The loooong carride (again)

Everything, after the first hour, went great on the carride home. The first hour we had bodily fluids coming from 2 kids at once, but after using every napkin in the car and a complete change of clothes on the side of the highway, we were set. The rest of the trip was uneventful, sleeping outside Little Rock. When we got to the hotel at 9pm, Maya refused to sleep in the crib since she was a big girl, so tall Tonito graciously offered to scrunch in there and fell asleep before I could even cover him. The next day we made it almost home when everyone started to get antsy. We stopped at McD's for some ice cream, and it may have been the first time that Maya had an ice cream cone to eat by herself. It was a hilarious experience- first she wouldn't lick it because it was too cold, but wouldn't let anyone else lick it. Then we finally got to stop the drips, and Maya started to cry: "I want it bigger! I don't want it little!" She was so mad that it was disappearing. I tried to console her "Look, you can eat the cone" and I broke off a piece. This had her crying more "NO break it Mommy!!! Why you break it? NO break it!" I tried to convince her the cone was like a cookie "It's NO a cookie mommy." Finally she acquiesced and life was good. We exited the highway and made it home.

Kung-Fu and Ballet 2!

These picture groups are actually out of order- we saw Tonito do kung-fu, then the next day Vivi do ballet, and the next day Maya in her little tutu.

I just can't get enough of my little girls dancing and growing up!!!

Tonito, my little man, doing kung-fu! He loves it, it's great exercise, great discipline, and he has fun:

My Garden!!!!!

We started the day with a delivery of compost (which Vivi insisted was cow's poop)- check out the steam! My dad had just built the raised beds, which are a must in Houston where the water level is so high. Once we got the compost in, we set to work planting! Here is the grand list of veggies: 9 broccolis, 6 different types of tomatoes, 6 different peppers, 4 packets of different salads (including my favorite arugula), pole beans, peas, swiss chard, onions, and cucumbers. In the separate herb garden I also have leeks, fennel, and a variety of herbs. I am so, so excited about this!!!!

During the planting, we caught a little gecko, hung a hurricane proof bird house,

planted some colorful annuals, weeded the other flower beds,

and Grandma and Vivi even got a little rest by the pool.

Last year we were in an apartment all summer- with not even a sunny patio for pots. I can't wait to see our garden grow this year!!!

Reading in the kids' classes

Who better to read in the kids' classes than Grandma the preschool teacher and Grandpa with his funny voices? They couldn't read in Tonito's class because he ended up getting a fever and missing a couple of days of school. But they did read in Vivi and Maya's classrooms, much to their delight. First they read in Maya's classroom, where the cuddly and wiggly 2 year olds giggled, squirmed, and crawled all over us.

Next was Vivi's room, where the big 4 and 5 year olds try to sit in their squares, and laugh at the yucky bug books and silly storylines. They are still squirmy, and you definitely learn certain kids' names faster than others:).


It was so fun to share their school with my parents!

Floor play

If we are not doing a project, or if they are not in an activity or playgroup, a lot of the time the kids entertain themselves- that's what happens when there's no cable, videogames, etc:). I do let them watch DVDs or PBS once in a while, we do have Leapsters for the long car rides, and once in a while they play computer games... but most often they like to play play play. Here they are reading books, and playing with the Little People toys:

One of their favorite activities- making a picnic for their animals:

Or doing puzzles:

Or drive remote control cars around- I need to get a picture still:).

Zoo day!

I would be really surprised if one of my kids did not end up in some kind of animal career... or be an owner of a houseful of pets... or choose to live on an animal preserve in some exotic country. Vivi now has decided she is going to move to Madagascar and build a huge playground with climbing ropes and structures for all of the lemurs (because we read that their habitat of trees is being destroyed and she is sad they won't have anywhere to climb).

So since we can't afford a trip to Madagascar, the zoo is one of our favorite places.

They just can't get enough of the animals and run from site to site squealing. It's almost like they're filming us for a commercial, except instead of secret cameras watching us, it is other families looking into the cages to see what the excitement is about. And then they are surprised that the screeching is just us watching lounging animals. I hope the kids don't grow out of this stage soon!! It is so fun:).

After the zoo, Papi graciously offered to "watch" Maya nap in the car while we headed to a downtown park, where the kids played on the playground and enjoyed the season's first sno-cones. They begged to run in the spray park/fountain, but I wouldn't let them (so mean). It was a great Sunday!