First steps

This week my girl has been doing her first ever week of all-day anything frankly. Up until now all of her activities have strictly been either all morning or all afternoon, but in anticipation of our transition to big kid school I thought a week of all-day camp may help give her (and I) a sense of what's to come. Sure only having the boys at home is easier/harder/more/less noisy. I'm not going to lie.. I ugly cried after drop off on Monday morning, have been caught by my friends Danielle and Anne stalking her in the parking lot at the Y, and, after pickup on Tuesday when I found out she had forgotten her lunch for the field trip and lost her water bottle on the wagon at Lazy 5 ranch I almost pulled the plug on the entire endeavor. But we soldier on... and choke back a few tears along the way. Some quick shots I snagged on Monday.




label everything!!



before camp shot


looking a bit worried. She yelled at me after taking this picture.



off she goes - never looked back.


I went back after dropping off the boys at camp. Emi's group was lining up to go to the pool to take the swim test. (Spoiler alert -- she refused to take the test and therefore had been swimming all week with.a.life.vest. Ugh!!


I read this last week (yes, on Pinterest) and its supposed to be for the first-day-of-school but it's been in my head and it's so so true of how this feels...

I wonder if you could possibly understand
How hard it is for me to let you go.
On this day know that my heart breaks, 
For this is the first step in letting my baby go.

Now I've got some stalking to do...

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q viven los novios

Far too late in finally posting wedding pics...  Note: these are crazy blurry - phone is/was dying combined with people who wouldn't stop moving for 3 seconds equals a hot mess picture-wise.

Rehearsal Cocktail:

 sweet baby Lucia... she chilled the.whole.night.

 Reception:

 Papa had gotten Emi a super cool wedding sticker book for her amazing job as a flower girl.  It was a huge hit during the cocktail hour.

 kids table

lucky table 12 - probably one of the noisiest tables. (and mrs. castro? HA!)

 i had a lot of pictures like this one.  these people don't.stop.moving.

 little cousins and the big girl cousin.

emi is the blur on the left.

The Sunday after there just HAPPENED to be a Redskins game.  We are crazy, rabid, die-hard Redskins fans.  We crammed 9 adults into the minivan for what can only be described as a highly illegal drive to the game.  But totally worth it.  Nothing cures a hangover like football, an ice-cold beer, a Ben's Chili Bowl half smoke and screaming with joy because your team won.

 outside the suites before the game.

 even the beer tastes better.

day late and a dollar short

Remember Christmas?  Like 6 months ago?

I was just loooking through my pictures and realized I never blogged about it.  So here goes - the quick and dirty version...

This is a random shot my photographer friend Mandy took of Emi in her Christmas ensemble.  For as many amazing photographer friends as I have, I take some spectacularly craptastic pictures of my own. To be remedied Fall 2013!! :)

Over the holiday we went to the National Children's Museum at the Inner Harbor with the kids and my Dad.  If you are in the DC area I HIGHLY recommend it.  It's brand new - full of fun interactive activities and nearby are some great kid-friendly places to eat.  It's just over the WW Bridge from Old Town/GW Parkway (or, for us, an hour and a half - long story).

waiting for story time to begin.

my blurry boys.

This year was our last Christmas in the house on Fort Worth Ave.  And it was a doozy.  Spectacular cardiac potatoes and a living room brimming with love (and noise... and wrapping paper...) Fortunately, no near-traumatic brain injuries or terrifying falls down hardwood stairs this year.

 a tiny bit freaked by the chaos.  he got in to it though.

 like how Javier is attacking me with the wrapping paper?

 like how my mom and i coordinated our outfits?  what the hell is the matter with us???

glee!

taking it all in.

poor Nena - still in her scrubs from her 12 hr shift at the hospital.  the perils of being a 1st year.

Futbol

In honor of Emi's first goal in an actual game (thus helping her team win 2-1 against the Crocodiles) I thought I'd post a couple pictures about futbol. Soccer has become a big part of our schedule - weekly games plus weekly practices and a dad who's a bit of a soccer fanatic mean when we are not at an actual game or practice there's still a lot of soccer ring practiced in the backyard. I actually didn't get to see this week's game because Coach Papa insisted in taking her by himself so he could 'coach' from the sidelines (a definite 'no no') - guess it worked.

All pics taken on phone.



Some of our Saturday morning games have been awfully chilly.



Why would he sit in his own chair when he could sit in mine?






Suiting up for practice. Shes a pro a doing this in the car - shinguards, tall socks and cleats.






Keeping these two crazies entertained during practices (I'm by myself for them) is a full-time job. Should've taken a pic of my bag of tricks - balls, books, snacks, games, Kleenex, etc. anything to keep them off the field. Fortunately there's a playground next door. Unfortunately it means I sometimes find this nut doing this...



before i can get to him. Yikes.


Last week's practice included rain and hail. Had to use the picnic blanket as an actual blanket until practice was called.

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