Joyeux Noël

Merry Christmas from Victoria, Canada!

 Natasha and Tiago waited patiently for the adults to wake up on Christmas morning, allthewhile speculating what might be under the tree.  Aaand...

 ...let the unwrapping frenzie commence! See above for expression of tween opening a coffin-shaped box of Monster High make-up. (Then, check out below for the full transformation)

 (above: our little Ninjago-turtle-Ironman-crossbow-shooting super-hero.) 

 (Monster High goth-girls... + Tiago photo bomb.)

 And, for the grand finale, Grandpa Josh buys Tiago his very own set of elaborate wheels.  (It wasn't long before Tiago was honking his horn at people to move out of his way, like a real-life-self-entitled-Benz-owner!)

 After playing with all of our new toys and testing out new gadgets, we settled in for a delicious Christmas dinner with the Guilar clan:

 It was a great Christmas!

OBX Beach House

When Korah found out that she would have an entire week off from work, she decided to hop on an airplane and visit the NC family.  Tiago, of course, came along.

 Little did we know, when planning our trip out there, that abuelita Susan would be leaving her job to permanently re-unite with abuelito in Georgia!  Tiago was fortunate enough to be a guest student-for-a-day at abuelita's school on her last day there.  He practiced ordering from a menu with pretend money, he learned about analog clocks, he met some delightful students, and he attended his very first school assembly.  And, we were also lucky enough to hear the staff sing abuelita's praises and tell us what an amazing teacher she is and how they would miss her!  

His cousins also joined us at abuelita's school before we all headed out to the beach house.  And, from minute one, he and his cousins played, laughed and...

...you guessed it.  They fought crime.

Tiago and his cousin Mateo learned that they have, not only the same fashion sense but, the same idiosyncratic need for clean lines and straight-legged jeans!  Tiago fondly referred to Mateo as "bro" from then on.

Fortunately, the cloud cover actually delayed some anticipated icy weather just long enough for everyone to get their toes wet and play in the sand for one day.  We saw dozens of dolphins just along the breaks, heading south.  The following day was a high of 30 degrees!!!  The dolphins (and the little rug rats) got out of there just in time.

After building a sand fortress with abuelito, the children headed back to the beach house to refuel and re-energize...

...Sometimes hours would pass and Korah would think, but for an occasional blur of super-hero-colored pajamas, "I haven't seen Tiago lately."  Don't be mistaken, there was never a doubt that children were present.  The noise alone was confirmation.  That and...

...the sudden disappearance of every sheet, blanket and quilt in the entire place had gone missing.  *THE SECRET HIDE-OUT* (see above picture and insert whispered giggles and an occasional bickering about fairness and turn-taking)

The following day, was sunny and bright-- and below freezing temperatures.  For one final pirate hoorah, Tiago dressed as Jack Sparrow (with multiple layers of warm clothing and a bomber jacket near by for good measure) to dig up some treasure on the atlantic coast, not far from where real pirates had been before him.  While he didn't care for the photo-shoot, he did actually enjoy the buried treasure part.  

The Last Supper...at the Raleigh House

It was Korah's and Tiago's first time visiting North Carolina in the fall in about 5 years (so, really, Tiago's first visit).  That meant that Korah was finally able to check out her painting up in the UNC, Chapel Hill gallery (which is usually inaccessible during the limited summer hours).  It was fun to see it in an official encasement, with a tracking device and artist's description next to it.  Fancy.

Tiago found his abuelitos' house almost unrecognizable without the lush summer landscape or the inflatable swimming pool out back.  Instead, he found an abundance of colorful fall leaves on the ground, and discovered that he could see his breath in the cold.

  (Wait! Don't jump!  The leaves aren't that abundant!)

 It was a lovely last Thanksgiving dinner with the La Serna clan in NC.  But, if you look carefully, you'll see that Tiago isn't so impressed with the spread.  He just wants to fill every moment with playing and having fun.  (Ok, maybe, he'll sit for a cookie or two...or five!) 

When I asked the kids to pose for a serious shot and then a silly shot, they took me a little too "seriously."

Or, maybe it was the five cookies?  

Before we knew it, our trip had come to an end.  Tiago wondered if leaving was up for debate.  He said that he wasn't ready to go home.  Then, the U-Haul showed up, and I said, "Well, I'm sorry son.  I know it's hard but it's time to say good-bye."

Batboy

In case you hadn't heard, San Francisco was recently transformed into Gotham city as part of a Make-a-Wish spectacular for a little boy with Leukemia.  It was a touching story appreciated by children and adults alike. 

Well, this morning we spotted the batmobile Lamborghini parked in front of our favorite restaurant, right in our own town-center!  Needless to say, Tiago was excited to touch the real deal. Surprisingly, though, many adults were also excited about the batman embellished sports car. 

