My cute little genius

    We had an open house meeting at Catalina's day care yesterday. We were excited to hear what they have to say about her, especially since she had a rough transition from her old daycare.

    These mornings Catalina is mostly ready and excited about going to daycare. Obviously, she always needs to have a purse. She knows however that once she reached the classroom she has to put it in the locker and leave it there. Here she is, almost ready for a new day!

Once we reached the day care they tested our knowledge of Catalina's body. Can you pick Catalina's hand out of all these? Both mommy and daddy picked the right one!! hint: look at the most bottom left one ;)

And then, it was time to see how smart our kid was. All kids were asked to draw their own face. Only 2 out 10 present that day drew anything resembling a face. Yeah, Catalina was one of the two. She's a smart one, AND a pretty one. We hit jackpot with this kid!! We sure did!

Our shy little Picasso doesn't have enough confidence to press the pencil hard on the paper, but she knows what she's doing!

Adventure or make up?

       It seems that Catalina has a hard time deciding if she is a tom boy or a princess.
After a successful shopping trip on Saturday, on Sunday we decided to go hiking and site seeing in the nearby mountains. So off we went. Catalina decorated herself with a medal before we left the house.

                   Obviously, one can't go hiking without a purse, pretty hair clips and a camera.

Once we reached, we were rewarded for the long drive. The nature was beautiful. Waterfalls and beautiful trees. And a very happy Catalina, all ready for some exercising.

Interestingly enough, right in the middle of hiking, while we were already holding back some restless group, Catalina decided to take a beauty stop. She carefully hanged her purse on the rail, and took her doll's hair brush. I felt bad for all the people waiting behind us, but you have to admit, this girl is cute beyond belief!

Hi five Mr Bear! Catalina liked the bear and talked to him for quite some time before we realized what is happening.

She also wanted some animal toys from the gift shop. Getting ready to feed a whole army of wild animals with the sandwiches mommy packed.

It was a nice day spent in nature, too bad the drive was so long. We do plan on enjoying some more of the beautiful fall. Soon, we'll be surrounded by more colors than our eyes can see.

Just a short preview at at amazing sky we had last night (with some very basic photography skills...)

On why camping makes for an awesome weekend!

        Months back, before we knew we'll go on a luxurious  cruise for Labor Day weekend, we planned a camping trip for the weekend after Labor Day. At that time it seemed like a great adventure. However, weeks after, when we were still thinking of the blue waters of Bahamas the excitement was fading. The day before our departure weather.com announced heavy rain and thunderstorms. We were less than enthused on driving 3 hours to go on a beach that will soon be flooded. After much deciding and going back and forth we left ...

   We reached the camp around 10:30 and I though putting up the tent in dark will be a horrible ordeal. The guys did a great job, the kids had fun, and the girls talked. Not a bad deal at all.

Mommy did what she knows best. Tell stories! Two kids in a tent, stories with bears, a magic glow in the dark wand , it sounds almost too good to be true, right?

Except that Catalina got scared by my story and for the rest of the night she kept telling me she is a nice girl so the bears should not come get her.

The night continued beautifully with chatting and drinking and sleeping for the little ones. What seemed to be a terrible weekend was starting to look quite well.
It was amazing waking up in the middle of nature. The fresh air, the sun, happy kids and later on some yummy food.

Prepared to leave at any moment of the storm picks up, we headed for the beach.

The first clouds started to to show up...

By the time we reached the camping site, the sun was up again

What it was promised to be a dangerous storm was a light rain. It did continue all through the night, making it even more adventurous and romantic. Not that romantic for daddy who had to re-inflate our bed and got soaked in the process :)

Morning after rain is amazing in the forest. The birds sing, the air is so fresh and you feel you have wings to fly. While the boys went to get breakfast, the girls and the kids went for a short walk.
The off to the beach again!

(not the greatest idea if not 4x4...)

 Staying hydrated is essential for a successful day at beach.

We headed home late in the afternoon.

Morals of our story:
   1.never believe weather.com.
   2.good spirit beats rain any day (even in a tent)
   3.Camping with kids ROCKS!!!!

