Family Time

The last few days have been filled with quality family time, as Daddy returned home from a week in Houston where he coached the GOLD MEDAL WINNING U14 Boys Soccer Team at the JCC Maccabi Games!! Mommy, Alex and Ari all eagerly awaited his return on Friday after a long week apart.

Backing up a day, Thursday (August 9) was Mommy and Daddy's ninth wedding anniversary and, coincidentally, the two year anniversary of the news that we were expecting Alex and Ari (although at the time, Mommy and Daddy didn't know two babies were on the way!) Two years ago Mommy and Daddy were also away at the JCC Maccabi Games (in San Antonio), as the annual event typically takes place over their wedding anniversary. So now the day holds extra special meaning. [In an interesting twist of fate, a good friend of Mommy's just adopted a new baby girl in San Antonio on August 9-- there must be something about San Antonio in August that brings good baby news!]

Although Mommy and Daddy spent the day hundreds of miles apart, our families made sure to make the day special. Miri and Opa came over to play with Alex and Ari and give Mommy a little break in her week of "single parenting." Later in the evening, Nana and Poppy Jack took us all out to dinner at Fuddruckers, where Alex and Ari were extremely well-behaved and ate a big dinner of grilled cheese, french fries and, of course, a cookie. Alex enjoyed the food almost as much as he enjoyed dancing in his high chair to the music played in the restaurant.

Even though we had fun celebrating without Daddy, we were all happy when he got home and looked forward to celebrating as a family as soon as we all caught up on much-needed sleep. Today we all took a trip to the neighborhood pool and enjoyed the beautiful (drier, cooler) day:

On the way to the pool in the Radio Flyer
Ari poses for the camera

Mommy and Alex

Daddy, Alex, and the "noodle"

This evening we went to dinner at Guapo's, the same restaurant that Mommy and Daddy and all of their friends hung out at the evening before their wedding nine years ago. It was a beautiful evening, so we ate outside and enjoyed the live music playing nearby. Alex ate like a champ...his new word is "hungry" and he kept telling us that he was hungry on the way to the restaurant. Turns out he wasn't kidding- Alex ate chips, salsa, quesadilla, french fries, tomatoes (a new discovery!), rice, black beans (another new food), and chocolate ice cream for dessert. Ari ate her share of chips and salsa (she insisted on dipping the chips in the salsa herself), french fries, a few pieces of quesadilla, and chocolate ice cream. She really wanted to try the radish that came as a garnish on Mommy's plate, but one taste and she decided that it wasn't as good as it looked.

Hmmmm...this doesn't taste as good as it looks

Alex says "don't interrupt my eating to take a picture!"

Ari dips her chip in the salsa

After dinner Ari was very excited to watch the ducks in the lake, and we all enjoyed the live "oldies" band playing along the waterfront. The hotel where Mommy and Daddy were married is next to the lake, so we made sure to get a family picture with the hotel in the background:

It was a perfect celebration and we're all very happy to be back together as a family again.

One final picture for today- Alex and Ari have been very sweet to each other this week, and often will kiss or hug each other. Here's a shot of a big sibling hug: