Son Dulce rocks Coeur d'Alene!

It was 103 degrees out this past Sunday afternoon - but the setting could not have been more beautiful. The girls and I drove out to Coeur d'Alene park (at the beach) to hear Martin's salsa band, Son Dulce, perform. They were amazing and the crowd loved them! The poor things were just sweating up there on that stage! Martin just loves his music -- I always say that it is the true food for his soul! He looked so great up there! Good job, babe!

Everyone got into the dancing mood - the beat was so strong and just got everyone moving!

Looking good, girls!

Pretty soon it was time to cool off in the lake. That was fun, but I found the water to be a little murky/dirty. It was packed - almost seemed like a comunal bath tub, which totally grossed me out. I don't think we will swim there again, but the girls had a blast anyway!

Playing in the sand only lasted for a little while - it was just way too hot!

Yes, it was hot, but it wasn't anything that a little shaved ice couldn't cure!

Here are a couple of videos that I took of the band and of the girls dancing....they didn't turn out too good, but it will give you a bit of an idea of their sound.

Saturday Night Fever!

The girls had fun tonight dancing! They definitely get a little silly sometimes!

And the tooth finally comes out!!!!!

After nearly a full week of that darn top tooth hanging on by a thread, it finally sucumbed to Audriana's poking, proding, wiggling, moving, and pulling. Actually, I was getting a little grossed out by it, so I just gave it a tiny little "yank" tonight and it literally fell right out. Audriana was so excited - she's been sleeping with her Tooth Fairy Pillow under her pillow for the past 5 nights just "in case' it fell out in the middle of the night. She's a planner, that one!

Sofia was convinced that her tooth was coming out too.....this is her showing me that her tooth was loose. :-)

Summer is here.......

....and that means swimming lessons for Audriana! She is having so much fun - her confidence is allowing her to be a very good student who tries everything. She loves it - especially the end of the class where they get to jump into the water from the edge of the pool!

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Maria and Audriana are in the same class this summer!

Sofia wishes she could get in the pool, too! Next year, babe!

Looking good, Audriana! Great smile!

"DRIVING MISS SOFIA......."

Father's Day 2008!

Well, our day began very simply -- relaxing at home with the family. The girls and I let Daddy sleep as long as he wanted to (as any parent knows, this is the biggest luxury of all!). After he woke up we made him breakfast and the girls got to serenade him multiple times with a loud and proud "Happy Father's Day"!!!!

Martin then took Audriana on a bike ride (Sofia is just too little to keep up with them, so she stayed home with Mommy). They rode a good couple of miles - all the way down to the gas station at the corner of Spokane/Cheney Road and 195. They made is just about half way home before I got the phone call to come down with the car to pick them up. Regardless, I was so proud of Audriana to have rode her bike all that way! Amazing....she's only 5! Speaking of that, she's also reading like a rock star -- but that's another story for a later blog. Suffice to say, she's amazing!

Joye and Sid invited us over to their house to celebrate Maria's 6th b-day, as well as Father's Day. Joye had the girls slice up fresh strawberries for the cake. It was so cute to watch them hard at work cutting those berries! We encouraged them to slice them evenly - but we ended up with a wonderful assortment of "berry chunks". It was so funny! Even little Sofia got to use a butter knife to cut up her strawberries! They felt so important making the dessert for all of us. We also had bbq flank steak, green salad (Joye's green salad is so good!), corn on the cob, french bread and fresh fruit. It was quite the feast. Kristi joined us, which made it even more fun. The Bennett's have become such good friends these past few years and we just love spending these times together.

Maria's new playhouse was a big hit with the girls. I know they will have hours and hours of fun in this little house. Maria had the Alfaro girls close their eyes while coming into the backyard so she could surprise them with her new playhouse. They were so excited!

Here is Sofia already hard at work in the playhouse -- I think she was "baking cookies".

It took all of 30 seconds between the time Martin sat down on the beach towel before his hat was down over his face and he fell asleep -- it was Father's Day, after all, so we didn't mind that he took some time to relax. He works so hard for all of us -- he deserved it!

Joye and Sid put together a cute little scavenger hunt for the girls -- here they are after they each found their very own binnoculers! Isn't this picture funny!?

