What we did this Fall

Since the boys birthday we have been busy with the ordinary and not so ordinary.

The boys played soccer for the Fire Dragons and Jaime coached. They took tennis lessons and started going to gymnastics again. We attended the Plano Balloon Festival, we hung out around the house, carved pumpkins, went to the Dallas Symphony, explored the Dallas zoo with friends, and went to carnivals and festivals. My dad visited in October and we got to go to the Texas State Fair twice as well as many other entertaining things. My cousin Kim and aunt Janice arrived in November and we all had tons of fun together being tourists in Dallas. We enjoyed an Uptown food tour, the Dallas Arboretum and Chihuly exhibit, the Sixth Floor Museum, the Gaylord Texan Hotel, the city of Grapevine, and the Historic District. We hung out at home, made Indian headdresses, ate, drank, and played.

Once again, here is a video catch up:

The State Fair of Texas!!

We lucked out and got to attend the State Fair of Texas with some of our family this year. The Fair is a totally different experience when visiting with young people, but it's still one of my favorites.

This year was the 125th anniversary the Texas State Fair, and it seems to get better and more expensive every time we attend. Despite having to take out a second mortgage to pay for everything, we still managed to have loads of fun, stay up too late, see KC & the Sunshine Band, and eat plenty State Fair food. The boys LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it.

Our 4th of July

OK, so it's the 13th of July, but things seem to be running a little behind around here lately. We had a great 4th of July weekend hanging out with Trav and Trev and their families. We had a BBQ and some small fireworks on Saturday (there was a burn ban in Midlothian this year), then we hit the Ft. Worth Science Museum on Sunday followed by tasty Mexican food, then it was "pool" time and house work on Monday the 4th capped off by a great festival featuring the Grand Funk Railroad and fireworks in Flower Mound. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries Saturday evening and then wasn't functioning properly the rest of the weekend, so I only snapped a few pictures and videos...Still, here's what we got:

Water, Water & More Water!!!

Our Memorial Day weekend was filled with lots of water activities and BBQ!! First we were invited to a Wacky Water Party where the boys played tons of fun games, ate yummy food and snacks, and got totally wet. Next we headed over to another friends house for delicious fajitas and swimming. Then we hosted Trav and the girls at our apartment pool for MORE swimming and more BBQ. Needless to say it was a weekend spent in our swimsuits!!! Too much fun!

NYE Weekend 2010

We had a great NYE weekend over at my brother Trav's house. We had tons of food, fireworks, games, grapes, and fun. On Saturday, we went to the park, sat on a horse, and celebrated Trav's 35th birthday with my other brother Trevor and his family.  On Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast and then packed up the kids for the final day of Holiday in the Park at Six Flags over Texas....I don't think we could have squeezed anything else into our last weekend of 2010 and our first weekend of 2011. Happy New Year Everyone!!!

And...for the 4th week of Christmas (finally), plus more

For the third week of Christmas...

For the second week of Christmas...

Family Picnic

The day after Halloween was a holiday here in Spain, so we took the leftovers from our Halloween party and headed to the mountains/forest with the family for a picnic and some "hiking." It was a relaxing and delicious day.

Bodegas Monje & Icod de los Vinos

We planned a trip back to Loro Parque one day last week, but decided to stop at the Bodegas Monje instead. I'm so glad we finally did. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful little winery, and we had our own private tour and tasting...

Afterward, we headed to Icod de los Vinos in search of a particular artisan Jaime liked on a previous visit. Because of all the traffic the artisans caused, the local government told them they could no longer sell their wares there...Oh well, we had to settle for some wandering around and a menú del día in a little cafe instead. It was rough, but someone had to do it.

SO far behind....

Our time in the States has just FLOWN by!! I find myself sitting here on the eve of our last full day, and I am already sad that we have to go. I can't believe 8 weeks went by "just like that."

I am so very far behind on the blog and we've done loads of fun things, but I've only had time to put together one more video. I'm working on one for the second half of the trip as well as one from our early celebration of the boys birthday too, but that will take a bit longer.

Here is a (long) look at our 4th of July week spent in WI. We hung out in Germantown with my grandpa, and enjoyed a long weekend staying with my Uncle John and Aunt Mary up in Prairie du Sac on Lake Wisconsin. It was a fantastic week, the boys had tons of new experiences, and we thank everyone for their generosity and hospitality. Enjoy!!

2010 US Trip - Part I (Video)

I heard that we are busy enjoying the hottest Texas summer in 40 years....how lucky that we decided to come for the summer this year.

Actually, we have found lots of ways to stay cool. We've been busy visiting museums, local events, water parks, spray pads, library story times, friends, family, pools, parks, malls, etc. So much to do and so little time...it's hard to believe we only have three more weeks back here in the good ol' USA......next week we head to Wisconsin for a bit and then a little more time in Texas before heading back to Tenerife.

Don't blink during this video...the pictures go by quickly. We've taken well over 1000 photos already, and I had a really hard time just choosing a few for this post. Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer!!

Mother's Day #1 (Video)

It was Father's Day here in Spain last month, and Mother's Day this past Sunday. My friend Eliza (a new mommy) suggested we have a BBQ in the mountains to celebrate. Before we knew it, we had quite a group put together for the festivities. It was a beautiful day, and everyone was exhausted by the end of it.

