November 2002
The Photos -
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November
2002 ~ Photos
Well Mike and I went to EUROPE for the first half of the month (Nov 3-13).
Ian was with my mom. - Then Mike's step-father Bob died @ 45 of a heart
attack (11-29-02). This has been a month of ups and downs. - I really did not
feel like Christmas shopping.
I feel so different after my trip I love my life. - In hindsight I really
wish I had left Ian with my mom for a night before we left to Europe. It was
just the first time that was so tough. How crazy am I - the first time I
leave him I not only leave for 10 nights I leave the country! I would have
had a much better time if I had not felt so darn guilty about leaving him - in
other words I made my self miserable worrying about him. -He was just fine.
He actually had a fun time at my mom's. My brother and his three kids were
also staying there + he just adores my mom. It was a full house..
-
I can't believe how much Ian has changed in a month. He can say about a half
dozen letters. A,B,C,D,O
& T. If you say "One" - he says "TWO" - Thank you Tele Tubbies.
See - Mike you do learn something from that silly show. :) He says over 50
words - all of a sudden he just gets it. He is a big talker now. So
exciting. He has gone pee pee in the big boy potty four times
Here is what we did last month!!! - WARNING - lots of detail - just make sure
you see the pictures. this is also my personal diary for the month. :)
------------
Nov 1, 2002 - Pack Pack Pack
Nov 2, 2002 - I have been a wreck about our trip - I have been guilt ridden
for over two months now. How can I leave my baby - not just leave my baby -
but leave the country. - So I went to the SPA. - and then pack and pack and
cried and mopped around about leaving Ian.
http://www.ninamonteespa.com/
Nov 3, 2002 - My mom came up and took Ian down to SD!!!!! Mike and I thought
we were going to die!!!! I had never been away from him for more then 9 hours.
- Angie took us to the Airport. Then we got on a plane 8:30pm - headed for
LONDON ENGLAND!!!!!!
Nov 4, 2002 - After over 10 1/2 hours of flying we got off the plane and on a
train to Victoria Station. Had to lug luggage up and down the stairs. If you
were handicapped in London you just could not go anywhere. There are no
elevators. - Got lost looking for our hotel - took as about an hour to find
our hotel. Got in around 3pm http://www.woodvillehouse.co.uk/
Got dressed went to Picadilly
Circus - Went the best Indian Restaurant we had ever been to - I went and
called home. Ian was just fine. Went to a play called "A Breath of Life"
http://www.djdchronology.com/breathoflife.htm
With Judy DENCH & Maggie SMITH. Now we knew they were in the play - we had
no idea it was just a two woman play. We had 5th row seats. It was amazing.
Like a movie the acting was just amazing! I could not believe my eyes.
Now we had not slept in over a day and half - we were barley able to stay
awake during the play. We must have walked 5 miles today.
Nov 5, 2002 - The big day
Went to the Tate Gallery http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/default.htm
- Saw the beautiful Waterhouse &
Millais
paintings. - Check out the picture of me #6 - you can see the paintings in the
back!!!! We came here back in 1994 and I fell in love with John William
Waterhouse!!! He is by far my favorite artist. Someday I would love to travel
the world and see all of his works.
Waterhouse
http://www.jwwaterhouse.com/index.cfm
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/AWork?id=15984&sid=894864814&group=general&start=1&end=7&mda=Waterhouse%2C+John+William&&name=
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/AText?id=9506&type=pit
Then off to the British Library
Now anyone who knows me knows I love TEA - so when you go to London we had to
experience the ultimate in tea. Afternoon TEA @ the LONDON RITZ!!!
http://www.theritzlondon.com/tea/index.asp
Check out the site - So beautiful...
Then we went to
Harrods
the House Of Parliament (Commons)
Big Ben
Buckingham Palace
We walked over 7 miles
today - I know - I brought
my pedometer - though it must have been wrong - it felt like over 10 miles,
I was also wearing heels. :) We were very tired. We went to a pub for dinner.
Mike had what else "Fish & Chips" and of course a pint or two. :) I had a
jacket potato with coleslaw & a cider. Then we walked over to a wine bar and
had the best dessert. :)- YUMMMMY
Nov. 6, 2002
Westminster Abbey
Cabinet War Room (Mike really loved that)
Tower of London
British Museum
Portobello Road
Camden High Street
Graham Norton - He is the FUNNIEST thing on TV. We got into him about 5
months ago. We were so happy to be able to go see a taping of his show.
