Isaac and his Lego Pirate Set

Several months(maybe years) ago Ricky and Hillary drove out from Albany with a car packed full of boxes. In addition to the boxes of stuff which had been in my closet for 27 years were several Lego sets which Nadine had given Isaac from Brendan.

Earlier in the month, I spent a few hours a night for almost a week, sorting through the thousands of pieces and aligning all of the pieces to the corresponding sets. After this arduous task was completed, I assembled a few of the more intricate sets so Isaac could play with them. Miriam found this quite entertaining and decided to take a picture of me in my overwhelmed state.....We decided to place all of the sets in the storage space in the basement so we could strategically dole these out over a long period of time.

Well....that did not work. Isaac noticed all of these the other day and began asking about them. We decided to give him the Pirate set to play with and later began building some of the less complex sets together.

He is really starting to get the hang of following the instructions and building some of the easier things. So far we have built; a house, a milk delivery truck, a forklift, an airplane and an elephant.

He can entertain himself for a long time playing with his Pirate set. Here are a few more pictures and a video.

A few pictures from the weekend (07/25/08)

Friday was Isaac's last day at Little Explorers. Miriam took some pictures at Cranbrook when she picked him up.

On Saturday we took the kids to the zoo for picnic lunch. We decide to eat with the llamas. There are few pictures of us watching them and then while we sat down to have lunch, they actually decide to stand up and have lunch.

After lunch we walked by the wolverines and they really playing rough, so we hung out and watched that for a while before heading to the farm and of course the play ground.

Sunday Isaac helped Miriam with some yard work. He was in charge of pruning the bushes.
Here are some more pictures and a video of the Wolverines playing.

Olivia Walks - The Movie

It has been a few days since Olivia took her first steps, but we finally caught her on video!

This is actually something new she has been doing. She sits on the step in the family room and stands up without using her hands. Then she will take a few steps. This particular time she was walking to Isaac for him to catch her. When she falls they both find it very amusing.

Later we all went down to the basement to play around so there are a few more pictures and the video above at the link.

Olivia Begins Walking and Isaac Starts Little Explorers

After work I came home and we were all playing in the basement. Olivia was standing up holding on to the futon and the next thing we know she is standing in the middle of the room!!! She had taken 3-4 steps before we even noticed she was walking.

The rest of the night all she wanted to do was practice walking back and forth between Miriam and me. She can take about 4 steps at a time before falling into our arms. We were having so much fun no one had time to get the camera. We will try to take some video of her practicing over the weekend.

Isaac also started Little Explorers camp today at the Cranbrook Institute of Science. He will go Thursdays and Fridays for two weeks. Today; he made an Owl mask, went on a nature walk, watched a movie in the Planetarium and learned all about meteorites! He seemed to really enjoy the day and told us all about it at dinner.

Mexico - Day 5 Travelling home

Monday we headed home. Coquis dropped us off at the airport at 11AM for our 2 PM flight back to Detroit. Upon check in we were told our flight was delayed until 6PM. This made for a "fun day" in the airport. We spent quite some time walking around...luckily they just finished a beautiful new terminal, so we took a ride in the airtram, walked around the anthropology museum and spent some time in a bookstore. Once we got on the plane the flight was pretty good. We had a direct flight in first class which helped. Isaac slept almost the entire flight and Olivia walked up and down the aisles.

We arrived home around 1:30 AM on Tuesday morning exhausted and went straight to sleep.

We had an incredible time and it was great to see our relatives in Mexico and celebrate Lita Tina's 90th Birthday with all of them!!

There are just a few pictures, but check out the short video to get a feel for the day in the airport.

Mexico Day 4 - Soccer on the Patio and Lunch in Polanco

Sunday we woke up, had breakfast and Isaac wanted to play some soccer up on the patio. This is becoming an annual tradition.

Later we headed to Polanco with Coquis and Octavo to meet Rodrigo, Edith and Julia for Lunch. While we were waiting for a table Isaac made some friends and they played with their toys on the sidewalk while Olivia and Julia said good morning.

After lunch we had a nice walk through Polanco and took the kids back to the playground. Now that it was the weekend, the playground was much more crowded so we relaxed on a bench for a while and blew bubbles before heading into the play structure.

There are plenty more pictures and a video.

