May 2021 Wrap Up & School is out for the Summer

Yep. School is out...and it only reallllly began a month ago. 😂

We were just beginning to get into a groove with the kids being at school all day.  I would drop them off and hurry to Yonder Yoga for an 815am class.  Come home, shower, and piddle around the house while listening to podcasts.  I even started painting a bathroom with all my spare time, but alas, it was not enough time to actually finish LOL

Listen, I hear you I should have tons of time....but man those hours go by fast and then it's time for carpool.  After school could I do it, you ask?  No. After school the goal is to wear my kids out. PERIOD.

These kids looooove going to the belt line.  (me too!)  We always start at Krog Street Market with Veruni Napoli Pizza and zoom on down the path on scooters to the skatepark (O4W).

They can spend hours here and and always get super sweaty.  They recently learned how to "drop into the bowls" there and now want to stay even longer than before.  Im fine with it too. Great people watching and again.....worn out kids.  #goals  I know I always say that, but I need to run these kids like Border Collies.  I have the furniture chewers (not lap dogs)!  

Cinco de Mayo was Ernesto's 49th birthday! Ummm that is one year away from the big 5-0?!? 😳

We love doing/giving experiences on birthdays and the activity the kids wanted to give him was a day at TOPGOLF.  Its a huge place, open to the outdoors and you actually hit the balls from your tee inside to a huge field outside.  

See how we have a booth and table (where they deliver food & drinks) and then you take turns stepping up to the tee box? Each ball is microchipped so it will tell you the speed distance etc.  There are different games you can play...the kids liked Angry Birds.

It was a beautiful fun day! (look at those clouds!)

This year I made my mom's famous Chocolate zucchini cake...but in a bunt pan.  I drizzled a vanilla frosting, bought the birthday boy's favorite ice cream (Rocky Road) and lit the 49 candles.  

For my gift,  I got creative and painted him something. I found some inspiration online by searching "colorful nude paintings"  and came up with this.  He LOVED it!!!

But from the kids....hmmmm what to get him?!? We came up with a new heavy duty wheelbarrow and a few hot pepper plants. LOL.  I know Ernesto doesn't care about presents toooooo much, but it's nice to unwrap something! (and you can't wrap a wheelbarrow!) On a whim I ordered him one of these...

Have you seen them before?  They show them on the beach, camping, relaxing in your backyard etc. "You can take them anywhere!"   It has thousands of great reviews on Amazon, and I thought it would be handy for the champion lounger/relaxer that Ernesto is.  One end opens and you have to either run to fill up with air or ideally have wind blow right into it.  LOL It was pretty funny watching him run in our yard trying to fill it. 

You might have noticed a new deck in the video! Ernesto started building this deck on the side of our house about a year ago. 😳  Between Christmas lights and travel, projects seem to drag on at our house, but as usual, Ernesto pulled it off!  He created a beautiful usable space out of an area that was sloped and overgrown with weeds! 

We left the huge crepe myrtle that was amongst all the weeds and built the deck around it.  It blooms hot pink flowers all Summer and has the coolest leaning shape. 

Above was before the fence was up.  It still needs the black stain on the posts/top, but I am excited for what this space has turned into and where we are heading! The landscaping and laying down a walking path to the front yard will complete it. 

 The balcony is next on the list. It will be rebuilt and we'll be using a waterproof decking system as to make the below patio a "room" that stays dry!

Paloma has been taking ballet classes at TADA since last fall and danced her final recital last week.  She was so excited! Excited to dance, but I think even more excited to wear this special dress.  She also did her own make up.  (she is very well practiced at putting on makeup 👄)

OMGoooooooosh😍😍😍 She is just tooooo pretty. My little baby!

The performance, although I had to view it online, was wonderful and had me smiling.  She is in the middle of the back row at the beginning of the video (and the only girl totally blocked with that camera angle-ugh!) but then moves up to the front row...and dances her heart out! 

