On Monday, I took my mom and sis to Cranes Roost to walk around and watch Cristiana feed and chase the ducks. It was bit on the hot side so we didn't stay too long but my sis did get a few good pics of Cristiana w/the ducks.
This Father's Day was spent @ the Lowry Park Zoo. My mom and sis were in town and dad's got in free that day, so it was a wonderful way to spend Father's Day out and about. We enjoyed everything the zoo had to offer, except we missed out on some of the perks. We unfortunately didn't get to feed the birds because when we got there, the birds were all "full," I guess from their previous session (strike 1). Then we went to feed the Giraffes, and wouldn't you know it, all 3 Giraffes were as stubborn as could be and decided to ignore us while we stood there with a giraffe cookie in our hands (strike 2). We headed to the kids area so that Cristiana could ride a pony, and though the sign said the pony rides were open until 4:30pm, the keepers had them in their stalls and bathing @ 4pm (strike 3). No luck for us that day, but we did still have a great time and the Cristiana ended a fun trip with time in their splash area, which was also met w/tears when the water was turned off as the zoo closed its doors for the day. We did enjoy some yummy authentic Cuban food there in Tampa (as we always do), Lord knows not many places here in Orlando have real authentic Cuban food (even though they say they are), and drove home.
Thanks for the pics sis!
Here are some pics of the crazy girls (Cristiana and Ava) having fun @ Birthday World. These girls LOVE doing everything. They Love the rides and the inflatables and running a muck in their glow in the dark mini golf. It's always a great time! Thanks for the pics Kristin!.
We made our first trip out this summer to the beach w/Kristin & Ava. The weather was beautiful (not too hot but sunny) and the girls had a blast running around and being silly together. This was our first trip to New Smyrna which everyone who knows me, knows I always love the Gulf but it's only 1hr. away and you can park on the beach so you don't have to lug all your stuff along w/your toddler. Kristin got some great pictures of the girls, thanks Kristin for sharing! We look forward to having more beach trips to New Smyrna now that we know how convenient it is for us.
Here are some pics of the fun we've been having this summer. Short trips to Sea World and enjoying their small Splash Area, lots of "swimming" in Ava's pool, meeting new friends, and of course the weekly fun @ My Gym where Ava and Cristiana seem to really like to hide together (see pics). Thanks to everyone who have been gracious enough to e-mail us pics, since mommy finally broke the camera!
For Memorial Day we went over to the
Grant's hou
se for a yummy b-b-q. We had a great time in the pool and having yummy drinks (Thanks for the wonderful appletinis Joe).
Our Labor Day mom's group party was held @ the Dr. Phillips Splash Park. It's such a great park but just a bit far for us. Cristiana had a great time hanging out with her friends, especially Amelia but was not particularly interested in getting wet. She did really enjoy the dry playground once we left the splash area.
Our last full day in NY, we headed to the Museum of Na
tural History and enjoyed 2 cool live animal exhibits that were on display, butterflies and reptiles. Cristiana kept trying to get a butterfly to land on her, but when one would fly near her she would cover herself. It was very funny. Cristiana's uncles Anthony and Cristopher were able to join us as well and ofcourse she loved every min. with them. She held their hands and ran around like a nut. She's so cute with them. Our final exhibit was to visit the pacific statute that is shown in the Night at the Museum movie. The boys kept saying one of the lines from the movie "Dum..dum, want some gum..gum?" and Cristiana of course repeated it and thought it was hilarious.
Our trip to the airport the following day was bit hectic, we had lost our licenses, and though my friend Toya e-mailed us a copy of our passports, we didn't have anything authentic. We did undergo a much thorough check than all the rest of the passengers but it went quicker than we expected and were able to catch our flight on time. I thought Cristiana would sleep during the flight since we intentionally flew during her nap time, but of course she didn't and actually fell asleep as soon as the plan landed in Orlando. Great timing Cristiana! New York was lots of fun and a great experience for Cristiana since she met so many new family members.
Our final days were spent w/my sister in the city. I was really worried about the city noises keeping Cristiana up, but she was a champ, slept right through them and even feel asleep on the subway on our way back from the zoo. We had a great time visiting the Central Park Zoo (didn't get many pictures, since my sister brought her camera but left the battery at home). The landscaping is great and the kids zoo is very cute (little hideouts and cubbyholes to take pictures in and even some animals to feed). After Cristiana's nap that day which began in the subway, don't understand how she falls asleep and stays asleep with the loud sounds of being underground in the subways, but you drop a pin at home and she's up, we headed to Times Square, mostly to visit the huge Toys R Us they have. Cristiana had the opportunity to pet one of the police horses that were hanging out in Times Square, she was VERY excited about this. Then she saw it! THE BIG TOYS R US with the HUGE Toy Story 3 display (which we plan on taking her since she loves Toy Story, especially Buzz). Inside this store, they have a really cool ferris wh
eel, each car is themed as a specific toy, like one car is made out of Legos, another one is the little red coupe all kids love, there's a barbie convertible, and few others. Cristiana rode with Papi on Scooby's Mystery Machine. Papi said she had a great time, but the ride was rather long and was ready to get off when her ride was over. We explored the store and she LOVED every min. of it, from playing with the puppets (it was very funny) to playing with the HUGE Thomas Train track (we literally had to peel her away from that), to visiting the Babie section which is inside a 2 story live sized barbie house. She did not want to leave the store!