Mexico Day 3 - Lita Tina's 90th Birthday

Coquis picked us up at the hotel and we all arrived at Lita Tina's house around noon for the party. Isaac helped Tio Hector dry off the bounce house slide before everyone else arrived. When his cousins arrived they played on it continuously until we left around 7PM.

It was great to see everyone and celebrate; Lita Tina, Lita, Tia Georgina, Tio Hector, Tia Martha,Tio Felix, Coquis, Octavo, Laura, Edith, Rodrigo, Julia, Juanita, Ricardo, Leo and Eric. We had a really nice time, the food was great, there was cake, dancing and oh yeah did I mention the "Bounce House" slide.

Here are some more pictures and two video compilations from the party.

Also, don't miss Isaac's "Funny Face Album". He went around with the camera and asked everyone to make a funny face.

Mexico Day 3 - Breakfast with Miriam's Friends

Saturday morning we woke up early to meet Miriam's friends from Elementary school for Breakfast. We all hung out in the lobby for a few minutes and checked out the fish that swim in the floor. Veronica picked us up and brought us to meet Sylvia and Alejandra. We had a really nice breakfast and Sylvia brought some class pictures from when they were all in school together.

Here are a few more pictures from the morning...

Mexico Day 2 - Friday Night

Friday night we headed over to Tia (Aunt) Georgina's house where we met Tia Georgina, Lita, Ricardo, Leo, Edith, Julia and Juanita. Isaac was really excited all week to see his cousins so he could not wait to get over there and start playing.

Tia Georgina's apartment complex has a park so we ended up going there after a quick dinner.

Then we came back to the apartment and all of the kids opened and played with presents. Julia and Miriam made Tiara's! Leo played with his space shuttle and then we sang songs and had dessert (Jello Dinosaurs!!).

For more Pictures and Videos click here

Mexico Day 2 - Playground

After breakfast Olivia and I toured the hotel lobby and spa while Isaac and Miriam were getting ready.

Then we all headed to the park and ended up in the play structure for quite some time. Since it was a week day the playground was relatively empty and the kids were able to play on almost everything. Isaac was running around being a Tiger and growling and Olivia would growl back.

Here are some more pictures and another video compilation.

Mexico Day 2 - Morning in the Hotel

The kids woke up early and played quite a bit in the hotel this morning. Isaac decided he wanted to get in Olivia's crib and then she joined him. I took a littlke tour of the room on video and highlighted some of teh interesting views.

Later Isaac wanted to go on a mission to the moon....then Olivia decided she wanted to play in Isaac's bed.

Pictures and a video here.

Mexico - Travel Day

We spent most of the day travelling. The kids were great on the airplanes and Isaac got to use his new "Rolly" bag and Olivia got to push the stroller.

Miriam's Tio (Uncle) Hector and her cousin Hope picked us up at the airport in Mexico. We went to the hotel checked in and then went for a quick dinner with Tio Hector before all getting to bed.

There are just a few pictures from today and a short video, but stay tuned there are many more pictures and videos from the rest of the trip!

Flashback!

Here is a picture of Grandpa Ricky and David (circa 1975ish).

Check out those shirts!! My collar extends past my shoulders, groovy!!

Here is a similar one of David and Isaac...I am sure we can make fun of these shirts in 30 years too! Or my torn jeans!

4th of July Weekend 2008

Friday we headed out early to the carnival. On the way we stopped and watched the parade for a few minutes(which was enough for everybody...). This year Isaac went through the obstacle course, the Nemo bounce house, the Slide, played with the Slot cars and went for a pony ride.

Later Giovanni, Michaela and Julia joined us for a BBQ and then we all headed to the park to watch the fireworks. We also met Miriam's friend Leila and her family there.

The Fireworks were incredible. All of the kids really enjoyed them and stayed awake for the whole show this year!

For more pictures and a video of this year's festivities click on the link.

Don't forget to check out 4th of July 2007 too!

and here is a picture from 2006.

Refrain from the babyfat jokes please....for either of us....

Isaac's Pre-School Class Picture

Here is a picture of Isaac's 1st Pre-School Class

Isaac is wearing his tie-dyed spaceship shirt and his green Crocs...

The Magician and some random pictures from around the house

Tonight we went to dinner and there was a magician at the restaurant! (Lita planned this....). The kids were really fascinated with the magic tricks. Between acts (AKA - dinner) they did some of their own tricks and Miriam told some jokes to keep the audience warmed up. Make sure to watch the videos.

Also there are a few pictures of the kids playing at home.