bikes!

This is how we've been spending our evenings lately. Saturday I picked up this bike for Juan Pablo in a yard sale for only $50...and the attachment bike for $42...they wanted $55 but all I had was $42. The kids and JP have loved it! They just ride around the house...we haven't taken it anywhere yet. And Isabela learned to ride with no training wheels! We are so proud of her. I don't have a bike yet...and this one is a little too big for me. But I'd like for us to do more biking...it's great exercise and with the price of gas...we'll just have to start biking to the grocery store...haha!
We live on a country road so we always see bikers with their fancy uniforms and water bottles...at first they just got on my nerves, but now I want to be one of them!

belmont

Today I took the kids to Belmont in Fredericksburg...for those who might not know, it was the home of a famous artist, Gari Melchers, and my grandfather was the director of the home/museum a long time ago. They actually lived in the home back then, but now it is a museum, with the rooms roped off just for viewing from the doorway! I included some pictures I found...the one is my uncle Stewart holding me, in front of the same building Isabela and Joaquin are in front of...and the other, I do believe, is me (well, I know it is me) but I think those are the little chairs we saw at Belmont today that are now roped off!! (Sorry it's crooked!) You aren't allowed to take pictures inside of the house now. The place gives a nice children's tour and there is also a letterbox to find from clues...that was the first letterbox we've ever found!

cleopatra!

We finally did it! Isabela has bangs! She was so excited...and immediately asked if she looked like Hannah Montana now. I said, of course, "no, you are much prettier than her!" We did it at the mall...JP was watching Joaquin in the play area, and I didn't tell him we were doing bangs. Juan Pablo didn't even recognize Isabela when she was standing in front of him!....of course, he rarely recognizes me either...but she really does look like a different girl!

more busch gardens

Here are some more pictures from the park. It rained for probably the last 3 hours before the fireworks. We had gone to the car to eat some snacks, but then we trekked back to the park to see the big show. The kids wanted to go home, but we had waited so long, we couldn't leave yet. We sat in the rain, soaked, but the show was awesome!

happy fourth!

We spent the day at Busch Gardens for the fourth of July. We try to make it our yearly tradition. In the first picture, Joaquin tried to make himself a little taller so he could ride more rides. Look at that innocent face! We only rode a couple of rides...the log flume was the favorite...and I hope so because we probably waited in line for like an hour and a half. They had to close it down for about 15 minutes just when we were getting to the front so that the bad weather could pass. We saw lots of shows and ate some good food, and, of course, we spent plenty of time in the waterplay area!

paper or plastic?

The other day I was in Kroger and saw their black reusable grocery bags for .99 cents and thought that's a great idea! Afterall, those plastic ones are so bad for the environment, blowing around and getting caught on animal's necks and never disintegrating...the paper ones kill thousands of trees...plus they use those reusable ones in Bolivia...so I bought three. I made sure to leave them in the car for my next shopping trip. A couple of days later, I was back at Kroger, and it wasn't until I was checking out that I realized my black bags were still in the car! So, here's 6 more plastic bags to blow around...forget the fact that the stuff also falls out of them on the way home. The next day, I was at Walmart checking out and saw that they, too, have black reusable shopping bags...that's when I realized I could use them at different stores, not just Kroger, and surely I get more plastic bags at Walmart anyway...so I bought one of theirs (which are a dollar, by the way)...afterall, I'll definitely need at least four to buy all my groceries. So I'm so excited about using my new bags and I rush home to show Juan Pablo this great new idea. And I actually used them once at Kroger and got paid .05 cents for each bag! Also, when I opened up my trunk, there were the four bags sitting nicely waiting to be carried into the house in only two trips! So then yesterday, I went to Walmart with Juan Pablo and as we're getting out of the car he hands me one of the bags to take inside for any purchases we might make. Did I mention my purse is a black square bag as well? So we meandered through the aisles, looking at all the stuff we don't need, throwing things in the cart here and there...and sure enough, it wasn't until we were loading our purchases into the car, that I realized I hadn't used that black bag again!! It was still on my arm behind my purse! Juan Pablo says that he doesn't think I'm going to save the planet using these bags, but I'm still hopeful. So what will it be for you, paper, plastic, or recyclable?

skater dude!

We've finally found a theme for Joaquin's room...X Games! Which will be going on starting July 31st FYI. Pottery Barn has these really cool removable wall stickers for your room, but they cost $69! And a friend suggested I just paint it on. So yesterday I did it! And I think it turned out pretty good! Although, the $69 might be worth it just for the "removable" part! I used painter's tape and looked at the picture in the PB catalog and just left the open space in the form of the skater. I spray painted it on....kind of a mistake for the terrible fumes that stuff lets off...but it actually dries really fast, and the tape peels off great from spray paint...none of that peeling off of the paint right along with it. That shine is from the flash, but it really did get an even coat of a paint. Next project, a BMX guy!