Hiking

Jose has taken the boys to several parks to go hiking. The boys love it. What boys wouldn't love being in the woods?!! Here are some pics from their adventures. As always they find some animal along the trail. They were pretty excited about this Hawk!

July 4th. I had wanted to take the boys downtown to D.C. but I wasn't keen on going by myself with 3 boys. Getting there and being there wouldn't have been the problem, it would have been getting out of D.C. in the dark with all the masses of people. That didn't sound like fun to me so we stayed around town and caught the fireworks near the house. Here is Anthony waiting for the fireworks. He was getting tired!

Of course, our bug man Diego, all he cared about was collecting fireflies in a bucket. I think he could have done it all night.

I'm glad I didn't venture downtown because the boys could have cared less about the actual fireworks. They wanted to play at the park and collect bugs!

Family

We are so lucky that we have a photographer in our family. My sister Kelli is very talented and we took advantage of her talent at our beach vacation. Thank you Kelli! I am grateful for the week we get to spend together. This time is so fun, relaxing and the kids really get to enjoy playing with cousins and making great memories.

Blog-a-thon

I'm falling really behind on the blogging so this is a marathon of a post...just to warn you. Off to Ohio!

At the beginning of the month we traveled to Ohio for the baptism of my niece. The boys were excited as they have never been to these cousins house...and we were going to stay in a hotel with a pool! There was a great tree at the rest area we stopped at and of course the boys had to climb it.

Here are the boys with some popcorn and watching a movie. This was after a good swim in the pool!

This was a big highlight of the trip. The motorized car! This car was the place to be in. "Cincy" Mattingley's are high on the list of cool places to go.

Future Car? He wishes! Diego and Anthony riding off into the sunset

Diego has some kind of gift with animals. He was able to catch a bird in their backyard and Aunt Monique was nice enough to get a shoebox for it. They tried to nurse it back to health by giving it water and bread crumbs. There was some kind of damage to his wing. They did let it go that evening.

Diego graduates from Kindergarten! Diego's school didn't end until June 17th. He was ready for summer. He had a good year and I think for the most part he really did like going. He met some really good friends that we get to continue seeing throughout the summer. He looks forward to showing Christian around next year.

Christian turns 5!

Christian couldn't wait to turn 5. He was counting down the days. I have really enjoyed watching Christian grow this past year. He has a great imagination and can play for a long time with his Star Wars or Ben 10 figures creating all sorts of stories. He has grown a special bond with Anthony while Diego was at school and the two of them can play well together. He is our snappy dresser. He loves to get dressed up in his nice clothes and has to look just perfect. He is a great helper. He likes to help clean toilets! but he also will put his clothes away and make sure they are nicely folded. He likes things in order. He is our sports lover and is always waiting for the next season to start. He is also our most talkative (though Anthony can give him a run for his money!). He can talk your ear off. I'm so glad he is part of this family. He is fun to watch.

The Beach

It was that time of the year when we head down to the beach to spend time with my family. It was a good week with good weather, good waves, food and spending time with family. Here are a few pics from that week.

What would be a day at the beach without a juice box?

Diego finds a crab The boys checking on the crabs We didn't have to even leave the house to find creatures! This was in the carport! This year there were many games of pool baseball played. Christian was always pleased with himself that he'd hit it and make it to base before the uncles could get him. And after all this fun during the day it was nice to see this: As always, after returning anywhere from being with all the cousins, it is a huge letdown for the boys. We were having a rough day and a sweet friend of mine surprised us with a box of Krispy Creme Donuts! The boys love donuts and were so happy. I'm glad she listened to herself because we really needed some kind of break that day.

Anthony would have loved if all of these were his!

Along with donuts came hats!

Thanks for taking the time to read it all!

Alive and kicking!

It has been such a long time so there is much to post about. Hopefully you want to take a break from what you are doing to check us out. Or just quickly scroll through the pics!

Preschool Graduation Picnic

Today was Christian's last day of preschool. They had a picnic at a local park with a little certificate program thrown in. It was hot and muggy but that never seems to bother the kids.

The preschool graduate

Christian and Ms. Haskins getting his certificate and gift.

Anthony was an honorary student. The preschool is looking forward to having him next year. They might be singing a different tune when they are actually around him for more than 5 minutes. But he can't wait. This group of boys were quite funny. They became such good buddies. Every day after school they'd meet in the halls or outside and share a toy they brought from home. Then they'd end up in a game of tag. I'm so glad Christian made such good friends. Sadly none of them will go to the same school.

BATMAN BURN OUT! Yesterday Christian came to tell me that Anthony had fallen asleep and it was 4 in the afternoon. Not a good situation. So I went into the basement to wake him up and this is what I found. He's dressed in his Batman halloween costume and riding his horse. He had totally fallen asleep while riding the horse. When he'd jolt himself awake he'd start to ride again but the rocking motion would put him back to sleep. He is such a funny kid.

Lizard as a pet? Diego has been begging for a dog. When the answer was no he moved on to any animal he could think of. These lizards live under our front steps and in the neighbors bushes. Diego is determined to catch one and keep it as his pet. What is this kids obsession with animals? He's asked for a dog, fish, guinea pig, toad, snake, lizard, and hamster. All answers have been no though contemplating a fish. We shall see.

Sports are in the air. Diego is playing t-ball and likes it. He says he likes it better than soccer because there is less running involved! This is a usual problem during the game. They always have to stop and trade helmets for Diego. There's only one helmet that fits his head.

Diego is also taking tae-kwon-do. They offered it as an after school club. We jumped at the chance because it was only $45 for 6 weeks and that included the uniform. This way we could see if he really liked it before shelling out the big bucks. He has enjoyed it and luckily he hasn't really tried any of the moves on his brothers! And here is our soccer player. Christian loves this game and has a natural talent. He has gotten really good at defense and tries hard to score at every game. Mother's Day Tea At Christian's preschool they had a Mother's Day tea where the kids prepare sandwiches with veggies and dip and they sing a few songs. It was cute. Christian actually sang the songs. I was surprised (Diego had just mouthed the words last year!). He is a cutie!

Powder strikes again!

Why is this kid so obsessed with powder and dumping the whole bottle out? I was sitting on my couch when out of the corner of my eye I see this puff of smoke coming from the stairs. I thought "I don't smell smoke." So what else could it be? I go around the corner and see Anthony standing there. He had dumped the powder all down the stairs and then there were a couple of piles in his room. Thanks to him there was a layer of white dust all over my house. What am I going to do with this cutie? =)

Does this kid really belong to me????

This kid is definitely a Salinas. Christian is my kid that loves fruit. Here he is on his third helping of strawberries and whip cream! He doesn't get this from my side of the family!