Earthy Day and Egg Hunts

Spring Break, Day Four & Five

Our big event Thursday was the watching The Lorax, which the kids loved. After the movie, they went off to playmates and I cleaned off my desk. I took Guillermo to baseball practice to find there was no baseball practice so we headed to the library and the kids chased each other outside the mall for a good while before we headed home.

We went to the Farm's Easter Egg hunt on Friday. The Farm hosts the event every year but this was our first time going. It was fun, but Maya was disappointed by that she found just five eggs and didn't find the golden egg. Guillermo was in the group with the oldest kids and didn't fare much better, but he seemed OK. We went to Target to browse in the Lego aisle for awhile. That evening, we went to Pat's house for pizza, a movie and then a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt outside. So fun!! We put glow stick bracelets in the eggs and they lit up in the yard.

It's unreal how much chocolate we have at our house right now!

Cardinals' Opener

Spring Break, Day Three:

Day Three is reserved for the Cardinals! It was the season opener for the World Series Champs and the big event on our schedule for the day was watching the game as a family.

We were lazy most of the day. The kids stayed in their pajamas until we left for Guillermo's 11:30 a.m. haircut. After the appointment, we went out for coffee and vanilla steamers and that was about the extent of our day until the big game.

We watched the game at a bar and Will thought to print out a scorecard for Guillermo to track the game. Maya seemed excited to go out, but when she finished eating, she was quick to want to leave. She and I headed out, while the boys stayed to watch the Cardinals beat Miami 4-1.

Go Cardinals

A Day at the Beach

Hooray! We are at the beach!

Spring Break, Day 2: We took a day trip to Wrightsville Beach on Tuesday and I am so glad we went. After dropping our gear on a spot in the sand, G and M raced to the water, the cold, cold water. Guillermo didn't mind it at all, but Maya hung back a bit (I snapped the picture above right as we arrived).

Throughout the day, we made three sandcastle villages decorated with seashells, only to have the water wash over and destroy each of them. The kids didn't seem to mind too much. They turned it into another battle game. At one point, both kids threw sand at the waves approaching the castle, trying to defeat the enemy. Guillermo played a lot in the water, getting soaked to his head. He tried to urge me in as well. I hate to be holdout when Guillermo and Maya want me to play, but I couldn't get in past ankle-deep. That water was cold. Toward the end of the day, we walked to the pier and then headed back home. I am so happy we took the time to spend a day at the beach.

Spring Break!

Ready for attack
Day 1:

Our first day of Spring Break. We are having an easy week at home this week because next week we travel to St. Louis for Tia's wedding! I'm trying to find something fun, out-of-ordinary for us to do each day, to try to make this week special.

Today, we went to the Botanical Gardens. I insisted on a hike through the woods first. In typical fashion, Guillermo turned our hike into a military operation and the strangers in front of us were the targets. They never figured it out, but we took them down!

Guillermo, showing Maya how to hold her weapon.

Legos

G's Lego obsession hasn't subsided. In fact, it seems to be growing and growing and growing.

That's a bunch of Lego dudes

I can't complain about Legos, though. It keeps him busy and his teacher says they help bring out his leadership qualities when, on Fun Friday, he sort of leads the other kids who head to the Lego table.

This just makes me giggle

Today is a Good Day

Today is a really good day, at least so far.

While Will is picking up his new car (more on that when the car arrives), I am home with the kids on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I inflated the bouncy house for Maya, while Guillermo played with a friend.

Then, she and I and a neighbor went in the woods behind our house to see the boys' fort and then walked with with the boys deeper in the woods. The boys wanted to come home a different way than us, so I left Maya! with them and came home with the neighbor. It turned out OK. When I went in the back yard, there they were, back in their fort.

Maya came in a little bit later for a quick break. They were playing a game. The boys were the guards and she, of course, was the princess.

"It's being a really good day out there," Maya said. "And mom, you know what. I am the only one who found a slug, a dirty brown slug. We are pretending it's my magical healing power."

Happy Birthday, Guillermo! You are 8!!

Happy birthday, Guillermo! We love you!

Guillermo turned 8 on Saturday. I still feel a little strange saying that number. 8!

