eagles and bears

There is a great new raptor exhibit at Maymont we hadn't seen before. They had great horned owls, hawks, and bald eagles. Check out those wingspans. Did you know an eagle's nest can be 10 feet wide and take years to build?



And, of course, the bears. One was pacing back and forth right in front of us. I was wondering if those bears hibernate? The kids were thrilled, and I kept imagining one of them falling in.

ice hockey

Joaquin had his first ice hockey class on Saturday. We were all soooo excited! But he was a little too small...all the equipment (gloves, shin guards, EVEN SKATES) were too big for him. He gave it his best and got out there with the 10 and 12 year olds, but he could barely hold his stick and keep his legs straight. They had smaller skates, but they weren't "hockey" skates, so by the time they switched him out of those, he was done. He fell a few times but was able to get up all by himself. They don't baby them out there! So next week, we are going to try the Learn to Skate class...which is without all the gear. And he said he'll try ice hockey again when he gets a little bigger. I'm so proud of him for being so brave and trying something so new and difficult!

our new car!

For about a week, Juan Pablo's car had been broken down in our driveway...the problem was too expensive to fix...so we had been driving each other to work. We decided not to risk buying another craigslist car. The first time we did it a few years ago, it was great, but the last couple of cars were not really worth it. So this is a picture of our new '04 Mazda3! It is so nice and gives such a peace of mind to know it's not going to break down any minute! How about that yellow?!

two more months!

Although I'm a little nervous about the actual birth, we are all so excited about the new baby coming. We've finally narrowed down a couple of names (which we won't tell), and the baby's room will be a COWBOY theme. My friend, Stacey, gave me an Americana crib set with red, tan, and blue in it...and the baby will have one whole wall in our room. We've rearranged it some, and there is plenty of room. I thought it might be cute to put one of those wooden painted plaques over the crib that says, "midnight cowboy".
I'll start to go every two weeks now to the midwife. The baby is really kicking a lot and gets the hiccups often. Today, Joaquin asked what the baby will look like. I can't wait to see! And he also said, "Now the boys will always win because there will be three."

the last day...

We are all sad to be going back to school. It is so fun to have your days and schedules all to yourself! This sheet fort is our typical play inside activity...always fun to make and not so fun to clean up. But we have been doing soooo good at keeping the house clean lately, we can't stop now!
For the new year, we didn't officially make any resolutions together. I have my own which I wrote in my journal, but we'll see by February how well I'm doing at keeping them. No need to voice them yet. And both kids will be starting a new activity this year....Isabela starts gymnastics on Wednesday and Joaquin starts ice hockey on Saturday! We are all so excited about it!

The Countdown!

So we started the night with some crafts...cone party hats (hence, the big photo at the top), and plastic cup shakers.


Then we did a bubble stomp! It only works with the big bubbles if you ever try it at home.


We tried a bubble roll...but that doesn't work well.



Then we made our own clocks. The stamping part was a bit tedious with the kids, but I think they learned a little about telling time! Isabela used hers to do the countdown...and then we popped the confetti-filled balloons with push pins. That was their favorite part! Our countdown was at 8pm...and everyone was asleep by 8:30pm...including us!

Happy New Year!

We had an all American meal for New Year's...hamburgers, mac and cheese (from the box!) and corn on the cob. Yes, Juan Pablo has an orange peel smile.

We made some great drinks! It was gingerale with some cranberry juice, cherry syrup, and an orange slice...with cherries stuck on the umbrellas! We'll definitely have those more often.

And we did our first banana split bar! We'll do that again, too!