MLV- Test, Kick and Taste

I captured several different disjointed moments today. What does that tell us? Well it is a pretty good representation of the average Sunday in the Vielot-Gonzalez household.

This morning, I needed V to test another prototype from work. This time instead of a feeding item we were focusing on the other end - a stand-alone potty. Because it was a prototype I didn't let her "go" in it, just wanted to see if she thought it was comfortable and easy to use. 

Now off to the park to chill (actually sweat) and wait for Lucia to finish soccer practice.

This is Lucia's last practice with Premiere Soccer aka Super Soccer Stars aka lessons with coach Dennis who trained Mateo since he was 3 and then Miss Lucia. I was a little saddened, but not to worry, in a few months Little V will be old enough to start Super Soccer Stars and we will be in the mix once more.

Ok, after soccer, Papi wanted to stop at the Hoboken Tomato Festival. Initially the kids were not into it, but once they hit the tasting table they changed their tune and were all about it. We wound up buying 5 varieties of tomatoes, yum!

Prior to the Tomato Festival I told the kids that as a treat and retreat from the blazing summer sun we could stop and get some 16 Handles. As you can see Valentina wasn't the only one in need of an afternoon nap.

Later on, we closed out the day at one of our favorite local restaurants, 10th and Willow where Valentina proceeded to sneak and house her brother's sweet potato fries.

"Busted!"

Can't be mad at someone this cute.

That's a wrap folks.

Lucia's 7th Birthday Party

Although Lucia's birthday was technically 20 days ago, as per usual she decided to postpone her celebration until one of her besties, Alma, was back in town. For a year she has been saying she wanted to have it at Pump It Up and I thought she might change her mind because it is a place that she would go to for birthday parties when she was much younger, but she was adamant and it ended up being a great time for friends and family of all ages.

The welcome - with rules and warnings. These kids are ready to party.

"Let's roll!"

Cici is all smiles

Milla and Meli (say that 3 times fast) are having a great time

Stop! Bubble Time!

 Bubble time was chosen by the birthday girl

Even her older cousin, Nelsito, was having a good time

 These two! 

Father and son- Air Hockey Battle

One of Lucia's favorite activities at Pump It Up is the wind tunnel, so the birthday girl invited in some of her friends to enjoy the breeze. 

And now for the ball shooting machine which is new for this Pump It Up. 

Me versus the sisters.

This one is determined and ready to go...she shot me over 10 times

Amelia and Vivy teamed up on the air hockey machine and went up against...

...Freddy

Now after 2nd graders came the 5th graders. 

Kasper versus...

 ...Lucas

 And the littlest in the crew - Valentina and Annika battled over the car.

Now it's time for "Peanut Butter Jelly Time!" as you can see my daughter was not into this mix, but her friends were.

Group photo time - Lucas, Amelia, Vivy, Sophia, Meli, Shyam, Alma, Lucia (with V in her lap), Freddy, Kasper, Mateo, Evan, Milla, Om, Ryan, Melanie and Sean in the front.

Birthday girl Lucia decided rather than mess with her coif she would wear her crown as a belt

Family and cupcakes

The Queen alone on her thrown...

 ...but not for long. 

Her ladies in waiting, Alma, Amelia and Annika all joined her soon after

And the dudes - This is what cool looks like.

"Happy Birthday Lucia!"

Lucia's Sleepover -Bday Party Pt.1

Although technically Lucia's birthday was a few weeks ago, she held off on having her party until Alma was back...especially since she wanted a sleepover to be part of the event. Tonight Alma was going to be staying over while Mateo stayed with Lucas and tomorrow is the party.

But first, in the morning Lucia and V hung out on the balcony just 

"Chileando!"

They also watered and checked on Lucia's plants

What a beautiful pepper

And finally, Alma comes over. The girls planned a performance involving pom poms and ...

