julio - July

July was all about practicing the piano, cleaning the house (keeping rooms and bathrooms tidy, alternating front room, kitchen, and art/computer room clean up), gardening (a bug ate our watermelon, but our bananas and tomatoes were yummy!), going to museums, the Miller Outdoor Theatre, reading Harry Potter, participating in the Houston Public Library Reading Program, and Water Polo!

Anna es muy musical. Le encanta tocar el piano, y bailar bailes chilenos folklóricos. Es increible cómo se siente la música.

Look at Anna... she is incredible! She loves her piano teacher so much (she used to be one of her Preschool teachers and so her daughter, Hailey, is one of Anna's special friends) and will practice on her own during the day... especially during the week when we keep tv to a minimum (working our way back to zero now that school is starting up in late August). Jonathan and Gabby also practice well, but Anna's... well, Anna. She loves music! She is one with music! She feels music naturally. When we were pregnant with her, Jonathan was playing violin Suzuki method. When she was born and would cry, I would ask Jonathan to play his violin for her and she would stop. She also insisted in being present during his daily practicing and when he had violin lessons, she would hardly ever even make a peep (which I was grateful for I feared Jonathan's teacher so much, but have control issues and so didn't want to leave Gabby and Anna with a babysitter each week during his lesson). This is the same girl who loves to dance Chilean Ballet Folklórico... we have to figure out how to do that again soon.

Durante el mes de julio, fuimos a varios museos mientras no estaban nadando. Aquí hay una fotod de un día loco cuando decidí cuidar a mis niños mas 4 niñas de mi amiga Jean. Los niños se compartaban super bien... ¡que suerte! :)

During one of my insane days, we were watching some good friends of our's children (they also have 4 children: Michael, Trevor, Hayley, and Jake)... We decided to go the the Houston Health Museum. I chaperoned 8 kids ranging from 1 to 11. Wow, they did a great job. Looking back, what a crazy idea... but boy we had a great time! :)

Un ojo para nuestro Papi. Aquí hay Gabby... le encanta ir a los museos, leer (especialmente Harry Potter) y jugando con sus amigos. Este año ella tiene una meta a escribir un libro de niños, con Carolina su ilustradora, y publicarlo.

Here's a photo of our Gabby! Gabby loves hanging out at the museums and listening to activities being held at the Miller Outdoor Theatre... but what she loved most this summer when swimteam was over; reading Harry Potter (she's started the whole series again) and playing with friends. She hopes to write some children's books and have Tía Carolina illustrate them and they can publish them together. We need some guidance in this area, but we hope this becomes a reality for her, she loves to read and write!

Paola y Jakie... son como gemelos... ¡y con tanta energía! Imagínese como comportan en la picina! Ja ja!
Paola and Jakie are like twins, and with so much energy! Imagine how they are like in a pool. Ha ha!

¡Nuestos niños adoran andar a bicicleta!
Something all our children love to do... ride the bicycle!

¡Qué gran invención! ¡Un juego donde el niño mas relajado gane! ¡Wow, quiero esta maquina en mi casa!

Two fun games the children loved! One is a game that makes children relax... it measures alpha and beta brain waves. The more relaxed child wins! Here's one of Anna with Hayley... Gabby and Trevor were edging them on... too funny!

Otro juego entretendido... la maquina de baile. Jonathan y Michael le gustaron mucho. Another fun game was this dance machine. Jonathan and Michael loved it! Look there's Paolita hanging out!

Jonathan se enamoró con Waterpolo cuando sus competencias de natación habían terminados. El es #8... mi Superocho! :) Nadando sin sus lentes es un gran exercicio para sus ojos.
Jonathan and Waterpolo went hand in hand this summer when swimteam was over. Jonathan was #8 on the team. He loves Waterpolo almost as much as he loves Scouts, but wasn't willing to give up Scouts because he's working so hard to complete his Webelow badge and earn his Arrow of Light before January... we're doing our best here and keeping our fingers crossed. He hopes to be in Waterpolo in January when Boyscouts meets on Tuesdays, or this coming summer. He loved his coaches and his swimmates, and loved all the roughhousing associated with it... craves it being in a home of 3 girls. It's great for his eyesight... His Pediatric Ophtalmologist, Dr. Coats, wants Jonathan not wearing his glasses a little each day and Waterpolo's a great time for him to do that and work on the strength of his eyes. We tried to talk Gabby into Waterpolo, but she wasn't interested... Anna's interested, but she has to make the swim team first to help her qualify for Waterpolo. Funny girls!

Pues, eso fue casi todo en julio... casi siempre olvidando mi camera, perdónenme por eso... pero por lo menos aquí hay algunos fotos de nosotros en julio. Besitos a toda nuestra familia en Chile, Rhode Island, España y Alemania... Les extraño mucho y les veremos lo mas pronto posible.
Well, that was July in a nutshell... kept forgetting to bring my camera, sorry. A big hug and kiss to all our friends and family! We always look forward for the time when we can be together again. Love, Us