Dinos

For Memorial Day extended weekend we went to the Wild Animal Park. Here we are checking out "African Safari".

By far the winner for the day was the Dino Mountain exhibit that's new. He was a little scared of the dinos making the noises during the 'dino hunt', as he called it, but soon got over it. He's been talking about it everyday since we went and can't wait to go back...

And here he is at the play area... being a bat?

Under the water

Ismael's new feat is being able to go under the water. He won't leave the scuba mask on, so he holds it to his face and bites on the mouth piece to keep it in place.

We've even been throwing the toypedos back and forth under the water. He's gotten pretty good, so he can stay under for quite a few seconds.

Now I just need to teach him to swim...

AZ trip

Mom went to AZ to visit Travis, so we decided to crash the party. Ismael had a blast at this train park...but was there really any doubt he'd like it?

The mini size train...

And of course feeding the ducks at Tio Travis' apartment.... sorry for the poor quality of the video, need to change my settings.

March move

As most of you know, we moved in March to a great house with a solar powered heated pool! So of course, we spent every weekend in the pool and even some evenings. It's great for wearing him out! At first he was still pretty shy with the water, but he's gradually become more and more brave as you will see!

Ismael loves the new house and still insists on 'helping' me whenever possible. He's still handy with the tools!

After church on Easter, we had a great Easter egg hunt through the house and backyard. The Easter bunny did a really good job at hiding those eggs...I thought he'd never find them all. Of course, he does have the male gene of not being able to see what is right in front of him...

This is the one and only time he has used the floaties. We'll save them for visitors though...hint, hint. The toypedo is a favorite in the pool by all.

Another new pasttime is golfing, but still has a long way to go. Here he's using the putter to drive the ball. At least his eye's are on the ball...

More splashing in the water...no floaties. I wonder who he's trying to get...?

And finally, this was his way of helping me prepare for a garage sale. Anything to keep him busy.

CA Spring

While everyone in KS spent spring in the cold, we were enjoying playing at the beach. Yes, we even went after church in our good clothes! Of course, I didn't let him get down and dirty...

That was reserved for eating cake batter... licking the spoon is a new favorite of his. (I know my mom will be shocked!)

New Year's Disneyland

Jan. 2nd we went to see Mickey again. Not much new there.

And of course, we spent a few minutes almost daily driving McQueen.

Christmas '08

Ismael still didn't really know when to expect presents under the tree, but was definately excited to see that Santa finally arrived. It took a couple of hours to get through the presents since he wanted to play with everything just as he opened it!

Here's Ismael with his huge Thomas train set. It is so big I eventually moved the dinner table to the side to have enough room!!

Ready for Christmas

This morning we put up the Christmas tree. Ismael helped put the ornaments on the tree, then off the tree so he could play with them.

We made a Gingerbread house this afternoon from a Wilton kit... ok, I did it and Ismael tried to eat all the candies....

Trip to Paraguay

On the flight from San Diego to Atlanta, Ismael was invited to the cockpit by the pilot which he loved of course. The pilot even acknowledged him over the loudspeaker when he introduced himself during the flight.

Of course it didn't take long for his to find the lawn mower and insist on getting on...with the dog of course, his new best friend.

Lining up the piggy banks....

He gave a tour of the grounds on day, wanting a picture in front of everything. Here he is in front of the pool with the house in the background.

Here is Papá with Pelusa the dog, Ismael and Hugo the turtle. Ismael wanted to do everything with the dog, eat, sleep, watch tv, read books... From the moment he woke up to the moment he slept he wanted to know where Pelusa was.

Here we are at the playground at the park. It's not exactly up to US standards. It was made out of wood with a few slats missing and a few nails protruding. He ripped 2 pairs of shorts on the nails while going down the slide, but the maid fixed them right up!

This is Francisca the wonderful maid. Ismael always wanted to know what she was doing.

He also liked playing soccer with dog and sometimes even the turtle.






Los novios...Fernando (aka Funny boy per Ismael) and Pilar after the wedding in front of the church.

Mamá and Papá at the reception.

Me and Ismael who was a bit tired by now. The wedding started at 8pm and by this point it was late and he had run around with the other kids at the wedding.

Here he is again posing with everything he saw...

Halloween

For Halloween Ismael picked out a Buzz Lightyear costume. They had a party at school, but as I expected he did not wear his costume for more than 5 minutes. At night we went to the mall to go trick-or-treating, and again, he would not wear his costume. He wore only the legs and still went to get his candy. The next morning he lined up all of his candy on the floor, again, because everything must line up....