Today we have had nice weather again. A bit windy and cloudy every now and then but when the sun comes out it's a total bliss (when you come from a Northen country like Sweden). Today My husband got "free time" to do what he wants to do and me and Mia were taking a walk and playing together. Now I am doing what I have longed for the whole day - staying by the pool :). I still haven't tried to swim yet. Maybe next week. Today I want to tell you about the place we are staying at. It's a simple, yet good quality apartment hotel (Extended Stay America). The hotel has 4 floors, has a small lobby, breakfast room, pool, laundry room and a tiny gym (if it can be called gym because it only has three machines and a TV). The staff is really helpful and friendly and the place seemes to be fully booked pretty much all the time. We have a simple, but cozy and clean room at the 4th floor with a little kitchen, a queen size bed and a couch that can made in to a bed. We have a flatscreen TV, a small dining table with two chairs and a coffe table, AC, great Wifi connection thats complimentary and even a simple complimentary breakfast. So we have pretty much everything we need. There is a busstop very close to the hotel that can take us to different attractions, restaurants and shopping. I am pretty happy with the place ( also concidering that we only pay a little under 400 sek per night). What I wish was a bit better is the isolation (windows and walls) but this is the way it is in USA - the walls are paperthin and they have no need for double/tripple windows like we do in Sweden. That results in us hearing the highway and the neighbours :). It's fine and we have gotten use to it, but it would have made our experience in this hotel even better.

Our home away from home for the first 10 days

Taking a walk with Mia takes aaagggeees cause she needs to observe everything that comes on her way :).

Finally it's warm enough (23 C) to chill by the pool with minimum of clothes on ha ha. I have longed for this! Now I have to work on some tan so that people actually believe that I have been to Florida. I am also the only person by the pool. Others living at the hotel are most probably visiting different attractions, at the Convention Center or they just don't take their clothes off in February :). I havent used a bikini since I was pregnant with Mia so it feels kind of akward being out of shape and stuff. I have this silly hat on that I bought from Dubai to protect my face from burning and sunglasses and a thin short white dress that coveres the "right" parts :). Not quite ready to flash the whole me to the World (read:rest of the hotel visitors cause all the windows face the pool). Now that it is warm again the small lizzards have come out too. Nothing that I have longed for, but might be fun for Mia to see. Talking about Mia, I think she has caught cold again :(. The fourth one in a row. I don't know if I should laugh or cry. Luckily she is happy and active as usually. The guy at the hotel reception joked this morning and said that we should put her on decaff he he. I must say that Americans have this wonderful ability to be really friendly and easygoing even if they don't know you at all. Even when we go for our walk, strangers smile to us and say hello. I love that! Oh, and of course even today Mia woke up at 04:30 and we went for a walk at 8.30, did a little shopping, ate lunch at Taco Bell ( Mias first time) and rest of the day we will enjoy the sun. Tomorrow will be 26 C and rain and then there will be three days between 13-17 degrees and then it should be warmer again.

Shopping in the sun

Mias first visit to Taco Bell. She loved the bread and cheese, I had to eat the rest...

Finally my snowwhite legs get som sun :)

Hjellouuu!

We just came home from a diner type of restaurant close to our hotel. The food was not sensational, but at least we have tried something new. After we left the diner, Mia wanted to get out of her pushchair. Soon we understood why. She had poo all over her clothes and a "lovely" stain on her pushchair. Luckily we were close to home so we walked as fast as we could and Mia went directly to the bathtub. She was all happy during the process and was overjoyed when she realised that there will be bath! We think its all the bananas and smoothies that she has been eating that finally made their way out :). Tonight we are going to have to do laundry because this little girl is running out of clothes fast! Yesterday we did some shopping at Orlando Premium Outlets. I bought some clothes to Mia and myself. I even got myself a lovely top from Michael Kors 75% off the original price and another top from Armani Exchange for just 30 dollars. We plan to go back there again soon, but for now I will let my wallet rest. I also had a chanse to eat sesame chicken, but this time it didn't taste that great. Better luck next time!?

I-trolley

Sesame chicken at the mall

New sunglasses!

I will try to write something every day so those of you who want to know what we are up to can follow us through this blogg. We are on a one month "budget" vacation at Orlando, Florida. We will be staying in different areas in Orlando throughout this month, mostly living at apartmenthotels.The last 9 days we will be spending in a nice hotel. We decided to not rent a car and walk as much we can which eorks just fine because Orlando has good bus connections. Anyways, yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. I had forgotten how it feels to be "sunkissed".It was only 21 C but that was just perfect for us. From our room, we can see the hotel pool, but it's way too cold to use it. Hopefully it will be a bit warmer in few weeks so we can enjoy the weather to its fullest. The best thing about this vacation (besides not having to wear a winter jacket) is that we can just be. No stress, no work, not being in a hurry. I wish I could add to this list "sleep as long as we want to", but that is not quite true because of our active daughter. The only thing I am worried about right now is Mia having yellow thick snot coming out of her nostrils. Hopefully it is a sign of her cold coming into an end. Oh well, todays plans include shopping, eating mall food like sesame chicken (something I did with my hostkids every wednesday when I was an au pair in America) walking around and discovering the area where we live right now. It's still winter weather in Orlando so today we get maximum 17 C. Thats still better than +3 C in Täby, Sweden :P.

