First Day of School

The first day of school came by fast, but these ladies were ready for action. I have to admit that this was a very sad day for me to see both of my girls gone and Emilie starting kinder! Whaaaaa. The bitter and sweet of life...

 



We took Emilie our for her first day of school and she wanted to go to McDonalds! So proud of this kid!!

 

Fun before the Summer ends

 

We had a few things on our bucket list before school started up again...

Going to karaoke in the middle of the day is the best ever. We sang Frozen songs at the top of our lungs until we could sing no more:)

 

 

 
We hung out a lot with Sebastian's friend- Sebastian! Ha! We love these guys...

And other friends...

 

And more great friends :)

Sebastian's Birthday

Sebastian is the most active, energetic, trouble making, caring, sweet, funny, outrageously strong, engaging, curious, great dancing 2 year old around. I love him even more than I thought I could each day as I watch him learn to talk, kick a soccer ball like a pro, kiss his sisters, say "what Mommy?" etc etc. These are the little things that make life worth it. Can't believe he turned 2 this year. These are some facts you may not know about him:

1. He is extremely well coordinated. We don't know exactly what sport he is going to play, but he is going to be good at it- he dribbles like he was practicing in the womb. He also is made out of pure muscle and can already do pull ups.

2. Although he is known to hit, bite, or pinch (getting better every day), he is incredibly kind and soft hearted. When I tell him my stomach hurts or one of the girls scrapes their knee, he quickly runs up and gives us a hug or kisses us where we might need the help.

3. He loves planes, cars, trucks and everything found in a wrecking  yard or construction site. He must say "truck" 20-30 times a day and his new favorite word is airport.

4. Sebastian loves animals especially dogs. He would squeeze our guinea pigs to death if he could (!), but it would only be out of love.

5. He is the best sleeper in the world. Maybe because he runs himself to the ground (or me),  but he hits his pillow like it's the end of the world and doesn't wake up until morning. I think we can count how many times he wakes up in the middle of the night on 1 hand- which is an enormous blessing. I love when he wakes up in the morning, climbs out of his crib with his blanket, walks out of his room into ours, comes up to my side of the bed and starts piling on his blanket, cars, and anything else he wants right onto my face and demands to join us :)

6. He is happy. Sebastian is a super happy kid, and generally very excited/good natured to be around. He likes people and takes interest in what they are doing "Wha doing?" This will hopefully translate to a curious/intelligent child!

7. He can tell a mean knock knock joke. You have to be with him to get it, but it's the same every time. "Knock knock. (Who's there). Emi. (Emi who?) Uh Emi too." I'm not sure what this means, but he says it all the time, and I think we laughed really hard the first time he said it, and now it's his comedy routine.

For his birthday, he got a million cars (donated from a friend and the coolest collection out there). We made him a super special cake and spent the day doing things he loves to do... we played soccer, spent time in the hot tub, danced... a perfect day for our perfect Sebastian.

 

Mexico 2014

Summer called for a vacation on the beach and we were jumping up and down to head to Playa del Carmen! It is such a shock to get on a plane from Cali and get off in a truly tropical place where the humidity is 100%! It took a few days for us to get used to, but didn't hurt that we were in our swimsuits all day. How do real people work in that climate??

Our hotel was amazing. Steve insists that we have to sleep well, or a vacation won't be worth it- a good argument :) So, we we scout for places with two bedrooms, or houses. Luckily, we found this resort where we had 2 huge bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a beautiful balcony overlooking a river and awesome AC which was nice to retreat to when we needed a break from the heat. Because the resort was so big, we took golf carts everywhere which the kids loved as did we!

Sebastian doesn't like it. lol.

The restaurants were amazing like always. And, like always I couldn't keep to my gluten free lifestyle and threw it out the window. We had amazing breakfasts full of chocolate filled croissants, bread, muffins, waffles, fresh fruit, mexican food, fresh squeezed juices, salmon... want to go back now. And, of course on the beach, makes everything taste better :)

Surprise surprise, the kids loved the beach.

This would be a perfect picture if Emi had her eyes open, but it is bright!!

All summer we prepped Emi to practice and practice swimming so she could ride the waterslide, and she did it! She learned how to swim the length of the pool and made her goal! It was so worth it, especially when we spent 70% of our time in the water.

My favorite place to eat.

There were iguanas everywhere- like squirrels back home. Sebastian loved them.

My view.

Sand and kids are always a mess. But- so fun and worth it if you have the patience :)

We would stay at the beach right before sunset and close the beach down.

Our awesome balcony.

A view from the infinity pool.

We bought a couple of floaties which made a difference for  having fun in the waves. They loved sitting on them and coming in with the waves.

A really good attempt at a family picture!

We decided to go to a couple of parks- which were super expensive, but completely worth it. Imagine Disneyland, but with an ecological/nature side bent. You come with swim suits ready to get wet at every turn.

Southern Mexico has the most amazing underwater rivers that have been now exposed for tourists. You put on life jackets and get in the rivers and float down caves, grottos, canyons for hours. I could have done this all day- this was my all time favorite thing to do. After 30 minutes, the kids were getting a little cold, so we only went through 2 times, but can't wait to go back.

The butterfly exhibit.

Sebastian was so tired, but still gives it a thumbs up!

I didn't know butterflies ate watermelon?

At the end of the day, there were some amazing horse shows. We paid a little extra to sit in the restaurant and sip drinks instead of cramming ourselves against all of the other sweaty tourists.

The crazy pineapple twins.

Lunch- not as good as the hotel, but not bad for all you can eat.

These flying folks dancers were a favorite for all of us- and remember that it is 100 degrees outside with humidity with all of this clothing.

She is exhausted.

This was Emilie at the end of the day too-- completely out underneath her sunglasses.

The girls got to snorkel for the first time! Of course they loved it- who wouldn't?

The animals there are amazing.

At the end of the night, they had a spectacular show with the first half recreating the history of Mexico and then the second half with a showcase of all the different regions of Mexico. Even though it was a little hard to keep the kids there so late, it was unreal- I love Mexico's rich history/culture/food/people.

The next day, we relaxed and read the paper :)

These are the boats you can take around the hotel property- pretty fancy.

We went to another park which was also amazing in it's own right- but had more of an adventure theme- we sat in floating chairs and floated down rivers, jumped from cliffs, zip lined for the first time, I couldn't believe that Emilie was holding her own on the zip lines! This girl is brave! For two straight hours, they went on the zip lines, splashed in the water, and got right back on..

A contagious smile.

What a great idea, right?

An amazing day. I love this place.

We were the last tourist in the park- we just didn't want to leave.

Sebastian was a little scared to be on this floating bridge..

I think this was our last day on the beach?

Maddie and I went out on a sailboat- I think this was Maddie's first? Nothing like dragging your feet in warm water on a sailboat.

Mexico, we love you and can't wait to go back.