Tuesday, January 31, 2012

UPDATED: Rest In Peace, Sebastian

candle

I am extremely saddened to pass on the news that Sebastian lost his battle with cancer tonight.  Sebastian lived next door to us and was in Isabella's class.  Words can't possibly describe the grief that his family must be feeling now.  I just pray that they find the strength in family and friends.  Rest in peace, Sebastian.



UPDATED 2/4/12
They had a beautiful ceremony after the funeral where they released dozens of white balloons in the air to honor Sebastian.  Here's a snapshot at the church.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Isabella’s Make-A-Wish Trip

Today, we went on Isabella’s long awaited Make-A-Wish trip.  She chose to meet the cast of the Electric Company which is one of her favorite shows on TV.

P1070360The day started off when the limo arrived at our house at 10am.  Since the kids have never ridden in a limo before, this alone would have made for a special trip, but this was just the beginning.  We arrived at Max Brenner's restaurant just before noon and waited for the three members of the Electric Company to arrive.  While we waited, we meandered about the lobby/gift shop looking at the vast expanse of chocolate related paraphernalia.  One apron proclaimed, “Chocolate is good for you”.  My favorite was a Chocolate “First Aid” kit from the “Brown Cross”, for those chocolate emergencies.

The first cast member to arrive was Jenni Barber, who plays Lisa.  At first we didn’t recognize her when she walked in the door, but as she came over to greet us, we could tell instantly who she was. Next, Priscilla Diaz, who plays Jessica, walked in and shortly thereafter, Josh Segarra, who plays Hector, arrived.  We exchanged greetings and Isabella couldn’t hide her complete excitement.  It was a pretty surreal moment since we were just watching these three characters on TV yesterday, and now, here they were right in front of us!

We sat down for lunch and chatted about the show and about our favorite songs and episodes.  Since the show films during the summer, it was interesting to hear that Jenni, Priscilla and Josh had not actually seen each other in a while so it was a sort of reunion for them as well.  The conversation flowed freely and the three of them were so nice and down to earth!

P1070400The most exciting time of the lunch was when the three of them made Isabella an actual member of the Electric Company!  She had to first agree to the terms of becoming a member, then they presented her a certificate to prove her membership!  Afterwards, they serenaded her to one of her favorite songs “Silent E”.

As lunch wound down, we took a bunch of pictures with them and they also signed a bunch of things for us.  We said our goodbyes, and although our time with the Electric Company was done, our Make-A-Wish day was not done yet.

Isabella was pretty tired after the brunch and fell asleep in the limo.  We decided to let her sleep and while she slept, we went to Toys R Us at Times Square and rode the giant indoor Ferris Wheel with Annalise and Nathaniel.  By the time we got out of Toys R Us, Isabella was up again, so we went to Central Park and took a nice horse drawn carriage ride around the park. 

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After the ride through Central Park, we jumped back into the limo and went over to Dylan’s Candy Bar, which is a candy store made up of three floors of candy.  We went over to the fondue station and picked up some chocolate covered strawberries, pineapples, and rice krispy treats.  Yummy!

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After a full day of sweets, we were pretty much done for the day and headed home.

Special thanks to our friends at Make-A-Wish for putting all of this together.  And of course, a special thanks to Jenni, Priscilla, and Josh for taking the time to meet with Isabella.  This was truly special for everyone, especially Isabella.

Please see the slideshow below for complete coverage of our trip and tons more pictures!