Camping

So I feel pretty confident in saying this was the final camping trip of the year!!  It started off great!  What, sweatpants and sweatshirts, awesome!  Until it got really cold, darn rain bringing the cold weather around!  We camped just outside of Flagstaff with some friends!  Cruz had a friend to play with, Camilla, which was very nice and they picked flowers and were able to dig and get dirty together.  It was a trip just trying to find clothes for Cruz to wear!  I'm proud to say he has grown lately!  Of course that being said I had to try like 5 pairs of pants on him to find some that still fit!  It was fun to wear "winter" clothes and relax in the nice fall air!  I love the smell of camp fire (when I'm actually camping anyway) and hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows.  

 Cruz and Camilla starting their hike

 Stopping to smell the flowers!

 "Here you go Mommy!"

 Our camp site

 Trucks and dirt, what more could a boy want!

 Is it getting cold out here or is it me?

 Funny being this cute!!

 Did you hear that?

The next morning, Brrrr!!!

Well, hopefully we'll get back out there for some more camping next summer!  Of course we will be four so maybe we'll wait one more year!!  ha!  We had a good couple times camping and Cruz really enjoys it so that makes me happy and is encouraging to continue going!  Something about seeing your little boy explore nature that's so cool!  

Pepere Memere visit!

There is nothing quite like a visit from family!!  It's great, things don't really change for Cruz which makes sleep and eating fairly normal except he has friends to play with at all times which means mommy gets to take a break!!  :o) (BIG SMILEY FACE!)  My parents came to visit for a whole week this time which was really nice.  For the most part we just hung around here.  It was still hot out (as it still is during the day) so we played inside a lot!  We were able to sneak out one day to Flagstaff and go hiking and out for lunch near the train tracks.  Yes, this is how we choose our restaurants these days, can we be outside so he can walk around and is it near something cool.  This place had it both!!  Plus it had beer for the grandparents to kick back!!  Good times!!

 hiking with Pepere/Memere

 Flagstaff in early fall, can't wait to get back out there when the aspens are in bloom!

Little rock climbers!

 yeah, we did it!

 Wilderness signs are always rustic and cool, ha!!

 1, 2, 3 ... wheeeee

 heading back, I guess there are some perks to being slow these days, like the next couple pictures!!

 me and my boy!

 As usual there is always added confusion with visitors, I gave my mom Cruz's pj's and said time to get ready for bed, I guess she forgot who's bed time it was!!  You can not see Cruz's face but needless to say he is cracking up laughing at the fact that Elmo was sitting in front of him talking.  We figured out the mix up and Cruz was soon put to bed!  I have to say he slept great all week!  The grandparents did a good job at tiring him out!  

 While Mem and Pep where here they took Cruz to buy a birthday gift.  Can you believe it, a birthday gift already, yes that's right my munchkin will be two in a couple weeks.  Crazy!!  He got a pretty awesome Harley tricycle.  He has been riding it around the house and even rode it the whole way to the park the other day.  It is pretty fun to watch him!  He's still a too short to reach the pedals but at least once he can reach them he'll be good and comfortable on the trike!  

It was great to have time with my parents once Cruz was in bed too!  I guess I don't document those times with pictures but it is nice to have them here even if for only a week at a time!! It was sad to see them off on their big big airplane but every once in a while when Cruz sees one and points it out he says, it's going to Florida like Pepere Memere.  Too cute!!

Love you mom and dad!  Miss you!!  XOXO

Mammoth

Ah, the return to Mammoth!  Well as all of you know I'm sure Mammoth Lakes is the wonderful town where Mario and I met!  So basically without Mammoth we wouldn't all be here right now!  Yes it is that dear to our heart!!  This past August we went back for a little family vacation.  Mario and I have both been back there since we left 8 years ago but this was our first time back together.  It was also Cruz's first trip and he loved it as much as we did!  We drove and it was a not so bad 10 hour drive!  No traffic so that was nice and it was just beautiful roads and mountains as a view, not too shabby!!  Cruz did awesome in the car, I hope baby number 2 is as great in the car because we tend to drive a lot!  Good thing for IPad's!!

We were lucky to have the whole gang there too!  Uncle Tony and Uncle Eric came to play.  We were able to stay with our good friend Agnes and it all worked out well because she was home to visit with despite her hectic summer schedule!  YEAH!!!

Cruz's first day in Mammoth we headed up to the mountain to watch Mario, Tony and Eric mountain bike and to take a nice scenic gondola ride.  He greatly enjoyed the sites, especially the big Woolly Mammoth or big big elephant in his eyes!!  

