Playdate at Paradise Park

It was my turn to host a playdate so I suggested Paradise Park. Luckily, the weather was cooperating and the kids had a blast. At first, it took a while for anyone to show up so I let the kids play and I took pictures. Because I was looking for the mom's from my playgroup, I couldn't help but notice that there were nothing but dads there. Was it National Father's Take Their Kids to the Park Day? Who knows, but there were about 5 or 6 dads watching their kids play and no sight of the moms. There's one in the background, still in his tie...

Maya was running around all over. I love this park. There's so much for the kids to do here.
Peek-a-boo!

Here's Jayden on the Elephant Ride, except it was no fun cause it didn't move. Does that explain the look on his face?

Here's Maya on the toad which does move. She was a happy girl!

Clearly, Jayden is happy again. But he's moving so fast, I could barely get the picture.

Maya doesn't like the rubber mulch getting into her shoes.

Here's my big, strong boy hanging onto the trapeze rings. Anna and Christian were also hangin' around...

He actually tilted his head back and said "Cheese" for the picture!

Maya loves to make music with the chimes. But she's not a good sharer. When anther little girl came over to play, she started to scream "No, mine!" Very embarrasing...

I never noticed this mural, but it caught Maya's eye and she kept saying "Look!" over and over again.

I'll skip the picture where Maya was shoveling sand into her hair (Yay-Me!) and the one where Jayden went on time out for refusing to share the shovel in the sandbox. We only had one mom and dad from the play group show up, but that made for a party of 6 kids so after the park, we took the kids to Chick-fil-A. It was spirit night for the local high school so there was music and a spin-the-wheel thingy so it was alot of fun. Jayden won the plush cow. I got out of the "Chicken Park" as other moms refer to it by offering the kids ice cream. Thank goodness. Did you know that if you get a child's meal and you don't care for the toy that comes with it, you can trade it in for ice cream? Me neither! How cool is that!

Funny Jayden Story...

Tonight, I put Jayden to bed, but he didn't want to go just yet. I pretended not to see him tip-toe from his room to my bedroom. I was in the living room and had a clear shot of him as he went into my closet. I wondered what he could be doing, but didn't say a thing. A little while later, he came out of the closet looking just as proud as can be. On his way, he passed my full length mirror so he stopped and took a look. He was smiling from ear to ear and giving himself two thumbs up the mirror. I was cracking up, but I didn't say anything. He then looks at his reflection and points down to his feet, all the while flashing this cheesy grin. As he walked away, he waves good-bye to his reflection and appears in the living room with my boots on.

So, I ask the obvious question. Jayden, what are you doing with mommy's boots on? And Jayden says, "No, these are my work boots." I had to laugh. The boots aren't stylish in the least bit. They were just comfortable and warm, when they used to fit me. But I never saw them as ugly until that very moment. As soon as I get a chance, they are going straight to the trash can...

Candy Land Lessons

For Christmas, I got Jayden Candy Land. Growing up, my dad always played board games with us. I loved it and I still love to play games now. I intend to teach my kids the same way. I am sad that Esteban doesn’t care for games, but like I told him. He's going to have to learn to deal cause I'm going to teach the kids to LOVE them. hehehe

As Jayden and I played together tonight, I realized that in addition to learning colors (and the fact that there are an infinite number of candy selections out there) I was teaching Jayden important life lessons.

1) We start at the beginning and work our way to the end. There’s always a goal in sight. Sometimes we move forwards and sometimes we move backwards. We might get lucky and find a shortcut, or we could end up stuck on Licorice Space, but we always keep our eyes set on the prize. The goal is to get to King Kandy and the Candy Castle, no matter how long it takes. He’s not ready for this lesson yet, but I always remind him that we need to find our way to the castle so that we can win the prize.

2) We take turns. Everyone wants to participate. Jayden likes to help mommy move her pawn, and help mommy draw her card. I try to explain to him that everyone wants to have fun and play the game. So we share and take turns.

3) We don’t jump ahead. After all, that wouldn’t be fair. Sometimes Jayden draws the card with two purple blocks, but really he feels like moving ahead 3 or 4 purple blocks. So I share with Jayden that his card only had 2 purples and so he should only move 2 purples. OooooK! He says…

4) And a final thought…Do you let them win the game, or do you play fair and square? Candy Land is not a game of skill. It’s more of a game of chance. But as I played with Jayden, I found myself wondering…What do other parents do?

I lost his attention just before the end of the second game, but that’s ok. We managed to finish the game and that was good enough for me.

A Visit from Annie and the Girls

My girlfriend Annie was here for a visit from Pennsylvania. We got to visit twice, which was really cool. Our kids are the same age, which is awesome and we didn't even plan it that way. LOL! Anyway, we took the kids for some Chick-fil-a and had a blast in the play area afterwards. Here's Annie with Ava.
Maya had such a blast. I never imagined she'd be ready for something like this, but once she got the hang of it, she was a riot to watch.