Mateo had a very BIG day at BMX this month.  He won his 10th race!  When you get "first place" 10 times, you are promoted from novice to intermediate level! Margie Hatfield (below) runs the Cobb County tracks where we race and she presented him with his promotion certificate and medal. 

He was SO HAPPY and PROUD!  He has found his passion and he works VERY hard at getting better.

I am super proud of both of my racers (Marcelo is right behind him with 8 novice wins!)!  They have made many friends and are always smiling when at the track! It is a great sport and Im so glad our friend Brandy invited us to come to practice one day last September. 

Cobb County hosted Dixieland Nationals, which is a huge BMX race - the biggest we had ever attended.  People came from all over the country.  We were at the track Friday,  Saturday and Sunday.  The days were long but fun.  On Saturday,  Mateo won FIRST PLACE at a NATIONAL RACE! 🏆

He was on CLOUD NINE and that made ME so happy!  The trophy was about as tall as him!

He worked so hard for that win.  It was soooooo exciting.  Here is the video.  He is the one wearing red pants and red helmet - in 2nd place - but then takes first on the last turn.  Ernesto is screaming

cheering him on the whole time which adds a lot of excitement as well. 

 

Because there were so many riders at this event, there was A LOT of waiting around in-between races. So much so,  that Marcelo missed his race on Saturday!  What?!  UGH!  He came in first place in the first race so he transferred directly to the semi-finals...but then, when it was time for him to line up for the race, he was nowhere to be found! 😡  It was so irritating and I was kicking myself for not bringing our walkie-talkies.   Oh well, what can you do?  He didn't know when his race was coming up, he was just playing and having a good 'ol time with his friends.  We did make it clear that we need to know where he is at all times ...ah hello??

The next day he stayed close to the tent and raced his little heart out.  Both of them came home with trophies that day!

In other unrelated news (but worth sharing) Marcelo had an Amazon credit from his birthday last year (thanks aunt Jenny!) and he finally spent it. You aren't going to believe the outfit he picked out. 

You are seeing correctly...those are kitty tacos on his sweatshirt with matching kitty pants. What can I say, he likes what he likes! 

We flew to San Diego Tuesday night after picking the kids up from school.  Technically their last day was Thursday...but Wednesday is virtual and Thursday was a half day, so I felt fine that they missed the last day and a half.  They had their end of year parties Tuesday, so it felt like the last day for them!  Plus the flights were a better price leaving Tuesday.  And when shopping for 5 people (and you are an Arnold) price always a consideration. 

We are here at the Espinoza's San Diego Resort......but it is under construction. A major remodel is finishing up in the main house and a HUMUNGOUS pool going in the back. We are staying with Ernesto's padres in the smaller "in-law suite" out back. This is the view from the upstairs window. 

This is really going to be an AMAZING "all-inclusive resort" on our next visit.

Pool is slated to be finished in one month, so now we are considering coming back here the last week of July so we can enjoy it!  We don't want to wait until next Summer to jump in!

We arrived late Tuesday night 1130pm, but sure enough mi mama had tostadas ready for us.  We didn't go to bed until 1am....which is 4 am Atlanta time. UGH!  Do you want to know what time my kids woke up? 630am 😭😭😭

They were so excited to see their cousins though.... I guess it's understandable. 

The first morning we all headed to Rohr Park.  There is a great playground and while the kids ran around Ernesto, Tavo and I did a quick fitty-fit workout. 

Aaaaaaaand since we were so close to TJ Oyster Bar we grabbed lunch.  Ceviche and fish tacos mmmmmm, yes please!

I love Boba, (I always get the Thai tea @ 25% sweetness) but for some reason I only get in in California.  Its just a vacation treat. 

