M&L Visit with Some Chisholm Cousins & Jack W.'s B-day

Today Lucia got to meet a whole slew of new cousins (well new to her) and Mateo got to get reacquainted. We had fun at home, at the park and then topped the day off with a karate-styled birthday party.

Tayla (in pink) was incredibly helpful with Lucia. The rest of the gang, James (you can only see his knee in the bottom left), Arianna (in blue), and Nneka (in black) all settled in and watched the rest of Toy Story 2 with Mateo.

2nd generation of cousins, Mateo, Arianna, Tayla and Lucia, all spend some time hanging out on the couch

Lucia and Mateo - Swinging to the same tune

Arianna has fun on the playground

Lucia cuddles with Nneka on the couch

Onto Jack W's karate birthday party

Jack W. with his parents and brother eye the yummy chocolate cake

Lucia is just hanging out watching the fun

And decides she'd rather be on the ground closer to the action

Sensei takes a stroll of the gym

While Mateo stops to take a pic with Lucia

And the rest of the kiddies decide to try out some karate moves on Jack W's dad

Lucia Plays Mateo's "Honky Thing"

As part of Lucia's mealtime sometimes we need to give her something to play with. Since we got back from Miami Lucia has had her eye on Mateo's "honky thing" (aka bicycle horn) and while he was outside I let her have a go at it while she ate some rice and black beans. I think she may have enjoyed the taste of the horn more than the beans.

Lucia eating the horn

M&L & Logan Go to Central Park Again

Well Spring Break is over and the kids are back in school and the adults are back at work, but at least the weather is nice. To celebrate the weather Mateo, Lucia and Logan headed to the great outdoors again. For those in the tri-state area that means Central Park.

Mateo has arrived with all of his necessities in his rolling Sponge Bob backpack

Lucia also has everything she needs, her bow and her fish

The kids decided to get some cool face painting. Mateo went first...

Then Lucia..."um, I will pass"

Then Logan, " what is this? a spider? a beetle? did we pay for this?"

Next the kids did some climbing

Followed by some swinging

And then it was on to the seal show

This polar bear seems to be very intrigued with the gawkers

They ended the day with enormous popsicles

M&L on Celebrate Easter

So today is Easter. This morning we woke up slightly earlier than normal and got dressed in our Sunday best. Then it was off to church and later Mateo was presented with a surprise. Let's just say he was super happy and I thought that overall the day was a great success.

Caught off-guard - Mommy fixes her dress while Lucia scowls at the bright sun

Grandma took lots of pictures that day because she wanted to make sure she captured her grandkids and daughter dressed so presentably

Papi, Mateo, Mommy and Lucia all put on Easter smiles (well maybe not Miss Lucia)

Of course Grandma also wanted to be included in a family shot

Two Easter cuties (by the way, Grandma bought both of their Easter outfits)

Up close pic of Lucia in her Easter dress and purple bow

Now for Mateo's surprise - he insisted on closing his eyes until it was presented

Once the eyes were open, he was so psyched to see his very first Easter basket

"Thank you Grandma!!"

After getting some chocolate Easter bunny fuel, Mateo takes a ride on his scooter

" I can't stop to chat...I have a lot of fuel to burn"

We ended the day with an old-fashioned bath in a yellow bucket. I think this is a classic. Tomorrow we leave, but we did manage to have a nice little vacation.

M&L - Easter Egg Hunt & Tio Leo

Today was another great day to celebrate Easter weekend. First we went to Coconut Grove to introduce Lucia to Tio Leo and then later we headed off to Grandma's church for an Easter Egg hunt and many other wonderful games. You will also notice that Grandma continues to ensure Lucia looks more like a girl and less like a small version of Mateo.

Lucia in a pretty white bow is ready to go to the Grove

Lucia and Tio Leo share a smile after enjoying some yummy Thai food and gelato

Later Mateo enjoyed the bouncy house/slide at the church festivities

The ladies of the afternoon , Lucia and Grandma, stop to pose for a quick pic

Next we transitioned to the church's playground to hang out on the monkey bars

Mateo, the daredevil, needed to be closely monitored by Papi (as you can see someone is slipping on the "close monitoring")

While Mommy and Lucia were caught in action enjoying the swings

M&L - Mall Day in Miami

So we were supposed to go to another fair today, but everyone was pretty exhausted after yesterday, so we decided to take it easy and have a more suburban day. This consisted of a movie (How to Train a Dragon), the mall (hello DSW) and a visit from Lucia's Madrina.

Although we didn't go to the other fair, Mateo still got to enjoy rides in the mall

Another part of suburban life? Driving in big luxurious cars. Miss Lucia knows to always use a seatbelt to be safe.

Lucia and Madrina have some bonding time

Mateo poses with the new toys he got at the mall. Buzz Light Year is his new favorite character...sorry Diego

He also got one of the little green aliens from the Toy Story Movie

M&L Go to the Dade County Youth Fair

Today was a very busy day. First Lucia is 8 months old. She is pulling herself up a little, dabbling in new whole foods, adding new sounds to her voice and she sprouted 2 teeth (on the bottom) within the past couple of days. Other cool things about today - we went to the Dade County Youth Fair. I attended this fair at least once a year when I was growing up in Miami and probably went every year from like 3rd grade until 12th grade. I was really excited to share this with Mateo and Lucia.

Lucia is prepared (although maybe a little overdressed for Miami weather) in her sun hat. Happy 8 months Cherub

While under one of the tents we nixed the hat and the undershirt. Now she is much cooler and happier.

Mateo and I enjoyed the swings...

...and also the big ferris wheel

We took a break to eat some delicious, fattening, fair food. Fries, chicken fingers and a super slushy....mmmm...

Grandma enjoyed another fair treat - Elephant Ears (which Northerners refer to as funnel cake)

Little Lucia decided she would use this time to sleep

We finished the balanced meal with some dessert, a side of cotton candy

I thought this picture showed how similar they are becoming - like father, like son

Mateo was tall enough to go on a lot of the rides by himself. Here he is chatting up an older girl.

Next up Papi and Mateo went into the fun house...he really loved this and went in at least 3 more times

Next they enjoyed a roller coaster ride...

...followed by a carnival game (he didn't win and neither did Papi)

The sign of a good day - he didn't want to leave, so Papi had to get creative and carry him out like a fanny pack