Here's Jayden and Dani, taking 5!

Maya came down the slide. I was shocked to see her this way, but she was having such a good time, I quickly put my worry aside.

Jayden follows quickly after!

Cheese!

Here's Ava venturing out on her own. Such a cutie!

Trying to get them together for a picture was harder than expected. This was the best we could do. We wanted to do a pile-up, but they were like, whatever partner! We got to go!

Look at crazy Jayden. He's so silly. I love that goof-ball!

A little blurry, but atleast I had Jayden and Maya together in one picture.

Chill time, or as Annie calls it, Purell time! Everyone got their wipes and cleaned hands and feet and had a drink. Then they demanded ice cream, but they were too crazy as it was. No more sugar! Sorry kids. Maybe next time.

Merry Belated Christmas

Because Mari was in New Jersey for Christmas, we decided to wait to do the kid's gift exchange until she was back. Originally, that would have been the day before Three Kings Day, but the restaurant opening was delayed a bit. But that's ok. It turned out great anyways.

I wish that this was a better picture. I had no idea what was in the box that Mari brought back from my sister Leslie. Had I known, I would have been more prepared. Inside the box was a Geo Trax set that Jayden has been wanting so badly. A few months ago, he got a promotional GeoTrax DVD and it's all he talks about. He watches it over and over again. During the holidays, he discovered the track set in a toy magazine and he brought me the magazine every 5 minutes for most of the morning. I wasn't able to swing it for Christmas, but Titi Leslie made it happen. You might be able to see his gasping for air in this shot.
I love this picture. Pure mayhem. Chooch's got his Handy Manny tools and he was out. Sergio and Sebi are playing with the Crayola Beginnings toy, which turned out to be a big hit among all the kids. Maya is doing who knows what and Jayden is opening up his Magnadoodle.

Maya shows Titi her creation.

Chooch breaks in his Aquadoodle.

Sebi and Maya check out the baby doll.

The boys check out the tools.

Jayden shares with Sebi.

Maya found a new use for the Aquadoodle. As soon as I got home, we had to put this thing together so he could play. He was obsessed with it!

A Weekend of Babysitting...

After alot of blood, sweat and tears, Mari and Sergio opened the Rock N Pineapple to the public on Thursday, January 8th. It's a really unique concept. Stone cooking. We really enjoyed it and are very proud of them. We pray that they be blessed in many ways and their business is a huge success!

Anyway, I felt bad because the boys were at daycare all day and then spending evenings with babysitters so I packed up the family and went down to babysit for her for three nights. It was quite an experience to care for a 14 month old, a 21 month old, a 2 1/2 year old and a 3 1/2 year old. There was alot of biting, hitting, pushing, pow-pow, time-outs and crying going on. And there was alot of diaper changing, spills, and messes to clean up. Thankfully, Esteban went with me and helped on Friday and Saturday nights, but Sunday night I was on my own and I was going crazy! LOL We did have some good moments though. It wasn't all mayhem. Take a look...

My favorite time of night. Just before bedtime, they all settle down so nicely.
How could they not? Wubbzy is on!

A little play outside the house... Here's Sebi looking all cute!

Maya loves to play with cars and trucks just as much as Jayden loves to push the stroller around! LOL Meanwhile, believe it or not, there is evidence in the background that Chooch and Jayden CAN share. Look how they roll the car back and forth to each other.

Don't believe me? Take a closer look!

Awww! They CAN be nice to each other!

I love this picture of Sebastian with the ball. W-I-L-S-O-N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello, Tom & Jerry marathon on Cartoon Network! How could they not have enjoyed this?

Ok, here they are taking a chill pill while they have a quick snack.

Yummy! Breakfast!

I love these two characters. They are very much alike. Very colorful and lots of personality.

These two are filled with love and the need to take whatever the other one has... LOL They are actually funny to watch, when I'm not busy pulling my hair out...

The GPS

On Black Friday, I picked up a GPS. It sat in the package for about 2 weeks before Esteban and I agreed to go ahead and keep it and it was put to use right away. The next day, I used it to get to a friend’s house who had recently moved to the next town over. We used it to find a short cut road from my friend’s house to Hwy 50. And once, Esteban was meeting some friends and he had no idea where he was going so I programmed it for him. Esteban gets lost very easily so I felt relieved that he made it. For New Year’s Eve, we used it to get to a friend’s mom’s house in the deeps of Kissimmee. And then we used it to get us from there to my cousin’s house in St. Augustine. On the way back from my cousin’s, we followed the GPS and it took us on a different route that we’d never taken before and we really liked it. Just last week, we used it to get to my sister’s new restaurant and tomorrow I will program it so that Esteban can get from my sister’s house to his job.

So I’m glad we decided to keep it. It’s made my life so much easier, especially when Esteban is driving. He has a tendency to zone off and miss turns. Thanks to the GPS, I can clip my coupons or fool around on my iPhone without looking up to discover that we never got on I-4, that we’re still on the 408 and almost to the airport!