Tiago-isms

Tiago: mommy, you need to use your listening ears. 

Me: (with stifled laughter) oh, sorry son. 

Tiago: It's ok mommy. Sometimes, at school, I forget to use my listening ears. 

(While trying to help him floss his teeth)

Tiago: did you get it? 

Me: I think maybe I didn't get all of the food out of your teeth.

Tiago: mommy, if you see something then you say 'no' or 'yes' but you don't say maybe if you know the answer. You just say it. 

Me: ok Jack Johnson. 

(While getting ready for school): 

Me--combing my fingers through his bed-head

Tiago: mom! (Stop) I'm handsome!

Happy Dress-up Day!

Who needs Halloween for dressing up?  Not this superhero.  Thanks to Grandma Naomi and PaulPaul, Tiago was able to perfect his poses the weekend before Halloween!

 

(Below: Preparing the cutest, "scary-jack-O-lantern" with daddy and PaulPaul. Tiago designs his scary jack-O-lanterns with eyebrows, "So they will look mad and scary."   We love it!)

 As some of you may recall, Tiago has had an interest in Pirates since conquering his fear of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney and waving hello to Captain Hook in the Disney Parade just one year ago.   Soon after receiving an intricate Captain Jack Sparrow costume as a birthday present from his cousins (who are well stocked in the costume/dress-up department) he decided that he wanted to dress as the infamous Cap'n for Halloween.  However, many months later, and just a week before Halloween, grandma Naomi and Paul-Paul came to visit, and brought him The Amazing Spiderman (foam muscles included) costume.  Needless to say, we had our selves a little Gemini moment of indecision...What to do?!

 Well, he dressed as...BOTH! Of course.

But, you see, mommy had already purchased herself a cheap-Velcro-corset, and daddy got a new felted-pirate-hat. (Amazingly, or not so surprisingly if you know Korah-at-all, we already had everything else that we needed to dress like pirates.)  Since we did the super-hero thing last year, we decided to stick with the pirate theme for the first round of trick-or-treats. 

 (Captain Morgan and Li'l Cap'n Jack strike a leg-up-pose)

 (Spooky pumpkins: Blue pumpkin courtesy of the attentive, observant and nephew-indulging Aunt Megan. Large pumpkin in the back courtesy of Tiago, PaulPaul and daddy--a joint effort. Medium pumpkin in front courtesy best pal Diego's bday party, and mommy's awesome carving skills!)

 (Above: trick-or-treating in our neighborhood requires some serious stair hiking, hill climbing and gate opening! Some of these houses actually resembled  a Disney ride.)

A pirate family portrait (Captain Morgan, Anne Bonny & Jack Sparrow) before costume change.

The Side by Side Comparison...

And the verdict is...

 We went to Davis to visit family recently and, it turns out, there were some new surprises!  Uncle Zac got himself a fancy, more powerful, faster motorcycle.  Tiago was impressed (and a little startled).  Who new a motorcycle engine could sound so loud from up close?!  But, as it turned out, he preferred the older, worn and loved Honda.  After all, it's the first motorcycle he'd ever set hands on.  It's the one that he has coveted since the (under)ripe young age or 1.5 yrs old!

Speaking of fancy, faster and louder...there was also an adorable little addition to the Davis Sabato residence: Shona the (pure-bred) Rhodesian-Ridgeback. At only 4 months old, her enormous paws and ears suggest that she will be Coya's height by the end of the calendar year.  And, while it looks like Coya is about to devour Shona's silky, floppy, puppy ears in one gigantic chomp (see picture below), Shona's already got the fast moves on Coya.

 This little one can dodge and weave and dance circles around our old Ridgeback-wanna-be.

 Nevertheless, these two dogs got along splendidly, despite their huge age gap and class-status.

 Coya, at the senior age of 8 years old, required frequent breaks and suffered from hot-flashes from time to time.

But, once rested and cooled off in the comforts of Air Conditioning, she resumed her cheery, laid-back disposition. Shona, (the adorable little puppy that she was), was 100% cheery--all of the time. And she was content to follow Coya along wherever it may be.  Although, she made no promises to sit quietly while the old lady composed herself.  She often barked, "OK--I gave you five minutes--get up and play!" Awww, look at these cute doggies:

 Back at home, Tiago reassured Coya that he likes his dogs like he likes his motorcycles: old and a little rough around the edges.

...Tiago's gonna stick with the older model--the one that's been around for as long as he can remember.

More Shennanagins

 Scientist-Natasha and Pirate- Tiago

 keep each other entertained with minimal blood shed

 They make use of Halloween wigs of bygone days

 (Natasha plays a platinum blonde rock-star)

 (and, not to be out-done, Tiago channels a hung-over Lady Gaga)

all the way through the very last minute of their time together...

These Guilar children seemed to have a blast together.