M&L Sleepover - The Morning After

So, the day after the sleepover the girls woke up pretty early to get in more playtime before Alma had to go home.

I started their morning with orange juice and pancakes...yummy!

And right before Alma had to leave, we made these bracelets

And later on we went to the Hoboken Arts Festival, where our little tigress earned her stripes.

A very busy and fun weekend!

M&L Have a Sleepover

Ok, so since earlier in the year Mateo asked for a sleepover to celebrate his birthday, one of his best friends, Lucas, decided to ask for the same thing. This time the boys would be staying at Lucas's house and we invited Alma (Lucas's sister) over for a sleepover as well.

Both girls were ecstatic and ready for the night to commence...

....Several hours later we finally got them in bed, but they didn't sleep for several more.

Goodnight

Gonzalez - Fifth Ward Campaign Kick-Off

Today was the kickoff for Papi's campaign. He has decided to run for 5th Ward City Council. Its against a 2 time incumbent, so it will be tough, but we believe in him.

Kick-off was at a local bar

Miss Valentina was ready to celebrate

And so was Miss Lucia

Abu said opening remarks and introduced the candidate

Papi (aka Eduardo) took to the "stage" and gave a rousing speech.

"Go Gonzalez!"

Lucia Channels her best Fancy Granny

One of my co-workers has a daughter the same age as Mateo and was cleaning out her closets and brought in a bunch of clothes that don't fit her anymore. A few of us dug through the bags and split some stuff up. Since Lucia is the tiniest of the bunch I focused on picking up fancy accessories.

Instead of choosing one accessory at a time, Miss Lucia decided to combine a couple and the result...

...A cute old lady ready to go to Bingo with her sparkles and fur.

Gotta love her

Rec Soccer Season Starts

It's officially soccer season! This year is different than last because this year both Mateo and Lucia will be participating in the Hoboken Soccer Recreation League. It took a little convincing, but Lucia finally agreed to it. Mateo, of course, was into it from the start. Unfortunately, a lot of their games this season will take place at the same time, so we are going to have to split up. Today, however, both Mommy and Papi decided to attend Lucia's 1st game because it was her first real game and we wanted to show her undivided support. Mateo was ok (or at least understood) with going to his game with a  friend.

We arrived at the field early to meet her coach and get her uniform. A few items that convinced her to play - new pink cleats and pretty black/purple shorts...

Not sure she was so excited about the dull gray jersey, but we will make it work

After a little practice the game begins...

...where Speedy Gonzalez made her move!

Luckily, Lucia ended up being on a team with one of her good friends from school, Lea, which made her experience even better.

So technically at this age group, in the Hobokenn Rec League, there are no goalies and no score is kept, but with all of the helicopter parents and Type A personalities we did keep score in our heads and Lucia's team won. 

Go Cheetahs! 

(By the way, Mateo's team -Flash Tech- also won)

Later that evening, we all went to Mateo's travel game where Lucia played on the sidelines (per usual) with Shyam. Full day of soccer. This is the new normal for the next few months.

Mateo Goes to Jake's 10th Birthday Party

Today was Mateo's day to go to a friend's birthday and his was also another type that we had never been to Sky Zone...it was like Pump It Up for Tweens. Very cool!

Instead of bouncy castles it was wall-to-wall trampolines and a great game of dodgeball

Mateo was an impressive dodgeballer and was also impressed with himself

He and birthday boy, Jake, were the last two standing

Overall it was good time

Lucia Celebrates Lally's 6th Birthday

Lucia is definitely growing up. Some of her friends have moved on from MyGym to Mani-Pedis. Today her friend Lally was celebrating her 6th birthday by hosting a princess party where the girls had Mani-Pedis and pizza...OH Boy!

Whenever Lucia has gotten a professional pedicure (all two times) she puts on a very serious face

She picked a nice light silver for her manicure

Looks like the birthday girl, Lally and Lucia had a great time.

M&L First Day of School

So yesterday was the grand opening of their new school location and today is FINALLY the first day of school. I feel like they were the last ones in the United States to start.

And let's see who they are wearing. Mateo is dressed in a Real Madrid Tshirt with matching backpack and darling Little Lucia is wearing a Monster High outfit complete with Monster High bookback

So we don't forget, Mateo is going into the 4th Grade (Ms. Megan) and Lucia is entering the 1st Grade (Ms. Joanna)

This year he let me take a quick pic of him in the classroom...

...and Lucia never minds a nice pic next to her new cubby.

Good luck today my two sweet peas!

Love you

MLV Celebrate Elysian's New Pad

According to the calendar, technically we have a few more weeks of summer, but now that Labor Day is behind us it marks the unofficial end of summer. School will soon be starting and this year will be extra special because the kids school will now be in a brand new, state of the art location. Today was the ribbon cutting and the kids and parents were all so excited.

Elysian Eagles, Lucia and Mateo are excited to see the new school and their friends

Lucia found her 1st Grade classroom and found her special pocket (center-right)

Another special edition to this school year? One of her OXO friends, Amelia. She gets to come to Elysian this year because she got in through the lotto...two lucky girls

And now for the entertainment part of the opening ceremonies. Favorite teacher and music extraordinaire, Aram, got the kids singing "Meet Me at Elysian!"

Mateo - waiting for the speeches to continue while hanging with the 6th graders

Board President (aka Papi) takes the stage to welcome everyone and get the speeches rolling.

Papi along with the Director, past board members and city officials help cut the ceremonial ribbon

The City also presented Elysian with an award.

All in all a very good day.

We are so grateful to be in the new school.

Tomorrow's the first day of school.

Last Day in Aruba

Today was bittersweet. I was happy to get home and see the kiddos, but very sad that my beautiful, warm relaxing vacation was coming to an end.

"Goodbye beautiful balcony!"

"And goodbye beautiful Aruba"

Aruba - Day 3

Woke up (late or at least after 9AM ) to another warm beautiful day in Aruba. 

So...what to do, what to do what to do? 

Sit by the pool and play on the phone...

...sit by the pool and sleep...

...sit by the pool and read.

And after all of that tiresome hanging out by the pool, we decided to have a nice romantic dinner at the lighthouse restaurant

Another gorgeous view

Great time together

And there is the famous Lighthouse

Aruba - Day 2

Day 2 in the beautiful Dutch-land of Aruba was just as nice as Day 1. Today we relaxed and took in the sights of the city. Pretty much perfect.

I fell in love with these hanging mini bungalows on the hotel grounds

We headed into town to go on a fun underwater excursion. We were going to take a real old school submarine and explore the reef life on the island.

To get to the appropriate depth we had to take a boat to the submarine

Here is the top of the submarine

And here are the tight quarters we were going to be trapped in for the next 90 minutes

We saw a lot of really cool things on the ocean floor, including this shipwreck

Once we got back to the hotel we decided that we would take a break from the pool and give the hotel beach a try

We also tried these pina coladas

Eddie's cell phone also enjoyed the beach

We ended the evening at the hotel restaurant where we enjoyed a seafood buffet.

"All you can eat lobster...what?!?"