Acoma Pueblo

Acoma pueblo is one of the oldest continuosly inhabited civilizations in America and it is about an hour west of Albuquerque. Memorial Day Weekend was the 3rd anniversary of the opening of its new cultural center, so we went to see the Pueblo and enjoy a traditional dance at the cultural center. Here is a video of Tessa enjoying the dance. She really liked it and continued watching for the entire dance. She now likes watching the video of herself watching the dance. She calls it "tap" because that is the closest kind of dancing that she is familiar with.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A slideshow of our trip, with pictures from Toby's camera mixed in with pictures from our camera.

BioPark with Toby and Allie

Of course we took our guests to the biopark (click the word biopark to see a previous post with lots of old pictures from the biopark), which we love. We explored the zoo a bit, then took the train to the aquarium and the botanical garden, then went back to the zoo. We didn't quite see everything in each place, but we did see a lot! Here are some pictures from Uncle Toby's camera...as always, click on a picture to see it enlarged.new baby giraffeAnd some from my camera too...Sophia and Toby on the train...luckily the weather was cooperative, although quite warm and sunny. We needed lots of sunscreen and eventually some Dippin Dots to cool us off.At the Butterfly Pavilion in the Botanical Garden

Videos of the girls having fun on the train and in the aquarium...

May Fun

I am still trying to catch up with all the fun we have been having this summer! So here are a few random fun things...

We had a going away BBQ for a friend, and for some strange reason, Sophia and I slept late that morning. I think I was up late making side dishes and desserts, but it is very strange for Sophia! Tessa was up though, and Chuck was busy getting food ready for the BBQ and decided they should "taste test" the ribs. Here is the humorous video of Tessa eating BBQ ribs for breakfast! And no, this probably would not have happened if I had been awake!

BBQ Breakfast

Another time, the girls were able to use their inflatable pool from last summer once or twice. We moved our slide to the edge of the pool and the girls enjoyed sliding down and getting dumped into the pool. Unfortunately, the pool has a hole in it and hasn't gotten much use since then.

Dump Slide

Another thing that happened in May was our visit from Uncle Toby (my brother) and Auntie Allie (his girlfriend). More posts about the things we did during their visit will soon follow, but here are a couple videos of Tessa and Toby having a great time together.

Tessa having Fun with Uncle Toby

The Little Gym Show Day

The last day of Sophia's gymnastics for the spring was Show Day, where the family is invited into class again to watch what they have learned. Tessa thinks it is all about her, but I just let her do her own thing, as long as she wasn't interrupting any of the other kids' routines.

Sophia loves gymnastics, and has learned a lot in the past year.

I especially enjoyed Sophia's routine that she made up for me.

Tessa even demonstrated her own routine. Apparently she learned from Sophia that you must constantly check to see if the camera is following your every move!

Here is Sophia's uneven bar routine, in which the dismount impressed me the most. She seems to let the teachers walk her through the routines during the Show Day. I watched her do it on her own later and she was able to do most of it completely unassisted!

At the end of the class, each of the students gets a medal.

Sophia really wanted her sister to be a part of it, so she presented her own medal to Tessa afterwards. How sweet! If only she could always be so thoughtful of her little sister!

Sophia's Preschool Graduation

Sophia graduated from Preschool in May and her school did a big Graduation Ceremony. The kids sang a bunch of songs and then we all had snacks together. We recorded a few of the songs that were her favorites. Each child was able to stand in front for one of the songs, and I was amazed that all of the kids stood up on the bleachers for the entire program. Their teacher must have told them that they wouldn't get the snacks if they didn't stand still!

"Proud to be an American Preschooler"

"The World is a Rainbow"

"Pharoah, Pharoah"

"Daddy, there's a Dragon in the Driveway"

"This Little Light of Mine"

"The Jellybean Song"

Thank you!

I just wanted to post a big Thank You to my dear friends that wrote letters of recommendation for me; Tiffany, Bethany, and Leslie.  I just found out that I was accepted into the Master’s program in School Library and UCD!  Thanks for your help!

Happy Birthday Tessa!

I have so many blogs to write…a few from Sophia’s end of school year activities, many from Toby, Allie, and my Dad’s visits, and now a bunch from our trip to Arizona. But first, Tessa turned two! And she deserves that to be mentioned first. We were in Phoenix that morning with Uncle Nacho’s family, then drove to Tucson during her naptime. Her Auntie Lindsay (and Uncle Michael, Auntie Pam, and Uncle Dave) gave her several presents. She was most impressed with the Little Mermaid stickers and the light-up toothbrush, but I loved the cute little dress! You can see her wearing it in the pictures. I had bought her a tea set by Green Toys, which is great because it is made out of recycled milk jugs, is lead-, BPA- and phthalate- free, made in the US, and super cute!

A toothbrush that lights up? Cool!

Here is a video of Tessa opening the presents from Sophia, which Sophia picked out and wrapped, mostly by herself. I have been telling Tessa for almost 6 months that she could have "big girl vitamins" when she turns 2. So when I asked Sophia what we should give Tessa for her birthday, she replied, "Big girl vitamins, of course!" Also, Tessa has been using her potty chair a lot lately, and she LOVES princesses, so Sophia thought that princess underwear were a great idea. I am impressed at how thoughtful Sophia was in choosing gifts for her sister.

I, however, made a slight mistake with one of her gifts.

Afterwards, we went to Uncle Fred and Auntie Carolyn’s house for a BBQ and Tessa had lots of fun pouring water from her teapot into the cups, and everywhere else…outside, of course. Both girls were overly tired from the nap in the car, and the long weekend of fun, but they still enjoyed the beans at dinner (I'm not sure if they noticed the other delicious food on their plates!) and chocolate cupcakes for dessert! Then a swim in the pool to make a wonderful ending to a mostly fun day.

This set of pictures is thanks to Uncle Fred…

Tessa thought the frosting on her face was sooo funny!

Sophia thought her sister was a little silly, but the cupcakes were great!