Trip to the DR #1 August 29-September 2 2012

We recently traveled as a family to the Dominican Republic.  We thought it would be fun to show the girls where we use to live and where we met.

We visited the houses where Ben and family use to live:  Morgan said she agrees with mommy that the house looked better when it was painted pink (but then again, she thinks anything is better if pink!) 

We visited our old school where Ben and I met, became friends and eventually started dating many years ago  (April 22, 1999 to be exact)

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Ben enjoyed some long craved for empenadas at his favorite little stand 

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We dined at the Cave restaurant one evening and realized it's not the best place to bring kids!!  The poor couple seated next to us was trying to have a special evening, while we were trying to keep our girls from screaming and almost literally bouncing off the walls.  But we had fun anyway!

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Got to catch up with an old (young) friend and her new family! 

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Hurray for extra help!!  Grandma Mangrich came along to see the sights and to help out with the girls!  It also allowed us to have a night or two to go out without them.  Glad she came!

We stayed 1/2 the trip at the Hotel Dominican Fiesta.  We choose to stay there because of all the fond memories we had of going there and using their pool while we lived in the DR.  Only this time we got the perk of yummy breakfast everyday, including an omelet bar...  Morgan and I really loved that!

The pool was exactly as I remembered it.  Great kid pool for the girls to get all their energy out!  

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Then came sight seeing in the Colonial Zone.

Ben carried Maya for a while

We saw the first church that was built there

Morgan got tired and a little cranky.  (as I think I use to when I had to sight see with my family back in the day: sorry mom and dad!) 

Ben Got "lemonsillos?"  and stated, "they're not quite as good as I remember"

The Girls were very tired after that long day at the colonial zone

But there was still energy left for swimming!!

Maya's 1 1/2 Birthday July 22, 2012

I usually post these using the dates that they happen but in honor of my second daughter and the fact that we are the typical parents who did it right and on time with #1 and are slacking with #2, I am finally getting to posting Maya's 1/2 Birthday pictures etc...   oh yeah we Celebrated it a day late too...

We Love to celebrate! So why not celebrate 1/2 birthdays!  Maya loved her traditional cupcake and dove right into her "cake cake" as she called it.  Morgan was glad to have a reason to get cupcakes as well.  And what better place to get them from then Benison's Bakery! YUM!

So what is Maya up to now that she's 1 1/2...
She is talking like crazy putting several 2-3 word phrases together, she's running around getting into trouble where ever she can find it.  She is Finally a good sleeper! (this is huge for those of you who know my daughter!) and She is trying to copy every move her Big Sister Morgan makes!

Kitchen transformation 2009-2012

The Kitchen when we bought the house: 2009

Kitchen after we moved in 2009-2010

Kitchen Before we started tearing down the wall 2012

The Demolition

Morgan Loved getting to draw on the 

We even let Morgan help with some demolition: she helped remove the door frames 

We did it! No more kitchen...

The Construction

Living in a mess! (and this floor wasn't the messiest.) 

Morgan helping again

Maya trying to get in on the action

First meal at our new breakfast bar 

First meal cooked in our new kitchen

Almost done just the floors and a few details left 

And we are Done!

The Girls "Helping" With the dishes

Living room back in place

You can see the kitchen from the front door now! 

Note the pretty floors! 

I love our new kitchen! 

Totally worth all the hard work, displacement and microwaved meals!  

 A Special Thanks to Everyone Who Helped out!! Especially Paul and his crew, Trent for demolition work, Jerry helping when he can, Scott for lending us his tools, and many others! 

Build-A-Bear 2012

Morgan and Maya got to go to Build-A-Bear and it was insane!  When I finally was able to wrap my mind around the craziness of it all and just embrace what we were doing it ended up being fun.  

Morgan very carefully picked out her bear.  She helped the lady at the pump fill her bear up after kissing the carefully selected heart and placing it inside.  Once her bear was all filled up it was off to the brushing/ cleaning station where she washed and brushed her bear and gave it a mini Dr's appt.  She was so into it.  I enjoyed watching her.  Then off to picking out clothes!  Yikes!  Way too much to choose from to start off.  She went through several choices but ended up picking out a tinkerbell outfit, which surprised me since there were princess dresses there too.  This lovely bear is now named Rainbow and Morgan takes Rainbow on some adventures, but rainbow sleeps in the toy pack n play at the food of her bed instead of in bed with her.  

Maya had a good time too.  Her experience was very different though.  She picked out her dog and clung to it for dear life!  She picked out a heart tried to eat it while we tried to convince her to put it in her dog.  We had to pry the thing out of her hands and she preceded to cry while it was being filled with fluff.  Maya could have cared less about picking out clothes for her dog.  She was just happy to have it back in her tight grip and not let it go.  She has since named her dog Floppy and sleeps with him every night!