This Summer is going to be jammed packed and I know it will go way too fast.....but BOY is it going to be FUN!!! We will be in San Diego for a few weeks with the Espinoza's, then home for 3 days, then driving to Ohio for Arnold Week at Mohican (we have three cabins rented!), Cedar Point to celebrate Marcelo's 8th birthday, back to Atlanta for a couple weeks then back up north (Pennsylvania) to drop boys off at their first BMX OVERNIGHT camp!!! Whaaaaaat???  I know!  Paloma is going to stay with my parents and mami and papi are going to have a week vacation ALONE!!!!! No idea what we are doing yet....but something! 

More to come from the west coast!  Stay tuned! 

2021- Another Covid Spring Break - Buckhorn Lake

Last year Spring break hit right when things were shutting down with Covid.  We had planned to meet my brother Bill and his family somewhere halfway (like we did the year before -2019) but wha-waaaa, that was canceled along with everything else. We ended up just renting a cabin in north Georgia that week and it was great.

Now though, a year later, states are starting to open things again, the vaccine is out (Bill and Barbie just received their shot) and we were ready to take a chance and meet! It was kind of a last minute decision and surprise surprise, the choices were limited.  After some searching though, I found a cabin in Kentucky at Buckhorn Lake State Park Resort, and I would say we got super lucky! 

This awesome pic is from their website, but unfortunately when we went, the leaves were not on the trees yet AND they were flooding the lake which made it a very murky brown color.  (I guess they do that once a year). 

Still, green or brown, I was in love.  The mid century architecture of the resort was amazing. Those windows 😍😍😍.

  Below is the Rec center where the kids spent a lot of time playing games. That butterfly roof😍

The resort is located in the Eastern Kentucky mountains, just on the edge of Daniel Boone National Forest (which is where we rented a Cabin with them a couple years ago).  This part of Kentucky is gorgeous with all the red rocks, cliffs and natural bridges. 

We picked the kids up from school on Thursday and started driving north.  Arriving to the cabin at 11pm was not ideal, but since we were pulling the kids out of school Friday, we didn't want to use that day for driving. 

Bill was also driving that night and it was ALL my kids could do to keep their eyes open until the cousins arrived.... at midnight! 

Once they saw each other though, they threw on their matching pjs (thanks aunt Barbie!) and  it was MAYHEM.   They were so excited! Like, up until 230 in the morning excited! 😳

The morning rolled around too soon and it was time to explore the park! We were actually one of the only families there. We OWNED the place! The kids biked all around the park on their own.  Back and forth to the lodge, rec centre and cabin.  Repeat. 

 

The park has 4 rustic cabins. Ours had three bedrooms, a well equip kitchen and a big deck with a great view of the lake. It was just perfect for the 10 of us!  All the kids wanted to sleep together anyway. 

We enjoyed Easter together and somehow the Easter Bunny found all of us.  Cue the sugar high.  We  colored Easter eggs, ate Barbie's traditional dinner of pierogies, sausage and ham and did a HUGE egg hunt in front of the cabin.

Soooo many pictures were taken and I love making movies, so here is a little re-cap of the trip! This is a tradition that I hope never ends!! 

Camping and BMX Weekend

If we are friends on Facebook, maybe you have seen some of my pictures of the kids riding bikes on a BMX  track.  Last September my friend Brandy asked me to bring the kids to a track in Powder Springs.  WHERE?!?!  I opened WAZE and immediately didn't like the idea.  50 minutes away?! UGH!  Isn't there a BMX track IN Atlanta? Well, no. No there isn't. 

Of course now 6 months later,  this a is a sport that the boys are totally into and boy, 

 would I love for them to practice every day.  (They are soooooo worn out and sweaty after riding)  Yet with a nearly 2 hour drive each time we go, I just can't.  Especially during the week. 

The track we frequent most is Cobb County BMX and it's awesome!  The people are nice and so helpful to anyone who is clueless about this sport.   🙋

The bike track has a walking track around it, so when Im there I am walking with a friend or a podcast.  It's fun.  It's just THAT DRIVE. 