Monkey See, Monkey Do (Video)

Last weekend we finally went to a place here in Tenerife called Monkey Park. I've been wanting to go since I first read about it almost 2 years ago, but we've just never really been motivated especially since we have season passes to Loro Parque.

For whatever reason, we decided last Saturday was the day. It wasn't the easiest place to find, and it was a bit run down (which we were expecting), but we had a really nice time.

It's a small park with several monkey/animal encounter areas. You can bring your own fruit or purchase snacks at the entrance to feed the animals. We brought our own apples and bananas, which weren't nearly as well received as the raisins a couple of tourists shared with the boys later in the day. The monkeys were pretty friendly with the adults, but were more cautious with the kids. The boys had a great time feeding and talking to the monkeys, and Connor even tried to teach them how to share their raisins.

The park had other monkeys in cages or behind glass, as well as several different types of birds, turtles and guinea pigs of all things. Like I said, it was a neat experience for the boys and we certainly had fun...but we hear Loro Parque just acquired a couple otters, so I think we'll be heading there next.

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

Merry Christmas 2009 (Video)

Well, Christmas 2009 has come and gone!!

Hope everyone had a great one.

We had a nice celebration Christmas Eve with some of Jaime's family as well as our friends Eliza, Sergio, and baby Elliot. Santa stopped by for a visit, we opened presents, and then had a super yummy dinner together. Alex liked the lobster bisque so much he even rubbed it through his hair (we are still trying to remove that smell). It was a nice (and tiring) evening with friends and family.

Christmas morning Jaime and I hung out with the boys in our apartment, ate breakfast, (the boys) opened more presents and then we all played. Later, after nap time, we took the boys upstairs for one final present from Lela and Aunt Nuria...their own motorcycles!!! They must think Christmas is the best!!!

Thanksgiving 2009

Since our non-event Turkey Day last year, we've met Eliza and Sergio, an American from Ohio and her Spanish husband. And, through Eliza, we've also met Devon and Mike, a Canadian and her Irish husband. So, we had a great group to celebrate with this year. Adding to that, Devon and Mike brought baby Matthew who was born in late September, and Eliza and Sergio had baby Elliot who was born on November 19, just one week before Thanksgiving.

Here's a picture of the new cutie pies:

We ended up celebrating on the Friday after Turkey day, to give Eliza and Sergio and extra day to settle in with their new baby, and also because I had a doctor appointment on Thursday evening. It turned out great for Mike as well since he would have had to leave early to go to work on Thursday.

Eliza and Sergio hosted us all at their place and everyone contributed different dishes to the feast...and a feast it was!! We had most of the traditional things: a turkey with gravy, green bean casserole, dressing, scalloped potatoes, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, corn, peas, bread, cranberry sauce, salad, apple pie with ice cream, and pumpkin cheesecake. By the end of the meal, the kitchen was a mess, and we were all completely stuffed with plenty of leftovers for everyone to take home and enjoy.

We ate, talked, and relaxed out on the patio until all the little ones AND the parents got tired and everyone went home. Thanks to our friends, it was truly a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration...

Apple Pickin' (Video)

The one Saturday that my brothers were in Wisconsin, also turned out to be a record breaking 70 degree day in November! It was beautiful! Papa wanted to rest, so we took the kids Apple Pickin' at the Barthel Fruit Farm in Mequon before bringing him some lunch.

We were allowed to pick two varieties of apples and were encouraged to "taste test" the apples before putting some in our basket. All the kids did an excellent job of both testing and picking the apples, and everyone had a great time. We left with lots of apples to share with the seniors, a couple of caramel apples, and some fresh cider.

The State Fair of Texas

I've always had a fascination with the State Fair of Texas. Perhaps it's because of the famous corny dogs and yummy funnel cakes, ...or perhaps it's because of the warm fuzzy memories it invokes.

Fall is traditionally my favorite time of year. I love the cool, but not cold weather. The perfect nights for sitting out on the patio, Halloween, and, of course, my birthday. Each year, I was allowed to skip school on my birthday and many times my Mom would take me to the fair. I was born at noon, and she would stop wherever we were in our day (often on the Midway) and sit me down and count down the seconds until noon, then wish me a happy birthday with a hug and a kiss before continuing our fun day. For this, and many other reasons, I think the State Fair will always have a special place in my heart and memory.

If I am in town and able to attend, I always try and go to the fair. This year our visit coincided with the fair and we went with my brother Travis and his family. The little ones fell asleep on the way there, so we hang out in the parking lot and "tailgated" a bit while they slept.

The fair is a whole different event when you have three toddlers and a seven year old in tow. We watched as they drove mini cars, played in the Farm to Market exhibit, fed the animals at the petting zoo, and apprehensively rode the midway rides. We saw the trains, watched the light parade, heard Big Tex talk to us, and ate fried peaches (we couldn't bring ourselves to try the fried butter though). We did not get to peruse any of the exhibit halls or the auto show or any of the other things we are used to doing when we are an adults only crowd. Still, it was a fun time and I'd go back tomorrow....if it just didn't cost so darn much ;o)

Just wait until we are 16!!!

Farm to market






The petting zoo








Big Tex, Fried Peaches, the Parade, and rides