Social Studies Day at school

Whatever you want to call it, it's an excuse for the kids to dress-up at school.  Zach chose to be Abraham Lincoln and Camilla chose to be a doctor.  They put together just about everything themselves...it was a fun day to get ready for (especially since the kids are getting sick of wearing their uniforms...)!

Emma...growing up

I keep thinking of fun things I want to blog about, but our camera is currently not working...So here are a couple of pics from Noall's phone.  They'll do for now!

I honestly can't believe how big Emma is getting!  She is so interested in what I am doing lately.  She just sits on my lap and chats with me while I fold laundry or work on the computer.  And she is definitely chatty!

It seems she loves her babies and dolls more each day.  Noall and I sneaked into her bedroom and found her playing and brushing their hair.  One of the cutest things she does is walk around the table (after she'd done eating) and tickle everyone individually.  She says, "Tickle, tickle, tickle" and everyone pretends to laugh to humor her.  It's pretty funny!  I think her favorite food is butter...she's constantly sneaking some out of the fridge to eat by the mouthful!

Tubes...

Coming home required us to jump right back in to "real life"...starting with Alex having tubes put in his ears.  I didn't realize that the medicine Alex took before he got his tubes was a sedative...until his speech started slurring.  He's TRYING his best to smile, but he's a little too relaxed!

Enjoying some well deserved ice cream!

Day 23: Saturday

And then we went home!  The layovers and delays worked out to our advantage and my tired crew slept at all the right times much of the way home.  It really was a blessing (especially with my busy little girl)!

I have to admit that in the 3 1/2 years we've lived in Southern California, it's never really felt like home.  More like a beautiful place to go on vacation, but not really "home".  But getting off that plane and seeing all the Christmas lights up and driving by familiar places and seeing familiar people...and then walking into our house...well, it felt like we had come home.  That feeling was intensified a couple of days later when some friends from New York spent the day with us and we showed them around "our town" a little bit. (that always involved a mandatory stop at "Daddy's hotel" for a Double Tree cookie).   So, I guess that means it really is good to be home!  The kids are still on a Puerto Rican schedule...everything is SLOW, but we're getting back on track!

Day 22: Friday

Noall arranged his schedule to hang for a little bit the next day, and we decided to head over to a lighthouse in Arecibo that also had children's exploration area...pirate ships, Indian huts, mini zoo and aquarium, etc.  It was very relaxed and everyone had a great time!

I can't even remember what these are called, but I love them!  Everyone took turns spinning, jumping on/off, and getting generally dizzy! 

 

I have a picture of me with my big brother, Nathan, when we were both about the ages of Zach and Emma.  It's crazy how life repeats itself...

Showing off his tricks...

That night was New Year's Eve, and even though the hotel was packed, Noall and I were able to sneak away from some appetizers and desserts at some fancy place that Noall had some connections...

Imagine a coconut shell made out of a thin sheet of chocolate filled w/coconut ice

cream topped with chocolate shavings and coconut.  YUM - that's a little piece of heaven!!!

 

 Bringing in the New Year with the kids...the adults were too tired to do much of anything!

Days 19-21: Adventures with Grandma and Grandpa

We were all so excited for Grandpa and Grandma Silvester to come visit us all the way from Idaho!!!  We made a lot of fun memories with them during their trip.  My batteries were dead for the first part...so imagine pictures of the old fort in San Juan, the rain forest, and playing at the beach!

Despite the inclement weather, we decided to take a ferry out to one of the islands off of Puerto Rico...

Grandpa literally caught a fish in his HANDS!!!  That was seriously cool!  You may or may not have noticed that Zach is wearing his shorts and Alex is wearing his underwear...yes, we left the backpack with everyone's swimming suits on the taxi...

The kids found a little shelter from the rain...you can't tell from the picture, but it was coming down pretty good!

Zach is pointing out the red flag...indicating that we probably shouldn't be at the beach that day!  From sea sickness on the ferry...to losing the backpack with all the kids swimming suits...to hiking quite a distance to find the beach...to getting drenched at the beach...to finding someone to give us a ride back to the town in the back of a pick up...to our taxi not showing to take us back to the ferry...it was QUITE THE ADVENTURE with Grandma and Grandpa!

Warming up and drying off in "Bananas" restaurant.  All happy to be out of the rain!