Ahoy Mateys!! Our Pirate Party!!

Here it is, the long awaited pirate birthday party video!!

Despite my reservations about hosting a party with 35 guests in 106 degree weather at our house, it actually turned out pretty well (at least that's what I think). We had loads of activities and games, many of which we never even had time for, and plenty of food. We got to dress like pirates, create telescopes, engage in sword fights, walk the plank, earn gold doubloons, pop cannonballs, hunt for treasure, eat cake, make messes, and have lots of other fun.We even got to eat a delicious and beautiful strawberry treasure chest cake and plenty of yummy pirate banana cupcakes all lovingly baked and designed by my good friend Erin. Thank you Aunt Erin!!!!

I think the kiddos and even a few adults had a good time. Happy 4th Boys! Enjoy the video:

Other bits and pieces

Yep, still working my way through all those birthday photos and video clips!!! The good and the bad of digital photography I guess. In the meantime, here is our video of all the other miscellaneous stuff we did during the month of August.

Where have we been?

I knew we hadn't posted in awhile, and I actually had a couple posts in draft status....and I'd been meaning and meaning to write......and then my cousin sent me an e-mail and mentioned that she missed reading about the boys...That's when I realized an entire month had passed without publishing. So,once again, I'm here to do a quickish update post with a random montage of photos and videos. Hopefully someone is still reading this blog.

So what have we been up to? Well, we headed to the Dallas Zoo a couple more times. Once with Connie and the girls and again with the Alex & Connor's friend Lucas. We hung out in Midlothian, rode bikes, played at parks, celebrated Trevor's birthday, built a fire pit and made a great fire, played in the snow when it snowed again, played dress up, went to a friend's birthday party, worked out with Uncle Travis, played some more, went to lots of parks, rode bikes again, did lots of Valentines art, went to a Valentine's party, baked cookies, hit the museum, fed the ducks....and generally repeated as necessary. Here's our video re-cap for February, hope we won't be such slackers in March even though my constant companion camera is broken beyond repair and I haven't gotten a replacement yet.

Happy (late) Easter!!! (Video)

I didn't want to just bunch up all my posts...so I waited a bit before showing you how our Easter went. We had a small yummy brunch with family and friends and the boys ate entirely too much chocolate...Hope all y'all had a great holiday too.

¡feliz año nuevo! (Video)

A couple of weeks have passed since New Year's Eve, but I wanted to get this post in before we hit mid-January.....It's almost mid-January?!?! Wow, before I know it, we'll be planning the boys 3rd birthday party.....

Anyhow, we had party at our place again this year to celebrate the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. The boys helped us with decoration quality control, but then went to bed at their usual time so Mom and Dad could enjoy the festivities.

Our friends Eliza and Sergio brought baby Elliot, Jaime's sister and brother came along with their families, two of Jaime's cousins and their family attended, and, of course, Jaime's Mom was there! It was a full apartment patio!! We had lots of good food, good wine, and good fun.

Just before midnight we all gathered around the TV to count down the New Year and eat our 12 lucky grapes, then a champagne toast, more fireworks, and more hanging out...until Jaime and I finally got to bed around 4:00am....Unfortunately, our little alarm clocks still work us up at 8:00am, but at least they "helped" us clean while we all enjoyed the concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing on TV. Looks like the Vienna concert just might become a New Year's Day tradition!

And now, here we are...almost mid-January of a brand new year. I wonder what 2010 holds in store for all of us?? Guess we'll just enjoy one day at a time and find out!!

"Cheers to a new year and another chance
for us to get it right." ~Oprah Winfrey

Popsicles and Pools

Still not much going on here, so this will be a post of few words... and lots of pictures!!

We bought the boys a little wadding pool and they got to try it out for the first time this week. They love playing with and in the agua, but weren't totally sure what to do in the pool. They seemed to have fun though. After "swimming" it was time for some more yummy spinach banana pops... wow, and it's not even summer yet!!! How wonderful to be a kid!!

Pool Fun

Refreshment Time


Sharing


Wanna try some?

What a mess!!!

"Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you."
~Annie Dillard

Cheese and Holidays

Okay, I couldn't really think of a better title for this weeks post... it's really just another sort of hodge podge update. We are all still a bit sick over here from those daycare germs the boys brought home a month ago. Some days are better than others, but we just can't seem to get rid of whatever it is... So, we haven't been up to much.