When I learned about the Gold Cup/State Qualifier race weekend in McDonough GA (1.5 hour south of  us) I immediately thought ...I do not want to drive down there both Saturday and Sunday!  haha

I ran the idea of camping by Ernesto and he was down for it.....so I opened up the GA Parks website and found two great options not suuuuuuper close to the track but closer...  Unfortunately planning a week out (which is really good for us) is not enough.  Everything was booked!   Wha-waaamp. 

A week later, on Thursday morning I opened the site again and wa-la!  Someone had cancelled in an "electric" campsite. YES!  I booked right away and started immediately looked up a "camping essentials" list.  

We had most of the stuff already.  I had been collecting gear for a camping trip in February with our friends Virginia & Rodney in Florida, but it got rained out.  Everything was sitting in tubs, ready to go. I went to Walmart and bought all our food and an electric skillet. Let's camp!!

We arrived High Falls State Park around 630 pm on Friday night.  Of course I would've like to have gotten set up BEFORE dark, but for some reason, we couldn't get out of the house earlier?!?!

Oh well, you have to just go with the flow in the Espinoza household or you would be irritated all the time trying to get Ernesto things moving quicker.

Our site, even though we had no choice of the location, was a great spot.  We were in a cul-da-sac, not too close to the bathroom, but close.  The river ran along the sites across the street from us, so we still got to hear the rushing water. 

The kids busted out their scooters and rode around with their headlights while Ernesto and I set up the tent (a Coleman 6-person with easy set up). We started a fire and got to roasting. 

We woke up early the next morning, started another fire immediately because we had to heat the water for coffee.  I bought this kettle at Walmart and the little pot from Goodwill.  I got water boiling and broke out our French press.

Now I LOVE coffee from a French press, but we drink a lot of coffee and my press only produces 2 cups a time😭. I had to keep two pots of water going  so I could start steeping one after the other.  This may be considered "glamping," but next time we have an electric site, Im bringing a coffee pot. 🤷 

The skillet, on the other hand worked out perfectly. The boys made sausage patties one morning and chorizo and eggs the next. 

Paloma took charge of washing the dishes afterwards.

March is pretty much Spring weather in GA, so it was a bit chilly at night, but everyone stayed warm in their sleeping bags.  We had air mattresses too (again with the glamping). 

One night Ernesto took a mattress to the back of the van to sleep.  The kids thought that was funny and went to wake him up in the morning. 

The park gets its name from its biggest attraction, the High Falls, which are fed by the mighty Towaliga River. Along with multi-tiered falls, the park also famous for its clear lake and big dam. Unfortunately we did not make it on any hikes but we did spend the two mornings playing by the river. 

While we were ohh-ing and aww-ing at the river and climbing trees, Mateo was chomping at the bit to leave the park.  He did not want to climb trees or "do pictures." He wanted to GET TO THE TRACK!  Im telling you, he is obsessed!! I snapped this one, just so I can remember the intensity of him wanting to leave.   Oh! And check out the dam!

After getting to the camp site on Friday we talked about maybe just going to the state race on Sunday instead of going both Saturday AND Sunday. Then we could enjoy the camp ground. It was, after all our FIRST camping trip.  Mateo really wanted to go though so Ernesto said, Ill take the kids, you can stay at the campground.  AND I DID! 

There was no contact with them once they left either.  ALONE.  NO SERVICE. OUT OF TOUCH! It was an awesome feeling.  I painted, journaled, biked, walked, contemplated life (and parenting) sitting along side of the river. After about 7 hours when it started getting dark I was ready and anxously awaiting their return from the race.  And guess what?

Mateo brought home first place! He was so happy and proud.  I was so happy to see him so happy!

The next day, we packed up our campsite and we all went to the track for day two of racing. 

They both placed in two exciting races...Then promptly passed out in the car on the ride home. 

I’m a big fan of tired kids! Also , I’m a big fan of camping.  We have to do this more often!  Of course, I would rather do it in an Airstream but Ill take a tent for now.  I figure that the more Ernesto moves from the tent to the back of the van to sleep, the quicker he will realize that we NEED one!