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

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,

"The Book of Mormon",

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!

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!