We celebrated the day by taking two of Guillermo's friends to Frankie's for some video game action. Another friend went out for sushi with us and then spent the night. As far as birthdays go, this one was a pretty good from my perspective. I think Guillermo was pretty pleased, too. He opened presents in the morning and then spent the rest of the time before his party putting together another Lego set. Maya was over the moon excited about her brother's birthday and put herself in charge of decorations. She worked nonstop in the morning, alternating between frosting the cake and spreading balloons around the house. I don't think she stopped talking once. She worked so hard she fell asleep the instant she sat down in her car seat to get to the arcade.

I couldn't leave her out. She worked hard to make his day special.

His baseball cake by Maya and me.

The Day After Christmas

Showing off the second round of his Christmas presents.

Guillermo concealed his disappointment well, but he was sad that he didn't receive the Lego set he wanted most of all, The Black Pearl, on Christmas morning. He's getting savvier in the ways of Christmas though, and he kept a close eye on the large package with his name that we left unopened under the tree on Christmas day.

My parents arrived the day after Christmas and we saved the presents they gave to us for that day. I think the Black Pearl was the first gift Guillermo opened and he breathed a sigh of relief. Maya was thrilled with her American Girl doll, who she later named Claudia. She especially loved the brush that came with Claudia. And, she loved the matching aprons she and Claudia both received.

Our visit with my parents was great. We went for a hike, my dad took the kids to a movie (Alvin and the Chipmunks, thanks dad!) and my mother and I took Maya to the First Night Celebration in Raleigh. It was Parisian-themed and Maya is all about France these days.

Throughout the week, Guillermo also hosted several Lego parades in his room to showcase all of his (and Lego's) designs. It's quite impressive and I would show pictures but he never managed to put on a shirt during the parades.

Showing off her new American Girl doll, Claudia, along with Jenny in her new bag. She's wearing her new apron and headband, too.

Sassy Maya, telling Grandpa something about his iPad.

Christmas - The Best Day Ever

Maya declared this Christmas "The Best Day Ever." Guillermo might have declared it that, but he was too busy building his new massive Lego set to talk.

We had a great, fun, lazy, snuggly Christmas day. I woke up early and laid on the couch while I waited for the kids to stir. Guillermo woke up first, at 7 a.m. Perfect. He even had to go wake Maya while I woke up Will.

They loved their gifts. Santa brought Guillermo a Ninjago Lego set; he brought Maya a guitar and another harmonica. Other gifts for Guillermo: a board game, a Greek Gods card game, a Harry Potter DS game, books from Tia, more legos from Lily and Tony, a Star Wars Lego set and a Skateboard. Maya picked up a loom with sparkly yarn to make a hat, a Lego set from Guillermo, books from Tia, a Wii game, and ... hmmm, I'll have to update this a bit later.

I went for a Christmas morning walk and later Maya and I went to a friend's house to deliver a few gifts and stayed for about an hour. The boys didn't leave the house at all, and I think that was the best part of Will's Christmas.

As Will made calzones for dinner, the kids and I decorated the train cake, our Christmas Eve tradition that we postponed a day so they could have a slice of Jesus' birthday cake at church. The train cake, as you will see, is a bit messy. Somehow they ended up in a contest to see who could get the most candy on a train car. Ick! They loved it, though!

He put it together in one day!

Maya, showing off her new Lego set.

The decorated train cake. I promise, there is a train in there.

Gingerbread House

On the kids' second day of holiday vacation, we made our gingerbread house (We saw Arthur Christmas on the first day). They love this tradition, likely because they sneak candy while they build it. I think of it as sort of prep for the train cake we make each Christmas Eve. But I also like it because I know that for about 30 minutes of the day, Guillermo and Maya will get along. In fact, they actually like each other. See the proof below:

Having fun!

The finished product

Hanukkah

At his holiday concert.

Guillermo's class performed a holiday concert at a retirement home on the last day before Winter break. They had been rehearing for weeks. They sang several songs and told holiday "Holiday Ho Ho's" or jokes throughout the performance. Guillermo was part of this joke:

"Hey Guillermo, what does December have that no other month has?

