Home from SeaWorld

The stars of the show - Our friend, Anthony (top), whose birthday we went to SeaWorld to celebrate (three families totalling 15 of us!) And of course, Shamu.

I didn't know how close you'd get to start growing gills or a spout when you go to SeaWorld. It'd been so many years since I'd been there. I learned it would be a good idea to wear your bathing suit, or some other type of clothing that dries quickly. Because if you really want to experience it all there, you certainly are likely to get saturated. We did! It was a lot of fun. I don't have a lot of time now to write about it, but we, especially Isabella and me (thanks to the ride, Atlantis), were soaked to our underwear and socks by the end of the day. Some pictures:

Arriving at the park all fresh and ready to go.

Liam insisted on moving down to the very front during the Shamu show, to be sure that he got splashed by Shamu. The splash zone is probably from row one until row 40. But he wanted to be all the way down in front. So, his faithful father took him down to the front. Isabella thought she would like it down there too. She changed her mind soon though, and moved about 8 rows back with me. Still in the splash zone, mind you!

The funny part was, Liam kept thinking Shamu was not going to indulge him in a good splash in the face. After having splashed most of the others in the front row of the rest of the stands, and seeming to ignore entirely our side, Shamu finally gave a couple of good splashes at our end. Liam was delighted!


And check it out. We were several rows back from Liam and Edilberto, and we were drenched! Miss Isa was not too happy about it either!

Feeling rather special to have been splashed by a whale!

Moving right along..... The kids find yet another way to get totally drenched. See the pair of them running from the "wave" that just came over the rocks (simulated for kids to play in along with other splasy things.)

O.K., enough of those waves! Let's go get dry. We had to drag them off.

Time to dry-off and eat, and play games with Papai.

All the kids (and a couple of moms) together for a picture!

Is it really only Wednesday?

This has felt like a long week to me. Perhaps because I'm anticipating the weekend too much. We'll be heading north to Orlando with our neighbors. We're taking the kids to SeaWorld. It will be a nice end to Liam's Spring break from school. Then we'll start a very busy week with Liam getting back into school and Isabella with her dance class, me in my new work routine, and Edil helping out at the ministry he's been working with.

Isabella has dance rehearsals on Monday. Her teacher e-mailed and said that her class will be staying an extra hour. They have a recital in four weeks that they need to get ready for. I sat amazed watching her dance tonight. She has me put on some classical music quite often so she can dance. She really gets into the music and the mood of it. Very expressive and graceful.

Going to Orlando will be a first for us. We've been in Florida for over a year now, but haven't really gotten to enjoy our surroundings much. The beach isn't far from our house, but we don't see it often! Today, I was reminded that we're in Florida when I walked to my car and felt a very nice (for a change) cool and balmy breeze through my hair and on my face. It reminded me of the sea air when I lived in California near the beach. It's not always that the breeze is cool here and coming from off the water. I looked-up at the palm trees and appreciated where I was for a change (usually, I am just in a lot of traffic with nutty drivers, noise, sirens, endless strip-malls (grocery stores, $1 stores, Targets, etc. etc. It all looks the same around here.)

Happy Easter!

Our neighbor's doggie waiting to fetch an egg!

Easter Sunday....

The kids joined our next door neighbors in an Easter egg hunt. They had a great time.

Cherishing Moments

Today, Liam was off from school. It was a breezy day outside. I made a little ice cream party for the kids and our next door neighbor friend. They all had a really good time together laughing and playing and eating their ice cream. I thoroughly enjoyed just watching them have fun (and remembering the days when I had as much energy!)

Today and throughout this weekend, when we remember Christ's death and resurrection, we are thankful for LIFE that the Lord has given to us!

Some pictures from this afternoon:

The Best Loved Doll

One of my favorite books when I was a little girl was The Best Loved Doll, by Rebecca Caudill. I think of this book when I observe Isabella's love for her "Bow Baby." Bow Baby is actually the name Isabella gave to this doll, because she once had a bow attached to her head. It fell out the first time, and her Papai lovingly sewed it back into her plastic head. I don't know what happened to it, but it fell out again and never got put back.

Bow Baby was a Christmas gift that Isabella got from her grandma a couple of years ago. I actually picked her out for her not thinking she was the prettiest doll, but that she was one that could go in water. I knew Isabella would love to give this doll lots of baths. She loves to take care of her "babies."

Little did I know that even though Isabella has over a dozen baby dolls, Bow Baby, though certainly not the loveliest of the collection, remains her favorite one of all. Even though her bow is gone, one of her arms is holding on by a couple of threads, and she's getting more and more tattered. Isabella loves and cares for her all the same. After all, she's her Bow Baby.


Bow Baby (looks like her arm is out of the socket again)


Looks like Bow Baby is about to get seriously clean!
Bath Station Central is ready to go.
Isabella takes motherhood very seriously.

Congruency Anyone?

(Do you know which of these shapes are congruent?)

Admittedly, I am not a math head. But perhaps if I'd had geometry terms starting from the first grade, I might have done better at it later on. I was just helping Liam with his homework and he was having to draw a shape congruent to another one. He also has been taught to look at numbers in a way that will definitely help as his math advances. I wish I'd been taught like that. Maybe I wouldn't have had a belly ache everytime I had a math test to do.

Speaking of math heads...Happy Birthday today to my brother, Jim! (who as a kid was always very perplexed when he tried to help me with my math homework as to why I didn't understand what seemed so obvious to him!)