  Triple Trouble!  Heading up the gondola, getting ready to scare themselves on the great big mountain!!  The views from the top of the mountain and the gondola in the summer are unreal!  It is so beautiful and it was so nice to be back and just relax!!  I maybe would've liked to do a little mountain biking or some more hiking of my own too but there will be plenty of time for that in the future!!  Next year!!

 We took the gondola half way back down and my little man wanted to go hiking.  I guess I should've known better!!!  Now when you're hiking down a mountain it's going to be steep, right?  A 1 1/2 year old probably isn't going to like that too much and it may be a little too steep, ok ok, lesson learned!  ;o)  We made it though!  That's the important thing.  We were lucky enough to see Mario, Tony and Eric biking down the mountain as we were walking and also got to see some wild deer running in the woods (also didn't help with the fear factor!!)  It was a nice walk and it was so great to be in the cool mountainous terrain!  As you will see below lots of water and lots of breaks got us down.  It was fun and was rewarded with a great long nap!!

 Another day we went up to check out the lakes.  This is horseshoe lake and it was barely there!  It usually is filled almost to the parking lot and we had quite a hike to get there.  It was crazy to see but fun to play in and great for throwing rocks, one of our favorite hobbies!!

We had so much fun in Mammoth and will definitely be back again soon!  Hopefully next summer!  It was so great to see old friends and see the old stomping ground.  The good thing is that not too much changed and there are still a lot of familiar faces!  The biggest change was bringing Cruz!  That was so weird and so special!  I hope to continue to visit so he will love it as much as we do!  

Thanks Tony, Eric and Agnes for making is such a fun weekend!  Agnes your hospitality was amazing!  So nice to see everyone!  Until next summer!!  XOXO!

Music Man

Cruz has been quite the little singer the past month or so.  He usually just makes up songs or sings words but a couple weeks ago he was singing "Tinkle wadar" so I asked him if he needed to use the potty.  He said "No, I singing, mama sing it"  It took me a minute before I realized he was singing "Twinkle Wonder Up Up High"  He had just condensed the song into one sentence.  Needless to say my heart was smiling like it never had before and a tear ran down my cheek, what a cutie!!

So I know every time I right to you guys lately I'm apologizing because it's been so long but what can you do.  My laptop is broken which is what I always use and has all my pics, etc on it.  The good news is that I finally dished out my computer connector for my camera and have everything I need to write to you on my desktop now.  The excuse remains though, I am pregnant and go to sleep at 9:30 most nights not to mention by the time Cruz goes to bed I am exhausted!!  I thought this middle trimester was suppose to replenish some of your energy.  If this is true then don't hold your breather for too many posts  ;o)  Although I do appreciate you checking in once in a while!!

We did have an awesome weekend in Mammoth a couple weekends ago and definitely have some pics to come!  Chat later!  I hope everyone is doing great!

XOXO

Baby on Board

Mario, Cruz and I are so excited to officially announce that our awesome threesome will soon be a magnificent foursome!  We are expecting baby A #2 due December 24, 2012.  I have been trying to think of a creative way to let you all know and to let you play the guessing game with us ... boy? or girl?  This was our fun, yummy game we played below!  

I know some of the pics are hard to see the colors, etc. so in case you didn't follow it completely baby A #2 is a girl (he chose the pink ice cream cone)!  We are so excited!  Cruz knew it all along! When we went to our first ultrasound I said "Look Cruz that's the baby, that's either your baby brother or baby sister".  He looked at me with his sweet innocent face and said confidently, "Baby Sistew".  Since then he rubs my belly, puts lotion on it, kisses it goodnight and has ALWAYS referred to my belly as baby sister.  He looks in my belly button and says, "I see her"  haha!  He is already a sweet big brother and cannot wait to see him in action!

I hope everyone is doing well!

XOXO

A big thanks to my good friend Megan for the adorable pics, as usual!  You ROCK!!

Sanchez wedding

I finally stole some pictures of the amazing Sanchez wedding from facebook!  It was such a beautiful wedding.  It took place at Firestone Vineyard which was a very elegant and gorgeous vineyard.  We had so much fun and even Cruz was up until midnight enjoying the party (well he had been laying on my shoulder for a couple hours but still awake watching all the cousins get down).  We are so happy for Kenny and Liliy and totally jealous of the amazing honeymoon pictures I saw!! 

 The beautiful newlywed couple and us

 Cruz playing ring around the rosey in the grass.  Couldn't get him to wear a jacket but he still looked handsome!

Cruz and Mario prepping for Cruz's big walk down the aisle.