MLV in Ocean City - Day 2

Today we had a completely different, but just as exciting adventure in Ocean City. 

Our day kicked-off with this creepy character. For some reason they have all of these antique figures, costumes and furniture all over this hotel. I think The Flanders Hotel has been a mainstay in this area and I guess this is their way of preserving their history. This statue scared Lucia and Valentin, but Mateo had to take a picture with her. 

After all of the picture taking it was onto breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Eggs, waffles, pancakes, bacon, yum.

This old-fashioned dress was another hotel exhibit. Aba had to "try it on"...

...so did Lucia...

...and so did Mateo.

Another antique relic. A throne for the Prince and Princess of Cheezy Grins.

Today, we decided to hit the beach. Afterall, what's a trip to "The Shore" without the beach. Valentina was loving the sand.

Believe it or not, it was so hot that even I thought the ocean was refreshing rather than freezing. 

Mateo and Abu hung out for a while tackling waves.

Lucia also enjoyed running into and out of the waves

Sandy sisters

Vielot-Gonzalez clan at the beach

As the day drew on, I actually caught several shots of these two working together as a team instead of fighting. It was great.

And look what they can achieve when they work together. They love the shore and I love them!

Done with the beach for the day, now off to lunch and the second part of our day.

After lunch we all relaxed, showered and got dressed to go to Papi's friend, Terry's shore house

Lucia cleans up nice doesn't she?

And so does Little Miss V...

And "this guy!"

Terry's house was beautiful and so was his deck which had an enchanting view of the sunset.

It was a great time, good conversation, yummy food and wine and spectacular view.

Day 2 was a success!

MLV Go to Ocean City

We left bright and early this morning and now we are at THE JERSEY SHORE! Can't believe we are here. This is my first real experience down here. Many moons ago I went to Mannasquan with some people from work, but that was the seedier side. Now I was getting to see the part that all of the families talk about when they say they are "going down the shore." Let the fun begin.

Mateo and Lucia are prepped with their new shades...

...they also lucked out with the best accommodations. King-sized bed with lots of pillow.

Once we settled in we put on our swimsuits to go hit the pool.

Valentina and her crazy curls were looking stylish in her new suit.

Aba and V hung out in the shallow end...

...but later she joined Lucia and Papi in the deep.

After swimming, we headed out to dinner where Valentina and Abu shared a moment on this bench while waiting to be seated.

Later, we ventured out onto the boardwalk. The kids loved this candy shop with the giant lollipops.

Valentina was also pretty pleased.

On our way back to our hotel we got to watch this parade going down the boardwalk.

We also decided that we didn't want the night to end, so instead we went to the amusement park. First, we need to check our ride options. Lucia is just shy of 46 inches and ...

Mateo hovers between 56 and 57 inches depending on the hair.

I regretfully went on a pirate boat ride with them and that was the last for me. For the rest of the night it was just the two of them. Tilt-a-Whirling away...

...and getting shot straight up into the air. Very good start to our vacation.

Day 1 over.

MLV 4th of July 2016

Can't believe it is already July and the kids are now 1 week out of school already. Not only is it the 4th of July, but today is a pre-kick-off of the start of our family vacation to The Jersey Shore...gasp!

Because we were planning to take off fairly early in the morning. We decided it would be best to have a sleep over at Aba and Abu's so we could all leave directly from there the next day.

Although there wasn't going to be a big celebration we still wanted to show our patriotism.

Mateo, Lucia and Valentina look like All-American cuties in their red, white and blue

This picture tells me I am going to have to watch out for these two when Lucia gets her driver's license

It wouldn't be the 4th of July with a nice family barbecue in the backyard. As you can see, Aba, Abu, MLV and Eddie really enjoyed the meal.

I am told that I am not in front of the camera often enough, so today I got a quick shot in my red with my handsome son.

Happy Birthday USA!

Old Fashion Playdate

Now that summer has settled in nicely, some of the kids' normal weekend activities have fallen by the wayside. One thing still remains strong, as long as there are friends around there is always room for a playdate. Although Mateo and Lucia's besties are away in Europe for the summer, their little sister and dad are still around holding down the fort. We were invited over to let the girls hang and to let the rest of us cheer on France in the European cup. 

Valentina has finally graduated to being able to play house with the big girls

Lucia and Milla "arranged" the dolls' clothing and also played with Alma's super cool doll house

The three got along great for the whole afternoon

Later the old-fashioned play date got modernized with the use of Skype and the kids got to catch up with Alma and Lucas while they watched the game in France.

In the end, France won and we all had a great time

V's Fancy

At the end of Lucia's  Girl Scout week, they had a fun fashion show which included the debut of a very dramatic summer hat.

Little Miss V fell in love with it.

"Don't I look fabulous Dahhhhhhhling ?!"

MLV Celebrate Ayden & Antonio's Birthdays

It has been a long time since the kids attended a good old fashioned Birthday Party in a backyard. Today not only did they get to enjoy the outdoors, they got to get in some quality time with cousins they see often and not-so-often.

No surprise here, as soon as Melanie and Lucia see each other there is no separating these two.

What's super cool? This big backyard and an old school game of tag (with a new school dodge ball twist)

Valentina didn't really have a buddy at the beginning so I helped her along on this see-saw swing.

Mateo was happy to be playing ball or frisbee or anything else that involves throwing and catching.

It took a while for V to feel comfortable climbing up to get to the top of this slide, but once she did it was hard to convince her to come down.

The "older" cousins, Bel, Mima, Antonio and Alex get some time in with Baby V

Papi was helping with the pig roast...yummy!

And now for the cake and many, many desserts. Birthday boys - Antonio and Ayden blowing out the candles.

Mateo was super psyched about the chocolate-chocolate cupcake

After a while of getting used to everyone, Valentina decides to get her groove on by having a jam session with some of the Vidal cousins.

Volcano and Tornado

Love these guys!

Valentina's Twin

Ok so a few days ago my uncle was going through some old albums and sent me the picture below. I was shocked to see just how much I actually resembled Valentina when I was little. At least now part of the mystery has been solved.

Me at probably a little over 2

Ok without the crying the resemblance is there.