Summer Vacation I

We began our vacation with a trip to Newfield to see Grandpa Jack and Grandma Deb, and Grandpa Ray. We were joined there by Tio Terrill, Tia Kathy, Jasmine, Monica and Marcus, so the girls had a great time seeing their cousins again and playing. We went to the Glass Museum and the Museum of ther American West in Corning, about 45 minutes from Newfield. We also had a delicious cookout to celebrate Ray's birthday. On Sunday after the Gosas went home and Papi and Grandpa Jack headed off to see a golf tournament, the girls and Deb and I did some shopping and took in the fourth Shrek movie. It was a wonderful way to start off our vacation. Terrill is really the family photographer when we get together with Chris's family and he got some amazing shots, but here are just a few pics from the day at the museums.







We went on to have a great time in Tivoli, with some exciting firsts! Wendy learned to ride her bike, and Fer rode on the street with me all the way to Gigi & Grandad's house (2 miles!). The girls also rode horses for the first time -- we went with Henry and Grandad over to my cousin Sandra's house and the girls had a fabulous experience riding with her and her husband Val.







We also had our friends Jim and Patricia and their daughters Jillian and Jessica up for Fourth of July weekend, and a great time was had by all. The children (aka the Four Musketeers) swam, rode bikes, played tennis, chased the dogs, and generally had a lot of fun together. We also went to see Toy Story 3.







The final event of the weekend was brunch at Gigi & Grandad's -- our honorary tias Renee and Alli were visiting, as well as Tio Van and Tia Alice. Amy, Aaron and the twins came over for the weekend as well, so most of the family was together (shout-out to Matt, Christine and Jack -- we miss you!!).

Colombian Celebration, June 23

To celebrate all of us finishing the school year, we went out to Jackson Heights, Queens, for a traditional Colombian dinner. KIPPTio Uriel recommended his favorite restaurant out there, and he, KIPPTia Alaina and her friend Juliet joined us for a delicious meal! Bandeja Paisa rules!!

Student of the Month!

To cap off a wonderful spring at St. Peter's, Fer received the Student of the Month award at the year-end Mass. She was so proud! Her teacher, Mrs. Harding, was so kind and wonderful. We will miss her next year!

Father's Day

Happy First Father's Day to Chris, who is an amazing Papi and Rey de la Familia! From your reina y princesas: te queremos mucho mucho! And Happy Dad's Day as well to my dad, who set the all-time standard as far as I'm concerned! A few pics of our celebration in Tivoli:

Wendy Graduates . . . from Kindergarten!

This morning we had the great pleasure of going to Wendy's graduation from Kindergarten at St. Peter's. It was a very sweet ceremony -- Wendy helped lead the Lord's prayer, all the children sang and danced, and they all received diplomas and a "We Made It!" t-shirt. Thanks as well to Grandad for making the drive from Manhattan to Yonkers to cheer for the graduate!

A Fun Playdate!

We had our friends Sarah, Enza and Michaela over on Saturday for lunch, a swim, and time to play together. After swimming, the girls all settled in to watch a movie!

Mami's in DC, Papi's in Charge!

I'm on the KIPP 5th grade trip to Washington, D.C., which is a lot of fun. Today we had the chance to meet with civil rights hero Congressman John Lewis, and because of the rain, we got to go into the Capitol and meet with him in the committee meeting room for the Ways and Means Committee, which he serves on! Pretty cool. Overall, the trip has been great, we've done the usual monuments and tourist sites like the Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, Arlington Cemetery, Air and Space Museum, Holocaust Museum . . . the list goes on. I'm really enjoying being with the kids and the other teachers, but I miss Wendy and Fer and Chris! And I would love to do a trip here with them -- the girls are so curious and interested in everything that I'm sure they would just love it. I think we'd be answering questions all day long every day and for weeks after. Maybe next Spring we can do a long weekend and get started -- there's just so much to see.

Chris is doing a great job back home. The menu has been a bit limited (it appears that dinner has consisted of popcorn and hotdogs for the last two nights!), but it sounds like the girls are happy and enjoying their time with him, and I can't ask for anything more than that. I've been able to speak to them every night and tell them I miss them and love them. Fer's response last night: "Me too." Wendy's: "I'm going to give the phone to Fer." Oh well!

I can't believe it's been more than 3 weeks since my last post. We have been busy! We have been up in Tivoli for several great weekends. Matt and Christine and Jack visited for a week in late May and we had a really fun family weekend with them and the rest of the Lankenau clan. Memorial Day weekend we were in Tivoli again, and the girls enjoyed swimming and spending time with Amy's son Henry and the twins, as well as with Gigi and Grandad -- they had their first overnight away from us that weekend and it went really well.

Unfortunately, the girls have become a bit camera-shy, so it's a little harder to get pictures these days. I do have a few to share . . .

First, Field Day! They were so excited for their first Field Day ever which was on May 21. Fer was on the red team and Wendy the blue. We spent quite some time the week before being sure they had their team shirts, new sneakers, sunblock, lunch planned and ready, etc. Finally, the big day!




We also went to a new hair salon, Kissed by the Sun, in Harlem. I had found it online and it turns out that several of Chris's colleagues at KIPP go there. First we went for a consult and she suggested a new product to help make cute ringlets for Fer. Then we went back for a full appointment for twists for Wendy. We then tried to go to the African hair braiding place for Fer, but they were really being sloppy and she was miserable at having her hair pulled, so we left and I did them myself -- yay Mami! Here are some pics of their 'dos.