Cruising

    We are back from an awesome prolong weekend. We are definitely people who like to vacation. None of that "let's save some vacation days to make it look good in front of the boss" nonsense for us. Since last year we had an amazing time in Cancun, we decided that tropical climate works for us and planned a cruise to the Bahamas. Not a bad plan at all.
   Catalina was very excited about the trip. She kept saying for  whole month that she goes to the cruise. Every morning, while getting her ready for daycare, she would say" we eat, sleep, then go to cruise". When we finally left, she was  excited to "see" the cruise.

Luggage packed, we are ready for vacation!!!

 Catalina behaved awesomely all the way. Seat belt on, eating some almonds she waited patiently for the airplane to take off.

Once we reached the airport, she forgot patience and ran all over, bringing her lots of smiles and compliments from people around.

 We flew into Miami and she had a blast in the hotel room. She kept talking to bunica on the phone, telling her she goes on a cruise.
And then, some more waiting was required. Waiting for the shuttle to take us to the port of Miami to get on the boat.

And then waiting some more in the shuttle to get so many more people from so many more hotels...

 And finally...THE BOAT!!!

One happy and excited family all ready to board!

At the check in counter we were all smiles. All the problems all the way back in Philly, we had one thought only: to have fun!

And we greeted on the ship by pretty girls and music. Let the party begin!

And here it is the room where we'll spend the next 3 beautiful days. Small but so so cute!

Catalina started exploring the ship very soon. Mommy had to run after her continuously, as some of the guests on the ship wanted to have fun without bumping into a running kid all the time... :)

Dinner time. Mommy and daddy had such a great time that they lost Catalina's favorite water bottle. Good thing the crew had a lost and found department ;). Water bottle recovered on the last day of the trip :)

Pool time after dinner. Catalina loved it and did not complain once when the salty water from the pool got into her eyes.

Screaming contest. It was quite a close call, and I think Catalina won :)

Theater time! Beer time! (no more screaming :).

And a relaxing walk on the deck to admire the beautiful moon and ocean. What a nice way to end the first day at sea :)

Before we went to sleep we elected our captain ;)

Second day was a trip to paradise. Or as close to the paradise as one can imagine.

Th sand was nice and soft. The water warm and blue, we could see colorful fish and jelly fish swimming close to the shore. Catalina loved the water and the sand,

 but she hated the sun and the heat. We went back on the ship after two hours of bathing in the hot sun.

 And back to the pool!

and the hot tub at the sunset.

 Next day we stopped in Nassau. We had lots and lots of plans for the day. We were lucky to have the captain himself guide us through the city :)

First stop were the Ardasian gardens, or, as we called them, the zoo :)
They are famous for a flamingo march, and we waited patiently for it.

It paid of, as Catalina (and mommy) got invited into the arena to meet the birds. Catalina was elated, she wanted to pet the birds, to talk to them, to hug them.

Not everybody is good looking around... :)

 Next stop, feeding the parrots! I guess these are some hungry birds, as they sat on our hands, heads, shoulders to get a bite of apple. Lovely experience :)

We went on for some more sight seeing. Nassau is NOT a nice city and there was little to enjoy. We are here at the "Queen's stairs", one of the historic places in Nassau. We had a nice guide who told us all there was to know. He even caught a lizard to show it to us, but two very scared girls (Catalina and mommy) screamed and ran away

And this is how close we got to Atlantis. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit the amazing resort.  More reason to go on a cruise again!

We ended our trip to the island with some shopping at the straw market. Two tired girls...

Ready to go back on the ship!

Last night on the boat was bitter sweet. Still gorgeous weather, but we were feeling the end of vacation.

There was a lady playing the guitar that Catalina loved. She never took her eyes off her, she clapped and smiled like a crazy groupie :)

Last morning on the ship we were all prepared to leave. Well, not Catalina. She was enjoying her toys and had an amazingly good mood. We borrowed a little from her, with a hope to return soon :)

 She is explaining here how the parrot sat on her head :)