...the curtain call had a great closing sign

Later, they worked on an art project outside

After dinner and a bath it was bedtime for their American Girl Dolls, Caroline and Garce and the dog. The similarities between the dolls and the girls are pretty striking.

"Goodnight ladies, sweet dreams"

MLV Welcome Back LAM

While it is super cool to have some of your besties be diverse and international, the bummer part is every summer the kids' friends Alma and Lucas head off to France and Sweden to spend time with their families and get some cultural immersion, but that means there is a long time passes until the kids see one another. Earlier this week they all came back and everyone was delighted.

On Wednesday, the sister-friends had a great time with Lucia while she was at gymnastics

 

Today, the girls celebrated with an indoor arts and crafts picnic.

Thrilled to be together again.

Mateo "Brace Face" Gonzalez

It is somewhat of a right of passage in America pre-teendom, and today my 10 year-old stepped right into it. Guess who is rocking braces?

"This Guy!"

Still handsome and goofy as ever.

Valentina - Testing

Unfortunately for V she happens to be a baby/toddler and I happen to work for a company that makes baby/toddler products so that means sometimes when they have a concept that needs to be tested they use their employees' kids as guinea pigs. Of course, I forgot to do this at leisure all weekend so Monday morning rolled around and I needed to bang this out before going to work. So let's begin.

"Mom, what is this and where is my normal bowl?"

"This one is kind of cool, but looks more like a hat than a bowl"

"Now, I am getting irritated, when do I actually get to eat?!"

"Still empty...please feed me"

I know this is cruel, but we needed to test to see if she was able to remove this bowl on her own.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing...all I want is Puffins"

"We are done. Now you can have Puffins. Good job monster"

MLV and A Record of the Worse Day Ever

Well today is an excellent day. Not because anything extraordinary happened, but because we all survived yesterday and yesterday was a horrendous day.

A very ordinary Saturday - Lucia and Valentina playing Legos while waiting for their big bro to finish up his piano lesson, very normal compared to yesterday.

A close up of Valentina's leg, with a hospital anklet on it, is a stinging memory of yesterday. Well here we go...

...yesterday was the worse day. Someone stepped on Lucia's fingers with their ice skates causing her to bleed pretty badly and it was right before they were supposed to perform which meant when Eddie and I showed up after leaving work in the middle of the day we didn't get to see her on ice we showed up and she was a bucket of tears and refused to go on. After she calmed down and the show was over she felt better and wanted to take a skate around the rink, but it was too late and they closed up so she never got to show us what she learned. Eddie went back to work and I took Lucia for a pedicure (I had to cancel the mani part due to the bruised fingers). It was sooooooo hot and humid. We ate outside and as we arrived at the nail salon I get a call from Navita telling me that Mateo accidentally ran into Valentina and hurt her leg and she was going to take her to the doctor. My phone was about to die so I text Eddie to let him know to follow up. Later Navita called from the doctor and they said we ice it or go for an X-ray. So, off to get an X-ray they went. Eddie was going to meet them at the hospital. After Lucia and I were done on our way home it poured down rain on our heads. We get home and no one is there. An hour later, Eddie shows up with no one. "Where is everyone?" He claims that Navita said she would meet him at home. We wait another 30 minutes, no one, so Eddie calls her and they are still waiting so Eddie decides to go meet them (which was the original plan). I put Lucia to sleep and they finally get home by 9. Not broken, but Valentina is limping. Mateo tells me his day is "horrible" he lost his skills challenge by 2 points, he hurt his sister and he was exhausted. Me too! He takes a shower comes downstairs complaining that his bum is sore and he has a huge rash on his whole backside. Ugh!!! It wasn't even Friday the 13th!!! Thank god today is better, let's hope it stays that way.

Lucia Ice Skating Camp

Today, Navita went to pick Lucia up from Ice Skating camp so she could get her to gymnastics on time. Luckily she showed up a little early and got to see this...

...There she is in the bright pink gloves

Nice moves!

She's progressing well