Fort Worth Zoo and Long Horn Cattle drive

This spring break we have decided to really make each day count. So far, on Monday, we have gone the Bureau of printing and engraving, the place where they make money. We were in the presence of millions, maybe trillions of dollars! We have also played games and had dinner at the other dental school mormon friends house that night. On Tuesday, we went rock climbing (without the boys) and it was awesome! I was able to climb 7 different walls! Then on Wednesday we went to the Fort Worth Old Town where they have a daily cattle drive. It was pretty authentic and cool to see the real Old West! After that we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. Today we traveled to Downtown and Uptown Dallas via the DART and an original Trolley cart that is over 100 years old. It has been quite an experience and a week full of fun!

This is what the long horn cattle drive had to say: 

"The Texas Longhorn and the American cowboy are two of the most enduring symbols of the Old West. They're a big reason why Fort Worth earned the nickname "Cowtown." And they formed the core of the great cattle drives of the late nineteenth century. Now, the romance and mystique of cowboys and cattle drives returns to Fort Worth with The Herd - Texas Longhorns driven by genuine Texas cowhands - offering an unforgettable glimpse into the past. You'll hear the jingle of spurs, the cattle bawling, and the rhythm of the hoofbeats. As The Herd passes, a bygone era comes to life before your eyes." 

As they promised they had the long horn cattle walk down the Exchange Ave. They were huge!

They day was perfect! Sunny, clear blue skies!

Ben and Luke

I love Luke's monkey looking out with the boys!

Emily saying Yee-haw! To me it sounds like (hija in Spanish LOL)

Luke was running like crazy. See those cobblestones, Luke or Ben luckily didn't trip on those. However, while having a yummy picnic, Luke managed to trip on some stairs and literally kiss the ground. You'll see in the following pictures how bad his bruise and scrapes on his forehead and nose are. He did cry, but he soon forgot about it. (Emily's addition:)This is his first facial battle wound (He is normally a very careful boy and rarely gets scraped up!) I think Francisco had a harder time with the injury than Luke did. ;) He is such a loving Papi and he just hates to see his babies in pain.

I love Sam's expression. 

I don't think Sam is much of a cowboy... yet 

This video is a little boring, but oh well. It was cute in person.

After a good day in the "Old West", we've decided to go to the zoo.

The Fort Worth zoo is rated  in the top 5 of the country!

I hope you agree with me that human baby species, particularly this one, is so cute. (By the way, no color enhancement was necessary in these pictures! That really is his eye color!)

So half-way through the day Sam leaked on his pants and we didn't have a spare! (We had a pair of pjs but didn't want him to wear those) So, we put him in a pair of Luke's sweats! They were huge but actually fit him okay around the waist. At least they matched.

Luke's project!

I decided to teach Luke about magic beans.
I planted some beans in a jar and this happened! It really took less than a week!

I have to admit though, I'm more excited than Luke is.

St. Patrick's day

We decided we wanted to go outside and enjoy this winterish 80° weather. We ended up going to white rock lake park . It was perfect! Texas is really a cool place to live, we just wish we had family close by. 

Sam is wearing a green onesie and green socks. 

I was wearing a green shirt but it was too hot. As you can see it was windy!

And of course our little model. 

Luke's makeover

Luke got a little makeover the other day. I had fun making him look super cute and he also enjoyed it. He loves taking pictures so with out photo shoot, he really got into it. He is a natural little model.

The before shot:

(Funny story: Francisco was looking through the pictures on the camera and asked me why I would take such an ugly picture of Luke. He almost deleted it until I explained to him that the picture was taken on purpose!)

The after shots:

He took a bath, got both his finger nails and toe nails clipped, his hair cut and gelled, and a new summer outfit to wear.

He was such a good sport about it all as well! He held so still while I was cutting his hair and nails! Yay!

and this shot was taken today at our apartment clubhouse:

Luke is showing off his brand new hat and flip-flops that we bought him at the osh-kosh b'gosh outlet store on Saturday. I think he looks adorable!