One thing we've been meaning to post about is a locally made white cheese (queso blanco) here that is very yummy. It's a goat's milk cheese with a sort of fresh mozzarella texture and a nice lightly smoky flavor. The boys eat it up like it's candy. While you can buy it in most stores here, my MIL finds the best ones at the Mercado in Santa Cruz and graciously keeps us in good supply. Our last wheel was as big as Connor's head, and, for those of you who know Connor, he has a pretty big head!! (95% to be exact)

This past Friday was Labor Day here in Spain, Sunday was Mother's Day, and yesterday, in Santa Cruz, it was Día de la Cruz. It was a long holiday weekend, and most people took advantage at the beach or with a fiesta.

Again, for the most part, we didn't do much. We wandered around the "Flower and Sweets" show in downtown Santa Cruz. There were vendor booths, clowns, and puppet shows. It seemed very small, and, although it was a nice afternoon out, we weren't too impressed. I took a couple of pictures, but they all came out rather blurry.

On Sunday, Mother's Day, we went to Jaime's sisters new house for pizza and salad out on the patio. It was a yummy lunch with good company, and it was a nice change of scenery. I also got a lovely note pad that the boys made for me at school. The green and pink parts are where they finger painted. The first homemade gift of what is sure to be many...

Yesterday we took the boys to a local beach. They were cranky and whiny and we needed to get out of the house. They walked and ran around the beach, played in the sand, and even ventured into the water just a little bit. On our way home, we stopped in for a short visit with Jaime's parents. I didn't take a single picture.

Daycare is going better. Monday's are still a bit difficult after the weekend being at home, but they are starting to get the hang of things. Connor still clings to us like a little tick and cries when dropping him off, but quickly settles in after we leave. Alex now just walks in on his own barely remembering to say goodbye.

Not much else, a couple other pictures from our week:

What the boys do when they are bored and we aren't looking


And a nice picture of Connor hanging out on the patio with Daddy...

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."
~ Bertrand Russell

Easter

We ended up deciding to host a "brunch" on Easter Sunday for some of the family. Jaime's mom and dad arrived first and then his sister and her two children arrived a bit later.

We all hung out on the patio and enjoyed yummy food (an Italian strata, spinach salad, and fruit with dip) and drinks (bellini's, iced cappuccino, and coffee) while the children played.

Afterward, we did an egg hunt for the older two children and then for the boys. Even the grown-ups had fun.

After eating too much candy, all the kids played games and colored for a bit until Alex and Connor started getting really cranky and it was suddenly nap time.

We said good-bye to our guests, all of us took a nap, and then we did the Easter "baskets" later in the day. It was a nice, relaxed, and enjoyable Easter Sunday.

Mushrooms

Remember when I said that, with all the rain we've been having, all sorts of things were popping up in all sorts of places? Well, here is what popped up most recently...

Our own little patch of mushrooms in one of the strangest places:

On the welcome mat in front of the apartment next door. Guess mushrooms will grow just about anywhere, and I'm glad we discovered them before the boys did.

Anyhow, the sun is finally shining, for the most part, here in Santa Cruz... Yippee!!! But, now the boys are sick from their daycare adventures... more on that next.

Promises...

So...remember that beautiful, clear, Spring day we were promised???? Are you wondering if it happened? Nope...still raining. Ahhh, but don't worry, the weatherman says we can bet our bottom dollar that the sun WILL come out tomorrow... and maybe even Tuesday!!! And then the rain will come again starting on Wednesday. Well, let's see if the weatherman is right this time...

The good thing about having more rain than anyone on this island can remember, is that the plants are LOVING it. We live on a volcanic rock and our area is usually pretty brown, but, with all the precipitation, it is a nice shade of green. Even Jaime stares in awe at the pretty hills. We also have all sorts of things "popping" up in our planters. Here is a beautiful Arum Lily that is growing off our front entry just in time for Semana Santa.

And, of course, the rain also brings rainbows when the sun manages to peek through. Jaime caught a picture of this one just outside our front gate.