Here's 2 video's of her feeding a cow and enjoying the penguins @ the Central Park Zoo, make sure to pause the music at the bottom of the blog before playing the videos.
On Sunday we headed to Six Flags in NJ w/my sister and her hubby. Our original plans were to take Cristiana to Sesame Place but unfortunately due to colder temperatures, the water rides were not operational leaving us with only 1/2 of the park for the same entrance fee. With a heavy heart we opted for Six Flags, which actually turned out to be a great idea, since to my surprise, they had like 4 kid areas spread out around the park with great rides and playgrounds to enjoy. Though we spent most of our time riding the rides w/Cristiana, which she will ride ANYTHING you put her on (such a 
thrill seeker like her parents!), the adults still did get to enjoy 2 really great coaster, one called Kingda Ka, which is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the WORLD! This coaster reaches 128mph in 3.5 seconds and soars to 456ft high in the air. Lines for all the rides were thankfully short and I think Cristiana had the best time of all us, riding 9 rides and riding 2 different carousels 3 times total. She also had some time to show off her dance moves during the Looney Tunes show we watched (see video). We also enjoyed the driving Safari. Most animals are free roaming and you get to enjoy them up close and personal (we saw up a giraffe's nose from our sun roof and even had an ostrich peck at our car's side view mirror.)
Our NY trip had lots of fun adventures and crazy sleepless nights. We started off with a bit of a cranky Cristiana since we woke her up to leave for the airpor
t. We flew Jet Blue thinking it would make the trip easier since they have little personal TVs for everyone, but unfortunately because they only show Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network which Cristiana never watches and the satellite connection of the TVs dropped quite a few times, it did not help. Monica had lent us a portable DVD player, but of course we forgot to charge it before we got on the plane. We arrived in NY and she met her Abuelo (Jaime's biological father) for the first time and finally decided to take a nap on the way to their house in Floral Park. Woke up as soon as we got there, which clocked her for only a 30min. nap, but what we didn't realize was that this would set the stage for her naps for most of the trip. Cristiana met her uncles (5 and 7 yr olds Antony and Cris) and LOVED them from the get go. Every night was a struggle because she preferred to play with the boys instead of sleep, but our first night there, she must have also felt a little uneasy because she would NOT let me put her down in her Aerobed and finally fell asleep with us on our bed with her arms wrapped around my neck with no release in sight!Since Cristiana is a crazy sleeper, I did not get much sleep that night either. Following day we went to visit Jaime's mom near Rockaway Beach, where Cristiana was able to meet some additional family memebers (on Jaime's mother's side). We enjoyed a walk on the beach with Abuela #2 (which was quite nippy) and some fun in a park. Cristiana finished the day off eating dinner with her uncles and being as crazy as ever with them (pictures of her wearing the red shirt and crazy hair). On Friday we ventured off to the Lincoln Science Center with my sister. Cristiana had a great time playing in their kids area and really enjoyed the wind simulator they had (a hose with air blowing out) as well as the giant balloon wand. On Saturday we were on the road most of the day. We first ventured off to meet more of Jaime's family (on his dad's side) in White plains and then back to Rockaway for Jaime's cousin's baby shower where again Cristiana met even more family. Though our time at the baby shower was short, Cristiana had a blast dancing to great spanish music (see video).
So we leave for NY tomorrow and I have FINALLY finished Cristiana's babydoll carrier. She loves to bring her everywhere and I figured it would be easier for all of us if she had her in a back or front sling carrier. I had no pattern or measurements for this thing, just did it from pictures of others I found on-line and my own personal improv. It has many design flaws and after doing it I realized the various EASIER ways I could have done it. But anyways, it works for the most part and serves the purpose I intended. Cristiana seems to like it and hopefully it will help keep her happy and excited about out trip.
So, the heat has finally arrived. Seems like we went from winter straight to summer but along with the heat comes the water play. This weekend I pulled out Cristiana's pool and she had a ball! She kept crawling around it and saying "mommy..I Swimming" it was really cute and she looked adorable in her bikini.