Unfortunately his guests were a boy band called "Westlife"
Who?
http://www.bbcamerica.com/genre/comedy_games/so_graham_norton/so_graham_norton.jsp
Then we went back to the hotel and then went to go find something to eat - we
got lost for almost an hour!!! But had a great Italian meal and then got back
to the hotel and saw ourselves on TV. :)
Nov 7, 2002
We flew to Brussels Belgium - Joel meet us at the Airport - then we took a
bus to the Train Station to wait for Joe Dupre (Northern CA). We were a bit
early - he was not due for over an hour. Mike had a brilliant idea - if Joe
was there he would be in the bar. Guess where we found him - the bar = then we also met Marie & Jean (From France) and went back
to Joel & Coco's.
All seven of us were staying there. :) Almost Like Paris 1992 - but no
Greenspan!!! :) - Then off to the show.
Now we did not just go to Europe for Vacation - we also went to see the Cure
perform amazing - a never seen before set list.
The Cure played their best three albums in their entirety. It was a long
(almost 4 hours) and wonderful night. We heard songs we had never seen them
perform and favorites we had not seen since 1989! It was so memorable. :)
Except you had to pay to go to the bathroom and after countless drinks. We
had to go a lot!!! Drinks are only 3 Euro! What a deal. After the show we
walked back to Joel and Coco's.
:)
Nov 8, 2002
Explored Brussels.
Went to a War Museum, Saw the world famous "Manneken-Pis"
- Only in Brussels could the most famous thing be a little boy peeing. :) It
is on every tourists trinket. - :) Saw the gold Lucky Man - We went to a bar
'The Raven" - that had yards of Beer. We also had many Belgian
waffles at the train stations. Mike was in heaven. I actually had a few beers
in Belgium. Of course they were cherry or raspberry beers. :) Then we went
to a traditional Brussels restaurant for dinner.
We were so lucky to be able to spend the day in Brussels with Joel and with
Coco - @ 11:30pm we (Joe Dupre, Mike & I) took the sleeper car to Hamburg
Germany. It was great to go to sleep in Belgium and wake up in Germany -
Except I had a scary experience. I woke up and heard people speaking German
and knocking on the door next to ours. I was so so so scarred! It was such a
awful feeling - I had no idea where I was for a second - It felt like a WW2
movie! Scary!.
Nov 9, 2002
We got to Hamburg at 7am. Angie (So Cal) met us there at the Train Station.
Then we left our luggage at the station and then took another Train to Lubeck. It was a beautiful town were Marzipan candy originated. When we got
there is was snowing - so beautiful. We walked around the city for a few
hours - had Marzipan coffee, bought candy, went to a convent. It was one of
my favorite experiences. - Then we went back to Hamburg looked at the art
museum. Checked in to our Hotel. Called my mom. Then went to another
Cure show. This concert was not a Trilogy concert. - it was an amazing set list
- I heard two songs I had never seen live before. One on the best shows I
had ever seen - We met up with a few other California Cure fans there, Jamie, Robi,
Lori & Matt.
Nov 10, 2002
Mike and I got up early and went to the Fish Market. Around 10am we (Angie,
Joe, Mike & I.) headed for Berlin by train. When we got to Berlin - Joe met
up with a friend. We headed to Charlottenburg, one of the original palaces,
and one of the only places not completely destroyed in WWII. It was very nice
and elegant. Then back to Berlin - we saw the Brandenburg Gate and the Reishtag.
Angie stayed in a hotel in Berlin. We went to our hotel outside of Berlin.
It was the most amazing hotel I had ever seen. It was a 5 Star hotel. (by
the way The Cure were also staying there) :) - So we checked in - I had a
amazing bath! :) Met up with Joe & Scott (Northern CA) - We went down
stairs to inquire about a place to eat and the Cure were just checking in! -
We walked to an amazing Italian restaurant. They let me use the phone to call
America. We had a great meal with wine and Amaretto.
- The first of too many that night. Got back to the hotel and hung out in
the bar - after the Cure got back from rehearsal - Roger, Simon and Perry
came down to the bar. Well - I got nervous and I drank way too much. Perry
poured me one to many Amarettos from behind the bar.. :) Around 2am - we
headed up to the room..
Hotel in Berlin - So beautiful
http://www.regenthotels.com/hoteldirectory/hotelbio.jsp?hotelCode=GERBRLIN
Nov. 11, 2002
Needless to say I had a bad night and was not able to leave my room during the
day. Mike met up with Angie and explored Berlin. They saw the Kaiser Wilhelm, Europa
Center, E. German TV Tower, and checkpoint Charlie (famous gate between the
old East and West Berlin), and I stayed in bed, ordered toast from room
service for $27, took a bath, watched CNN and felt really bad (I deserved it).
