getting ready for winter

do not try this at home...done by a trained professional!

a last minute trip

I used to be a planner. Really. I was. But to look at me now, you'd NEVER know it.

Last, Saturday, on our way to the local library, I called my aunt to chat about coming up. They're in Northern VA, and although it's just two hours away, JP usually has to work and I have to drive it myself...and I get soooo sleeeppppy when I drive.

I decided to brave it and leave RIGHT THEN. We'd be spending the night, and we were leaving without packing ONE thing.

I had the necesities...diapers and wipes. That's it. So away we went!

Now this is how I like to travel with kids (I took this while driving down 95):

When we got there, we drove another hour to see an uncle's new house...it's an old farm house and I'm kicking myself that I forgot to take pictures. Maybe it was all the guns laying around that distracted me. I asked him why people have guns and he said, "Why do people have kids?" Yes, he's a funny man.

My kids were loving his split front door...the top half could open just like in a barn. We've thought about cutting our door in half, but I think we'll just enjoy his.

So we drove back to David and Leah Ann's (or Lan as Joaquin likes to call her.) It's such a relaxing place for us. Look at this gorgeous wind chime Leah Ann found at the thrift store!




It's also a cross between Animal Kingdom and Animal House (although I've never seen that movie!).






We did a little tree climbing...

...and I love that their big boys will play with my little ones.


We even had swim suits in the car...left over from the beach trip...guess it's good to have a messy car sometimes. So we stayed at the pool until 9pm!

I was definitely completely exhausted when we got home. But it was a great trip and I can't wait to come up again. Thanks for having us guys!

sand and feathers

We made another trip down 64 to Atlantic Avenue last week. This time, we packed ahead and left early. We were there by 10 am and it was crowded. It seems like the rest of the world has finally discovered our little secret.


But I like it crowded. This beach is huge and there is plenty of room for everyone. Plus, other people share their beach toys, smile at my baby, speak other languages, and build really cool things in the sand.


Daddy got right to work on the tide pool for Diego. Everyone knows the routine now. Diego waits on the edge of the hole, dangling his feet, watching it get larger and larger.


I found this super huge feather while following Diego on one of his many ambling strolls, weaving through towels and chairs, so we planted it at our sand hole. It actually came in handy when we were out in the water....all the colorful umbrellas just merge into one big rainbow blur, so we looked for the big hole with the feather to find out where we were.


Attack of the sand monster again. The car still hasn't fully recovered.


This boy will NOT nap at the beach. (And I don't blame him!) The more tired he gets, the less afraid of the waves he is. When we've been there for hours, he starts gazing into the ocean and runs straight for it.


He's also a beach collector. Picking up anything that looks interesting. He'd be good with one of those metal detectors I think.



Here's one of those cool sand holes a neighboring family built. When they left, it was all ours! Tunnels and all.



We saw dolphins again...Juan Pablo got a couple of great pictures of them. You can click it to enlarge it. Joaquin was going to swim out to them, but I convinced him it was a lot farther than it looked.


So here's how we do it. We get a great metered spot close to the boardwalk. This was the best spot yet. Then we let the kids fight over who's going to put the money in. Daddy won. Lunch and snacks are in the cooler. We bring towels, but they're not much use, so I'm going to suggest no towels next time. For a bathroom, there's the ocean, and whichever restaurant we go to for dinner.


To change out of our bathing suits, we used a fairly large private dressing room...our car. I took this neat shot while they were fighting over the meter.


And the bikes. We finally slapped down the $20 to do the family bike.


Those things are hard to stop. (So don't stand in the middle of the bike path.) And hard to get going. Poor Juan Pablo was drenched with sweat. He had to do two laps, since Joaquin's shoe fell off by the pier without anyone noticing. How does that happen? I ended up holding Diego while pedaling, and he fell asleep in my arms. I was in heaven. Beautiful beach scenery, wind in my hair, salt in my mouth, and a precious angel asleep in my arms.


We know it's almost time to leave the beach when the waves fill up our little pool.


And I see our feather has already been snatched up by another lucky family.

a little b-ball

Summer school has us up and out of the house by 7:45am every morning, so yesterday I thought it might be fun to take the boys to a real basketball court before it got hot. Too late. It was already hot.



I've been having trouble getting Joaquin outside at all because of the heat. If it's not the pool or the beach, he doesn't want to be out there, which is understandable but I didn't think kids did that. Any suggestions?

Here's my rock collector.




It wasn't five minutes before it deteriorated into this. So we left. Later that morning, he sure was quiet in his room. I found him on his bed, asleep with the kitten. If I'd known that's what it takes to get this boy to nap, I'd have gotten a cat a long time ago!

the rivah

We got a late start to this park event on Sunday..which meant most of the good stuff was gone (sno-cones) and it was HOT. The misting tent was the only place to be. I love Diego's face in this picture!




Since we were in the area, we headed over to one of the entry points on the river for tubers and kayakers. It brought back memories for me...I think we went tubing here when I was a preschooler!....no lifejacket! Those were the days.

I've been reluctant to take them near the river because...well, I don't want them to drown. But this spot wasn't deep at all, so I didn't worry too much.


