Strawberry Festival!

So we took the girls to the Strawberry Festival this weekend.

Here is Natalia and Kira's first glance at all the rides. Natalia got very excited.


She is such a thrillseeker and is not afraid of anything. This ride was like the tower of terror for kids. It raises you up on this high pole, and then drops you down.

As you can tell, she loved it.


The wanna-be Himalayas, that go backward and forward. She loved it :)


How did you like the Festival girls???

SO WHO WINS??

Well, it depends on what the competition is this time. If we are judging who is the most comfortable (and also the best wrestling fan,) then Jeremiah wins hands down! Of course, if we are judging who is wearing the cutest "Sunday Best" clothes, then Jeremiah doesn't hold a candle to Kira. And lastly, Natalia takes the grand prize in the "Most Likely to Appear on Little House on The Prairie" contest.


You are probably wondering why the girls are dressed up. Well, Natalia and Kira went to Grandma and Grandpa Riccio's house to visit with Aunt Mary and Uncle Owen who they only get to see once a year. The girls also had two dresses that Grandma Riccio had given them as gifts and I wanted Grandma to be able to see the girls wearing them. So, this is why they are all dressed up.


Kira and Grandma, with Uncle Owen in the background.

Happy 4th Birthday Natalia.. AGAIN!

We had a small little birthday gathering for Natalia the weekend after her birthday. In attendance were Nana, TooToo, G-Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Riccio, Aunt April, Uncle Cliff, Jayden, Makyla, Aunt Anna, Uncle Dominic, Jeremiah, Aunt Hannah, Uncle Jo, and Na-Na. Here are a few pictures.

Natalia's new "Little Mermaid" comforter and sheet set from TooToo. As you can see, she is pleased.


Princess poster from Aunt Katie and Uncle MattMatt.


Random polar sea creatures and animals from Hannah maybe?


Jayden: Oh dear heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, we just pray blessings on Natalia on this here, her 4th birthday. We pray presents rain down from heaven and cake by the plateful.
Kira: Oh yes, Jesus. Cake!



Natalia and her new skates from Aunt April and Uncle Cliff!


Kira and her new dance moves.

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY NATALIA

Natalia's 4th birthday was back on February 10th. It fell in the middle of the week, so we had a party with family the following weekend. Here are a couple pics from her actual birthday though, just to whet your appetite. I'll be uploading birthday party pics soon! Happy Birthday Natalia! You've grown up so much!

SUPERHEROES

Well, while Natalia saves princesses and pirate girls on Mario Brothers and Zelda, spending much time affecting the video game universe..


Sweet little Kira decides to take things to the next step and bring it in to the real world.


And now, I unveil.... SUPERKIRA!

A treat!

Like any kid, Natalia and Kira love to go to McDonald's! I like to surprise them and just drive into the parking lot. They both get so excited and immediately start yelling. Natalia says "THE YUM-YUM STORE!" and Kira says "THE HUNGRY STORE!"

Random December

This blog entry will surely show you how busy the month of December has been. Even the photos are in random order, and I really don't have the time right now to sort them out. Enjoy!

Here is Natalia on Christmas morning opening gifts at Grandma and Grandpa Riccio's!


Christmas Eve at TooToo and G-Daddy's house...
Princess Cinderella

Princess Aurora

The Christmas Eve spread.. mm.

Natalia decorating Christmas cookies. She was so good at it!

Plant City Christmas parade, which stunk this year, by the way.

ANd the next few pics are from Natalia and Kira's visit with Santa Claus!!

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.