Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico!

Warning: this may be a long blog and I'm still cutting out about 3/4 of the pictures!

We just came back from spending 10 days in Puerto Rico, where Jason has some cousins, some of whom he's never met, and where his aunt and closest cousin still live. It was great for the kids to be able to meet them and get in touch with their Puerto Rican side.

After a long day of travel (all three kids actually fell asleep in the car before we got to Mayita's house; Karissa and Austin stayed asleep for the transfer to bed- shock!), we took it easy the first day. We also has to get used to the weather. Though our temperatures here right now aren't much different from there, it is a little more humid there and there is no air conditioner in the homes, just fans. Luckily, I have been there before, and happened to be pregnant then also, and learned what kind of clothes to pack from the limited selection I have to cover all my qualifications, so this time I felt better in the heat and slept mucho mejor! Here's my chicas with Mayita, Jason's cousin. They took to her really well. Austin did well, but he took about half the trip to just get used to being somewhere different, so most of the time he was on my lap, which did make it warmer for me!
After going to a local park, the kids played in this little splash pad that Mayita got for them. This was the first time I'd ever seen Karissa get her head wet without being in the bath!
The next day we went to Mayita's church party and had lunch and the kids got to play on these fancy bouncers. Here's Karissa climbing up the "rock" bouncer.

Here's Victoria going down the water slide.
Later, in their church building they had a puppet show. It was quite the experience! Victoria still claims it was her favorite activity there, but I'm not so sure. We went into a room about the size of a primary room at our church. We sat front and center, since we were one of the first to enter. These clowns came out from behind the puppet show set with a keyboard, electric guitar, drum set, and the lead clown on the mic. They started playing full blast, as if they were 20 feet away in a huge auditorium, we were not even 5 feet away! It was so loud, I worried about the baby's ears in my womb! The kids were in such shock that even Victoria wouldn't give them a high-five! So, imagine having this crazy loud music played by clowns with the speaker on the mic yelling into it in Spanish, which the kids don't even know. After 15 minutes of that, they started the puppet show, which was still loud, but not with the music. The kids relaxed a little by then and seemed to enjoy it, but I completely forgot to take any pics because I was so caught off guard!

The next day we went to the LDS ward in the area. We sang some songs Victoria recognized in sacrament meeting. She also enjoyed listening to the English translation on the headset. We went to the first part of Jr. Primary and the kids got to participate with the four other kids in the lesson, even though it was in Spanish. We sang "I Love to See the Temple", Victoria's favorite and the new song all the Primary children around the world are learning. Karissa got to say a prayer. Even though it was hot in the Primary room, we all enjoyed the experience and I'm so glad the kids got to experience it!

Later, Stephanie, Mayita's daughter, painted nails with the chicas and we did a fashion show, complete with entertainment from the kids.

Here's Austin's pose.
Then we got to go visit Mayin in the home she is in. She just loved seeing the kids!
Victoria read to her from her diary.
Afterwards we went to Parque Colon and climbed up this huge tree house. The tree was over 200 years old!

The next day we went to Jobos beach where all the families with young kids go because of the shelf that made a shallow pool for the kids to play in. The really enjoyed the water and sand and I enjoyed less worry over waves since there were none where we were! You can see Victoria and Jason walking out to the shelf where they walked around for about an hour! Later, Jason took both girls to some rocks on the side to look for seashells, which they found a lot of, including a live hermit crab.


On the way home we got Pinchos, which is just bbq chicken on a stick, but they are to die for! So good! Only $2! Karissa, of all people, loved it! For not being a big meat-eater, we were surprised! We got empanadas another day, Victoria liked those the best.

It was off to the tropical rain forest, El Yunque, the next day. Even though we had a long drive to get there, we all enjoyed it. We heard many coquis, which are tiny tree frogs, and saw a couple of lizards.

The kids loved to hike around the first trail area!
Here's La Coca Falls. This one is just on the road, so we didn't hike to it.

We went up Yokahu Tower, Victoria went a couple times. I think she said there were 71 steps.

I couldn't even get the whole thing in the picture

We decided to hike the 30 minute one-way trip to La Mina Falls. Even though the kids were starting to get tired, it was worth it! They go a bit higher up, but it was hard to get a good shot from the very non-child-friendly bridge I was standing on with Austin.