"I don't know, Derrick. What does December have that no other month has?"

"The letter 'D'"

Even better than the joke, though, was that Guillermo volunteered to dance to "O Hanukkah" during the performance. According to his teacher, he has some moves. It was so fun to watch and he apparently really enjoyed the song. In fact, on Christmas morning, he wanted us to play "O Hanukkah" on the stereo while we opened presents.

Holiday Parade

We braved the cold for another Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday parade earlier this month. (it wasn't that cold).

Here are some pictures:

Guillermo, fighting off his friend to get candy.

Maya and one of her bffs.

Lego Fest

Will took Guillermo to Lego Fest. They came back tired, but armed with goodies.

Ninjago

With a storm trooper

Can you find them?

This is one of my favorite fall activities: Hiding the kids in the leaves. Unfortunately, I missed it this year, but Will snapped up these cute pictures.

He's in there

I see an arm

UNC Gymnastics

Guillermo's forward roll

Maya on the bar

Maya has been taking gymnastics since the past summer and loves it. The UNC Gymnastics team hosted a day day of gymnastics for the children of faculty and staff so we took the kids. Maya's eyes lit up when she saw the UNC team practicing and warming up. We didn't tell Guillermo where were going when we loaded him up in the car and even when we walked across campus, knowing he'd rebel against the opportunity. He wasn't too thrilled when he walked into the gym, but he quickly spotted a few friends and then spent the next 90 minutes having a great time on the gym floor. He didn't take one break and left the floor only after he collected the autographs of each one of the female gymnasts. He insists, though, that he doesn't want to go back next year :)

Merry Christmas, I mean Happy Halloween

Maya and Guillermo

It's nearly Christmas, and I have been lax, too lax, about updating this blog. This fall has been fun, watching Maya jump right in to kindergarten and Guillermo, well, be Guillermo. We've had a great time, but I haven't been very good about documenting that fun here. So, the next few posts are catch-up posts, starting with, of course, Halloween.

Indiana Jones

Maya, a princess

Thankful for Intertwined Hands

Maya, showing off her little apple pie with the daisy she made out of extra crust on top.

Guillermo preparing to make chutney for the lamb

Happy Thanksgiving!

The four of us celebrated at home and had a nice, relaxing day. We divided up the chores: Guillermo was in charge of deorations; Maya had pies; I had turkey and the sides; and Will was in charge of the lamb. It was quite a feast: tukey and gravy, lamb with pear and blackberry chutney; sweet potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls and apple and pumpkin pie.

We attended a breakfast feast in Maya's class the other day and that night we talked about Thanksgiving. She determined that Native Americans were thankful for bears, because bears gave their lives so the Native Americans could use their fur. Yesterday, however, she looked at me and said: "I just don't know what it means to be thankful. What does that mean?" At Thanksgiving today, she was too shy to say what she was thankful for, but echoed Will when he said he was thankful for the Cardinals. Guillermo said he was thankful for animals.

The best part of today, for me anyway, was the walk in the woods after dinner. Guillermo and Maya pretended I was a monster chasing them and when I would get close, Guillermo would pretend to blast a grappling hook with an attached rope to a faraway tree. He then grabbed Maya's hand and they flew off, together, to the next section of the woods. Pure sweetness!

Rookie of the Year

There's our Rookie of the Year

Guillermo finished up his first season of coach-pitch last weekend. He had so much fun the entire season. After the last game, his coach handed out certificates from the league and then awards that he made for each player. He gave Guillermo the "Rookie of the Year." He was so proud.

At his favorite position.

Little Droid

At Bat

Just because

It's such a handsome picture of Guillermo and his favorite things.

Happy birthday, Will

Will and his favorite people!

His ice cream birthday cake. So good! Made with love by Maya and me.

Will celebrated his 35th birthday just the way he likes to celebrate all his birthdays: lazily. He slept in, went out for lunch with me, gave a lecture on campus and then watched the Cardinals. A few neighbors came over for cake but otherwise, it was a quiet day. The cardinals lost, a disappointment but the came back the next day for a win for a day-late birthday present.