All Joaquin wanted to do was find a way over this trickle of water. I thought we learned our lesson at Short Pump where he was hopping over the flat stones in the fountain and fell in...and when Joaquin messes up his clothes, it's the end of the world. But no, he still wanted to do it. Fine with me, as long as you don't freak out when you fall in. He didn't...fall in, that is. And he was sure proud of his accomplishment.

date night

DATE NIGHT! Juan Pablo and I finally went out by ourselves. When I say finally, I mean years. And what should be playing at the Byrd Theater ( for only $2.00 a person I might add) but Date Night!


I haven't been to this theater since my mom took me to see West Side Story when I was like eight. It was fun to show it to JP. The guy still rises up out of the floor playing his organ as a pre-show show. The organ is my least favorite instrument of all time...but I bet this guy is the only one that can play it for many miles around. I know that's a picture of a harp, but I didn't get a picture of him playing.


The line was wrapped around the block and the theater was packed. We haven't laughed so hard in years. Tears were coming out of my eyes and JP was nearly rolling on the floor. I think the crowd helped make the movie so funny. We just might have to do this again!

Family of Six

It's all the library's fault.

We went the other day and picked up a bag full of books....one of which was called MIce are Nice. It's an easy reader about why mice are good pets and all the others are not.

Fish stare.
Rabbits hide under the bed.
Cats need a litter box.
Dogs growl.

So after reading it, WE ALL WANTED A MOUSE!

I took the kids up to the pet store to see how much they were and what was involved. I warned them that it still had to be run by Daddy for the okay, but they were enraptured by the idea of a pet and talked non-stop about what it would need and how much fun it would be. Isabela even took notes on how much things cost. It turned out they didn't have any mice, but there was a dwarf hamster that looked like a mouse, and we already loved him. That's what's important, right?

Then we saw the beautiful fish tanks. Oooohh...they're so mesmerizing. Then we wanted fish, too.

And I thought this just might be doable. Fish and a mouse.

At home, we told Daddy the whole thing...about the story, the pet store, the hamster, the fish....and he was in! We could get them!

I decided to check Craigslist for cages and tanks. We saw a few we liked, but I wanted to show them to JP.

WELL.......Isabela and I woke up this morning and heard meowing outside. Now, this is not unusual because a lot of cats come into our yard...but this one was just meowing and meowing. We looked out every window, but didn't see anything. So I sent Isabela out to take a look....she says there's no cat. But I know there's a cat and I still hear it.

So I go out, following my ears, and I hear it under our sunroom/porch...there's lattice covering the space so I couldn't see anything. I call the kitty and sure enough, a little kitten comes out of one of the lattice holes, comes right over to me and lets me pick it up! We couldn't believe it. (Joaquin must know there's a God now. His prayers have been answered.)

We took him inside, and Isabela immediately woke up everyone yelling, "We have a kitten!"

The kitten is playful, like kittens are, and already uses her makeshift litter box (a box top with sand from our sandbox.)

So it seems like we might finally have a four-legged member of the family:

We're thinking of naming her Pelota (we had made her a tennis ball toy that she loves).

Here are some first pictures of her...I know it looks like we're poking her with a stick, but we're not. She's playing.

brothers

These boys are so funny together. Joaquin came up with a great game that Diego thinks is hilarious. He put a cotton ball in one end of the PVC pipe, then blew it out the other end like a dart gun.


It would come shooting out, with a little pop sound and Diego would laugh and laugh. Sometimes, he'd fall on the floor and let Joaquin just continously shoot him in the belly. See all the cotton balls in his hands?

thirsty?

Somehow, at the beginning of summer, the kids came up with the idea to have a lemonade stand. Later, while looking through a magazine, Joaquin saw a picture of a child with a cleft lip. It was an ad for Smile Train. We all decided that we could use our lemonade stand to raise money to donate to Smile Train.


Saturday was going to be the day, but it rained. Sunday was nice and hot, so that would be our trial run. We had all the supplies and picked a nice shady spot in out yard.


Since we have a driveway that goes around the house, the customers could just pull up, get their lemonade, then keep on going.


Our first customer. Dad.


We only had two more...our neighbor and our friends who happened to pass by. The kids were so excited, but a little dissapointed that there wasn't much traffic. I'm hoping it was the World Cup that kept the people away. But we're eager to try again on a Saturday and see how it goes. If you're too far away to stop by our stand, we'd love for you to make a donation anyway to SmileTrain...it's a great organization that changes lives. They have some very moving videos of their work in different countries...keep a kleenex handy.

beach trip

We're becoming locals. If we keep this up, we might have a week at the beach vacation after all.


But these 100 degree days really are amazing at the beach. The constant wind and cool water make it feel like 80. Although, I'm not sure if it was the time we went, or the location, but it was rough. The waves were crashing hard, and the beach was inclined steep down into the water, so when they would bodysurf...the waves would pound them into the shore. There must have been 6ft waves or even higher. I was worried, of course, that someone would get hurt...but all the children out there were loving it and going back for more. Crazy kids.

Diego had a good nap on the way there...so he was ready for action.



I was content with our water hole...and sandy toes.


The tide was coming in...but not fast enough for some.






The waves would sometimes creep up and dribble into our little pool...and other times they would rush in, barreling over anyone not paying attention....the kids were squealing with excitement.