Can you say AWESOME!?

Chris had some SWEET SEATS last night at the Dodger game. It was so much fun for me and the kids to see him on TV. I paused the TV to take this picture and Vincent says, "HEY! What is Daddy eating?!" So we had to text him to see. They had a full spread and I asked him, "Did you say Hi to David?"...His reply was "No, we were too busy eating!".  That made me laugh so hard. I am so glad he had a great time even though Isabella and I were slightly jealous. He did bring us all home a Dodger Dog...always thinking of us!

Now... Let's go BLUE! We swept the Giants (it was fun to text my Brother and say, "Nice job on the sweep!") and came home to loose 7-2. Come on boys!

First Day of Swim

This summer keeps going and going! For the next two weeks, the kids both have swim lessons. Vincent's class is from 11:30 - 12 and Isabella follows up from 12 - 12:30.

This was Vincent's first class experience ever. He listened very well to the teacher (Miss Kaylie) and loved it. The teacher started out with 3 little ones and ended up with only 2. It worked out perfect. Isabella had a fun time cheering her little brother on from the side.



Isabella will be so happy to get that floaty off and swim on her own. She did really well today and had a great time. They are both looking forward to going back tomorrow.

 

More Celebrating!

Saturday, Chris and I headed down to Del Mar Race Track for an afternoon together celebrating his birthday a little more. We had the best time....we lost every race we bet on, but it didn't really matter! We ate, drank, cheered, and people watched. We had dinner down in Del Mar at Burlap restaurant after the races. We shared excellent food and wine. I had a fab day and I think my Husband definitely rocked the white loafers!!
 

Bowling Party!

I can not believe our sweet girl is SEVEN years old. She had such a wonderful birthday party at Chaparral 300. She was giddy with all of her friends there to play with her. We had a group of 24 bowling kids plus all our friends (parents) and family. The kids were broken into teams and had an hour of bowling. We then had a feast of healthy bowling alley food: pizza, salad, hot wings and cheese sticks.  After eating, it was on to cake and games in the arcade!

Thank you to everyone who came and made Isabella feel so loved and special. I will have you know that a few days prior she said, "Mom...I am SO excited for my birthday party." I agreed with her and she then said, "Not because of the presents. It isn't about the presents, it is about having fun with my friends and family." I love her!

CHHS Theatre Camp...

Isabella's Theatre Camp week ended in a performance of Wizard of Oz. She had the best time. She knew all her lines and songs she needed to sing. She was very animated and dramatic. I had a smile on my face and joy in my heart the whole time. Not too many pictures because you couldn't use flash photography and I figured my camera worked w/out it too late in the show.



After the show, we went to pizza and had a great time with the family.

 

35! HOLY SMOKES!

Yesterday was Daddy's 35th bday. I don't know how we are getting so old. We greated him with Birthday Toast (Actualy, it was Banana Bread - Thanks Rebecca!). We went to Wood Ranch for dinner and then back home for Ice-cream cake and presents. Vincent picked out Spiderman plates/napkins and a Race Car balloon to create our party. He also picked out his very own present for Daddy - a Batman shirt and T-Rex socks. Isabella worked very hard on an adorable friendship bracelet in Daddy's  team colors of blue, white and yellow (Her very first try - Thanks Steph for the present!). He wore it to work today :)

Horse Riding Camp

This has been the best summer for Miss Isabella. This week she gets to attend Horse Camp. I love her new pink helmet  and I know she will have a BLAST...

 

Lucky Number SEVEN!

Isabella had a fabulous day yesterday. We started off with Breakfast Toast before she had to get up and ready for Theater Camp.

We braided her hair the night before because she decided she wanted to wear it 'curly' on her birthday. It is becoming increasingly hard to get my silly goose to take a straight picture.

After Theater camp, we headed to BJs for dinner. Daddy tried so hard to pick her up from camp because he got her flowers and a special treat. The traffic decided otherwise. But I so love the relationship they share.

Isabella got so many wonderful things. She gets to go to Horse Riding Camp next week thanks to Popi and Grammy. She got a new riding helmet and boots. One of her favorite presents is her replacement blankie. She lost her blanket in Texas and was extremely upset about it. I found the same one on ebay!

She also got A NEW BIKE!!!

And although this wasn't classified as a birthday present, Popi bought her a baby Taylor guitar. She has been asking him when she can start guitar lessons. He is going to teach her and she promised she would practice every day. I love it.

Our little girl is so special. Believe me, I make sure she knows just how lucky and blessed she is. Thank you Grammy, Popi, Grammy Alice and Papa Joe (Daddy and Bubby too). We love you so much.

Theater Camp Week

Miss Isabella is in Theater camp this week. Today was her first day and her outfit has been picked out for over a week (since she wouldn't have her camp t-shirt the first day). It does look rather theater-esque with her glittery hat, wavy hair and jeggings. Camp ends with a production of The Wizard of Oz on Friday evening. I personally can't wait!

