Family Photos

It's rare that the whole gang gets together all at once so we made it a point to force ourselves to pose for some family photos. Even though it isn't a very fun process, we'll all be so glad we did this someday.

Everyone say "CHEEEEEEzzzzzzzzzzE"...........

Group Shot

The 'lil cousins

Cousins (minus my bro and a few other cousins that couldn't make it)

My Dad and his bro, Mike

Our Family (minus our Baby Daddy's)

Family Reunion

We've been busy playing and yapping it up with cousins and extended family this past week. And boy did we have fun! My Dad's side of the family came down and we had a great time visiting, reconnecting, and for some of us, meeting family members for the first time. We were surrounded by aunts, uncles, 1st cousins, 2nd cousins, and who-really-cares-what-number-removed-we-are cousins! It was so nice to be surrounded by family and KIDS! I also loved having a week off from the going to bed battle that has been taking place lately. Coop was pooped every night and fell right to sleep without any type of stand off. If only we had cute cousins to wear us out every day! We sure do miss "all the kids" (as Cooper says). Coop must really like his cousins because he introduced his new monster truck to his brother last night by saying " Hi Cruz, I'm Cooper's cousin, Monster Truck".

That pretty much sums it up......Coop thinks cousins are as cool as Monster Trucks. Trust me, that's BIG.

I'll try to post pictures of some of our adventures as soon as I can......

4th

What 4th of July wouldn't be complete without a parade and fun at the park? I don't think these activities are must do's necessarily but they were definitely a great option for us this year. We really enjoyed the small town feel of all the festivities and the great sense of community. There's something about parades, watermelon and having a low key day in the park that makes everyone happy and smiley.

We started the day off with a parade and then ventured to the park. It was your typical park celebration with all the RED WHITE & BLUE bells and whistles and plenty of carnival-type kiddie rides. What made the rides not so typical for us is that big C actually enjoyed them and wasn't afraid to check them out. Our big boy rode them all by himself! A pretty big deal for a boy that is hit or miss when it comes to even sliding at the playground.

We skipped the fireworks show this year. Luckily, the boys don't know what they're missing and quite frankly, sleep and bedtime are waayyyyyyy too precious to me right now. Mama needs her down time if you know what I mean. I finished the night off listening to the fireworks while nestling in the comforts of my pillow.

Two Thumbs Up

Big C, Gma Linda and I had a movie date this week. Gpa Pat and Little C stayed home. We went to see Cars 2. As some of you may already know, Coop is a BIG fan of CARS. We'd been talking the movie up big time and I was quite enjoying the leverage I had dangling the Cars 2 carrot in front of Coop. "If you don't go to sleep we won't get to go see Cars 2".....yada, yada, yada....I milked it quite a bit.

The verdict; Coop loved it. He was a little overwhelmed initially (as you can see in the first pic) but then all was A-ok. There were a few shoot 'em up scenes (unlike the first one) which I didn't care for. Coop still doesn't know what guns are and I'd like to keep it that way for as long as I can. I tried to tell him they were throwing hubcaps and nuts & bolts and I think he actually bought it.

So much for using Cars 2 as leverage any longer. I guess I'll have to use Cars 3 (whenever that may be). Come on Disney/Pixar, you better get on it! Times a tickin'.

Crawl the Line

Untitled from A Mendonca on Vimeo.

Bugs Rule

It seems like it's getting harder and harder to find the time to blog these days. Once I do make time to work on it, I find that I'm suffering from some major "blogging block". Yes, I have some pretty easy material in the cute kiddo department and it's all about Coop 'n Cruz. That should make things easy, right?

Tonight is one of those nights.....there's plenty of cuteness going on and plenty of pictures being taken. But I can't seem to find the words to go along with it.

Since I have nothing to add, I think I'll let me kid's shirts explain it all.........I could be on to something here. I could start a whole new blog based on t-shirt dialog. We could call it the T-shirt Diaries or the T-shirt Monologues. This could be fun....................(and an easy out for a Mom whose lost her blogging mojo).

Super Cooper

Cooper has been showing an interest in super heroes lately. I don't think he's quite ready for the Iron Man/Thor-type variety just yet. He's all about the Wonder Pets and Super Bunny. The other day he asked for a cape so we made do with one of Cruz's blankets. Coop thought it was pretty cool. The wind outside put him right over the edge. Not only did he get to don a cape but it actually flew in the wind! It's the simple things in life that make a 3yr old happy.