Family Vacation

Hi there! We just got back from a quick family vacation to California. It was WONDERFUL to get out of the Arizona hot weather and enjoy some cooler climate. We took the kids to Disneyland and I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the parents! I love the new fast pass they have there. You don't have to stand in line forever anymore. The big rides all have signs that let you know the length of time you would have to wait. If you don't want to wait that long, you can get a fast pass that will tell you to come back between say 1pm-2pm or something like that. Then you go and ride something else, come back at the appointed time and walk right up to the front. We never waited more than 15 minutes for anything. So between fast pass and the baby swap my kids rode everything at least twice! Star tours my kids rode on 5 times and Splash Mountain they rode on 4 times each. It was a great break from the rigors of medical school. We also hit the beach on Saturday and just relaxed.

Okay I hit some button that kicked me out of the system before I finished my message... At any rate.... It is amazing how much more relaxed the kids are. You forget that the kids feel the stress too and need time to relax. They are so much happier. I'm not saying that everyone has to go to Disneyland but it sure is nice to take some time where you don't think about medical school, residency or anything medical for a few days. I am much more motivated and content to be home.



Hope everyone is gearing up for summer vacation and has some fun plans!



Robin

Woohoo! That sounds like so much fun!!! We are hoping to do Disneyworld again this summer before we move. They started the fast pass there too, and we did the same thing...just signed up and came back a bit later...It was GREAT. They had a lot of little kiddie areas where there was water squirting up through the ground, and I would just pretend that I was chasing after the kids and found it to be very refreshing! Do they have Animal Kingdom up there or is that just in Orlando? The only drawback was that the drinks were pretty expensive. We brought a cooler in the diaper bag filled with juice boxes and snacks, so that helped out...



Well, I,m glad that you guys had fun!



Are your kids excited about the end of school? Have they already had their last day?



Kris

I have always wanted to go to Disneyworld. Someday .... Disneyland doesn't have an animal kingdom but there was still plenty to keep us happy. I hope you get to go this summer before you move. We figured that this might be our last chance for quite awhile to go to Disneyland because most of the residency programs we are looking at are back east. It was definitely worth it!



My kids got out of school on May 18th! We have one more week before swim lessons start so I am trying to keep them happy. My husband has this week off though so it is wonderful. I wish it would last much longer. My older boys are constantly having other bored boys calling wanting to play with them which has helped a lot. I don't hear "I'm bored" quite so many times each day. I have good friends who have a swimming pool and that's where we went today. I am still worried about how to keep them busy all summer but I will worry about that next week when Russ goes back to "work".



When do your kids get out of school? The last week of school was crazy here because of all the parties and last minute assignments. One day I spent from 8:30 am to 3:20 pm racing from one classroom to the other to help with parties. I sure admire those teachers who spend all day 5 days a week with a whole classroom of kids. They must have incredible patience!!!



Kris, when are you moving? You probably wrote all about this in another post but I haven't found it yet. Hope all is going good.



Robin

So you guys are looking for programs out on the east coast? I have to say that I really liked living in PA....



I can't believe that your boys got out on May 18th!!! Wow, that sure is getting an early start on summer. Today is the last day for Finny and Andrew....Andrew is my oldest, but he is so sensitive...he cried himself to sleep last night because he is going to miss his teachers so much (This is the same child that cried all year about how much he disliked school . We decided on some wood crafts for end-of-the year gifts and so the kids spent the last couple of days painting the things that they had picked out...I polyurethaned them and got them wrapped yesterday and they took them in today. I actually feel sad with my kids because (well, overlooking the obvious that I won't have the break during the day ) I remember how sad I used to be at the end of every year....



Our moving day is quickly approaching...too quickly. They pack us on the 22nd and load us on the 25th....We are hoping to go to disneyworld over that weekend (23-24)....



Where are you guys looking for a residency? What specialty is your husband interested in?



Kris

The last week of school was always bittersweet for me. I liked the idea of not having to go to school but I always missed my teacher and friends too. My boys sure aren't like that (at least not yet!) They counted down the days and were absolutely thrilled when school was out, though they do miss their teachers. Zach (my 1st grader) gets the same teacher next year so he wasn't sad at all and Jacob (3rd grader) was just too excited to be done though he does wonder what his teacher is up to occasionally.



This has got to be a fun, yet stressful time for you. Moving at the end of the month! You are off to Minnesota, right? That will be quite the change from Florida! You have lived all over. I'm afraid that I am a bit nervous about the whole residency thing because I have never moved my family that far before.



We are looking around Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania mostly but who knows where we will end up. After agonizing about what specialty my husband wanted to do... we are still going ahead with general surgery but we are concentrating on finding a community based residency that has a little bit better lifestyle (if such a thing exists!) He is going the DO route and many of the residencies' call is Q:5 That is much better than the Q:3 here in Arizona. We also want a little bit smaller city to live in and Michigan has quite a few programs where you can live in a small community and commute a short distance. We shall see. Russ is leaving in August for a couple of months to check out the programs in Michigan. We are having a hard time getting good info about the residencies. Anyway... this will be an adventurous year!



