August Visit from Abuelo & Finks Move to the U.S.

During August we had the pleasure of a few family events on the Santiago side. Abuelo came to visit, help with the house, and help Helen move to the U.S. After thinking about the move for much time Helen and her family finally made the big move over the Atlantic and are stateside again. During their first week and hotel living we got together several times. During the weekend we visited Glen Echo Park in Maryland. It's a really great park that I've meant to visit many times but had not yet been to.

The girls and Oscar and I enjoyed a turn around the Merry-Go-Round, and very old one at that. The horses were beautiful and it was a nice little ride.






After lunch Oscar and I took all three girls (Luli, Fiona and La Luz) into the puppet show. It was a really cute show with really beautiful puppets. We had our picture taken with one of the puppetteers after the show.

Another night that weekend we went out to dinner to a Spanish restaurant in Bethesda. The food was very good and the paella was lovely. But the food was just a lovely side to the family time together. It was a very nice evening to welcome more family to the area, the girls were relatively good, but could have been a wee bit better. This is the best picture we could get of the group before the battery died.

4th of July!

It's official, we have a set Fourth of July tradition now. Each year the family converges on the great state of VA and celebrates the holiday. One thing I do love about our family is that we've always opened our hearts to friends and treated them like family. It is very special to come from a family who looks out for each other and regardless of our distance would crawl through fire to help one another. I think of my cousins more as siblings than cousins. I love them each dearly and each one is certainly his/her own person, we are all very different but we all love each other because of it. The festivities started on Friday, but our portion of the family had just driven back from the outer banks and we were a bit tired and not ready to party. Though Saturday we had a great time. Some of the ladies ventured out to Bluemont Vineyard to do a wine tasting. Aunt Joan and I have decided that this should become part of the tradition. And next year I think we're going to investigate a limo and multiple winery stops...thoughts ladies? And LISA YOU HAVE TO COME NEXT YEAR! I will drive you to Anthropology another time! Oh and the boys went golfing.

After that it was pool time and family enjoyment. The girls really came out of the "pool shell" this weekend. It started with Fiona venturing out in the pool in her inner tube and "floodle." She was a wild woman kicking around the pool. Then Luli decided she might leave the stairs if I held her inner tube tightly, within five minutes she was kicking around the pool yelling "LOOK AT ME, LOOK HOW GOOD I'M DOING." She was ridiculously proud of herself, and I was ridiculously proud also, she may actually learn to swim before she's 30!

Sunday we ventured back to Tom and Joan's in the afternoon for more pool, family, and fun. Then back to our house in the evening to take in the fireworks. Gosh I love my house, it is seriously the best seat in town for the fireworks. A few neighbors came by to join us and we laid out lots of blankets and pillows to get comfy. Patrick has pics of the fireworks, hopefully I'll get some from him soon (hint hint).

All the while we were missing a very important member of our family. Cousin Ryan, he's currently flying helicopters in Afghanistan and due to be back home in November. We miss him a lot but he surprised us all with a phone call on July 4th! We think of him every day and pray for his safety and that of all the armed forces abroad.

I know I have other pictures but I guess I haven't uploaded them yet.

Raspberries

Today we went to Hicks Farm and picked fall raspberries. It was a great time and the girls really enjoyed it. Not only did they have so much fun, they ate a ton of raspberries and were in terrific moods. Pahpah came with us and enjoyed the picking and fun of the girls also. There was no one else there, we were the only pickers. Which was really great! The weather was beautiful, maybe a little hot but really a lovely morning. The girls were great about only picking really red berries, and never once complained about the tiny thorns. Luli commented:"Mommy these are so DElicious" emphasis on DEEE. I asked her if she had more berries in her pail or in her tummy, she said pail. Pahpah and I both laughed out loud on that one! She had about four in her pail, and I was certain a good 20+ had already entered the tummy. Nearing the end, Fiona handed me her pail and said "car." Taking the hint, we went into the store and looked at the model (really large) train that circles through the ceiling of the store house and around the donut making area, pretty cool. Fiona loved it so much she walked around with her head tilted back so she could see, and even tried walking backward for a continuous view. Then as a treat we all got apple cider donuts to enjoy on the car ride home.

We've been having a great time and enjoying the pool almost every day. Fiona has a one track mind on the pool! We checked on the fairy house the day after we made it and would you believe? A fairy has started living there! We can tell because she left behind crumbs from her dinner and fairy dust is all over the place. The girls are really excited they were able to build a home for a nice fairy, if only they could catch a glimpse of her.

Other than that we've been enjoying the backyard, it is great for chase, and Fiona is regularly asking someone to "play catch." Remarkably the girls are going to bed at 7:45pm every night and waking at 7:15am! Though the past few days Luli hasn't napped and the evening does become a bit challenging.

On for tomorrow is raspberry pie making and my cousin Sue's Bachelorette party. I've also posted all of our photos from the past couple days in the album. Enjoy!

Enjoying the outdoors!

This type of weather is what makes you want to pick up and move to the Adirondacks! It's been so beautiful all week and we are certainly taking advantage.

Our days revolve around being outside and usually inside is reserved just for feeding times and naps! Yesterday and today were no different.

