October 2011

October is birthday month, and I told Mario I did NOT want any kind of a party, but I would love to go to Sedona for the day, just the two of us.  So we pawned off our kids on my family members, and headed to the beautiful red rocks.

 We had gone once before, but now are pretty sure that we stopped at the little town just before Sedona and never made it to the city itself.  It was beautiful and amazing and we have vowed to go back more often.

 We did lots of my favorite activities.  First, we got exercise and saw beautiful surroundings by going on a hike to a natural bridge, which was stunning.

 IT's kind of hard to tell, but here is Mario on the natural bridge.

 and me.

 and us.

 Then we did another of my favorite activities, shopping!  It's an artists compound, sort of, with lots of little boutiques and beautiful courtyards.

 and even a little chapel.

 And then we did my most favorite activity, eating.  We went to the most delicious MExican restaurant.  The wait was insane, and we only got to sit in the bar, but it was totally worth it.  It was a beautiful day and we had the best time just being together.

 We also Halloweened in October...but more on that later.

 On my actual birthday, Mario planned a surprise party for me, because he didn't believe me when I said I really didn't want a party.

 So we got together with our lovely friends the Reyna's, the Hidalgo's, The Larrietta's and the Lista's for cake and ice cream.

 It was a nice evening.

 Lucia also turned TWO!  And I was pregnant, exhausted, working too much, and finally made myself okay with just a small family party one Sunday after family dinner.

 She was completely obnoxious.  She somehow got the idea that she had to take her dress off, so went to her birthday in her birthday suit (and a diaper).

 We did have cake.

 And the families from my birthday party again participated, plus cousin Olive.

 Gabe helped Lucia open every present.

 And Lucia could never find her happy side that night.  Good thing I didn't go to a lot of trouble, I might have been really annoyed!

 We also celebrated Halloween, again, and again, and again, and again in October.  Gabe was Astro boy.

 And Lucia was a sock monkey.  I had fun making their costumes, and definitely feel like they wore them enough to merit the effort!

 Gabe and his blue core energy...

 First we went to a carnival at Gabe's preschool.

 Where Olive the chicken was the total star of the night.  She was so cute.

 Then we went to the party at church and collected way too much candy at the trunk-or-treat.

 Then we went to a hot air balloon festival where the kids could trick-or-treat at each balloon.

 Some costumes were a little scarier than what you find at the preschool carnival...

 But we loved looking at all the amazing balloons.

 Then on actual Halloween, we went to my parent's church party and trunk or treat, and Mario dressed up for work.  And was the only one at his work who did so.  I was really done with Halloween by the time it was over, and I ate WAY TOO MUCH of the candy that I hid from my kids so they wouldn't overdose.  Next time I think I should just let them eat it...

We didn't carve any pumpkins, because it was still 100 degrees every day and they would just rot, so why bother?  But we did make pizza in the shape of pumpkins and ghosts, and ate it for dinner.  And we made pumpkin rice crispy treats, so that kind of counts, right?  I'm a lazy mom, I admit it.

September 2011

My attempts to recap our lives for posterity continues...  Looking back through photos, it seems September wasn't super eventful.  We did go to a local pool "movie night" where everyone hangs out in the water and watches a movie on a huge screen.  My kids were not interested in watching the movie, only in annoying the other patrons, so we didn't stay long after the movie started.

 They LOVE the water, and Gabe is an amazing swimmer.

They were, however, interested in eating watermelon.  And making a big mess with it.

 We also took them to some scummy indoor amusement park - the kind of thing you do in Arizona when in September it's still to hot to go outside.  Lucia was terrified of the carousel,

 Gabe loved it because it was a horse.

 He was also big enough to ride the bumper cars.

 Lucia did do better on the little train and other rides.  Overall, not a terrible day, not great enough that we really want to return.

 We also took our very first family camping trip with our friends Diego and Shannon.  Luckily, my dad has everything one could need or want in the way of camping gear, including a large 2 room tent so big even Mario could stand up in it, so it didn't matter that we pretty much only own flashlights.

 During the day we had lots of fun.  Eating camping food,

 Going on nature walks, playing games, etc.

 Sleeping was a NIGHTMARE.  First, Lucia made her first and last attempts to get out of the port-a-crib...by hurling herself over the side and falling on her head numerous times.  Mario finally calmed her down enough to nap a bit with him.

 Gabe begged and begged to cook "marshes" over the fire, cooked one, and then declared "I like them better just plain."  Too funny.

 But then we got to nighttime sleeping again...Lucia took FOREVER to be calmed down enough to sleep.  Then I went to bed, dressed warmly and in a sleeping bag on an air mattress, and was freezing and trembling so much I feared for the lives of my children, had a minor freak out, and got up in the middle of the night and went to sleep in the back of the van.  I took Lucia with me and we turned on the heater for a bit, then turned it off to sleep, then when it got cold turned it back on for a bit.  Needless to say, the night was so miserable that I think our next "camping" trip will be to a lodge somewhere.

