Our New York Trip summerized in 4 minutes

What a trip.

Last night in NYC

Today we visited the American Museum of Natural History.  The girls really enjoyed the place.  Madison had already visited once but was much more interactive this time around.  Man that girl can talk.  Now I can understand what my parents must have felt with my sister (shout out to Sandra... Ye, Yeah!).  Madi asks questions about everything.  And so did Mia.  I was very impressed to see how much they knew about things already and how receptive they were to learning new things.  A testament to what Noemi has done with them.  I must admit though I was kind of in the background for the whole event.  Noemi was the one who answered all the questions.  I was just worn out from the last 10 days.  We also did the IMAX Wild Ocean while we were there.  It was amazing and the girls loved it too.

We have already packed up the apartment and we are ready to go.  Not for good, but till next year.  I am not sure when we are returning but I am thinking April.  Tomorrow we will go to see the doctor to have her stitches removed.  After that, some grub in, yes you guessed it, Chinatown, and probably catch a flick.  It's supposed to rain the whole day again.

The view from the apartment.

One's feeding while the other one get's the tail.

Largest Dino.

Asian Elephants

In preparation for Thanksgiving.  I couldn't find the turkey fryers in the display...

By the way, that first picture is the view from the museum overlooking Central Park.  One day, one day...

Roaming NYC

Went by to see the doctor again, he said that it looks good.  It was good to hear we are one of those "strict parents who do exactly what we say to do."  Whew.  I am always concerned if we are doing the right things with Madi.

After that we went to Grand Central Station, Chinatown (what a surprise), Battery Park, and Staten Island.  It was fun.  Another beautiful day in the NYC.  More pictures less writing.  Enjoy.

This picture tells a thousand words...

Her Angelina Jolie Lips...

Grand Central Station

This guy was creepin' me out but they had to take a picture with him for Coco.  What the heck is a grown man doing in a Spiderman outfit... and it's not Halloween yet?

I love how they love each other.

I got all choked up when we got close.  I started thinking about my parents, this country, our military, my freedoms... I am sooo proud to be an American!

Burrrrr...

The Louk Clan

Can you see how nice her face has become?

I really love this picture.

I'm in Heaven...

So we did the Central Park thing in the early afternoon and then headed to Flushing Queens. There's a Chinatown there too.  Alfredo, a cousin of mine, turned us on to this place called "Corner 28".  Everytime I hear that name it's like angels are singing.  The funny thing is that it's not even on the corner of 28th.  It doesn't matter.  The cooks there have learned the art of cooking real deal Chinese food.

We had Wonton Noodle Soup, Hot and Sour Soup, Salt and Pepper Pork Chops (I didn't know salt and pepper could do these things), Roast Duck, Spare Ribs (ohhh the ribs...), and these little bundles of love that I call Peking Pows.  It's roasted duck with a little hoisin sauce, cucumber, and scallions.  Who ever thought of this should be given the Nobel Peace Prize.  It's like love wrapped up in a little white bun...

Okay, I had to get that out.  Anyway, we had a blast today.  As I type I am eating left overs.

Peking Pows... if Love could be food...

Can you see Mia stuffing her face?

A Rainy Day...

It rained, and rained, and rained, and rained.  So we just chilled out at home.  A friend of ours, Omar, came to visit us in the afternoon and stayed till after dinner.  It was nice having someone over.  A very uneventful day except for the normal funny things that the girls do.  Madison read her first sentence today.  Only my sister can attest to this but I believe that I didn't read my first sentence till I was like 7 or something.  Sandra on the other had wrote her first thesis by 4, got her masters by 8, and wrote 4 books before becoming a teenager... I swear.

I read the first half of this blog last night and wow, we as a family have been through a lot.  And I must say that I am a very lucky man too have such a great wife and a great family to have supported us through this incredible time with our daughters.  Without getting a mushy, I am just feeling really blessed right now.  Sometimes we take for granted how strong we can be during tough times, and I am so glad that I write this blog every chance I get so that I can remember that it's not what happens to you in life, it's how you respond to it.  Thank you Mr. Sanad for helping me remember that!  And thank you God for giving us the strength.

Girls Go Shopping...

We again started the day out by going to see the doctor.  We have grown to be overly cautious with Madi's wounds.  If we got the doctors here, we are going to use them.  Everything looked great.  We then headed out to 42nd and Broadway to give the girls a little fun in the coolest Toys R Us I have seen.  We put the plastic cover on the stroller, covered up the girls, and headed out.

Since it was Mia's birthday on Monday, we had some money that the grandparents gave so she could spend.  Madi also had an allowance.  Mia was like... no, she was the kid in the candy store!  She went wacky.  Most importantly, she had a lot of fun and so did Madison.  After that, we just walked around the city.  Mia ad Madi couldn't wait to get home to play with their new "aquisitions."

All in all, another fun day in the City.  Here are some video's... enjoy.

Nice profile...

Madi's Silly Smile

Sophisticated

When I think of possible jobs... this isn't one of them.

whew... I survived these ladies.

This was hilarious...

She really loves NYC... I need to buy an apartment here.

Chinatown Bound...

We started the day by going to see the surgeon.  They said that the operation went great.  They do realize that her nose is a little more off centered then before but that they were more focused on the lip.  Her lip is now symetrical (sp?).  He also mentioned that she has built up her nose septim and that fixing that would be no problem.  He says it like my mechanic talks about aligning my car.  She looks good and feels good.  She is in good spirits.

As for Mia, she's doing well too.  I took her to one of my favorite places to eat... Chinatown.  Since she behaved so well yesterday, I figured I should take her out and have some fun.  We ate, we played, we walked, we talked, we bought food for Madi and Mom, we sang, we laughed, we yelled, we shopped.   She is definitely fun to hang out with.