Yesterday we played with some balls and woke up the pool, which we do every morning (taking off the solar cover and yelling "GOOD MORNING POOL") I'm sure the neighbors love it! Then we tried the kaleidoscopes that Nahnah has kept since I brought them back from Japan 16 years ago. I moved the princess tent off the screened porch into the yard and we enjoyed some story time in there until it was too hot to handle! Then we moved on to hanging out in the pool house (Pahpah, Luli, Fiona and I), we were there for almost an hour playing house and chatting. It was a good time and really cute. As the sun started to go down it got a little chillier and we broke out the jeans and long sleeves, but remained outside and brought out some Polly Pockets to play with.

Today I hit the gym early in the morning and when I returned Nahnah and the girls were just returning from their walk. While out they gathered material to build a Fairy House, which we constructed after naptime. During snack time Nahnah had found a few things to share with the girls from my past! First up, the recorder, oh god. At first this seemed like a good idea but as the whistling continued it was clearly not a good idea. On the other hand, the two sets of my old ballet slippers were a big hit and incredibly cute. The girls have enjoyed wearing them around the house today. And it's really wonderful to see their tiny feet in my tiny shoes. I won't tell any lies, I wasn't good at ballet (this is a shock to those of you who know my grace, clearly I seem like someone well trained - HA!) these are probably the only two pairs of ballet slippers my mom has for me because I didn't stick with it!

The girls helped Pahpah tinker with the grill today. Luli and Fiona helped fasten bolts and measure widths and lengths. All in an effort to help Pahpah create a new and improved grease trap, or something. They love to help and were so happy and excited to be creating and doing something with Pahpah.

While the girls helped tinker Nahnah pulled together all of her crafty supplies and all of the gathered nature to create the perfect Fairy House. We spread out our blanket and read some books in the yard until Nahnah was all set up and ready for us. Then it was time to create. We gave the fairies a hard wood floor, a soft bed with a leaf blanket, a pine cone chair and rock table, leaf windows and even some wall decor, and a broom to help them clean. We decorated the top with moss so it would blend in and then scanned the whole yard for the PERFECT place to leave the house.

After the fairy house making, we went to the front of the house for bike riding and chalking. Everyone got their bodies traced on the driveway and then clothes drawn on. Then we took out the go-cart from Nahnah's car and tried to ride it. Luli wasn't into it until I tried to ride it, now that would have been a good picture. Unfortunately my feet were too big and kept getting caught on the wheel, which was rather annoying because I was totally into it. Then Luli was really into it and rode it around for awhile, with the assistance of a push from behind, it's hard and heavy to pedal it on her own.

Summer Upstate New York Visit Begins

Like last year I've taken a two week trip to my parents in the great Upstate New York area. We arrived Monday afternoon to lovely Upstate weather. Mid 70s with absolutely no humidity! The pool has been warm enough for daily visits, though getting out is cold! The water temp is 82 and the outdoor temp is 75! Today we visited Freedom Park, a park that is built so handicap children and non-handicap children can play together. We've been to Clemyjontri park in VA also like this, but that one is HUGE and very difficult with one mommy and two kiddos. This size was much more manageable. Luli's favorite part was the big sandbox and Fiona's was the swings. Fiona would have stayed in the swing all day if I would have let her, but she started to get dozy and I wanted her to sleep at home! We stayed for a long time, enjoying our lunch here and a few potty breaks in the back of the car (thank you portable potty training chair!).

Nahnah also bought the girls some PollyPocket toys which they are in love with and haven't stopped playing with in over 48 hours! They are having a great time enjoying the yard, running after balls, playing in the pool, and helping Nahnah and Pahpah around the house. It's also been really nice for me, Mom has been getting the girls in the morning so I'm getting a wee bit of sleep in time. I'll keep updates coming and add pics to the blog as well as the album on the left "family visits."

Family Visits

In the past week we've had several visits with family. On the 16th we had a lovely surprise party for my mother's birthday. After months of planning the surprise went off without a hitch, she had no clue and my brother, father and I were all very proud of our hard work. My mother and I also got to enjoy some lovely Mommy/Daughter time at the spa (well I had to get her out of the house somehow!). We went to Emerald Springs Spa in Glens Falls, and it was really lovely. The massage by Sharon was definitely the highlight.

We then spent the night at Oscar's parents house and visited with them. We had a lovely time walking in the gardens, watering plants and chatting.

Later in the week Oscar's sister and family visited us from Europe. The cousins played very well together and we enjoyed a few trips to the pool, another visit to the Patowmack Farm Restaurant, and lots of playtime with toys and fun outside. Check out the link on the side "family visits" for further pictures.

Family Fun Filled Fourth

We enjoyed a wonderful Fourth of July holiday this year. Uncle Eyes, known to the rest of the world as Patrick, my brother, came to visit Thursday evening. He flew in from Portland and his 1.5 hr flight was only half the time it took me to drive to BWI on Thursday afternoon. Wow that was some crazy traffic, for three hours I didn't get out of 2nd gear! Anywhoo, the rest of the weekend was a lot of fun and a lot of reminiscing. Several of my maternal side cousins came down (I only clarify because I have the world's largest amount of cousins if you add in both maternal and paternal) and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle. We had a great time lounging by the pool Friday and Saturday, and laughing into the late night hours.

It was a lovely weekend to have my brother here, it's the first time he's visited us in this house, and at least 4 years since the last time he came down to visit. My cousin Bob is also leaving on a world tour next week so it was great to see him, and his lovely girlfriend, prior to his departure.

After days of eating and staying up late my body is yearning for the gym and my bed, an interesting combo!