Mother-Daughter time...

After Ms. Jess' visit, I was running out to get a pedicure and Liliana begged me to let her come along.  I  wasn't sure how I felt about this. My friend and I were having a conversation about this exact thing the other day.  With both of the children, I feel a responsibility to be a good role model.  But with Liliana I feel a greater pressure.  I will be the primary female role model for her..the first one she looks to to set an example, etc.  I didn't know if I wanted her to get her nails done.  Part of me thought it would be a great thing to do together, but part of me was thinking "you do this and she will want makeup at age eleven."  In the end I decided to go with my first instinct and that was to take her and let her get her nails done.  She had a ball!

The woman who worked with her was so nice, even put little flowers on her big toes as an added bonus!

Both of our nails...

Look at the little flowers....

Back to School (part one)...

Today was the beginning of getting the kids ready for school.  At the preschool they will be attending, each teacher does a "home visit" to meet their students.  Lucas and Liliana are in the same class this year and their teacher is Miss Jess.  She was kind enough to have the home visit in the afternoon so that I could be home for it as well.

The twins showing Miss Jess their playroom.

Miss Jess also took a picture of each of them to use in the classroom. (I meant to get a picture where you can see more than the back of her head, but I forgot)

We got their school folders today (that need to go in their backpacks), we found out they are in a nut-free classroom (ugh!) and we got all the necessary forms to fill out about who can pick them up, etc.  Next week is "orientation" where they will go to the school for about a half an hour.  The week after that, they will start M-F 8:30-11:30.  

Soaking up every last drop of summer.

On Sunday, the Lewertoff's invited us out on a boating adventure.  Trying hard to make the most of summer before it slips away.

Liliana is simply fearless (so is Lucas, just don't have a good pic of it)

Felix at the wheel....oh boy.

This is our lovely Compo Beach, just a different view from the water this time.

Thanks so much to Arne, Katrin, Lucas and Josephine for having us out for such a fun adventure!

Look who got a haircut!

It's been three and a half years and Liliana has gone without a haircut this whole time.  Her hair is so curly, it is not necessary.  But she started to get this one section in the back that grew longer than whole rest of her head, so we took her to the same place we took Lucas for his first cut.

All done...nice and even.

Showing off her certificate proudly.  

End of summer...

The summer is winding down.  Here are some highlights of our days since we got back from Disney.

Mead Park with Aba.

One Friday I took the kids to the beach by myself and we enjoyed a peaceful, quiet, weekday morning at Compo.

We were back a few days later for dinner at the beach with the Lewertoffs.

Stopped by our neighbors for dinner and drinks...and dress-up! 

Lucas was sorely outnumbered by the girls...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

And finally Levitt Pavilion for the last children's concert of the summer (with the Lewertoffs again!)

Heading home...

After five great days, it was time to start back home.  We left at 5:30 from Orlando and planned to stop somewhere around D.C. for the night.

Stopped at South of the Border on the way back....

We hit a lot of traffic in the Carolina's , most  likely from Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head.  And as we approached D.C. we realized the next morning we would hit the same type of traffic from Ocean City and the Jersey Shore.  So, on the fly, we decided to motor through and go straight to Norwalk.  We would arrive late, but at least we would not have to deal with all the traffic the next day.  We arrived at 2:30 am.  It was hard on the kids, and I felt bad that they were in the car the whole day.  But we were all happy to wake up in our house come Sunday morning.

We had a great time.  I hope they remember it (although I doubt they will).  At least they will have these documented memories.  And rest assured...we will be back Disney!

Hollywood Studios

The last park we went to was Hollywood Studios.  We were up and out the door early, and we arrived we saw all these people already there (park wasn't opening for ten minutes or so)  You can't see it here, but there were around 200-300 people in line.  However, that was the line you had to form if you took the tram from the parking lot.  We walked from the parking lot-it really wasn't that far) and so we got to go in a side entrance and skip all that mayhem.

First thing?  Little Mermaid show.

After that we went to the Disney Junior show.  It was great to go to all these shows because it was really hot and all these shows had AC.

This was supposed to look like a movie set I think...

We saw the Beauty and the Beast Show too.  Disney is great at anticipating crowds.  We saw a number of shows throughout our stay there and never were we turned away from a show.  There are a lot of people, but they have so many shows throughout the day, you can always get in.  

Getting ready to ride the Toy Story Mania ride.

What they had for the kids was great, but they didn't have as much as we thought they would.  So by 1 pm, after we had done it all, we decided to beat the heat, head back to the hotel and enjoy one last afternoon at the pool before we left the next day.

After four full days, the kids were beat and were out like a light .

Rest Day

After two full days at the parks (and being out until 11:30 pm for fireworks the night before) we decided to take a break for a day.  Our room package came with a $200 credit to our room.  So we ordered room service for breakfast and spent most of the day by the pool enjoying some drinks.

The hotel had a water slide which was a big hit.

This was the first vacation where Felix and I could actually sit by the water and just let the kids play.  They were very cute, playing games together a lot of the time.

After a nap, we all headed off to Downtown Disney.  Its not a park, just a marketplace for shopping and eating where you can walk around and spend some time.

Liliana found Cinderella...

And Lucas found the Lego store..

And tried racing the car he built...

The main reason we went was because Jake and the Neverland Pirates (a show on Disney Junior) was having a show at the outdoor theater.  It was funny to watch how many parents were singing along as well.  

Afterwards we went to the T-REX Cafe for dinner.  It was quite  the place.  There were animals of all sorts all over the place

Afterwards, we headed out to Walmart and let the kids each pick a Disney toy, whatever they wanted.

Lucas chose Buzz Lightyear, Liliana chose Ariel and well...Felix chose Bud Light.  :-)