Finally at home

It was so nice to sleep in this Saturday morning, eat a leisurely breakfast and then work on our lawn and garden, knowing that we are here at home for the next few months, with no pending airplane rides, road trips, or surgeries! Yay!

The lawn at our new house is out of control. At Old Quincy, though we had about 2-3 times as much land as we do now, Arturo only had to cut the "grass" (aka weeds) every month or so. Now, even 7 days is pushing it.

Here is our 2nd annual painting of the flower plots. See pictures from last year here. The girls look so small!

We ended up spending the entire day outside. The weather was sunny and hot, but not humid. Also, we discovered that the bunny we have seen in our backyard seems to live there too! (is this good or bad?)

Meadowlark!

We went to Meadowlark Gardens one day last week, after school - the weather was sunny and warm and the girls were exhausted after all that walking!

The highlight of the trip is always the gazebo where we can feed the fish, turtle, and geese:

Alexa took to "throwing" the bread over the railing to feed the fish.

Here was the result of her throwing:

This year, they moved the children's "interactive" garden even farther from the main path. So we had to walk a bit more to get there. The payoff? They have added a "beach" near the lake where the girls happily played. Next time, I'm going to bring a book!

Ursa

The girls finally got to meet Ursa, my brother's new puppy. Alexa enjoyed pulling her tail and tugging her ears!

Wedding Dinner

In the evening, we had a Chinese banquet with family and close friends. Here are my dad and his siblings:


Alexa and my dad dancing:

There is something very surreal about doing the macarena inside a Chinese restaurant, where everyone (except for Arturo and Emily) is Chinese!

Our family!

All partied out

Alexa was really tired and in between the parties on Saturday [we went to a wedding dinner after the afternoon ceremony/reception] Alexa took a short 15 minute snooze. We had a hard time waking her for the dinner, so we gave her a Push Pop (aka sugar) to try and wake her.

Phoebe and Steve's Wedding - Church Ceremony

We just got back from Pittsburgh where my cousin Phoebe got married. It was a nice long weekend, and the weather cooperated well. The girls loved it because
1) they got to dress up in pretty dresses
2) they got plenty of juice and treats
3) they got to watch lots of tv in the car!
Seriously, Emma was really into most of the ceremony - especially when Steve got to lift the veil off Phoebe and actually sat on Arturo's lap the whole time paying close attention. On the other hand, Alexa couldn't have cared less and I spent most of the ceremony in the church nursery.

During the reception, they handed out little bells for everyone to ring when they wanted the bride and groom to kiss. Here is a cute shot of Emma ringing her bell vigorously, while Phoebe and Steve kiss in the background

Our neighborhood park

One of the great things about our new neighborhood is that there is a tot lot within walking distance from our house. The sidewalks are wonderful too, so each afternoon since it's been nice, we've been taking a bike ride down the street. Sometimes, like today, we go to the tot lot as well.




Alexa is getting so good at climbing up and down all the structures. Here she is climbing up what the girls dubbed "the macaroni thing:"

Emma and Zuli

Zuli came over for a playdate and the girls had fun "feeding the birds" with lots of play sand.

Paulina and Montserrat