Lucia's Ballet Recital - 2014

Lucia's 2nd year of ballet has come to an end which means it is recital time! We got her dressed, hair and makeup done and ready to roll for her recital. She was very excited and so were we.

Pretty ballerina

She takes her curtsy very seriously

Big bro Mateo is always there to support his little sis

Lucia waited patiently in the auditorium until it was time to go back stage. We showed up early so we could get good seats. That shoulder poking into the picture on the right is actually Grandma. She flew in earlier this year to be here for the newest arrival and luckily she also got to attend Lucia's recital.

Mommy, Lucia and littlest sis (in utero). Papi and Mateo in the background are focused on other things.

Backstage, Lucia met up with her co-stars Amelia (in stylish specs) and Vivy

And of course BFF Alma

All if the performances were inspired by Disney songs

Lucia was in the second performance

Center stage

And there goes the curtsy. I would have filmed it, but we ordered the DVD which turns out was a waste because the girls' performance lasted all of 38 seconds...yep 38 seconds as in the same amount of time as a short commercial. They spent a whole 10 months in ballet and had to attend a rehearsal, buy costumes and tickets, etc for a whole 38 seconds. If you blinked or kneeled down to pick something up you would have missed it. As a matter of fact, Aba and Abu actually did miss it because they were running late. While they were all very cute we were very disappointed. 

No matter, we still took Lucia out to dinner of her choice which was ..."the fire place" aka Hibachi where she showed us her improved chopstick skills

"In yo face!" 

We are very proud of you Little Miss

Lucia Visits Kindergarten

Although Lucia is still technically in Pre-K, today she took baby steps towards her entry into Kindergarten. She has always been excited about the prospect of going to the same school as Mateo and today her future Kindergarten class held an orientation for incoming students. She has visited as a little sister before and seemed much more excited then. Today she was a little shy and apprehensive.

But with some crayons, paper and snacks she got into the swing of things. (By the way she picked this very Latin American looking outfit for today's orientation...not sure why, but she's a cuties as usual)

Mateo's Spring Piano Recital - 2014

So the end of the school year is full of performances and recitals and as we enter into June we enter into recital time for the Vielot Gonzalez family. Yesterday was dress rehearsal for Lucia and today is Mateo's Spring Piano Recital. It is funny because although each time he continues to improve, he also has discovered the feeling of nervousness. He is now more aware and more self conscious so when we first got to the recital space, he asked his teacher if she could review some things with him really quickly as a refresher. He did great, but you could see an inkling of the nerves...it is interesting and a little sad to a glimpse of this new more self aware Mateo

Please note there were no owls playing music

But our boy did play 3 songs

Of course little sis is always there to show her support. She got all dressed up and he agreed very willingly to wear this pink shirt (apparently one of his favorite video game characters is pink so he is no longer dismisses it as a girls only color). Don't they look stylish!

To see his performance, click the link below.

Mateo 2014 Spring Piano Recital

Lucia Goes to Kate's 5th Birthday & Ballet Recital Rehearsal

Well today turned out to be an extremely busy day for Little Miss Lucia. She had both a birthday party to go to and a dress rehearsal for her ballet recital. Although we had to rush around she kept her cool and we had a successful day.

Big shocker! The party was held at Pump It Up! This has become a local go-to for Hoboken kiddies

One of Lucia's favorite activities is going down the inflatable slide. With her light weight she picks up a lot of speed.

She also enjoys hitting the airball...

...And air hockey

Lucia sitting next to birthday girl Kate

And now onto the dress rehearsal. Alma came over so I could do her hair and makeup (her mom is away and her dad didn't feel he could handle the dress up). You can see Alma's little sis Milla in the background.

After a successful rehearsal which parents weren't allowed to watch we felt the girls deserved to let their hair down and go to the park. Ok, ok, neither one wanted to actually let her hair down or take her makeup off but they were into the park so off we went. 

Where both of them had a swinging time

Lucia and Mommy's Day Out

Today Mateo and Papi went into the city for a Chess tournament, so that meant Lucia and I had a whole day to ourselves. For some reason, especially since I have been pregnant, we have not gotten this  alone time very often and never for very long, so I thought it would be fun to plan a whole day of fun stuff for us to enjoy together.

The morning started off with soccer where Lucia wanted to impress so she wore her faux fur vest... fashion is always a priority

After soccer we went to her favorite "fast-foodish" place in Hoboken- Panera's for lunch (didn't get a picture there)

Next we headed to the Hoboken Library where we finally got Lucia her very own library card. She was thrilled and got herself 6 books

Later we went to a kiddie salon where she got her very first professional mani/pedi. You can see she got the royal treatment and was very happy to pick out her own nail colors.

"Please no pictures I need to focus"

Poor Lucia was a little short for the manicure station, but we made it work...the price to pay for beauty

"Yes please put on a base coat"

Voila! Job well done. After the salon we headed home and watched Frozen. I would say all and all a very successful day.

By the way, Mateo got second place at the Chess Tournament so a really good day for everyone!

M&L - Celebrate Mother's Day & Alma's Birthday

Today we were lucky enough to celebrate two occasions - Mother's Day and Alma's 5th Birthday.

The day started off with a lovely gift from Lucia. Inside the bag there was a muffin, some instant coffee mix, some tea mix, a mint and an apple. Everything one needs to get the day started.

After my lovely breakfast in a bag, we headed off to a more upscale meal in the city at Beauty & Essex. A cool speakeasy type restaurant that served a gourmet brunch. It was delicious.

 After brunch, we headed to My Gym where we were going to celebrate Alma's 5th Birthday (the birthday girl is sporting the very fashionable pink and blue striped dress and is being flanked by best friend Lucia and little sister Mila)

 Of course Lucia and Alma's big brothers Mateo and Lucas were there to participate in the festivities

 A party full of pleased participants

 Lucia was very excited to see Alma had a Frozen Cupcake cake

 Mom, Dad and Big brother Lucas were there to help blow out the candles. Milla was missing because she wanted to wonder out in the hallway.

M&L Celebrate Ayden's 1st Communion

Today we got to celebrate a very important occasion for the kids' cousin Ayden. It was his first Communion or as Lucia put it "1st Community".

Proud parents, Mima and Erich  lead Ayden out after the ceremony

Cousins galore! Even Alex and Isabel came out to support their cousin Ayden

Too cool for school - Mateo and Lucia strike a pose

Tornado - Ayden next to Volcano-Mateo

"Congratulations Ayden!"