San Francisco in September

Earlier in September Karina and I joined Omar on a business trip to San Francisco. I expected it to be a breeze with Karina because of her mild temperment, but she was sick and had somewhat of a rough time. We still had a blast and we even got to see our good friend Anna who just moved back home after being in Austin 3 years. I also had breakfast with two former coworkers but forgot to take our picture. We also visited Sonoma for the day. I loved reminiscing about our time there as newlyweds.

SONOMA

SAN RAFAEL

A rainy Marathon kids

This was our first Marathon kids and it RAINED!! Nonetheless, the girls had fun and were so proud to have run their first mile of the year.

Centroamericanto Fest at the Cactus Cafe

guillermo a video by josiegut on Flickr.

Clip of Guillermo Anderson

Centroamericanto Fest

Centroamericanto Fest is a festival showcasing Central American singer song writers. My family is Honduran so when I learned about the festival, I had to attend and I had to invite my parents. It was a pretty hot day for September. I kept the girls cool by spraying them with a water mister I brought and we drank plenty of agua de sandia and agua de limon, oh and I can't forget the super delicious homemade pupusas I devoured. Later that night we got a babysitter for a night performance of the Central American music artists at the Cactus Cafe, a favorite music venue of mine here in Austin. My favorite Central American singer of the night was Guillermo Anderson who turned out to be from Honduras in the same town and neighborhood that my mom lived. She didn't know him but it was neat to learn that. If you like the Putamayo Children's CD's, he's also featured on the Animal Playground CD. Below are some pictures of the day. I also have a separate video post of Guillermo Anderson because I couldn't figure out how to include it here.

Thanks Target!

In September, Elena and Marisa's school was awarded $25,000. The school had a big celebration to express our gratitude. It felt like a school pep rally with pom poms and cake.

Summers End--August

This year I wanted to have a laid back summer with the girls. I intentionally didn't sign them up for camps or committed to any organized activity. I was nervous about doing this but in the end I was glad I did. It was the best summer thus far and I was sad when it came to an end. The one thing I did do was sign up for a gym membership. It was mostly for them because this gym has a great pool for the kids so we spent many afternoons there. We played a lot at home and went everywhere together. I mean everywhere. I adamently avoided the grocery store with all three and made friends with the drive-thru convenient store that saved me when we ran out of milk. I had minimal breaks but it was so nice not to have to be anywhere at a certain time. I think I will consider doing this again. The most difficult thing for me sometimes is just getting out the door. It was so nice to get that stress of my shoulders. Some pics below of our last month this summer.

Omar and I went out on our anniversary night. We had our big celebration on our Friday Harbor vacation. This was just a nice night out at a local pub with live jazz music.

The girls piled on when they saw me on Omar. Karina was napping in her room. I like this picture so much I am seriously considering cutting Karina's head off in another picture and placing it on this one. There's a perfect spot for it between Omar's and my head, don't you think?

We took advantage of JCPenny's free haircut offer before school began.

We spend many afternoons here swimming and having lunch by the pool.

The girls discovered a box filled with "bling" from our generous neighbor Lydia. This box with the simplest things (cards, beads, tin boxes) entertained them for hours just as I was starting to feel that the summer was seeming too long.

I'm going to give myself credit for something. I caught this butterfly just for Marisa because she wanted to touch it. We set it free later of course.

The girls invited their school friends for a tea party. It was fun organizing this and it was also a great way to get the kids looking forward to beginning school and seeing their friends again. I love the way the picture above shows my girl's personalities. Elena is animated and Marisa is intentionally shielding her face from the camera but nonetheless enjoying her tea quietly.

We found the cutest little candy shop on South Congress. They had a lot of familiar candy from my childhood.

Said goodbye to my good friend Anna who moved back to San Francisco. We taught together in Sonoma and I was lucky to spend another 3 years with her in Austin.

Wordless Wednesday

July

Every summer I get together with my cousin Miriam whom I grew up with. She lives in north Austin and you'd think we'd see each other more but we typically only seem to make it work during the summer because she is off then. Anyway, it's always fun and we always talk about getting together more. Her son Alex and the girls get along great and always give us many laughs.

We dressed up for free food at CFA. It was actually fun. Initially I never want to dress up in costume but when I do I enjoy it.

I got really sick one day while Omar was out of town. While I did absolutely nothing, the girls helped out (below) with the baby. It was a proud mom moment for sure.

It hadn't rained in forever so I took a picture to prove it was raining to Omar who wasn't in TX. I also attempted a quick trip to the grocery store because we were out of milk and other necessities. It ended up being quite disastrous on this particular day because Marisa was sick(probably from the same illness I had previously) and threw up just as we arrived. I took the the double stroller in anticipation which ended up great because Marisa had no interest in walking after getting sick, but after the trip, for whatever reason the stroller wouldn't fold. I struggled to fold it in the pouring rain and became soaked. I was still appreciative that we finally received enough rain. Omar really didn't believe how much rain we got so I sent him a picture of me soaking wet.

Omar had work near Houston so Karina and I met up with my best friend Ana and Linda who live there and celebrated Ana's birthday. I met Alyssa, Linda's daughter for the first time. The older girls went to visit my parents during that week.

Our sweet neighbor passed down her older daughters' tea sets to our girls. They couldn't wait to use their tea sets so they insited on Omar being their first guest. They then made plans for a tea party with friends which happened later in August.

Omar and I attended the new Austin City Limits venue--the Moody Theatre to watch a longtime favorite artist of his, Dwight Yoakum, who has grown on me over the years. The concert was fun and had a great atmosphere. I loved that the music was so reminiscent of our dating days