Nice day at the beach

We went to Fort Lauderdale beach with Nico and his parents. Carlos and Titi had a great time but they got sunburned again. We put lots of sunblock but they still got sun. Next time we will go later in the day.

Carlos and Titi's first sleepover!

Carlos and Titi finally had a sleepover. They started saying they wanted to have one a couple of weeks ago. They kept dragging their sleeping bags and kept asking us to take them to their cousins or to Mimi and Luke's house.

Mimi and Luke were very nice and invited them to sleep over their house last night. Don and I were not sure the kids were going to stay all night but they did. They were so happy about it. They kept saying they had a great time. Don and I went to downtown Delray and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant. It was great! We felt funny without the kids. This was the first time we were apart at night. The house was very quiet and it was good and bad at the same time.

An Inconvenient Truth

I was able to see Al Gore's movie yesterday and I hope more people will get to see it. I am already a fan and believer of Al Gore so I knew the movie was going to have a big impact on me. Last year, after reading his book, Earth in the Balance, I tried to change and I became a little greener. I stopped eating meat (although I buy it for Don), worked harder in my garden, tried not to use many products made with petrochemicals, etc. Now I am hoping I will be able to do more because I don't want Carlos and Titi to have to suffer the consequences of our denial and opposition to change. I wish I could stop driving but there is no public transportation in our area. I wish we could move to a place where we could walk or use public transportation. The only thing I can really do now is to get rid of most of our lawn. It is cut with a giant gas mower and I have read that it pollutes the air

Fourth of July

We had a nice 4th of July. We stayed home most of the day and then went to the Sound Advice Amphitheatre to watch a concert and fireworks. The first group played horrible music but the second one was good. Carlos and Titi had fun playing and running on the grass. We were very close to the place where they launched the fireworks and it was neat.

Happy Father's Day!!!

Carlos and Titi cooked breakfast for Don this morning. They were very excited. Carlos made eggs and bacon and Titi made pancakes. Carlos set the table and he proudly served Don. He was so cute. Don enjoyed his delicious breakfast. We gave him some new clothes and I think he liked them.

We also had a very nice time at Steven and Janie's this afternoon. The food was delicious and we loved seeing everyone, specially grandpa. Carlos and Titi played a lot with Laura, Allie, Hailey and Andie.

World Cup

I can't wait for Mexico's game this afternoon.

When I was young one of my cousins used to take us to watch professional soccer matches. He lived with us while he attended Mexico City's University and didn't have many friends in the city. He would take my brother and I. We used to go a lot. Now I am one of those people that only watches soccer in the World Cup.

Last week I was able to see Mexico's match against Iran. I was very, very happy when Mexico scored the goals and won the match. It makes me happy because I know it means a lot to Mexican people. I remember how exciting it was when Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1986. The whole country stopped to watch the games and celebrate. The company I worked for had tickets and they raffled two of the seats for each game. I won two times. The best was watching Argentina-England at the Aztec Stadium. People were so envious of me.

Don and I have very good memories of the match we watched in Orlando in 1994, between Mexico and Ireland. Mexico won and it was a wonderful feeling. I sweated so much, because it was extremely hot in the stadium and of nerves. We had soooo much fun that weekend. We also watched most of the games at the Consulate during that World Cup.

That is one thing that I miss about working at the Consulate. We used to attend most of the games the Mexican team played in Miami. I saw Mexico-Brazil, Mexico-The Netherlands, Mexico-North Ireland. It was fun.

I also watched The Netherlands match last Sunday and I was happy for Henny when they won. Today they are playing again and I am sure they will win.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!

Today is Grandpa's birthday!! We want to wish you only the best. You are a great father and excellent grandfather. We are lucky to have you! We love you a lot and hope to celebrate with you over the weekend.

Lots of love,
Don, Carmen, Carlos and Titi

Orlando and Disney once again

Carlos and Titi were off from school last week and we decided to go to Orlando, for the weekend. We stayed at the condo and went to the Disney parks only one day. The other days we stayed at Bahama Bay, relaxing. The kids love the beach and children's water play area.
I was so happy to go back to Epcot to see the Flower and Garden Show once again. This was the last weekend so I was lucky! I never get tired of seeing all the plants Disney have and this show is amazing. Don and Carlos went to Test Track like always and Titi and I walked around some of the countries' pavillions. Titi liked the Great Britain's topiaries and France's fragrant garden. She collected fragrant leaves and even "stole" a lemon from a tree. We also listened and watched some of the performers. We saw the group that dresses and sings like the Beatles and Titi was so happy to hear "With a little help from my friends". Her class sang that song at Graduation and she was very happy to sing along with the group at Epcot. We also went to the Herman's Hermits concert. I only knew a couple of songs but it was a lot of fun. Most of the people at the concert were English and they loved it. We saw lots and lots of people from England, at the parks, at Bahama Bay, at Wal Mart.

