The Santiagos Visit Virginia

This week we've had the good fortune to have some house guests. On Saturday Tia Helen arrived from Austria to stay with us through Thursday and work on her job hunt. Abuelo was returning home from Myrtle Beach and also made a stop here on Saturday to visit his kids and play with the grandkids. Luli had her friend Pearson's birthday party to attend Saturday afternoon but was very excited to see Tia Helen and Abuelo when she returned. Luli and Fiona wanted to play all the time and were very sad when bedtime came so fast. Sunday Tia Helen, Abuelo, Oscar and the girls went for a walk and played at the park. On the way home they got caught in a rainstorm but came home to lunch and towels. Abuelo returned home Sunday afternoon and Tia Helen has been here with us enjoying some quality time with the girls and her brother and getting some work done in DC. It's been a lovely visit and we look forward to the next time we see everyone!

Fall Festival ~ Great Country Farms

A couple weekends ago we went out to Great Country Farms to attend their Fall Festivities and enjoy their cider tasting. The farm is huge and has a lot for the kids to do. The girls had a blast, enjoying everything from playgrounds, a big corn box (like a sandbox only kernels of corn), huge barrel slides, animals, and cider. I really liked Great Country Farms, but I was a little disappointed in their attempts to squeeze money from you at every turn. You have to pay $8 for entrance (per person) and this doesn't include everything inside the farm. I understand charging for food so I won't complain about that (though the prices were crazy) but they charge for "mining equipment" to sift for gems in the trough, they charge to ride the cow train $2 a person!, and on it went. I just felt that these little things should have been included in the entrance fee. Regardless, the girls had a great time. They loved the play houses, I took some pics so my father can see what I have in mind for him to make :) and they had these really cool horse swings made from one tire. My favorite, and Luli's were the barrel slides growing in length and height as we progressed through the farm. Luli tried each, and definitely we all enjoyed the last and largest the most. We took lots of pictures so I'll put them in a separate album and post in the left column, check back for that. I also learned more about CSA (community supported agriculture) I found a really great farm that does a year round program and I'm recruiting neighbors to join it so we can get a drop in our neighborhood! So hopefully we'll be doing that soon!

Fiona 2 year check up and Update

As we know Fiona is now TWO! Which is her answer to: How old are you? TWO, What's your name? TWO, How are you? TWO. She went for her well baby check with Dr. Ben, and of course cried hysterical the entire time. DELIGHTFUL! She was hard to get a height read on, so she may have grown 4 inches in 6 mths (doubt it). Fiona is 50th percentile in height and 30th percentile in weight. She's a healthy little lady and really there wasn't much to discuss at the appointment. Besides Dr. Ben's love for her haircut! ha!

Fiona is talking up a storm and has an incredible personality. She continues to have a devilish streak with the smiling face to boot. She's definitely in need of some more discipline, but it does appear that second child gets away with a bit more. We're working on that. She also seems to have had a break through with her potty training. She was doing really great while visiting my parents, when we returned home the change definitely showed in her potty training. It took a long time to get back on track but this week she's had a break through and is doing quite well.

Her biggest thing right now is Nemo, and by biggest I mean both in size and her love of. My brother, Uncle Eyes, bought Luli a large Nemo for her first birthday. Its been played with here and there since, but at my parents I let the girls watch Finding Nemo. Ever since, Fiona has not let Nemo go. He literally goes everywhere. I won't let her bring him in the car or the stroller because he's too large, but she drags him everywhere. Luli is a great helper, carrying him up and down the stairs all day. So that's why the pics of her here are all of her with Nemo, just to show the attachment! He even potty's with her!

First day of school and Luli update...

Luli started back to school on September 9th. We took her first day of school picture with Daddy and of course Fiona wanted in also, she had to be dressed up nice too...hence princess dress and wings. Luli is attending three days a week this year and loving it. She is far more outgoing this year and comes home with new songs and stories every day. Oscar said when he drops her in the morning she goes right in and starts playing, last year she would wait until she was told what to do. Her teacher told Oscar she's very well behaved in class, she listens and does what she's told and she helps out all the time.

At home her imagination is constantly going. It's hilarious to listen in on the dialog she develops between her dolls. Doll of choice right now is Polly Pocket. She has 3 Polly Pockets, one speaks only Spanish, one speaks only English and the other speaks both. The one who speaks both speaks for the others and can be quite bossy.

Her ability to draw has made another leap in developmental ability, she now draws eyes with pupils, mouths with teeth, and a nose (rather than a dot). I am going to take a picture of one of her drawings and hopefully it'll come out good so I can show you all.

She was really interested in my cousin's wedding and since has been really obsessed with who she can marry. We've finally gotten to understand that you can't marry people in your family, and not people who are already married. Her preferred age for marriage is 46, which has dropped from 69. Some days she'll hold up an outfit and say, Mommy is this good for the bachelorette party...which I'm sure is from the two outfits I tried on for my mom and asked about! I swear she doesn't forget a thing! Which is another thing, I think Luli may have a photographic memory, I'll have to talk to the ped about it next time we go.

Susie's Bachellorette Party and Wedding

My cousin Susie and I grew up together, we're the same age and attended k-12 together. On September 6th she got married and we were lucky to join in the celebrations. Thursday prior to the wedding was the bachelorette party. Clearly I am not out late these days of my life, but we were out till 3:30am! It was a lot of fun and seeing some old faces was a good time also. We started out having a dinner party at one of the bridesmaid's houses, we also went k-12 together. Then a limo picked us all up and we headed to Saratoga for some bar hopping. The track finished the week prior so the bar scene was a wee bit empty, but we had a great time anyway. I also took the opportunity to add to my sewing creations and made a cute corduroy clutch to match my outfit for the evening. I made it on my mom's machine which is all computerized, I made her put the pedal on it, but I'm definitely partial to my 1976 machine! I forgot my lil' camera for the party but I did take a pic of my purse...It matches because I wore chocolate pants and a turquoise top. I made a few errors in it, but overall I'm happy with it. I made it from the Bend the Rules book again. The only thing I'd really change is to make it longer/wider, but it fit my wallet and cell phone fine.

Oh right...back to the wedding, Susie and Brendan got married at Echo Lake Lodge, which was really beautiful. Unfortunately it rained so we didn't get to enjoy the grounds as much as we'd like but the ceremony and reception were a lot of fun. I caught up with all my cousins (well almost all, there are a lot). I hadn't seen my cousin Megan in a long time and it was great to play wingman with her. Susie and Brendan are a very loving couple. It was beautiful to watch Brendan's face during the ceremony, he couldn't stop looking at Susie and he obviously adores her. She deserves so much happiness, I wish them all the best!

The day after the wedding my cousin Matt (Susie's brother), his wife Julie and their baby Mattie came over to visit and play with the girls. Mattie is 18 mths old and this was the first time we'd met her, so we had to take the opportunity to get these gals together. They were very cute.

Updates on their way...

I forgot my memory card reader in NY, so my pictures aren't on the computer yet. It should be here by the weekend and then we'll have lots to post about. Including Luli's first day of school, the bachelorette party, the wedding - and Luli's subsequent obsession with who she'll marry.

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!