MLV Halloween 2016

As we have experienced every year since having kids, Halloween is a process not just a day. There are events and activities and treats, and costumes that are planned, made and bought and finally Halloween Day arrives. So let us begin...

Back in action, Wonder Woman Lucia, Minnie Mouse Valentina and changing up events

Scary Clown Mateo who was not allowed to wear this at school, but could be in full effect for actual trick 'o treating

And its on. As always, Aba and Abu are joining us for todays events

Part of the tradition is not just trick 'o treating on Washington, but also watching the parade...

...hanging with Lucas...

...and of course with Alma and Milla and family.

After outside Trick 'o Treating we always hit the halls of the Columbus.

This is V's first year being able to carry her own bag and reach for her own treats

"We rule!"

Note - the change of costume by mister Mateo...he is back to being Odell

These three -  deciding how much they should take and which items to take.

My favorite pic of the evening...bizarro family portrait

Once the girls got settled in, I took Mateo to meet up with Kasper to trick 'o treat on the "scary streets" of Garden and Bloomfield

I would say all in all they were successful.

Time for the sort-n-store.

MLV Hobooken Race

So as of last year my kids have really been into running and as proven by their ribbons in track and field, they are quite fast. I decided that running the Hobooken race might be a lot of fun for them, so we signed them up.

Alma also decided to take part in the race for 7-8 year olds

Lucas agreed to run with Mateo in the 10+ group

First up were the girls.

Lucia placed 2nd overall and 1st girl!!

Woohoo!

Nicely done ladies

Now for the 10+ racers.

Mateo finished first overall - he really blew them away!

Nice job boys!

All of our runners (including Milla) did an awesome job at today's race.

And it was a lot of fun too.

MLV go to Elysian's Halloween Party

So earlier today was the farm field trip and now it was time to prepare for this evening's festivities. Normally, the Elysian Halloween Party is held on a Saturday afternoon, but this year they decided to mix it up and have the party on Friday night. Lucia has been talking about her costume for weeks, even months. It required the perfect outfit, the perfects shoes, the perfect accessories and of course, the perfect hair.

For the hair, I took her to our local Blow-Out bar where the poor guys took an hour and 40 minutes blowing out Lucia's hair. He had to cancel his next appointment and take a water break. I tried to warn them, but no one really knows until they get in there.

When we got home, I painted her tips blue because like any true superhero found in the comics black hair has blue highlights. And now for the big reveal...

WONDERWOMAN!!! 

Work it girl! She was so happy with the results.

Once we got to school, she met up with her friends,

Amelia  (Earhart) and Daira the cool cat

They even had a photo station

And here is our mini Minnie

Mateo has 2 costumes, one that is allowed in school and the other is not. Tonight he is debuting his first costume. Meet Mateo "Odell" Beckham Jr.

Notice he is at the hands-free donut station as is his custom at this event.

Lucia's favorite activity is the experiment station.

Laser focus, she was here for at least 30 minutes

With her buddy Shyam who came as Steve from Minecraft

Lucia is also a big fan of the "hands-free" donut eating tree

I can't stand it.

Minnie Mouse's smile is contagious. Love them!

It was a good party

Lucia's Field trip to the Farm

Lucia has complained (or maybe brought to my attention) that I "never" go on her field trips and Papi has gone and even Abu has gone, but not me. Luckily, this year, I had a few extra days that were unallocated, so I decided to take today off and accompany her second grade class to a farm .

Not sure why I decided to come on a trip that would be outdoors on a freezing cold day, but here we are taking a bumpy hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Did I mention it was freezing cold?

Alas, the pumpkin patch. Lucia was very happy to find a pumpkin that was just right.

The other kids, however, were still searching for their perfect pumpkin

After the patch, the kids got to go around to the animal part of the farm where they saw chickens...

...cows...

...and the cutest thing of all...

...teeny tiny, baby bunnies. There is no better way to end a trip to the farm than to watch baby bunnies.

My job is done.

Mommy on a Photo Shoot

Yes, I know that most times this blog is dedicated to what is going on in the Vielot-Gonzalez family life, but today I had such a cool day at work that I wanted to feature a little part of what I get to do. We all know that I work on product and sometimes we develop products that are so cool or special that they deserve a little extra love. We are currently working on a high-end thermometer that will be launching in the spring. Because the price point is so high we thought it was important to develop more lifestyle and image content to be used for marketing purposes. Our engineer, who is absolutely in love with the thermometer actually scouted a super cool local co-op farm in North Brooklyn that would be the perfect back drop for this perfect product, so today we went on a field trip with our photo team.

Here is our "set" and yes that is the bridge in the background as well as an amazing greenhouse made of stained glass.

That is our social media team trying to capture the events of the day

Our photographer - getting her equipment prepped

And our engineer, Matt, who we left in charge of the legit smoker

Using the special thermometer to check on the meat. 

Note- poor Matt had to remove his jacket on this super cold day because it was deemed "off-brand"

In the end we got some excellent shots, none of which I can really show right now, but keep your eye out for new thermometers in the next few months.

Today - I loved my job!

The Gonzalez Kids Have a Stellar Soccer Weekend

I must admit that this season, Mateo has been doing awesome in soccer. So far his team has no losses. On the other hand, although Lucia is starting to pick up her stride, her team has not had a win yet...until this weekend. Let's first start with Mateo who got a hat trick (meaning 3 goals in one game) at his Saturday night game.

And this girl scored 2 goals today!

Alma and Lucia finally got a chance to feel like they were on a winning team.

And these boys!

My hat tricker and one of his besties, Lucas, both had a great game.

Congratulations to my soccer kids!

Wait does that make me a soccer mom?

MLV Celebrate Nelsito's Birthday

There always seems to be something to celebrate in the Gonzalez family. Today we are heading over to  Nelsito's to celebrate Nelsito Jr's birthday.

Valentina is ready to go.

Lucia is all of a sudden bashful, but this is her behind the motorcycle helmet

Mateo found a pal and found one of his favorite activities - video games!

Someone is not camera-shy. After this pic she said, 

"Can I see?"

Last, but not least, a tribute to the birthday boy.

"Happy 19th birthday Nelsito!"

V's Rainy Day Activity

Today was a bit dreary and surprisingly the kids did not have much going on, so intead of staying cooped up inside we decided to head out to a movie and another little perfect rainy-day activity

Valentina is ready in her galoshes and rain poncho.

"This is what cool looks like"

Look what else we found!

 A real, live, non-virtual, brick-and-mortar....

...bookstore.

A rare find, imagine that.