THE WORLD OF THE SEA

So for those of you who don't know, Natalia has always had an affinity for sea life. For the first 3 years of her life, she was extremely attached to Ocky the green Octopus and used to sleep with him every night and play with him all the time. Sometime in the past year or so, Ocky has gotten "shelved" and Shamu the whale has taken over the top spot in Natalia's bed. Besides Shamu though, Natalia is always talking about mermaids, dolphins, Nemo, and whalesharks. Maybe she will be a marine biologist?
We decided to surprise the girls this week and take them to see Shamu up close and personal. It was a great day. :) The weather was just lovely and it wasn't crowded at all, which makes for a nice family day.

Meeting Shamu. Kira wanted to take a picture with him AFTER our turn was over.


And I love the awe-stricken face of Natalia as the real Shamu swims by for the first time.



You know, you'd think she'd be more excited about standing in the middle of a flock of flamingos.


And we got to meet "Dolphee" too, as Natalia so promptly named her.

Christmas Lane

So my friend Sheila introduced me to this place called Christmas Lane. It's actually just someone's house, but every year they decorate it up like crazy and invite people to come and enjoy the Christmas fun for free. They have a gazillion lights and moving props.















They even have a train ride for the kids.

Walking with Kira

Kira loves to go-go-go. I just have to mention the word "walk" in passing, and she is grabbing her shoes with a huge smile on her face. Natalia, on the other hand, would rather just "stay home with daddy" and could care less about being outside. For this reason, you will not see any pictures of Natalia in this post. She didn't want to walk with Kira and I as we went on a search for leaves. Florida has had some lovely cold spells recently, and there is much more color to be seen in the foliage than I can ever remember. Kira loves finding the big leaves on the ground..














..and then of course she has to sit on the ground to inspect her findings, and to sing about them..
















..and then onward she goes with her loot.

I've had complaints..

.....that the Christmas pictures I have posted on the side of the blog are not big enough. So, to satisfy those who are GROANING and MOANING, I am uploading the Christmas pics here onto the blog. If you click on the, they should enlarge. And don't make fun of my picture-taking skills :P

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

This year for Thanksgiving we spent the day with Grandpa and Grandma Riccio.

As you can see, Natalia thoroughly enjoyed the bread.



The girls were enjoying some kettle corn here.

Grandpa and Grandma turned on their Christmas lights for the girls to see when it got dark. They really enjoyed the reindeer. I'm not sure they realized that they weren't real.

FAMILY CENTER FUN

Nick and I have been taking the girls down to the local family center for the past few weeks and the girls have been having so much fun. The family resource center is a government funded center that provides all kinds of free classes and activities for families, similar to the programs offered at the local library. The girls are in a 6-week course for 2-3 year olds right now.

Today, the class was all about the 5 senses, and to go along with their sense of touch, the girls got to fingerpaint for the first time.
Here they are with their little smocks.

Staring at the white shaving cream and wondering what in the world is going on.

Natalia was not interested at all in using her fingers, and promptly asked for a paintbrush so she wouldn't get "messy." Kira used a combination of both. I think she really wanted to use her fingers, but she was torn because she also wanted to be just like her big sister.

Aerial view of the artwork.

The center also has "bedtime stories" once a week, where the kids come at about 7 pm and bring their blankies, and wear their jammies. They read stories and fed them cookies and juice. They even gave out free teddy bears to each kiddo this week!

IN HONOR OF KIRABIRA

Since my little Kira Bear didn't get a special blog on her birthday (October 3rd), you are going to have to enjoy some lovely Kira cuteness. Here are a few pics from the past couple of weeks. I know it's a month and a half late, but Happy 2nd birthday Kira!!

Looking oh so grown up in her new halter top from Aunt Darlene

The obligatory overall pic. Everyone has to have a pic of this when they are two years old!

And Kira's new peacoat. Isn't it adorable? Thank you Aunt Darlene! It's fits perfectly! (And no... Aunt Darlene did not send the outfit that Natalia is wearing. Let's just say that my 3-year old is starting to develop her own sense of "style?" and it doesn't exactly leave you feeling aesthetically pleased.)

LATE NITE LITE

This post is a little belated, but we had an event at our church called Nite Lite where the girls got to dress up. Here are a couple pics :)

Kira the bumblebee


..and Princess Natalia..

And WE ARE BACK.

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN. WE HAVE RETURNED TO THE BLOG. Over the past year, I've spent a lot of time posting pics on myspace, because it is easier for me. But, I'm realizing that not everyone has a myspace, and it's much easier to look at pictures and read up on the girls in this format. Aren't you all excited?

So, I suppose it's time to update you on the girls since the last time I posted on here, which was what? January? Sheesh, it's been awhile!

Natalia is now 3 years and 8 months old. She is majorly looking forward to her 4th birthday and is always talking about "when she's 4..." She is a daredevil. She loves rollercoasters and rides of all sorts. She loves to play dress up and pretend she is a princess or a fairy. She loves to jump and she loves your attention. You can usually find her in her room, playing with her little Princess or Dora figurines, acting out some grand adventure, or sitting at the dining room table coloring or drawing. She also loves learning and is actually reading short words already! She loves to dance around the living room with Kira and is slowly learning to become quite a wonderful big sister. However, if you spend anytime with Natalia these days, you will find out what her biggest obsession is. GUMBY. Yes, it's true. One day, I was at the library and I saw a Gumby video that I used to watch when I was a kid. I checked it out, on a whim, and Natalia fell in love. She is constantly talking about Gumby and it seems like her life revolves around him these days.

Kira is 2 years, 1 month old. How fast the time has gone by! Kira is such a joy. She is a cuddly cuddlebug and is always laughing about something. She adores Natalia and tries to be just like her. She is talking well beyond her two years, with clarity, and even more than that she sings all the time. She loves music and dancing. She loves the show Yo Gabba Gabba and she loves Mickey Mouse. Most importantly though, she loves books and reading. You will most often find Kira either right next to Natalia, pretending she is just like her big sister, or you will find her next to the bookcase with the books spread all around her, reading stories to herself.

Here are a couple pictures of the girls that were just taken this week. I am amazed at how different the girls look!

GET OUT YOUR POPCORN...

Get out your popcorn..



Because here comes the show!

Beware everyone!!

Kira has her first set of wheels!!!


And here's a little video to document her first drive. Notice how she stops halfway through to "turn on the radio."