Night Swimming is COOL!

 

Summer Fun

We had some Summer Fun at Beau and Ben's house yesterday afternoon. The girls played, Vincent loved watching Little Ben play his video games and I so enjoyed catching up with my Cait!

Afterward we headed to Gram and Pops. No better way to end a summer evening then swimming and ice-cream, right?

These stinkers didn't want their picture taken. Mom talked them into it!

Vacation - Part 3, TEXAS!

We flew from the Bahamas to Charlotte to Dallas and were welcomed at the Airport by Grammy Nancy and Popi. We had such a fun trip to Texas this year. We turn slightly into bums/hicks and it is awesome.

And so ended our 17 day long vacation.

We had a blast!! I love the ranch. The time slows down. There are no pretences - just beauty, peace and family love. I loved watching Bella so happy with her ability to ride HER BUCK all by herself.
I do have some video of her riding, but it isn't loading at the moment.

Thank you Aunt Diane for having us. We miss you already...

Chino Youth Museum

We had a super great day today exploring the Chino Youth Museum with our friends Ally and Luke. Ally and Isabella are friends from 1st grade. Luke is Ally's brother and 3 years old. Vincent was so happy to play with a friend. It is a small world because Jen (Ally and Luke's Mom) went to school with Chris' cousin Katie. We ended up at Chick fil A for lunch and some more play time. As we drove away Vincent said, "Mom, can Luke come over and play with my toys?" ... Love these kids!

Vacation Part 2 - Nassau, Bahamas

We traveled from Paradise Island (which you get to by bridge) to the Sheraton in Nassau. Papa Joe and Grammy Alice joined us for the remaining 6 days of our vacation. I personally enjoyed staying at the Sheraton more the Atlantis. The hotel itself needed a little upgrading, but I enjoyed experiencing the local culture that I thought the Atlantis lacked.

The day we arrived our room was not ready until 3ish. It was a good thing we wore our bathing suits over because we took advantage of the fun water activities the Sheraton offered.

That first night we went to "Da Fish Fry" which is a whole street of local restaurants that they call the Fish Fry. We ate some yummy fried fish and went back a second time to a different spot. The picture below of Vincent is one of my favorites of the trip. He was exhausted every day.

The next day we traveled on the bus to downtown. We traveled most everywhere by bus. Several times I enjoyed hearing my husband chatting it up with the locals. 

In downtown,  we went to the straw market where Isabella got this cute little straw bag and Vincent got a wooden truck. The straw market is definitely something to experience!

We had yummy lunch and drinks at Senor Frogs!

Isabella and I got our hair braided (Amanda I thought of you!!)! I wasn't going to do it but "Speedy Margaret" talked me into it. In the middle of getting our hair braided a rain storm came and my crazy American boys danced in the rain!

We spent much time in the pool! I did a lot of reading as well (I read 5 books during vacation - one I finished at home.)

We seemed to migrate to Starbucks for breakfast most mornings.

Isabella got to attend kids club. At Atlantis she had a choice of painting pottery or attending the kids club. She choose the pottery (a beautiful dolphin) and then joined the kids club at Sheraton.

No vacation is complete without ice-cream!

Vincent met two really special friends while on vacation. This one below let him drive the water taxi and made his whole trip!

One day we took this amazing speed boat adventure. We rode a speed boat for an hour over to the Island of Exuma. They fed us breakfast right when we got there and we were able to go in the most amazing water with fish swimming all around. There were also sharks right when we pulled up - Of course we didn't swim in that water!

They took us snorkeling in the ocean. These pictures below are from a very old underwater camera (they told us not to bring our good cameras because they might get wet). This was the FIRST TIME  Isabella, Grammy Alice and myeslf snorkeled and we did so in the ocean! We were so proud of Isabella and I was not going to miss the chance - just like swimming with the dolphins.

Vincent's second special friend was one of the tour guides. He took a liking to Vincent and set him right on his back while he snorkeled. It was so adorable to watch Vincent just floating above the ocean water having the time of his life.

They also took us to the most amazing (used that word a lot) Sand Bar. Isabella found sand dollars and released them because she found out they were still alive.

They fed us lunch and we got some more water time.  We fed the sharks and on the way back they stopped at this little island and a zillion iguanas came out to be fed. It was also very amazing. I think we will all say this was our favorite time in the Bahamas!

Dinner one night...

The local Daiquiri Shack that we enjoyed a few times!

And finally our last night...

I got the plate on the left (pictures in the left hand corner) on our honeymoon in St. Lucia. While we were shopping I found the plate on the right that says Bahamas. I was so excited!

So that was our 10 days in the Bahamas. We had a blast, some wonderful family time, and some awesome adventures!

The 4 of us went from the Bahamas to Texas and I will post the pictures of those 7 days soon...