LONG WEEKEND FUN!!

We had a very busy and fun filled long weekend. Saturday we spent the day at Baka & Deda's house. The girl's love playing at the park, so much that at times it is really hard to get them to go home.

On Sunday we met up with Elizabeth, Angi and Ivan at the racetrack for some more fun. They had so much for the kids to do. Olivia took her first pony ride and loved it! She was so excited to be on the pony that when it was time for her to come off, she almost started to cry. I think we might have to do something like that again soon.

Avery on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the pony's. It's times like this that the differences in their personalities come out. She's a lot more cautious of things and usually needs to see her sister do something first before she'll do it.

After the pony rides we headed inside got the girl's something to eat, and then we were off to the craft room. All three girl's LOVED using the sparkles to decorate their Elmo picture's. I don't know about Elizabeth but we were picking out sparkles from the girl's hair the next day. Even after they had a bath!Then came the bouncy castle. Again, Elizabeth and Olivia were right in there having a blast while Avery watched from the sidelines. Next the girl's got a chance to feed some animals. They all LOVED doing this even Avery.Next the girl's all got their faces painted. Elizabeth & Avery decided they wanted a little critter on each cheek. When Olivia sat down for her turn she told the lady that she wanted to be a kitty cat. "Nothing else" she said.Look at these three cuties!!Then came the fireworks! This was the twins first time seeing fireworks so of course Brian and I were really excited to see how they would react. Olivia laid back in my arms with her face up to the sky watching them, and I noticed that Avery covered her ears a few times because of the noise. We probably should have brought the girls ear plugs. Something we'll have to remember for the next time.

To end off the long weekend on Monday we drove up to Grandma & Grandpa's house for dinner. Uncle Mike, Auntie Jennifer, Jack and Noah were all there. The girl's had a lot of fun playing with their cousins. Jack taught the girl's how to hit a baseball, so now all they want to do is play baseball!! We hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend as much as we did!!

TWO LITTLE COOKIE MONSTERS

WHAT WE LOVE TO DO THE MOST...

SPEND TIME WITH OUR GIRLS

A WEEK IN PARADISE!

That's right, we spent a whole week in Cayo Coco Cuba without our two princesses. Can you believe it? we were actually apart from them for an entire 7 days! It was heartbreaking to leave them but they had a great time with their grandparents for the week. I'm sure their Baka needed a few days vacation after having the two of them.

We arrived in Cuba last Sunday morning to beautiful blue skies and crystal clear water. We spent the day relaxing and sleeping on the beach. Our plan was to sleep in as much as possible since we really haven't slept in almost three years. No such luck. I was up every morning at 7:30a.m. We did manage to sleep in one day until 8:30a.m but that was the latest my body would allow me to sleep.

The beach at our hotel

We saw many interesting creatures while we were away. The only one I didn't get a picture of was a bright green snake we saw which was about 4 feet long. When we first saw it we thought it was a garden hose until it started to move!
Enjoying a quiet dinner togetherSome nightly Cuban entertainment in the lobby barThe Saturday before we left, we decided to go on an snorkeling excursion. We headed out in the morning on a Catamaran. After an hour on the boat we started our snorkeling adventure. We had done some snorkeling in the past in Cozumel and had an amazing time. We had expected to have the same experience as we did in the past. We did see a few fish but not as many as we did in Cozumel. We snorkeled for about 45 minutes then we were back on the boat and headed off to another spot. Before getting off the boat the second time, they had warned us to not touch anything because of the many sting rays that were in that part of the water. After hearing that I decided that I would just hang out on the boat and enjoy the music and beautiful weather. If I didn't have any children I probably would have gone in the water. But, I over heard a group of people who came back on the boat after only being in the water for about 5 minutes say "If Steve Irwin couldn't handle a sting ray I'm not about to take a chance." Good point!

Brian however did go back in the water but didn't see anything other than a star fish.

Drying off after snorkeling

Our trip included an AMAZING lobster lunch on the boat. There is nothing better than fresh seafood right from the ocean.

We then headed out again to the beautiful Pillar beach. It is a beach in Cayo Coco that has not been disturbed by any developers. It was truly breathtaking!

Captain Brian enjoying a nice cold cervasa

We had a great time away but of course missed the girl's. The resort we stayed at had many families with kids the same age as ours, which at times made us miss them even more. We both said that it was definitely a place we would go back to with the them. It had lots of things for kids to do. Even the shows at night included all the kids on the resort.

So we are now finally getting back into our regular routine. It is nice to be home and even nicer that the weather is starting to warm up. It is going to be so nice to spend our days outside, instead of being couped up in the house all day. Grandma and Grandpa will be home next week from Florida and the girl's are super excited about seeing them.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

We hope everyone had a great Easter. This year Brian & I had an absolute blast getting the girl's Easter bags ready, and hiding all the Easter eggs for them. We decided to keep the eggs at eye level because although we knew the girl's were excited for the egg hunt, we didn't know whether or not if they would look under things for their eggs from the Easter bunny. Of course we were wrong! As soon as they saw their baskets and the eggs that were left on the stairs, they were off!! Especially Olivia, she was looking everywhere for Easter eggs. Under cushions, behind doors. We now know that we will have to get a little more creative for next year.Here they are showing off all their Easter goodies After the Easter egg hunt was over we all got ready to head over to Baka & Dida's house for Easter dinner and of course another egg hunt.

I was only able to get Avery in a picture with her Easter dress on because Olivia was just not co-operating with me on having to wear a dress. She actually threw a tantrum and the went to hide behind her slide and would not come out. After a little bribing on my part, she finally agreed to come out. The deal was that as soon as we got to Baka's house she could take her dress off. It worked but she still refused to take a picture.

As you can see by the time we got to Baka's house, the next Easter egg hunt was on as soon as we walked through the door, and she forgot all about the deal we had made at home about her dress.Not only did the Easter bunny bring chocolate eggs to Baka's house, he also brought some new princess dresses.

Lately the girl's LOVE to dress up. Every morning after breakfast we come up stairs put in a CD and dance around for about an hour. Before I start the music they have to be dressed up from head to toe in what they call their "wedding dresses". Especially Avery. She is obsessed with anything that has to do with a princess, ballet, Barbie, dancing, and singing. A true little girl.

Olivia enjoys getting dressed up too but not as much as Avery. She will at least dance to the music in whatever she is wearing, while Avery on the other hand will make me stop the music until she feels she has enough of my clothes on her to dance around in. The real funny part about her having this fascination is that even when the music stops she still continues to wear all these clothes around the house for the entire day!

Two little princesses
Waiting for her Prince...

Who at this point is Daddy!!

GETTING READY FOR EASTER!!

FIRST HAIRCUT!!!