Thursday, February 9, 2012

Feliz Aniversario: Once Anos!

What a day!

Or should I say,
"What 11 years!"

That doesn't really make sense,
but either way,
for our family,
it's happy commeration
of when our family began!



Samuel surprised me by coming home for lunch,
and announcing that he was home for the day!

Woo-hoo!


Then he whipped out a picnic,
complete with a baguette and chev're goat cheese
-my favorite!-
and we headed to the park!



For dessert,
my fatal hubris:

Scotchmallows...
11 of them!


Recently we scored a bocce ball set from a
second-hand store,
and with courts just down the way at a local park,
it's our new favorite game!


Now that we had an audience...



Let the games begin!







What a wonderful day!

The only flaw was that my girls
were at school and missed out on the
"stolen" afternoon!

More excuse to get out again
-and soon-
to do this all over again!

...

P.S.

Samuel,
I love you!

xoxome





Saturday, February 4, 2012

Free Museum Day: The Aerospace Museum of California

How can you not love an airshow?

It's as American as apple pie
-which ironically, I don't like very much!,
or say the hot dog
-which again, I don't like very much...

Hmmm...
but it's everything that I DO love about this country!

It's freedom, innovation, adrenaline...

Really, you can't go wrong!

And when free museum day rolled around,
we took advantage of saving big bucks on admission
and hit the road...

 




Grandpa Lopez flew
the Coast Guard "doggie-nose".

We still see it flying in the sky,
and always, always think of him.

We love you, Grandpa!



Ready for take-off!


Not exactly warp-speed...
but one-day,
I want to fly in one of these babies...


I love seeing my boys on the "tarmac". 

They look so small!



My girls in a fighter!

Did you know I almost joined the Air Force?

I was on board with the recruiters and
would depart after graduation to report
to Lackland Air Force base in Texas.

Thank goodness for a little thing called,
which changed my life forever!


Big mouths...



Samuel giving his cheesiest
"dignitary" grin!



Yes,
out of all the amazing things to see and do,
leaves top Gabriel's list!


Demonstrating how to go,
when you,
you know,
have to go...


And the proper washing of hands!

Thanks, Bella!


Love the fan!







One of our favorite parts of the day,
standing near a roaring propeller!

We screamed and whooped and hollored
and you could not hear a thing over that engine!




This was a really great day!
Beautiful weather, beautiful planes!

And free!


Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Living Book Fair

What is a Living Book Fair?

Turns out,
it's pretty awesome!

Each grade selected a classic story
and brought it to life!



Thank you, Iris!

You did amazing in your play:

The Giving Tree!

You worked so hard to
memorize all of your lines,
and you sparkle "on stage"!



Ava's puppet show,
"Jack and the Beanstalk"
was a hit with all the kids!

Way to go, Ava!


Bella's class shared
"The Sign of the Beaver",
and brought to life a Native American village,
complete with a wig wam,
fishing, setting snares, and grinding cornmeal!

What a fun way to end the night!







Girls,
we're so proud of you!

Thank you for a wondeful evening!

We love you!



Friday, January 27, 2012

This Never Gets Old...


We have a tradition of
Family Fun Fridays,
and the usual night consists
of homemade pizza-
pepperoni, olives, and pineapple for the kiddos,
gourmet masterpieces for mum and dad!-
and a movie.

This time,
I thought we'd mix things up and
get off the couch!

And where to but one of our family favorites,
The Fountains!

We all go nuts over the sourdough bread,
and all that chewing is best done watching
the awesome water shows!

The kiddos got in some playtime before
it became "officially" dark,
and I discovered, "Crazy 8's",
a kids clothing store that I will definitely
be visiting another time!

Happy Friday!