I was exhausted when we got back.  Madi was happy we brought her shrimp dumplings and Noemi was happy that we brought back dessert.  Everyone's asleep and I went to go do some laundry.  Tomorrow we will venture out with Madi if she is up for it.

Subway ride to Chinatown $2

Cheap Barbie Doll Watch $5

Wonton Soup and Cha Sui Pow's Lunch $15

Sharing my favorite places with my daughter and having a blast...

PRICELESS!!!

What a day...

Unlike the last surgeries, this one was scheduled at 12:30pm.  Normally we are in by 7am and out by 2pm.  This time we got in at 11am and got out at 7pm, I think.  We were literally the last patient for the day so when you have delays at every operation, they compound.  She didn't get into the OR until 5ish.  Poor thing didn't eat anything for 12 hours.  Thankfully Noemi woke her up around 5am and got her to eat a couple of waffels.  Mia too was quite the trooper.  She hung with us all the way through without giving us a hassel.

Madi went straight to the OR without giving any complaints at all.  She walked in the room and greeted everyone.  Told the doctors thank you in advance and put her mask on by herself.  Everyone in the room was amazed at how well she behaved.  That's Madi... Ms. Grown-up.

According to the doctor, everything went according to plan.  Her nose looks to be a little strange on the way he operated but we trust him.  He said it looks good and if he says it looks good, then it looks good.  I feel like I am dealing with the mafia or something.  We will see him tomorrow again so I am sure he will elaborate on why it looks that way.  They removed a lot of scaring that she had above her lip, did some laser therapy, and did more things that I didn't understand.  Like I said, we trust him.  The real work begins now.  But like I have learned through my Christian brothers, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" Matthew 6:34.

Minutes before the surgery...

Minutes after surgery...

A very concerned older sister...

She loves her Mommy.  Always ready to listen to her.

A wonderful day...

We started out the day by going to see the surgeon.  He was very pleased with how well Madison has been doing.  He let us know that he will begin the process of smoothing out her lip... bit by bit.  I guess that means a few more trips to NYC.  He said he will also look at building up her nose a bit and filling in her lip.  She looks wonderful.  The surgery is set tomorrow at 12:30pm.  We are all very anxious but you couldn't tell.

Central Park seems to be the place to go though.  It was in the low 60's without a cloud in the sky.  Noemi and I had a dirty water dog and the girls had pretzels.  They played and had a ball.  Then it was time for Noemi to go to her playground... Madison Ave.  I surprised her with a gift at the Coach store.  It's our 14th anniversary for God's sake.  It's the least I could do.  We followed it up by hanging out at FAO Schwartz for a bit and then headed home.  Now, it's time to get ready for tomorrow.  We are very excited...

14 Years and we look the same... just with a little more um... experience.  Madi took this piture.

Stylin' and Profilin'

When Momma's happy... Everyone's happy.

Just look at Mia's expression... Priceless. They sell that piano for $250,000.  I ordered one.

And they ask me why do I work so hard...

I really do like this place...

As many of you know, today is Mia's birthday.  Tomorrow is our 14th year anniversary... of which everyone has already forgotten about.  And on Wednesday is Madison's 6th surgery.  So, this trip is an extra special trip.  When I tell people that I am coming to New York, everyone asks me... "Business or Pleasure."  If you really think about it, it's neither.  I guess it really breaks down to whether or not I am coming here to have fun or not.  Now I can't speak for Madison because she is the one who actually goes through the surgery, but I can tell from how she feels about NYC that she really enjoy's coming here.

Maybe it's because they get to act a little crazier here than at home, or maybe, it's because she likes the Chinese food (God knows Noemi and I do), or how about the cool air and that really cool feeling about being in the center of the universe (at least that's the way the people act around here), or maybe just maybe it's because we get to really hang out as a family for 10 straight days.  And I do mean really get to hang out as a family and we really do enjoy ourselves.  I believe that she knows deep down inside that coming here is very important to her.  I believe that she knows that what God gave her is a blessing in disguise.  And I believe it is because of that, that she enjoys coming here.

So what are they going to do to Madi this time?  We have no idea.  Or like the doctor likes to say to us every time we ask him... "Get her looking prettier.  Isn't that what we are here for?"  Normally that would drive me crazy when someone is that vague, but for some reason, I really trust that guy!

Anyway, our arrival was short of uneventful, the way I like it when I am on a plane.  Traffic sucked as expected.  We decided never to arrive again at 4 pm... bad idea.  We dropped our things off at the apartment and we took off to go grab a bite... guess... that's right, Chinese.  It's not as if I don't get really good Chinese back in Miami, it's just different.  Whatever.  We chowed big time.  We then headed to another restaurant to have dessert and sing "Happy Birthday" to Mia.  After taking the girls back home I headed to the mart to get a weeks supply of groceries.  I gotta tell you, cool breeze, music bumpin' in the mp3 player, nice walk... Yup... I am back in the NYC!

She was excited to see that the airport recognized that she was leaving... I ain't telling her any different

The New York Battling Ram...

Madi was very excited about the plane ride.

On the way to the apartment in the city.

This is what traffic will do to a 3 year old.

Our place... I want to buy one like this up here one day!

All systems go...

Noemi and I are quite anxious to get this thing going.  We are extremely excited about this trip.  All the preparations are almost done and we will soon be boarding a plane.  We get there the 19th and the operation is the 21st.  We almost had a hiccup because of some blood work that came in a little off but all that has been resolved.  Here are some pictures of Madi and Mia that I took a few days ago...

I love this picture... her smile is captivating.

My serious daughter... NOT!  So much has changed since I started this blog.

They are always having fun.

So big... So funny... So full of life...