Karissa got soaked!
Here's the bridge that Austin could have slipped right through to the rocks! Luckily he was eating a granola bar, so that distracted him. Speaking of food, on the way home, we stopped to get dinner at the first place we saw so we could clean up a little and feed our hungry hiker kids. We stopped at Burger King and the three kids ate 19 chicken tenders, plus Victoria had a cheeseburger and she and Austin had a bunch of fries! I told them before if they ate well they could have a cookie, so they had one of those too. I have never seen three little kids eat so much, nor I have spent so much money at Burger King!

We went to the beach again the next day with Stephanie. It was just as much fun the second time and all the kids went on the shelf that time.

When we weren't out and about the kids would play with Stephanie's stuffed animals and the dogs, Snoopy and Coral. Here's Victoria with Snoopy.

Here's Karissa blowing bubbles in front of the banana tree. Coral loved snapping at the bubbles!
(I just noticed that I didn't include a picture of Coral and if I do now, it will screw up my picture order. Just picture a chocolate lab!)

Here's all the kids with Mayita and Stephanie when Austin started going to them.

On our final day of adventure we went to the Arecibo Lighthouse. It included La Nina, La Pinta, and La Santa Maria as well as a pirate ship and cave, an aquarium, Taino Indian huts, a park, and mini-zoo. It was fun, but very hot and sunny that day!

Austin is giving a kiss to the statue at the hut.

Here's the lighthouse.

The day before we left we went to a local splash pad. It was nice and cool, plus it rained a little.

The kids had such a good time that our messed up flight adventure back which brought us home at 1:30 am instead of 9:30 pm, didn't linger too long in the kids' minds after we got home. Hope you're all enjoying your Independence Day!

We're Having....

....a boy! We're all very excited. Everything with the baby is healthy, so that's good. I would be going through all my pink blankets and getting rid of about 10 of them, but I've got to pack for Puerto Rico instead. Be back in 10 days!

Things We Love About Daddy

Here are the things the kids told me they love about their daddy:

Victoria: "He teaches me how to be nice to my little sister and brother and he puts me to bed and makes me not have nightmares."

Karissa: "I love that he helped me ice skate." (like 1 1/2 years ago, I'm surprised she even remembers!)

Austin: "Ahhh, Jay-uhn." (he was saying his name)

Happy Father's Day!
The kids wanted to do goofy poses, but did them for different pics. Here's two being goofy.

And the other one!

Chicago

Last Monday the kids and I took a quick trip to Chicago. We were supposed to go with my dad and meet my sister and her family there on their way out here for a visit, but since he shattered his shoulder about a month ago, the trip was cancelled since my step-mom needed to help him instead of my sister drive out for a vacation. Luckily, we weren't left high and dry. We were also planning on meeting my aunt and her daughter who are from Dallas and were visiting the other daughter who lives in Iowa City with her 1-year-old and hubby.

After the 4 hour drive, which the kids did very well with, we drove into the city on Lake Shore Ave., about one road's width away from Lake Michigan. It was beautiful! The first thing the kids said when we came upon the skyscrapers overlooking the lake was, "Can we live here?!"

As soon as we could, we jumped out of the car and played on the beach. It wasn't a planned stop and was only 65 degrees, not my idea of swimming-in-a-lake weather, but the kids had a blast! Victoria actually got on the water a little. Karissa and Austin didn't touch the water, but were overjoyed at being out of the car looking at it with the skyscrapers behind them.

After our fun detour at the beach, we met my aunt Terry, Danielle, Celeste, and baby Ellia at the park zoo.
That evening at our lovely hotel, we took a dip in the pool and Karissa really got attached to her new BFF, Danielle.
The next day we went to the Shedd Aquarium and saw the bottom floor, which was free that day. It was crowded, but enjoyable. The kids really liked the jelly fish.

Here's one of the many pictures Victoria took of fish. This one came out without the glare.

Since we were expecting the entire aquarium to be free, not just the bottom floor, we left earlier than planned when we discovered the extremely high prices of the upper floor. We will return one day and experience that, but probably with Jason so he can enjoy it too. So, we just left and had lunch on the museum square. We left for home shortly after that to make it in time for a better-night's sleep so Victoria could have fun at her end-of-the-year party at school. We were there about 24 hours, not counting driving, but it was fun and we don't regret it!