 I also attempted to make Raspberry jam.  I didn't make freezer jam b/c my freezer is too small.  I got special recipes to make it low-sugar, I brought flats of raspberries and jars and lids.  Then after an entire day making it, I stored away all my little jars.  Then, a few weeks later, Mario and I hear this crashing sound, but can never find the source...until a few days later I open the cupboard where they are stored and discover that somehow my jars did not seal, the jam fermented, and now the lids are EXPLODING off the jars.  I'm done with canning, I'll just buy it from now on.  But the one that went to the fridge and I consumed, was delicious!

And apparently, we did nothing else camera worth in September!

Lucia is TWO!

My baby girl turned two yesterday, and I can't believe how much she's grown!

 Some things I want to remember about the two year old Lucia:

• She CANNOT sit still.  ever.  seriously.  Cuddling her only lasts a few seconds, try as I might to get her to sit in her chair to eat, she is always climbing down and walking around, and sacrament meeting (which we have from 4-5 pm, so bad anyways) is a complete joke.  She's not load, but moves so much she inevitably bonks her head on the bench and then starts crying, or wants to wander the entire chapel and gets mad that she is restrained.  She HATES her carseat - still.  She always slips out of the shoulder straps because she can't handle being restrained. 
• Part two is that she has tons of energy and is super funny.  Her favorite thing of late is to play hide-and-seek with Gabe.  She counts "1 -3- 5- find you!" and then goes running to find him.  REally she just likes the chase!  When it's her turn to hid she doesn't really get it, so just runs around in circles until someone "gets" her.  She loves it when Mario comes home at night and takes the kids acroos the street to the park to play with the soccerball.  She chases it and kicks it but mostly is content to just run all over.

• Gabe, whom she calls Bage, is her favorite persom and biggest nemesis.  She misses him when he's gone, always wants to play with him, but also kind of likes to start fights with him.
• She LOVES fruit, but we have to be careful because she gets diarrhea really easy.  Her favorites are strawberries and peaches, which she calls onions??  no idea why.  She also loves peanut butter sandwhiches, and she calls bread "bim", but says peanut butter just fine.  She has a very adventurous palate and will each just about everything - avacado and hummus being some of her favorites.
• She talks more and more every day.  Mostly she comes to tell me "Bage no share!" or to ask for "lechle chocolate" but she only likes it in the pink bottle. 
• She understands everything you say to her in Spanish, but the only words she regularly uses are  "mas" and "agua" and "leche".  Kind of sad - not sure how to change that.
• When she wants to watch any kind of movie/tv she calls it "memo" and LOVES sweets, which mostly all get grouped into the category of "chocolate". 

• She's started singing to herself - loudly - when she's laying in her bed and other times.  It's hilarious.  She just makes up whatever words and sings about "Jesus, blah blah blah, sunbeam, blah blah blah, Ollie (cousin Olive) blah blah blah."
• When presented with a new situation she is more of an observer than one to jump right in, but I don't think she's afraid, because she'll walk up to any stranger and say "hello" and when she's ready to play she jumps right in.
• I love her absolutely like crazy.  She is my girl, and she loves me right back.  She'll call out "I lub you too!" when I tell her I love her, and she gets jealous if I'm even holding Gabe.  She's beautiful and funny and sweet and I feel so blessed to have her!

August Review

I still have hope of this blog somehow forming itself into a blogbook and becoming a record of our family history. However, I really may have to find a new platform as the tediousness of uploading photos and my inability to really control their order or do much formatting is starting to drive me nuts.

Anyway, here is my first catch-up post. August began with a quick trip to LA for a visit to the Argentine Consulate. We made a weekend out of it and enjoyed the beautiful weather that typifies southern California.
The kids at Santa Monica Pier.

You may not be able to tell here, but the kids loved the beach and neither were afraid of the waves.

We walked around the Long Beach Harbor after our visit to the acquarium.

The kids had a GREAT time at the acquarium, but Mario and I both agreed it was worth it only because we got in half price. It's kind of small for what they charge for regular admission...and every acquarium will always be compared to Monterey for us...

They loved the bird exhibit.

In other August news, Lucia started a tap/jazz/tumbling class and she not only looks totally adorable in her dance clothes, she actually goes without crying and likes her "tappy tappy time". Quite a change from Gabe who REFUSED to participate in any kind of class at her age (still does actually!)

We also celebrated Mario's 36th Birthday with a homemade ice cream party. The Dulce de Leche was by far the biggest hit, and it was amazingly delicious, if I do say so myself!

Aren't the kids cute?? now let's stick them in bed so we can actually talk and enjoy ourselves!

For most of the month, Mario and Gabe went to Argentina and Lucia and I stayed home and ate a lot of frozen treats. It was too hot here to even enjoy the pool.