Sunday Breakfast

My plan this Sunday was to prepare this delicious breakfast, take a picture and go and wake up Emily and ask her if she wanted to join me...it did NOT happen like that. Instead I had a car alarm wake me up and everyone in the house around 6:30 am. The car alarm will go on and off all till around 7:30 am. It was so annoying. I was soooooo upset. Anyway I went down there, wrote down the car port number and license plate and the office is definitely going to hear about it. The worst part is that this is not the first time it happens.

Emily actually helped me make this delicious breakfast: Crescent rolls, fruit plate (pears, bananas, grapes, oranges), omelet (cheese, sausage, spinach) and a delicious smoothie. It was good and we were full till about noon. Yummy! I wish we had family near by so they could come and join us for breakfast.

To our little Sam.

We made one video at 4 months for Luke (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=382496498428) and this one is for Sam. We absolutely love you.

Read to Me!

These pictures of my boys were taken today! Luke is 26 months and Sam is 4 months. Sam was wearing this "read to me" tee-shirt and I thought is was the perfect photo-op to take some pictures with some books!

Luke absolutely LOVES to read! I was thinking about how much a young child learns during the first few years of life and how much of the responsibility of this learning falls on the parent. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with trying to teach Luke the colors, numbers, letters, and growing his vocabulary. When we go to playgroup and I see children his age or younger with a bigger vocabulary or able to sing entire songs, sometimes I think, Am I doing enough? I should spend more time with Luke trying to make him the smartest in the group. Other days I think, It's no big deal! Who cares if he knows his colors yet. He WILL learn them eventually. He will learn to talk and read and solve problems whether I deliberately teach him or not. Do I really need to buy the "Your baby can read" programs or sit with him for hours to try to differentiate between his "p"s and "d"s?

Okay, so I keep going back and forth on this. Because NOW as I am writing this, I am thinking Yes, it is my responsibility to teach him these things. I am his mother and I will be teaching him for the next 16+ years the things that he needs to know. He will continually be learning and I need to be there for him and help him as much as I can. If I can get him a little ahead in school, that is great and it will only lead to more learning!

What are your thoughts on this? Do toddlers need to go to "Mommy School" and be taught school things before they even go to school?

Que Rica Comida!

Francisco has taken to photographing our delicious dinners recently. Here are a few of our meals.

Super yummy hamburgers with avocado and bacon and all the fixins! So good with fresh beef.

This is arroz con pollo (Chicken with rice). It is a traditional Ecuadorian fried rice that takes literally 5+ hours to prepare with an ingredient list that takes up an entire page! Yikes. Francisco says it's worth the time. The flavors in this dish are exquisite!

Francisco already posted about this, but Portuguese Chicken is a favorite in this house!

Here is one of Francisco's soups! Cream of Spinach. I had never had it before marrying him but I love it!

These are our Valentine's dishes. Yes they are different! I made Francisco shrimp because it is his favorite and I hate it! So I made his and then grilled some Tilapia for myself! Do you like his heart shaped rice? ;)

I am not real brave in the kitchen, but I do try to expand our recipes slowly to get some variety. I enjoy cooking but I despise my closet of a kitchen; especially when Luke is in there stepping on my toes! Literally!

And Sam JUST rolled over for the first time! Yay!

Loving life!

After school is always nice to spend a little bit of time with Luke and Sam. I love playing with my boys!

Luke building a wall! He loves building stuff

Seriously Sam is a happy boy.

Luke loves roller coasters, we kept playing this for half hour! I was tired!

I wish I could take credit for this, but all goes to Emily, our artist!

This week has been pretty busy at school, but I'm glad that I have an amazing wife that teaches me how to make awesome dinners. This is the recipe of an easy and soooo delicious. I guess I'll spread the love.

Ingredients:
I large frying chicken (at least 3 lbs)
2 Tb minced garlic (Use less with fresh garlic)
2 Tb dried parsley
2 Tb dried oregano
2 Tb salt (I don't think it needs this much salt, WE ONLY USE 3/4 of a Tbs)
1/2 c cooking oil
Pepper to taste

Wash whole chicken and dry welll inside and out with paper towel. Mix all spices and oil together and spread over chicken in side and out. Bake at 400 for 1 hour, basting frequently(we do it every 15 min). Serve over rice. Serve juice from pan over rice.

Seriously it's so good!