A Getaway Close to Home

Before we roll into fall's activities, I wanted to post some quick photos of our summer fun! First up, our family's mini-trip north of PV to Hotel Villa La Estancia - a resort waaaaay too fancy for us (but it was free), food sooo yummy I could have eaten nonstop, a pool sooo beautiful and refreshing that we pretty much spent all day every day in it! Aaaah, good memories! A few photos from our stay!

As soon as we checked in, we walked the grounds to check the place out! Soph managed to wiggle out of her shirt, plop down on the stone wall and request we take a photo of her. She was just getting revved up for the week of playing in the sunshine!


And when I say this place was fancy, I mean it. Seriously, our room was the size of our house! This was the living room, dining room and full kitchen. We had a hugggge bedroom, two bathrooms, private laundry room and full balcony as well. Hmmm... I'm thinking of just moving in permanently. Did I mention they had awesome A/C. Oh yes, in case you don't remember, it is THAT time of year again in PV. In fact, pretty soon I'll blog one of my ranting posts in which I can no longer tolerate the heat. It's coming... I feel it. But I digress. I LOVED the A/C.


Then it was just days of fun, relaxation, pooltime and sunshine!







The next-door sister hotel had a Sea Lion Performance one day in their main pool! It was super fun to watch, and then Pablo and Soph stood in line to get a fishy kiss from the big guy. Sophia was pretty nervous and wouldn't take her fingers out of her mouth (her newest nerve thing), but she came back feeling quite excited about her cheek stinking of fresh fish. Mmmm.



The hotel, besides its other fantastic restaurants, had a super lovely Steakhouse where we dared to dine one night. (Dress code required dresses so I'm sure you can imagine why it was only one night. Seriously, Soph and I in dresses for several dinners? I think not. Especially when we can dine poolside - aaah.) Nevertheless, we did eat there one night and it was FAB. The best service ever - with the waiters bringing Sophia exactly what she requested - mashed potatoes and veggies! She couldn't have been more excited when they set the plate in front of her! And our meals weren't too shabby either. (Again, note the sarcasm. Shabby is not even an option on the comment card. It ranges only from The-Best-Steak-I've-Ever-Had to The-Steak-Was-SOOOOO-Amazing-I-Almost-Died-from-the-Cholesterol-and-Went-to-Heaven.)




And because no blog post is really complete without one of these . . . our last day Selfie. Aaaah, won't be too long until there are four of us in these selfie shots! :)



We headed home on a Thursday with 24 hours to pack and get ready for our flight to WI the following day! Summertime!!!!

For Luna!

Luna, Michelle's furry friend and our sometimes-adopted-puppy, is having surgery today for hip displasia. We'll be thinking about her and kind of wondering if hobbling around on only three legs for a couple weeks will slow her down at all or if she'll be her usual spirited self despite her temporary handicap! Good luck Luna, we love you!

Summer Vacation, here we come!

Today begins our summer vacation whirlwind! (This is a GOOD kind of whirlwind, not that crappy tornado kind that ruins vacations!)

We are heading to our annual summer mini-vaca about 45 minutes north of PV! This year, we'll be staying at Villa la Estancia which looks like it will do.

(Either you know me enough to know that the comment "it will do" was purely sarcastic OR you think I am a total snob!)

We are super excited and can't wait to be lounging in the pool! Our first vacation in the area when Soph was only 4 months old was a bit more challenging as she was too little to handle the heat and humidity of summer. Last year was much more fun as she became quite the little fish in the pool, and we were also able to enjoy ourselves a bit more! This year, we're expecting full-on fun - she is super psyched for vacation, and so are we!

We'll be back on Thursday afternoon and have 24 hours to do laundry and repack, then it is off to Wisconsin on Friday for a full month of family fun beginning with a trip to the Milwaukee zoo with the Uncles and Gram and Gramps! Obviously, trying to pack for two consecutive trips (with different weather) has been a challenge! This is what our bedroom looked like yesterday! (Where in the world is Waldo . . . I mean, Sophia!)


She did a great job of playing amidst the mess while we packed!


This won't be the first summer trip to the states - I was so fortunate to visit Minneapolis in June for Raphaela's bridal shower and then last weekend for her wedding! Lots of photos to post from those events, but you'll have to wait until we're de-vacationed! Happy Summer!

White Wonderland

Sophia is learning to open everything.

