three lakes park

The last super hot day we had, I forced everyone to head over to Three Lakes Park. Actually, everyone was excited to go...the meltdowns didn't happen until we were leaving the park.

I say thank God for their air conditioned nature center. Besides having awesome exhibits, it has water fountains, bathrooms and cool air!


Diego was in pajaro heaven....


practically falling out of his stroller.


We spent some time on the unshaded playground, although a bless-ed cloud covered the sun for a few minutes of relief.


Diego was very wary of this raccoon.


This could be what scared away the nature on our walk through the woods:


We brought the walking stick!


These two butterflies were fighting, talking, playing, or maybe something else on a tree. Very cool.


Peace. And. Quiet. But, really, go on a cooler day next time.

P is for pick and peas and patience and....

First I just have to say I love it when Diego picks his nose. I know, that's gross. But he's not really picking anything and it's just so darn cute. Now, it's NOT cute when Joaquin does it in church and I ask him to stop fifteen times and he says he can't. But that's another story.

This post is actually about good eaters. We like to think that Isabela and Joaquin are pretty good eaters. They try new foods. They clean their plate at dinner. There's veggies and fruit involved.

We've slacked with Diego. He loves fruit and meat. Veggies (except sweet potatoes, and we all know those are too sweet to really be a vegetable) have been a problem since he stopped eating those little jars. But, tonight, HE ATE PEAS!! I've been pushing peas on him periodically for a few months. He always managed to find it and spit it out, even if it was hidden.

So tonight, I called them pelotas (balls) and tried again. He ate it, bit it, and spit it out. Then he ate it, bit it, spit it out, and threw it at me. So maybe pelota wasn't a good word.

But then, I tried again. (For some reason, I find him throwing food cute, too.) And it worked. He ate it and asked for more! In the picture, you can see a smidgeon of pea on his finger. (Isabela took those shots, by the way.)

Just a little encouragement to keep on trying those foods that are good for them!

random things

I've been a little sick with a cold...Isabela was sick today and slept most of the day...so we haven't been doing much lately. But here are a few of our obsessions lately:

1. Chalk pastels.
They're so beautiful.


Joaquin and Isabela learned this technique at their art class. You just color it in then rub with your finger. I know that's simple, but we've had these pastels for a year and they never used them until now.


Joaquin decided to make two books out of his works (eight pages each...so that's 16 pictures!).


2.Activity cup.
For a few days, I would set out a cup with little activities written on sticks for the kids to do, and when they were finished with it, they could take the stick out of the cup. I tried to include some kind of reading, writing, math, art or science activity for each day.


3. Write letters.
We've got penpals in Bolivia. Our own family, of course, but we'd never had the kids write to them before. Since we're trying talk in Spanish this summer, writing letters in spanish was a great idea. We got our first response in the mail last week and the kids were thrilled. These are ready to mail:


Getting Joaquin to write was no picnic at first. But yesterday, he volunteered to make a card for a Spanish-speaking friend who got hurt...I was impressed.


4. Craft books.
I have these laying around but sometimes overlook them. This one is great.


Salt dough was their choice. Always fun. I wanted them to make beads and paint them, but they did what they wanted.

These are Joaquin's pools:


Isabela's bowl:


And painted.


5. Farmer's markets.

We drove to the downtown farmer's market on an off day...actually it was probably a good time to go. Parking was easy and there weren't many people so we could ask questions. We came back with a squash we'd never tried, three crocheted washcloths, and some delicious, juicy peaches that we inhaled.


Downtown is always an adventure and full of new sights...like Henri Matisse paintings right on the street!


Summer is great for relaxing and trying new things...although there is that ever-present pressure of "what did you do in summer", some of the best activities are at home.

baila!

I just found this cuteness on my old camera. I was trying to video Diego's yummy food dance that he does in his high chair at most meals. But he's used to the paparazzi so he was expecting a flash. You only get a slight glimpse of the dance at the end.

surf and sand

We just can't seem to stay away from water and sand. And here's a weight off my back... I don't care about how messy it is. This is just a bigger version of our sand box...with waves.


A nice family had already dug a great waterhole that they happily shared with us.


Isabela loves to cover herself with dirt, mud, sand, you name it. Joaquin tried it, but I put one scoop on his belly and he said, "I think I changed my mind."


Joaquin was all about the boogie board this time. He went WAY out by himself.


This was funny...I saw some fins pop up about 40 feet away from these two. Of course, I thought they were sharks and looked franticly around at all the people enjoying themselves to see if anyone else saw it. Nope. They were all laughing and smiling. I tried to motion to JP for them to come in...but of course he wasn't even looking my way. The mom of that nice family must have seen me and said, "I think they're just dolphins. The lifeguards would have called everyone in." Silly me.


Diego's all about the sand. He did like the waterhole, but when he saw waves coming, he headed for the shore. I tried to put him for a nap a couple of times...he was SO tired and rubbing his eyes with sand all over his hands. But there was no way he was going to miss any of this.



Isabela loved the surfing, too! She did it with a board AND without!


We got her her own board on the way home since she was so into it this time. And Diego's next I'm sure. He was standing on a board on the shore when a big wave came in and he wiped out. It would have been a great video.


Oh, and there's one of me, too! Diego's trying to wiggle free...must...have...more...sand.

thanks, facebook

Most of you know I'm no fan of facebook...HOWEVER....it did nicely remind Juan Pablo and I last night at 10pm that it was our anniversary.
Yes, we both forgot.
And it wasn't even like we thought about it a week ago and then forgot. I mean, it never even crossed our minds.

Here's to eight years. I know it's not a milestone, but I thought it deserved a mention.

what we've been up to...

Our new 3x3 sandbox. The kids are in it from morning until night. We used the frame from our raised garden...decided that it didn't really need a frame....and filled it with sand...in a spot in our yard we NEVER played in.


Here's JP with his father's day tool belt adding on the cover so neighborly cats don't join in the fun.



We've since added water to it...our hose can reach and has an adjustable nozzle with mist, soaker and all those other cool settings. Plus we put buckets and shells and a beach umbrella.




PVC pipe and funnels are great toys.


Yes, that's the setting sun shining on Diego.

stay cool.

beach science

The science museum had a fun opening day for summer on Saturday. If you're thinking of getting a family membership here, I recommend it. This day was free for members...including ice cream and popsicles.




A perfect bite taken out just for his nose.


I did pay three dollars for them to do this simulated surfing. Way to easy for Joaquin...and would have been way cooler without the helmet and with some water squirting on them.



Plus this was interesting...they have this huge garden growing...the harvest goes to the Food Bank. And if you come and help work it, they'll "pay" you with a bag of vegetables to take home.



And those balloon clowns were there. Man, are they good.