Gooooood moooorning! It's 04:17 am in Florida and we are wide awake after 7 hours of sleep. Mia tried to get up already at 02.00 but that was a no-no. Anyhow, after all the problems we are finally here. The flight took 2 plus 10 hours and Mia was a really good girl ( some meltdowns, but not as nad as i tought it could be). She slept well, ate well and I had even time to watch some movies. The biggest problem was to have her sitting on my lap all this time ( when she gets fuzzy and tired she always wants to be with me). Now that was a huge challenge. We have now checked in our first apartmenthotel and as soon as we can we go and do some foodshopping. This time around we plan to cook as much as we can ourselves and maybe eat out 2-3 times a week. Mostly because the portions here are so huge and we don't wanna roll home to Sweden later. Hopefully soon we will be adjusted to the timezone here and maybe wake up at five maybe ;). Oh, Mia is talking more and more now so yesterday when we were landing and the sun was setting at the same time, Mis adorably called the sun "apelsin borta" ( the orange is gone). Cuteness.

Vilken låååång dag det blev och vi har inte ens flygit! Flyget blev ju inställd förstås efter 3 h väntande. Jag hoppades hela tiden men när piloten kom ut från gaten visste jag att det var kört. Efter en stund kommer han tillbaka och personligen berättar till över 200 personer att flyget blev inställd på grund av motorfel och alla har blivit ombokade till i morgon ( några få fick dock åka samma dag). Alla var missnöjda såklart, någon grät till och med men det blev ingen större drama då svenskar är generellt återhållsamma med alla typer av känslor, även ilska. Så det var att bara ställa sig i kö och få veta att vi blev ombokade till en flight via Chicago med mellanlandning på 7 h! Nej, det här accepterar vi inte, sa vi, men vi fick klaga på det i en annan kö vid SAS servicedisken. Först hämtade vi all bagage och sedan gick vi till nästa kö där vi fick vänta i ca 2 h. Där fick vi tack och lov en ny bokning till Orlando via Frankfurt med 1,4 h mellanlandning. Mycket bättre! Men problemen var inte över - vi hade ju hyrt ut vårt hem och hade ingenstans att bo. Även det gick att lösa, men i en annan kö. Klockan 16.30 checkade vi in oss på Radisson SAS hotell i Arlanda ( på SAS bekostnad) och nu ska vi lägga oss ( mätta och belåtna, också på SAS bekostnad) för att i morgon gör vi ett nytt försök att ta oss till Arlanda. Och lilla Mia, hon var hur snäll som helst heeeeeeela dagen. Vi är så stolta över henne :).

Mia har somnat i min famn i väntan på flyget. Vi har varit vakna sedan 05.30 så jag förstår att lilla plutten behöver hämta nya krafter. Flyget är dessutom försenad i minst 2 h så den här dagen kommer att bli lååååång. Såg också vid gaten att Mia är den enda "bebisen" på flyget he he. Hoppas att hon fortsätter att vara lika snäll som hon har varit hittills. Jag börjar bli smått orolig över om resan kommer att bli av i dag eller inte. Flygplanet har något tekniskt fel ( tack och lov att det upptäcktes INNAN flyget och inte under flyget) så mekanikerna grejar med det. Hörde något snack om att "jaga efter ett reserv flygplan" men vet inte vad som gäller just nu. Hoppas i alla fall att nästa blogginlägg kommer från Orlando :).

Fikapaus på Arlanda

Oj vad hon har sprungit runt!

Zzzzzzzz

Det blev precis som jag hade tänkt mig - Mia blev förkyld igen efter bara två dagar på förskolan. Alltså hennes tredje förkylning sedan 15:e januari. Stackars mitt lilla barn, hon vet ju inte hur det känns att vara frisk och snorfri.Just nu försöker hon sova men väcks av förfärliga hostattacker. Troligtvis pga av snoret som hamnar i svalget när hon sover. Har packat med nässug, koksalt, nässpray och Alvedon i handbagaget och hoppas på det bästa. Efter alla dessa förkylningar som hon har gått genom borde hon vara frisk i 50 år!Nu hoppas jag och ber att hon förblir feberfri och inte blir sjuk i någonting mer under flygresan i morgon. I övrigt är det full fart häf med förbereddelser inför resan och snart är allting packat och klart :).

Sötisen blev 22 månader i går. Tiden går fort och snart är hon två år gammal :)