Around 4 pm we meet up with Joe, Scott and had lunch in the hotel and
then headed to the first Trilogy Cure concert in Berlin. (It was taped and the
DVD will be released next year) I did not feel that great still so I did not
get up close during the show. After the show we went back to the hotel bar (I
had water) - even Simon of the Cure joked about how my head was feeling.! I
had never been so embarrassed in my life. Simon of the Cure knew I had a rough night... Darn! :) Well we had
a long fun night - we saw bar fights (with the members of the Cure's entourage
and the hotel staff.) - it was a very fun and strange evening. Especial when
you are sober!!
Nov 12, 2002
Had a great morning we went swimming in the hotels amazing indoor pool and
sauna, you have to check out the photos (92)!!! I had never felt more like a
princess then while I was swimming in that pool!!!!! - Had tea down in the
hotel. The cure walked in while I was having tea- now that was a dream.
Saw the Cure - Went to a great last show. Front Row (Roger's side). Now I
have seen the Cure (43 times now) :) - We were lucky enough to have backstage
passes. We were even luckier enough to get back to the dressing room very
early in the evening. There I was backstage at a Cure show and I was
absolutely miserable!!! I wanted to go home and see my baby. I was so so
homesick. I had enough of Europe I want to go home. We headed back to the
hotel - hung out in the bar with the Cure for awhile - until 5:30 then went to
the airport. The hotel did not charge us for that night. Can you believe
that!!!!!! -They also did not charge us for the dozens of postcards I sent out
and all of the time I was online in the hotel seeing the pictures my mom sent
us. Got on a plane at 7am . - Had a stop over in Switzerland.
Here are links to a popular Cure site with Reviews and Pictures
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ChainofFlowers/nov0702.html
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ChainofFlowers/nov0902.html
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ChainofFlowers/nov1102.html
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ChainofFlowers/nov1202.html
http://www.blackghosts.sk/thecure/pictures/2002/Berlin12-1.html
-- -
Nov 13, 2002 - I got home at 2:30pm!!! My dear friend Gina went down to SD
and picked up Ian and meet us at the airport. - I missed Ian so much - When I
saw Ian I was crying and crying - he did not even miss me. He just patted my
arm! I missed him so much - he did not seem to miss me. Oh well at least he
was happy. Got home and played with Ian - I looked so forward to changing a poopy
diaper. I came back from my trip feeling so different. I felt so happy to be
a stay @ home mom - I am so so fortunate to be able to stay home an watch Ian
grow up. I am a lucky girl!
Nov 16, 2002 - Had dinner at our favorite restaurant with Gina & Louie
- Ian was a good boy!
Nov 20, 2002 -Playgroup and the Jungle Gym in Chino Hills - Ian had a
great time.
Nov 25, 2002 - Went up to Pasadena to visit the Wong's.
Nov 27, 2002 - Playgroup @ Diane's - Ian had not played in his little exersaucer
in months. Now he would not get out of his at home (in the Garage) and at his
friends house for playgroup.
Nov 28, 2002- THANKSGIVING!!! (Jason & Kari's four year anniversary)
Went to Mike's Nan's - then went to my Mom's for a great Thanksgiving dinner.
We ate outside. :)
Nov 29, 2002 :(
Left Ian at my mom's - Met up with Kari and took her to Babies R Us to
Register (she is due in March). (127) Then we headed up to Gina and Ronnie's
for the traditional day after Thanksgiving dinner. It was a great time.
(128-135) Then unfortunately we got a call form my mom saying that Mike's
step-father Bob had just passed away.!! :( We headed up to Mike's mom's
(Murrieta) He died around 4pm of a heart attack - he was only 45!!! Mary & Bob
have been together since around 1985 they had their own successful Pest
Control business together. There is nothing more to say - It is such a shame
we are all so miserable. We loved Bob so much. (136)
Nov 30, 2002 (Sat) - Met my mom in Escondido and she took Ian. We went back
to Mary's. Family and friends just kept showing up during the day. I had
never been so sad in my whole life. While at my mom's Ian peed in the big
boy potty for the first time!!!! :) Mike stayed with his mom - Ian was getting
a bit of a fever so I went back down to my mom's.
-
December - - Well here we are the end of the month and I am just now getting
this out. We have had a hard time getting in to the sprit of Christmas. We
did not even get a tree.
Hopefully I will have December's monthly update before the middle of January.
:) Hope all of you had a very happy Christmas and a Very happy New Year.
Please keep in touch.
love,
Autumn, Michael and Ian