Out and about

First off, this post might be in Spanglish. You'll have to bear with me cause my brain takes the path of least resistance (easiest) nowadays.

So have you ever wondered where your kids pick up some of the things they do/say? That happened to me today. I know most of what Chiara does is a result of observing mommy and daddy but today she left me wondering.
So we were getting ready to do some laundry and as I get the coins out she starts whining that she wants to help carry those. No big deal. I give her one and what does she do? She pulls open the front of her pants, she then pulls open her diapers and throws it in! What in the world???!
I know that in Latin culture people of old would put money and precious things down their bras to keep them safe; could it be it's in my genes and I hadn't realized it?! Because I have no clue where she could have gotten that from!? (If you are wondering where I put mine, well in my pocket or just in my hand. Glad that's cleared and out of the way)
It was pretty hilarious! And as the good helper she is, she gave it back to me when I needed it!

The last couple of months we have been trying to do a bit more things/activities to take advantage of the summer and because once baby #2 gets here, we imagine life is going to get pretty intense for a while.
Cody got some free tickets for a circus showing in Staples Center in LA. We got sweet seats and parking spots and we complemented the night by going to eat at an Italian restaurant. Yummy!
It was pretty fun! Chiara of course couldn't stay still for long, so here's daddy trying to entertain her.

One fun  thing that Cody's work does every year is a car show, where you get to see very old cars in amazing condition. We saw cars from the 1920's on to today. They also have lots of amazing food! We invited a couple of friends and spend our Saturday walking around and enjoying the weather.

This is what Chiara got for misbehaving:

All throughout the summer, OC has free concerts going on in various parks. We went to one where a guy was imitating Elvis Presley. Cody remarked a couple of times that his dad did a better job than the singer :) It was nice to be outside and the concert was fun.

Here is Chiara dancing to an Elvis tune:

Something we had decided not to miss this year was the OC fair. We've heard good things about it but also that it could get pretty expensive if one was not careful. So we chose a day where we could get in by donating children's books and that gave us two free rides as well. That was sweet!
I was pleasantly surprised! It was better than I thought it would be, and Cody even got me a big stuffed animal by shooting hoops, which he is very proud of, so proud that the first couple of days it had to stay in the living room so he could show it off to whoever stopped by.

               

Here's a sand creation. Pretty cool huh? You can see the guys still working on it on the side of the picture.

Chiara's favorite part was probably riding a pony. We were wondering if she was going to be ok by herself but she rode it like a pro! She was delighted, and just observing the pony's tail, paying attention to how it walked and just having fun! She was pretty disappointed when it was over, and up to this day she still says "vamonos coni" (she calls them conis) at least once a day.

Chiara and daddy working together building sandcastles

The other day we went to the Santa Ana Zoo with two other friends. It's been a while since I'd been able to do play dates so I was pretty happy about this one! Chiara had a lot of fun. The zoo has mostly monkeys and then some birds and few other animals. It is not too big, I would say perfect for a pregnant mom :)

Chiara loves to help me do stuff around the house, so much so she actually demands to help or tries to take the stuff away from me so she can use it(broom for example). It's fun to have a little helper. I try to find tasks that she can help with. I also need to remind myself that it is going to be messier, slower, she'll get impatient because she wants to do everything herself, etc. so that I do enjoy the moment. Baking or washing dishes are her favorites so far :)

What Chiara asks most for every day is to go to the park. I don't always take her, I need to get better at this. She'd grab her shoes and put them on (or ask for help if she can't), get all ready and then say "vamonos kake". She loves it! Here's a shot of her deciding what to do next

Looks like I managed to keep the post in one language only, go me!!!