Long Time No Blog!

I've just come off of a crazy busy week. I am so enjoying a Saturday at home with the kids. We're here hanging-out, playing together, and getting some things done around the house as well. I started working with a non-profit, child sponsorship organization. Last week was my first week (see clue on my blog as to which organization!) I work with some pretty wonderful people and am impressed with the way the organization is run. It is a blessing to work in an organization that is an advocate for children living in poverty.

Edilberto's been very busy this week as well at the thrift store ministry that he's currently helping with. He's reorganizing the entire store as well as working in sales.

Last weekend, we enjoyed lunch out before church (we finally got to use a gift certificate we got at Christmas to the Cheesecake Factory! We chose the one downtown Ft. Lauderdale in the Las Olas district.) Here are some pictures from our time:

Can you see them saying with their eyes, "Hurry up and take the picture, Mom, so we can devour this chocolate mousse cheesecake!"



Edil is wearing his girlie reading glasses. They have

"diamond" rhinestones on the sides of the lenses!!!

Glimpses of the Future

Tonight, I was listening to my six year old son at the dinner table talk about the girl he's "going to marry." It was so adorable and cute. (He'd never forgive me if he knew I was writing this, so please don't tell!)

With a deep thoughtfulness and calm, he looked at me and said, "Mom, do you want to know who the girl is that I'm going to marry...? She's someone in my class." I knew who he was talking about, but then he said he wouldn't tell me. He said he was too embarrassed. I said, "I'm your mom. You don't ever need to be embarrassed." He then blushed, looked down and nodded when I guessed correctly the person he was meaning.

I tried to appear very normal in my expression as to let him know that I respected his seriousness in the matter. I asked him in a matter of fact kind of way, what it was in her that he thought would make her a good person for him to want to marry. He was so sincere in his answer, so serious, but with a little grin and twinkle in his eye. He said that it was because she likes to be with him, that they never fought, that she thought highly of him, that they had fun together. It was so absolutely pure and sweet.

We don't encourage talk of marriage or girlfriends, of course. Liam's just the kind of boy that has a lot of girls who like to hang-out with him. This particular girl swoons for him. He was the only person invited to her birthday party besides her multitude of cousins. He's a gentleman. He's a romantic and treats others with respect. It is fun to watch him grow in who he is and to see how he relates with the rest of the world. To hear his opinions, thoughts and ideas. It is remarkable watching both of our children grow. They never cease to amaze me.

What Kind of Shoe am I?

I didn't have a lot to blog about today, so I got this idea to do off of Robin's (Around the Island) blog.

You Are Flip Flops

You are laid back and very friendly. Cheery and sunny in disposition, you usually have something to smile about. Style is important to you, as long as you can stay casual. It takes a lot to get you to dress up! You are a loyal and true person, though you can be a bit of a flake. You tend to "play hooky" and blow off responsibilities a lot more than most people. You should live: By the beach You should work: At a casual up and coming company

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

*P.S. Amen to the "You should live: By the beach" part. You got it!

Sunday Was a Strange Day

We have a lot going on in our lives as do our neighbor friends. I feel caught-up in everybody elses' nerves (and my own) today. It was a strange day. It seemed like everyone I knew was having to alter plans they had because of unexpected things taking place. It was one of those days when nothing goes as planned.

I had expected for our family to join our church this afternoon, on an outreach. We were supposed to be serving at a ministry for foster children (kind of like a home that kids go to before they're placed in foster care). Our kids were looking forward to it. We were going to take games and crafts to play with the kids. It was my fault that we didn't get to go. I thought it was at 3 p.m. but it was in fact at 1 p.m. when I realized that, it was already 1:30 p.m. I was also in the middle of some other things to prepare for an important meeting I have tomorrow.

We had to run errands in the afternoon, so it was just as well we had time for that. Although I am very disappointed to not have gone with our church to this outreach; especially since the kids were so excited for it. I love opportunities to get to serve as a family in such a way.

On our way home from our errands, we took the scenic route (close to the water). There are very nice homes, yachts, etc. along the way to see. I mostly just wanted to see the water. There were a lot of traffic tie-ups on those obscure side streets. Some were due to people "cruising" through downtown areas, where there were sidewalk cafes that were local hang-outs. Some of the tie-ups were from bridges drawn to allow boats to pass. But the one tie-up that I found quite unbelievable was, for a child's birthday party!

It was more like a circus or carnival. I've seen these things in the movies, but never in "real life." It was on an ocean front property. We were stopped behind a long line of cars waiting to pass. We didn't know at the time what was up the road causing this delay. We saw one armed security person standing in front of a large house. But the commotion was a couple of doors down on an open lot.

They finally let our line of cars go through, after on-coming traffic passed-by first. We looked to our left to the property to see carnival rides, mardi-gras like clowns, ponies, and lots and lots of people. There was even VALET parking along the street (the handmade sign said so.) I saw a sign with the little girl's name on it whose birthday it apparently was. There were probably at least 50 very nice cars parked wedged along the narrow upscale road.

I'd never seen a party like that one! It just made me think of the children we used to work with in the slum in Brazil. When it was their birthday, we always made a big deal about it and held a party at the ministry house for them. Although we clumped all the month's birthday into one big party. The kids didn't mind. They were just so happy to have a birthday party given for them to celebrate their lives. Although we had no ponies, clowns or valet parking!