One of my good friends lives in St. Paul and she really loves it. It was a surprise to me because she was always the suntanning warm weather lover but she seems to have adjusted pretty good.



I guess you can adjust to living anywhere. I think I worry more about my kids adjusting than me. They don't do great with change and we are very comfortable here. Plus, I have no clue what to expect, having never even visited any of the eastern states. I was born a California girl, raised in Oregon and lived in Utah and Arizona with Hawaii and Japan thrown in for some excitement! It all changes when you have kids though. I worry WAY too much.



Well, hang in there and your trip to Disneyworld sounds like the perfect timing! Do you know people in Minnesota at all? Is that where you want to stay permanently?



Robin

Robyn,



Yes, we are moving at the end of the month...and I am hoping to defend my thesis before we go too...It is stressful, but at the same time I feel excited about our move and relieved to possibly get this defense behind me before we go!



Regarding residency programs: Don't let your hubby overlook Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. It is a hospital in a small town (~5500 people) that cares for the entire central PA area. They have over 500 beds. In terms of family, Danville was a great place to live. It did take some adjusting, of course, but once we had been there a year, I loved it. I really hated leaving. The residency programs in all deparatments were much more "humane" than in many other hospitals that I have heard of....although I don't think they have 1:5 for surgery....even Thomas did a lot of 1:3 for Internal Med.....but after the first year, things did ease up a bit. I think surgery is a tough specialty anywhere you go...but Danville was a really great place to raise a family...safe, clean....and the hospital is fairly family-oriented in its approach to training. It is about 2-21/2 horus away from Philadelphia (1.5 if I'm driving ). We actually were going to go back and had to make a decision between Danville and MN...we chose MN for something new (my husband was afraid that he wouldn't be respected as an attending after having been a resident) and because most of our friends had left...



But make him check it out.



So I am curious...how did you guys end up in Hawaii and Japan?



Kris
Edited by: Kris at: 6/1/01 6:38:28 am

That's funny you should bring up Geisinger. I checked out their website back in February or so and fell in love with the picture of the area! It is gorgeous! I heard a lot of good things about it. I was checking into it because Russ was looking at possibly doing peds and Geisinger had a great reputation with accepting quite a few DO doctors. When I my husband decided not to do peds, I forgot about Geisinger. I will have to check it out again. Thanks.



I wasn't married when I went to Hawaii and Japan. I went to college in Hawaii for a year just to have some fun. I loved it! I went by myself and requested a foreign roommate. She was from Fiji and became one of my best friends ever. I had only planned on going one semester but liked it so much that I came back a year later bringing my brother and a couple of friends with me. I went to Japan on a mission for my church for 18 months. It was a humbling experience learning Japanese but the Japanese people are really wonderful and it was a great experience too. I came back and got a minor in Japanese but I just haven't kept it up. I have forgotten way too much.



What did you think of Northern Ireland? I have always wanted to see that part of the world. I was just curious to know if your children speak a foreign language? German? I always thought it would be wonderful to teach children a second language when they are young. They pick things up so easily. I haven't been successful with my own kids because Russ doesn't speak Japanese and so the kids just pick up a few words here and there. It drives me crazy now when they ask me how to say something in Japanese and I can't remember how to say it.

Definately check out Geisinger....Danville is a wonderful place to raise a family...really!!!! I regret not going back. Let me know if you find out any info...and especially if you guys end up going there...that would be so neat!



I really LOVED Northern Ireland. We lived in Portadown, a town about 30 miles east of Belfast. It is the site of the Garvaghy Road march every July, and my dear Friend Patricia actually lives in the catholic area off of the Garvagy road that is held up every year by the Orange Men. Her daughter, Fionnula, was our first babysitter and is a good family friend. She has come to the US every year since we moved back to the states and we have watched her grow from a shy 15 year old to a confient 21 year-old finishing up nursing school. She will be coming to MN on July 5th to visit again. We named our daughter after her, actually...Amanda-Fionnuala, and we call her "finny"...



We have been trying to teach the kids german. Thomas actually speaks ENGLISH with them because they don't understand german as well....and he thinks it is too "hard" to have to explain it to them...we do have a multi-system VCR and can play videos made in germany with their color system...so the kids watch a german video a day. One of my goals this summer is to talk german with them all day...





Wow...a church mission to Japan! That is sooo neat. My mom has gone to Honduras several times with our church in TX. She was taught dental skills (she's actually an NP) and has done dental missions.....



What kind of a mission were you involved in?



OK...get thee back to school for a course or buy a japanese tape!!!! It is worth it to keep up with it just for the personal satisfaction!



Kris