Peaceful

My good friend, who is moving soon (boo-hoo!) helped me add a nice touch to our upgraded living room. She has a vinyl cutter and we used it to cut out these quotes that just adhere to the wall. It was easy as can be and a very nice touch! Here's our nice TV on the stand, with all the extra clutter that was on the other one, nicely hidden. The old TV now sits happily in the basement.

I've finally put the kids' pictures back up after painting, now that we have the TV and stand in place.
Everything just seems more peaceful now in there!

Speaking of peaceful, Jason and I got to spend 8 hours away from the kids yesterday! My other good friend, who has had a special bond with our kids, offered to come watch them while we went out. She didn't want to just watch them for a couple hours, but she wanted to "make them lunch, and dinner, put them to bed, and play with them". I quickly agreed. She's an empty- nester, though you wouldn't know it. The kids had a blast with her and we had fun on our own!

We started going to lunch at Baja Fresh and didn't even mind the 15 min. wait since we had no kids to chase around while waiting. We then went to the temple, and enjoyed a peaceful time there. On the way to our next destination we stopped at Costco to look at a few things. Very peaceful without kids. We went out to Ann Arbor to a restaurant called The Real Seafood Company, a very fancy restaurant we've been wanting to try to a while. Over the two hours we were there, we shared a cup of New England Clam chowder, the best house salad I've ever had, a crab cake, and a plate of paella; including mussels, clams, lobster, shrimp, sausage, veggies and rice. Some yummy rolls were served as well. It was slow, like we thought it would be, but again, so peaceful! Afterwards, we walked around Ann Arbor and enjoyed watching all the people as we walked passed each other.

When we returned home, two kids were in bed, and the third ready to go as soon as we got home. I missed my little kiddos, but sure enjoyed a peaceful day with my hubby!

Choo, Choo- Look Who's Two!

Austin turned 2 on Thursday. It's hard to believe that he's already two! He's been slowly easing into the "independent" stage the past month or so. One of his favorite things to say is "No, I do it!" He likes to say that when he gets in his car seat, brushes his teeth, pushes the button on the blender with me, and even when he helps me stir while cooking.

A little over a month ago he decided he was done with his crib. He just climbed out (for the first time ever) and refused to get back in for naps or bed. We already had a "big boy bed" in the room, so the transition was easy, for him at least. I've accepted it now and it's not that bad. He doesn't nap all the time now since he can get out of his bed and play, but it's fine. It also takes a few minutes longer to put him to bed because Jason or I have to lie down with him for a few minutes. He always says "Bi bo be" when he wants me to lie down with him longer.

He has also decided he likes the big swing now and not the baby swing. He prefers to hold Karissa's hand in the parking lot when walking into a store, not mine, but I'm still allowed to hold Karissa's hand on the other side.

He calls Karissa, who he adores, "Diga" and Victoria, who he thinks is the funniest person on the planet, "Adora". He loves to hug and kiss each of them when they are sad, it is so cute! He is such an affectionate little boy! He follows their lead and will hug perfect strangers who come to our door. He also likes the little baby girls in our ward. He is especially fond of a little 7-month-old girl named Genny and always says, "Baby!" when he sees her.

He loves having his daddy around now. They are pals!

On his birthday, we went to playgroup at the park in the morning, played with friends at our house while I had a meeting here, opened presents, had pizza and cake, and watched part of a movie.

He loved getting bubbles for his birthday, one of his favorite things to do.
He also loved this dump truck and another excavator truck that he got from Gramms and Abuelo.

We got him these Thomas pjs, which he picked out himself. He was so excited holding them in the store. I tried to convince him to get the shark ones because they were shorts, not pants, but he saw these and would not budge! He also got this little lawn mower that blows bubbles when pushed, besides making a loud lawn mower-type sound.
As soon as he saw his cake, he said "Choo, choo!" He knew exactly what it was! He picked out the peach rings for the wheels, rather than choosing the store-bought cookies, much to his daddy's dismay!
Happy Birthday my cute boy!