Chasing butterflies

Carlos and Titi went to a party at Hailey and Andie's yesterday and they got some neat presents. This morning, as soon as they got up, they decided to go out and catch some butterflies. They got dressed (Titi was wearing the clothes she borrowed from Andie) and got ready. I didn't think they were going to get anything but they did catch two Monarchs, a brown moth, a small white moth, some ladybugs and they found more yellow Sulphur caterpillars. We also saw bees and wasps and I got bitten by red ants.

If you click on the pictures you can make them larger.

Last day of school and Titi's Graduation

Yesterday was Carlos and Titi's last day of school. Next August, Carlos will be in first grade and Titi in kindergarten. Carlos had a pajama party at school and he had fun. He loves wearing pajamas and he was very happy to be able to wear them to school. I went to his class and we said goodbye to his classmates and teacher. Some of the kids will be moving out of state, some to other towns and not everybody will be here next August. We made plans with his teacher to meet during the summer. We like her a lot.

Early in the evening Titi had her graduation from pre school at the local middle school's auditorium. Like last year, it was a big event. This year more children graduated and there were more people. We were not able to take good pictures since we didn't have good seats and Titi was on the second row for some of the songs but we enjoyed it a lot. The children sang lots of songs and danced very well. They sang in Hebrew, Spanish and English. We were very proud of our Titi. She kept waving at us from the stage, very cute. Mema, Grandpa and aunt Mimi came to see her too. We could not invite more people because they didn't have enough space for more guests. We had dinner and cake and got to see other families. We are going to miss this school too. Carlos and Titi will be going to Summer camp there and then will say goodbye.

Happy Birthday Titi

Today is our Titi's 5th birthday! We are so grateful for having her in our lives. She is a treasure.

She has been planning her birthday party for months. We had the party at a gym with all her classmates, cousins and Guatemalan friends. I think we had 31 kids! Mema, Grandpa and Aunt Mimi came and helped a lot. Titi had a great time (and Carlos too)! She got lots of presents and has been playing for hours. We gave her the High School Musical DVD. She has wanted to watch it for a long time and already knew all the songs. I am sure she will watch it a hundred times.

Carlos' End of School Year Party

Carlos had his party today. The teacher decided to have a water play party (that turned into a mud party) and I went to help. The kids had a wonderful time. A couple of other kindergarten classes were having parties as well and they were all envious of Carlos and his classmates. Their parties were boring compared to this one. The kids had pizza and cake and we had delicious salads.

Mrs. Christ is a wonderful teacher and we are going to miss her a lot.

Congratulations Beverly and Steven!!!!

Last night we went to cousin Beverly and Steven's wedding. It was a beautiful night, a really nice setting with pefect weather. It was great seeing everyone, specially Bev and Steven's parents. What a great thing to get married in front of all of your parents. Aunt Mary looked great!

It was held in a Middle Eastern restaurant and the food was delicious. They had a musician and even a belly dancer. We had fun.

We wish them lots of years of happiness.

Disney

We were in Orlando this past weekend. It was a lot of fun. Mema and Grandpa came with us and we were very happy because we got to spend lots of time with them. They are great and we love them a lot.

We got to see the Flower and Garden Show in Epcot and we loved it. There were flowers and topiaries everywhere. Carlos and Titi loved the butterfly pavillion and they made us stay there for a long time.

My favorite part was when grandpa and Titi sang "It's a wonderful world", together.

Sea & Air Show

Henny and family, We were thinking a lot about you last week. It is already a year since you were here! Time goes so fast! Don went to the Air & Sea Show by himself this year. The kids and I decided to stay home but we convinced Don to go and have fun. He parked the car in the same spot and says it was not as crowded as last year.

Happy Birthday Rich

Happy Birthday Rich!!! We wish you only the best. Hope you are having a wonderful day.
(Hi Marty!)

A day at the beach

Yesterday morning we went to Deerfield Beach. We met Nico, Carlos and Titi's friend from Guatemala, and his mom, Lolly. We had a great time. It was windy and it was not too hot so we were able to sit there for a long time. The kids played in the water most of the time.

Russian Cabbage Soup

Yesterday afternoon the kids and I cut the cabbage that we had been growing and I cooked Russian cabbage soup for dinner. I found the recipe in allrecipes.com. I think it was very good, we usually don't eat cabbage but I really liked it this way. Don liked it too. The kids would not touch it, of course.

Happy Birthday Don and Larry!!!!!

Today is Don and Larry's 48th birthday!!! I hope they are having a good day at work.

We had some coffee, milk, and cookies for Don in the morning and we will celebrate more tonight.

Today is also Lolly's 50th birthday! Happy Birthday Lolly!!

Don and Larry's Birthday Party

We celebrated Don and Larry's birthday this past Saturday. It was a great party, a lot of people came and I think everybody had a good time. There was even a guitar player. He was great and sang lots of good songs. Don and Larry sang with him and they did a good job. We had Italian food and everybody brought food and drinks. There was lots of beer!