North American Street Newspaper Association. I haven't bought a copy yet but I want to get one before I leave. I don't see them selling them a lot so I will have to try and seek them out. They are based out of Broward County and since I'm in Miami-Dade that is probably why I don't see it a whole lot.

Caution-- Manatee Area

One of the things I miss about Dominica is walking. I walked everywhere because we didn't have a car. If you know me, you know that I have my camera with me everywhere I go. So in Dominica I would stop and take a picture of one of the many rainbows I saw, or maybe a cow in the drive-thru of the KFC. Unfortunately, here in Miami, I can't do that because I'm driving.

I drive by this "Caution Manatee Area" sign everyday (and I drive by slowly because there is so much traffic here!). There is a sign on both sides of the bridge and many of the homes in the area have boats docked in this area. Everytime I drive by I always try to look for Manatee's but since I'm driving I'm never there long enough to take a good look. Keith and Jason drive by there when they have to go to the Hyatt for class and Keith is always the passenger and he tells me he has seen them. He see's them all the time!

So today when I took Alex to school I stopped (because of traffic) and took a picture. I only have few days left here so I hope I get to see one!

If your unfamiliar about Florida's Manatee's-- here's a website:
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/manatee.php#

See Pip Point

Here is a video of Alex reading "See Pip Point". I read to her all the time and it's starting to pay off! She loves having me read to her and I have started getting preschool reading books from the library- books with easy sentences and words in them. Then when I read to her I point to the word. She's really catching on:

Easter

Yesterday, Easter, Alex woke up to a gift from the Easter Bunny, some Peep's (pollito's as they say in Spanish) and a little Hello Kitty stuffed animal. Alex was so happy! She loves Peeps and Hello Kitty. We decided to go to a combined English/Spanish church service. They usually separate it out and have one English service and one Spanish so I thought this was kind of neat. The music was really beautiful and I liked how they switched between the two languages as they sang. I had been contemplating on what to do for an Easter meal since we are leaving Miami in a week. I didn't want to make a big meal and buy more food and then just have to get rid of it all but I decided to cook something anyway. I made a ham, potatoes, salad, and some vegetables. The meal turned out great and we are still eating leftovers!

After eating I took Alex to the park and she played and ran around for a while. I wanted to get her all tired out so she would go to bed since she slept all through the church service. Unfortunately that didn't work out too well.

South Beach

Today Alex and I went to South Beach with Lily, Min and their two children, Kara and Kaya. The girls had so much fun playing in the sand! The traffic on the other other hand was not so fun. With it being a holiday weekend it was pretty congested and parking was a hassle too.

Click below to see the pics I took today and further down is a video I took:

South Beach x2