Things she can now open that are helpful:

Playdough Containers
Yogurt Cartons
Doors


Things she can now open that are the opposite of helpful:

Powder

Rockin' and Rollin' . . . or not!

Most of you know that we enrolled Sophia in her first "school" back in February. (See here for the story of her first day.) This May, they invited all the parents to their first Music Festival - a supposed demonstration by all the musically-talented children of what they had learned in the past few months! I must admit, the school has an extremely talented music teacher who is a gift to the youngsters, and as excited as they were pre-concert, things quickly changed once they had an audience!


(Of course, being that I am all American and punctual, we were among the first parents there! I must remember showing up 20 minutes late actually means right on time. Nearly 10 years, and I still haven't gotten the hang of that!)

Both the older and younger groups were quite lively, clapping, laughing and dancing around the garden!



But as soon as Sophia's group emerged, they sat in their chairs, stone-cold, no smiles cracked, no funny facial expressions, no clapping, no singing. Nothing. Stares. Four whole songs they sat there like that - these lively rambuctious creatures who normally won't sit still for 8 seconds much less 8 minutes. At one point they were given instruments, and again, they listlessly banged on them (still with stone-cold stares) while their teachers sang away happily (and a little embarrassed) to the songs!




Nevertheless, they received a huge applause from all of the in-love-with-their-two-year-old-parents, and of course the second they were done, they ran for their parents and watched another group perform.


And then ... suddenly, they all came to life! Jumping and dancing and shrieking - most likely making up for the eight torturous moments of silence they had endured earlier!


I suppose Sophia wanted to set the bar low so that if she cracks a smile in her next performance we'll see it as a grand improvement! Smart girl.

May Celebrations!

Seems like every summer I am playing catch-up to update the blog! Perhaps that happens because every spring is known to us as wedding bonanza, and while I'd love to have time to post photos, eat dinner, sleep and go to the bathroom, let's be honest. Our business just doesn't allow for it! There are a few May days, however, that can't go by without recognition!

First, Pablo and I celebrated 5 years of marriage on May 9th! Yippee for us! Only we were working - our anniversary happened to be squished in between May 8th and May 10th weddings so there wasn't much time for celebrating! He didn't, however, forget to bring me roses (as he has done every year thus far)!

Second, my third Mother's Day fell on May 10th (while we were at a wedding), so while I didn't actually get to spend it with my daughter OR my mom, lots of summer days are coming in which I get to make up for it! (And we did take off on the 11th, so I got to spend the day lazing around, reading books with Soph and recovering from the busy early May weeks!)

And last but not least, Sophia turned two years old on May 12th! Her real birthday fell midweek so we only celebrated a bit - she ate breakfast with dad and opened her birthday gift from grandma and grandpa Crawford and then her bff Melany (daughter of one of our employees) came over and we made sugar cookie ice cream sandwiches.

The following weekend, we held Sophia's second birthday party at our house and invited her friends - most of whom are adult friends of the family and her grandma and grandpa Vargas - along with her BFF's Melany, Junior and Eduardo. (She does have lots of little friends at school, but this was more of a "family" party, and these are the people we consider family here in Mexico!)

While Soph took her nap, we decorated the house with balloons and readied for a complete Backyardigans celebration! Sophia's nanny Lorena even brought her a Tasha pinata that we hung on the balcony! When she woke from her nap, she was a little dazed and confused, but soon warmed up to the new and colorful decor!



What followed was lots of fun - lots of chocolate-dipped pretzels, Backyardigan-mask wearing, burgers and dogs, fruit kabobs, presents galore (she got 3 baby dolls - her favorittte!) and cupcakes for dessert! And while we had been practicing blowing out the candles for days, she became camera shy and turned all serious on us. I eventually blew them out; not a moment hesitation once that was done, however, and she was digging right into the cupcake! After cupcakes, we headed downstairs for the breaking of the pinata; the kids (and a few adults) filled their pockets with goodies and then we all headed back upstairs to chill. I mean chill. It was hot; we were tired. Everyone couched while Soph sat around and played with her new toys. A perfect day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIA! WE LOVE YOU!

Go here for A reminder of Sophia's first birthday party!

Dos Anos.

Sophia's favorite saying about two weeks ago was Dos Anos (two years). She finally figured out how to hold up two fingers and was extremely proud of the fact that she was having a birthday, a party of her own and so very proud of her two fingers. Party photos to come!

Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Girl (on May 12th)!