Here are the girls getting the corn ready -- they were very serious little corn shuckers!

Riverfront Park

We decided to head down to Riverfront Park with the Christensen family on this sunny Saturday afternoon! The kids love hanging out together and had an absolute ball riding the rides together.
Here they all are just before getting on the Strawberry spinning ride! I think Martin volunteered to go with them on this one -- God Bless him!
Corbin Christensen - Mr. Blue Eyes! Jamie is Mom to all 5 Christensen kids - they are wonderful and she is truly my idol! I learn from her each time we are together. It's nice to have such wonderful neighbors!

Here is Audriana waiting for the Dragon Roller Coaster to start. This ride goes very fast - and she loves it! I think she ended up riding this one about 8 times in a row! Yikes! I can't blame her.....my favorite rides as a kid were always the fastest and scariest, too!

A Fun Tire Swing at the Alfaro House!

Martin "rigged-up" an awesome tire swing for the girls a few days ago. I came home and the there it was! The girls say their daddy can do anything! I agree!

Audriana and Logan Christensen

Sofia and Madison Christensen

Sofia, Madison and little Cameron (my buddy!)

Maria's 6th Birthday Party at Mission Valley Park!

Audriana and Sofia were invited to Maria's 6th birthday party. It was so much fun! It was a beautiful, sunny day -- just perfect for a day at the park!

The kids had a great time painting their own flower pots!

The cutest 2 year old in the universe!

Joye had such a good idea with this parachute! The kids had fun playing games with it -- all to the beat of Martin's drums. That's him on the far right.....

Ring Around the Rosies and other games were a big hit!

The birthday cake!

Here's a fun little video of the kids playing with the parachute.....Click on the arrow at the bottom left of the video clip to start the video.

Aunt Kristi's Fun Day!

Today we celebrated Aunt Krisit's b-day. Each year for her birthday present we go to Kiddie Kandids to get her picture taken with the girls. It has been such a great tradition and the girls look forward to adding the new picture to the picture frame in their bedroom. They like for me to open it up so I can show them all the past years' pictures. They love their Aunt Kristi so much! Martin and I are so lucky that she is close by and that she loves our girls so much. It's a wonderful thing......

Audriana had fun playing dress up at Kiddie Kandids while we waited for our pictures. She had a lot of fun being a "Cowboy" for a few minutes! :-)



After we got our pictures we ate a nice lunch at Azteca with our good friends Joye and Maria. Here they are getting their pictures taken too (shhh...don't tell Sid it's his Fathers Day gift)!

Then.....to end the day we headed over to Mom's house for a birthday bbq for Kristi and Jay (a June b-day, too). It was good -- ate too much, but it is always fun hangin' with the family. We got to spend time with Mike's new girlfriend, Jackie, which was nice. She fits in really good ~ and makes a mean batch of brownies (frosted, no less!!!). I'm not sure why I didn't get any shots of the bbq, but here's a cute one of Martin and Audriana.....

Audriana's Soccer Fever!

The Cheetas!

Well, we have just finished Audriana's first soccer season. She loved it and is eager to start again next fall. She literally went from knowing nothing about the game last Fall to being one of her teams star players this Spring! It was fun to watch her improve as well as learning how to be play as part of a team. There were many proud moments, but the time that she made her first goal ranks pretty high! She is pictured above with her friend Logan (also our next door neighbor). Logan was on a different team this seaon, but they hope to be on the same team next Fall.

The New Bed!

The girls were so excited to help their daddy put together their new trundle bed tonight. They could hardly wait to get to sleep in it for the first time tonight.

Good Nite!

Memorial Day at Jay's Cabin 2008

Our annual adventure up to Lake Pend Oreille (near Sandpoint, ID) was lot's of fun this year as the girls played in the forest for hours on end! We throw all the rules out the window when we are up there (well, most of them) and enjoy lots of running, exploring, marshmallow roasting, smore making, and staying up late. They are so pooped by the end of the day (so is Mom!)! We love spending time with Jay's family and enjoying this tradition together. There is something so wonderful to watch this little ritual grow into such a wonderful tradition for our girls......