Thanksgiving 2011

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!  This year we spent our Thanksgiving day in sunny Florida.  The weather was perfect and the kids all had a great day together.  Uncle Arnold spoiled all the kids by ordering a bounce house for the day!  It was a hit!  Monika made her famous turkey and the stuffing was made by Tobin!  Everyone loved it!  We also had a pork roast brought by Tia Becky, along side corn, sweet potato casserole, bread, and plenty of pies... yum!
After everyone was gone and the kids were all tucked in for the night... can you believe that Tobin, Monika, Arnold and I headed to camp out at Target for a little late night Black Friday shopping!  What a great end to a great week!

Sikora/Lacayo/Suarez families!

 

Trip to Orlando

During our stay we had an opportunity to take a little drive to meet up with Mary, Justin and Mira in Orlando (their new home).  We arrived on Monday evening and all headed to Downtown Disney for dinner at the T-Rex Restaurant!  We all had a great evening and then proceeded to check out their new place on Tuesday!  It's great, and wonderful for visitors too with a pool!  It's very cozy, and we can't wait to see it again when it's all set up.
We feel so blessed to have been able to see them, even for a short period of time!  Mira Mae is adorable, and her smile is contagious.  She was so fun to hang out with!

 I had to post this picture of Isa by the princesses.  The left pics are from this time last year... and the right pics are from our visit!  How our lil princess has grown in a year =). 

 T-Rex Restaurant

 

Florida adventures

  Our family headed to Florida for a week around Thanksgiving this year.  I have to admit that it was really one of the most relaxing and fun weeks we have had in a while.  Tobin spent the majority of the time playing with the kids... from Transformers, to trains, to ninja fighting, to play-dough, to building with blocks!  He loved the one on one with the kids, and the kid at heart really shined!
  The cousins, like always, acted like they had just seen each other yesterday.  Isa proudly announced that Andrew was her best friend.  You could often hear her saying "Andrew, I love you" or "Andrew come play with me".  It was so cute.  They played everything together.
  Will and Aidan are like 2 peas in a pod.  They really enjoyed each others company and they seldom fought over anything.  Will became a pro on the computer's Cool School system.  We even caught him writing rhyme words all on his own!
  Ah... Gabi.  Gabi's best friend on the trip was the dog Pepper.  She even exclaimed once all on her own "Doggie, I love you".  I was a little sad... this was her first time saying I love you directly to somthing on her own using their name!  =)  It was too cute though.  Gabi was a little trooper keeping up with everything her older siblings and cousins were doing.  She is one of pack!
  Abuelita was more than thrilled to have all her grandchildren in one house again.  She dotes on them and loves to hear them laugh.
Tobin and I had a marvelous time with Monika and Arnold.  We spent long hours talking, watching movies and playing with the kids.  No real commitments and just a whole lot of bonding time. Perfect!

 Our one trip together to Santa's courtesy of Tia Becky!

        

first snowfall

It's only the 11th of November and the kids were outside in full force experiencing their 1st snowfall of the season!  Gabi LOVED it.  She was so cute jumping up and down in it and dancing around!  Isa built her first lil snowman and Will had fun throwing snowballs!

girl time

During Cathy's visit, she and I had an amazing opportunity to have some girly time.  We explored Historic Avon Village's antique shops, Catherine's Chocolate store, and had lunch at the Tree House's Tea Room.  We even dressed for the occasion =).  
p.s. this is possibly the most pictures of me in a single post!

  
Then while on our weekend trip to Hocking Hills, OH, Cathy and I dared to try the Zip Line Canopy tours.  
We were transported along a 1.5 mile scenic nature trail to the beginning of the course where a Mighty Oak awaited our arrival. We then navigated 10 ziplines, traversed 5 adventure skybridges and rappeled back to ground level at the finish line. Amazing! 

While waiting between each zip we enjoyed amazing views from the observation platforms. It was an absolutely breathtaking adventure.  I would definitely recommended this and actually can't wait to be able to do it again with my hubby next time!
Although the scale of the pictures is a little deceiving...  we traversed trees at altitudes of 60-85 feet off the ground.  The camera didn't do justice to our height off the ground!

 I am the one in the white sweater and Cathy is wearing the pink!

 

what a view!

Hocking Hills adventure

We had an absolutely fun and relaxing weekend at Hocking Hills!  The cabin was great and the kids loved playing in the cabin and out in the woods.  We had hot chocolate by the fire, swam in the "hot pool" and took adventures at some of the local parks (including Cedar Falls and Ash Cave). 
The kids (and us) love being out in nature.  They are already wishing for another trip soon!

our first adventure: a hike down to Cedar Falls