Our Superheroes

A few days ago Daphne draped her favorite blanket over her shoulders and declared, "I'm Super Daphne!" Of course Tyler wanted in on the action too and got decked out in his angry birds hooded blanket. Daphne also declared, "Daphne is a superhero!" I love our little superheroes!!!!

Easter

Michael's cousin Ed and Ed's wife Andrea hosted a very nice extended family Easter gathering at their home in San Antonio. Tyler and Daphne enjoyed all the festivities and meeting second cousins.

Loot from the Easter Bunny

Renee, Michael, Abuelito, Abuelita, Tyler, and Daphne

Daphne was excited about what she
called her "pretty princess dress"

The longer we took photos,
the more restless the kids became

Easter egg hunt at Ed and Andrea's house

Daphne gathered eggs
while also eating a lollipop

Tyler cleaned up!

Debbie and Cristian break a few confetti eggs

Emily, Drew, and Tyler ready for the pinata

The adults took a few swings since the kids
were unable to bust the piñata open

Finally Ed broke the hitting stick instead of the pinata

It turned out the piñata was made out of cardboard instead
of paper mache, which is why nobody could bust it open.

Emily and Drew with the bunnies

Daphne absolutely LOVED the bunnies!

Playing with Abuelito

Play Structure

Last weekend, Michael and my dad built a play structure in our backyard. The box said it would take 10-12 hours for two people to install but of course the actual tally came in at 21 man-hours. Michael and my dad spent Friday afternoon/evening and all day Saturday and worked up until sundown. Michael put the finishing touches on Sunday evening. Luckily we already had a spot in the backyard with pebble that was likely the site of a play structure put in by a previous home owner.




Tyler was ready for construction! The
guys tried to include him as much as
possible and even let him use the drill.

Pre-structure. The parts were organized according to the 37
installation steps, so we organized them numerically by step
in piles throughout the back yard.

Daphne and the my dad's dogs provide moral support.

The kids were excited once the initial base of the structure
was up and they could actually see things taking shape.

Jamie and Allie on standby in case Daphne spills her snack.

Michael and my dad assembling the roof components.

Daphne and Tyler excited about the café window.

The finished play structure! It's hard to see, but Daphne is up
in the crow's nest manning the steering wheel.

Tyler and I on the upper level pretending we are operating a
pirate ship that Captain Pig Tails (aka Daphne) was trying
to infiltrate.

Both kids are loving easy access to the swings.

Our Climber

Daphne was very pleased with herself that she
was able to climb up this curved ladder. I was
surprised she climbed it so easily!

Bunny Ears

Tyler was quite proud of the bunny ears
he made at school with 4 eyes.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping with the kids is an ever-changing adventure. Daphne mostly stopped riding in the cart ages ago. So now I have 2 monkeys hanging off the cart in a variety of ways throughout my shopping trip and the occasional tantrum by Daphne.

 

Michael is mortified that Daphne rides on the
back of the cart like this. She likes to hang on
this way or bend over and push while holding
onto the very bottom rail.

Both kids like to help put all the groceries on the conveyor belt
at checkout. Daphne can't really reach into the cart so I hand
her the light stuff.

Look at me Mommy!

Counting

Daphne is starting to do some basic counting. Yesterday she pointed to her pants and correctly stated, "two flamingos." This morning Daphne was carrying some books downstairs and she correctly noted, "three books."

Knock knock

Tyler and I were telling knock knock jokes at dinner and then Daphne decided to join in the fun.

Daphne: Knock knock
Me: Who's there?
Daphne: Daphne
Me: Daphne who?
Daphne: Daphne tado [tado is Daphne's version of Hurtado]

Daphne: Knock knock
Me: Who's there?
Daphne: Abuelito
Me: Abuelito who?
Daphne: Abuelito tado

Daphne: Knock knock
Me: Who's there?
Daphne: Abuelita
Me: Abuelita who?
Daphne: Abuelita tado

Then Tyler started telling another knock knock joke and Daphne started crying because she felt like she had been interrupted. I guess we need to work on taking turns!

Spurs Game

Michael, Eddie, Tyler, and Abuelito

Sporting his new Spurs jersey that
even has his name on the back

The guys went to the Spurs-Suns game in San Antonio on Friday night. The Spurs kept the game close by playing a lot of the second string but still came back to win to secure their seed spot in the playoffs. This was Tyler's first NBA game. He enjoyed eating donuts at the stadium and watching the players make slam dunks. Tyler even managed to stay awake the entire game but was pretty wiped out on Saturday from staying up so late.

So Tall

I went in Daphne's room this morning to check on her after I heard that she was awake. Daphne stood up on her mattress, smiled at me, and said, "Look at me. I so tall." Then she bent her knees in an attempt to jump and said, "Boing!" The jumping attempt is probably related to the fact that she made me read "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" 3 times before bed last night.

Swinging with Abuelita

Meow

Sharp-Dressed Rock Star

Daphne put on her sunglasses in the house and flashed me a big smile.
Me (to Daphne): Are you a rock star?
Tyler: No! I'm a rock star.
Me: Why are you a rock star?
Tyler: Because I'm a sharp-dressed man.

Stylin'

Tyler was quite pleased with himself for putting this outfit together today. He thought he was being all responsible wearing long sleeves since the weather was cooler and naturally he wore shorts because what boy wants to wear pants? He was particularly excited by the belt, which surprised me since Tyler practically lives in athletic shorts with stretchy waistbands. Kids are always full of surprises!

Awesome vs. Daphne

Recently Daphne was helping me with something.
Me: You're awesome. Can you say, "I'm awesome"?
Daphne: I'm Daphne.