We did drive to the South of the island again yesterday to escape the rain and clouds, but I will have to post about that another day. We heard that the Teide is full of snow again, so we might just try to head up there tomorrow if the weather looks okay. So, until the next post, remember:

"Rainbows apologize for angry skies." ~Sylvia Voirol

Wednesday Rain...

The forecast called for rain all day today... and they were actually right... well, mostly.

This morning started out somewhat clear, but we could see the clouds peeking over the mountains so we got out of the house while we could. Nothing too exciting, we just headed over to Candelaria again to sit in an outdoor bar/cafe for breakfast, walk around a bit, and let the boys run off some energy at the playground.

Mid-week mornings are the best time for the playgrounds because there are either no other kids or just a couple of kids which also tend to be around the boys age. This will probably change over the summer when school is out, but, for now, it's really nice. (Jaime and I get annoyed when there are too many older children on the playgrounds because they tend to be rude and pushy and their parents don't pay the least bit of attention to them or what they are doing.)

Anyhow, we enjoyed our morning in Candelaria and watched as the clouds drifted over the mountains and the rain began to fall. It was the time and the weather that sent us back home for the boys nap. The rain fell most of the afternoon and evening. Jaime went to his mom's for lunch and then had to pick our nephew up from school, while the rest of us stayed inside watching the rain, playing, coloring, and eating.

Today's photos of the rain around our apartment and the boys checking out their new "toy" from Ikea.

It looks like we might get a day or two of sunshine before the clouds and possibly rain move in again. I'm sure we will venture out...

Other thoughts:

We hope everyone had a nice St. Patty's Day. Jaime and I shared a green cerveza while eating pizza yesterday to celebrate.

Tomorrow is Father's Day here in Spain. It's a specific date instead of the third Sunday of June like in the States. I'm not sure if we will do something to celebrate or not. Maybe we will celebrate both dates, and then I will have two Mother's Days as well. Seems like a good idea since we have twins, right?

We heard our first pardela tonight. It seems they are returning for mating season already. I suppose that is appropriate as the first day of Spring is on Friday. Can you believe Spring is upon us already? Only two more months and we will have been in Tenerife for a year.

And, finally, Semana Santa is coming up in April. The towns here are already preparing and I have started hunting for Easter supplies (not an easy task) to have a cozy celebration here with my three boys. I am even thinking about letting them color a few eggs... what do you think?

Let it Rain!

For those of you that haven't noticed, the weather has been a bit crazy lately. That is true here in Europe as well. The mainland is having record breaking cold temperatures and high winds, and many cities are receiving record amounts of snow. Supposedly, Tenerife is experiencing the coldest winter yet, and we have been getting lots of wind and rain throughout the season.

It's not very easy to keep the boys in the house all day, and they happened to be outside yesterday when the rain began... They were having such a great time, we let them hang out for awhile and play...until Alex's lips started to turn blue.

Then it was back inside the apartment for a warm bath and dry clothes....and of course some warm chocolate milk and a Maria Cookie (whole wheat, of course) ;o)

Here is a semi-long video (2 minutes) of them:

And a few pictures:

"There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million." ~ Walt Streightiff

Build it and they will come...

We have been thinking of getting the boys a sandbox since their first birthday back in August. We never got them one then, and we didn't see them in the stores once summer was over. So, our poor little babies were still without a sandbox of their own...awwwww!!!!!

Well, I recently started thinking about it once again. Jaime suggested that we just make a sand box out of the inflatable pool we bought them last year, and, of course he said "why buy sand, when you live on an island?" So, the other day, we finally went and acquired a few bags. The bags have been sitting on our patio, unopened, until this past Sunday...

While the boys were happily playing on their little playground:

Jaime got the pool out, re-inflated it, and poured in our small stash. The boys immediately jumped in and started playing with, and, of course, eating the sand. Clearly we need a few more bags to fill the pool and make it a "proper" sandbox, but we will tackle that project soon. Then the boys will have the coolest black sand sandbox ever!

The boys played on and off in the sandbox for awhile, and then it started to rain. So, they played in the rain a bit and on the playground a little more... and then, wet, sandy, and a little bit cold, we took them to the bathtub to clean off and warm up. Pretty soon we'll never have to leave our patio!!

"The true object of all human life is play."
~ G.K. Chesterton