The Cousins Picture

Every year, we do a cousins picture. As the years pass and the number of cousins grows, the pictures get more and more difficult. This year, we went to Picture Innovations and I have to say, I was most surprised with what they were able to do given the circumstances. Five Screaming Kids! There is never a time that is good for all of them since they are all between the ages of 0 - 4, but we made our appointment for 11:15 and it worked well for us.

As soon as we got there, Jayden refused to take pictures and I felt so bad that after all the time it had taken to finally get all the cousins together that it was not going to happen. They snapped shots of the girls first. Since Jayden wasn't cooperating they moved on to Aiden and Sebi. They got some wonderful pictures of the boys. Then it was time to move to the other room. Jayden was glued to the Lego table in the waiting area. In my head, I wondered if we could move the table into the studio in the hopes of snapping a picture of Jayden. My sister vocalized teh very same thing moments later and before you knew it, the lego table was in place and they had gotten some shots of Jayden and Maya together and we took advantage of the moment and got all the cousins together for what would be this year's cousin picture.

Everything happened so fast, there was no time to think. The kids had long since changed from the Elmo outfits which were originally plannned for the shot and I wish we would have thought to ask about changing the background. Jayden refused to let me touch his hair and somehow Maya ended up with a weird part in the middle of her head, but all in all it turned out much better than I originally thought. PS These pictures haven't been edited yet.

The Girls

Sebi

I love the look on her face in this picture.

Cute Shot
Such a cute profile pic.
Aiden is so lovable.
This is an awesome picture of the boys.
The best they could get of Jayden and Maya, literally...

I love this one.

Finally, a semi-decent shot of Jayden. I was so happy.

Too bad this didn't work out. I would have been much better than the lego picture. Oh, well, I can keep this to remember the look on Maya's face. She spends quite a bit of time like this. LOL

Finally, the cousin's shot! Not bad after all.

Lowry Park Zoo

Here are the pictures from our visit to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. We had a nice time. Here's Jayden on the giant lizard.

Here's Sebastian.

Maya was super hot and super tired.

Penguins in Florida. Can you believe that?

This was one of the few animal shots that didn't come out blurry. Thanks to Sesame Street, Jayden recognized E L E P H A N T!

Jayden got up close and personal with a giraffe.

Jayden and Caitlin try to woo the giraffe to come over, but he know better. He knows they have no treats for him.

A much needed water break!

Caitlin found the one bench with the fan blowing on it. Ahhh.

Jayden had a hotdog for lunch. No bun, please! Wink, wink!

Can I have a Frito please?

The kids cool off at the splash pad.

Smile for Daddy!

Aiden and Caitlin taking a break.

Jayden and Chooch take turns. Well, most of the time. The rest of the time, they were pushing each other out of the way.

The Sister's Visit

Esteban takes Caitlin for a ride on the mower!

Caitlin waves hello!

Sidewalk Chalk time!

Bath time. Is there room for anybody else?

Everybody is doing their own thing pretty much.

A collaborative effort. Don't worry. It washes off. Way to go Crayola!

Big Bounce Fun Zone time!

Caitlin and Leslie take a break after running around like maniacs everywhere.

Maya in the new outfit that Titi Leslie brought her.

4th of July

We were so lucky that Esteban got the day off and we were able to have a family day. It was awesome! We went to my cousin, Cathy’s house. She and her neighbors were having a 4th of July party. We really lucked out too because there was supposed to be a 60% chance of rain and it stayed away. We were able to spend most of the time in the pool. Jayden got over his fear of the water. I’m not really sure how he developed it to begin with. Sometimes he goes in and other times he doesn’t. But he got a good handle of the float and somebody brought him some water wings and he was good to go.

After swimming and eating, I took Maya for a walk with my uncle and when we got back, everyone was getting ready for the fireworks. All the neighbors had pooled in for fireworks and they had about two truck loads worth. They live on a cul de sac and we moved all the chairs out at dusk and spent quite a bit of time out there. Needless to say, the kids passed out quite easily. Yeah! But then they both woke up crying in the middle of the night. No nap and lots of excitement equals a rough night for mommy. But all in all, it was wonderful.

Here's Jayden with my uncle Luis. He followed him around everywhere calling him grandpa.

Daddy is trying to use a water gun that is larger than Jayden himself.

Jayden did pretty well with staying on the steps.

Cathy, her dad and Jayden waiting for the fireworks! This was Jayden's first time seeing them and he said, "Wow! La luz!"

Maya wasn't bothered one bit by the booms.

Jayden and his new friend Kylie on her jeep. She had quite a command of that thing and drove him all over the place with it. He was thrilled beyond words. In fact, this is the only picture I could get where they were both looking up. Most of the time they were on the go and working the dials on the dashboard.

Not the best pictures of fireworks, but I tried. I really do need a new camera!

Big Bounce Fun Zone Play Date

It was time to host another play date for the Lollipop League so I hosted at Big Bounce Fun Zone, a new place in town. I was co-hosting with another mom and we were both surprise at how many other moms had RSVP’d and equally shocked at how many moms didn’t show up. But Jayden and Maya had a good time and that’s what is important.

Jayden got his first injury, a twisted ankle of sorts. He was actually limping pretty bad, but I gave him good rub later that night and he healed nicely. Jayden was like a maniac, going through all the bounce houses and using all the toys and I couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t go into his own bounce house for his birthday… Oh well.

There is a really cute area that has a pretty large gated area for toddlers ages 3 and under. It’s full of toys for little ones and Jayden spent quite a bit of time there. I thought it was so funny when I looked over and he was in the gated area and a little girl was at the door. He said “Abre.” And she opened the door as if she understood. Then he stepped out and said thank you and in a blink of an eye, he stepped back in and he did it again. Abre. Thank you. Abre. Thank you. This went on for a while and it was so cute to watch because he was having such a good time with it and the little girl was giggling too.

Later on, Jayden was up at the top of a slide and he had apparently made friends with a group of kids there. So they decided to sit up there and not slide down. I was sitting close by, watching and we made eye contact. He was so excited to see me, as if he hadn’t seen me all day and starts screaming to the kids. Guys! Guys! It’s mommy, mommy! And then he waves. I was laughing so hard. I immediately thought to myself, later on when he gets older he’ll be telling me not to kiss him in public or asking me to drop him off at the corner so no one sees me. LOL. What a boy!