Caballos

A friend brought the equifest to my attention.  I am always looking for new and interesting things to do with Dyleva. 

 http://www.wnyequifest.com/

I wasn't sure what this would involve...but we were excited to find out!

When we arrived there were a pair of horses dancing a pas de deux to Disney music.  There were many vendors, so we occupied our time with them for a bit, and then watched a horse parade of different breeds. 

We got to see mustangs, which in my opinion, was pretty cool. 

Then we went to the second building, and there was tons of interactive activities and displays. 

There was a fake mechanical bull the ninos got to sit on.  They saw a falcon and an owl, (Don't touch!). 

There were two ponies in a pen.  They weren't giving rides, which actually was good.  I always feel bad for the poor animals.  But Dyleva could go in with them, pet them, and do their hair.  Eva was thrilled!

They had crafts.  Dylan made a horse puppet, and Eva decorated a horseshoe.

Dylan got to try out a lasso on a fake toro------much more difficult than it looks!

But the highlight, which I do not understand, was a pen of sawdust.  Under the sawdust was hidden "caca."  The kids were given a rake and had to find and scoop out the caca, without dumping out the sawdust, in order to preserve it.  Kind of like a giant litter box.

This fascinated them.  They went to this spot several times. 

As we left, I reminded them, "You know, we have a big backyard that Marley has been using all winter that needs some cleaning up..." 

How to catch a leprechaun

If you read last year's blog, you know my niños have been poisoned by the "Catch a leprechaun" bug.

Being Polish, none of this had ever occured to me before. 

Fast forward...this year we needed a stronger, more effective trap.  They enlisted the help of their Daddy. 

But I began to wonder...."Why...exactly do we want to catch a leprechaun?  I don't want a leprechaun."

Eva sighed.  "We want him so he can give us the gold."

But I don't want any gold....wine, maybe.

ok.  "Well, what if we have to feed him?  What do leprechauns eat?"

Dylan immediately said "Coconut."  and then later added, "Coconut cookies."

Eva thought more about her response.  "Lettuce, broccoli, and avocado, because they are all green."

The Market

Today we went to the Polish market.  I thought it would be safe, several weeks out from Easter.  

We actually went to see Rinca Na Tierna, the dancers, but we couldn't find them.  However, we ran into some cool Irish music!

 

 

We picked up some delicious Polish food, matrushka, and hair pieces for Dyngus Day!

Dylanisms 3

On our way to an event at Eva's school, I started telling him about how this will be his school next year.
He became quiet, and then said, "Mommy, I am a Little bit terrified."
                                         ~~~~~~~
We were discussing our extended family traveling to Hilton Head.  Dylan asked if they were going by plane.  I replied no, that I think they were driving.  "Well Mommy, that's good then, because they would have to wait in a lot of lines.  Everybody doesn't like waiting in lines, but sometimes you have to and that's okay because that's life."

Puerto Rico



En route to PR-toddies at the bar

As far as "vacations" go, this one went well.

Not everything went completely smooth, but it could have been, (and has been in the past), much worse. 

Let's see! Comparison countdown on this trip:

potty accidents:0

visits to the emergency room:0


Arrival!

full-blown temper tantrums in public:0

whining and complaining: too many incidents to count

But I can live with that.



Entertaining ourselves at dinner

Parque de las Palomas



This is a trip I was not looking forward to, because generally, Dyleva is so high maintenance, it is more exhausting than staying home.

However, this time, I must admit.  They were better behaved than their parents.  (Which only leaves us open to more adventurous endeavors in the future....)

I won't go into all the painful details of the unnecessary, inconsistent, tiresome, travel process, but believe me when I say it was a lot to ask of a 6 and a 4 year old.  (It was a lot to ask of an adult.) 



Entrance to the dungeon

I have always said, if our life is a yacht, I am the engineer, and Jeff is the Cruise Director.  He planned the entire trip.

It was divided into 3 parts. 

Part 1: Old San Juan
Culture, history, and exploration



Dyslexic graffiti artist

Part 2: Beach
Swimming and sun in a surfing town.

Part 3: Rainforest
El Yunque and all its marvels.

Dylan's Love Airplane

My poor kids. 

Every year, I make them make their own "homemade valentines."  This year is the first year they haven't embraced it. 


Eva considered it a chore, and just wanted to hurry through them. 

Dylan, had the opposite problem.  He would spend an hour on one.  At one point, he had glued three pieces of paper together and started throwing it around the room. 

I looked at him, and said, "Dylan, you are supposed to be working on your valentines for your friends." 

Completely innocent, he said, "I am Mommy.  This one is for Lola, it is a love airplane." 

Strong ninos

We have been wanting to go to Strong Museum.  We love going, and try to go a couple times a year. 

But it has been challenging to catch my kids between illness.

Today was the day!

We slowed it down this time, and instead of Dyleva running around like crazy for 5 hours, we made sure they found something and interacted. 

This week was a pirate theme...Perfect!  Here are some action shots of the day.

Before we left, I made Eva do her homework.  She recently got cast in a school play.  She has been practicing her singing part non-stop.  So we made her so it on stage.

What a great way to spend the day.