Birthday week!

Nina came to visit for Antonio's birthday. Nina is what Antonio calls his aunt (Albert's sister) Nelly. To be honest, I don't know why we call her that but we do. It is not Spanish for aunt, that would be "Tia" so I don't ask why, I just go along with it. :) Anyways, she arrived on Wednesday the 10th and left bright and early this morning, the 17th. We had such a fun time with her. She had some distractions with her life back at home but I think (hope) she still had a good time; I know we did!

For Antonio's actual birthday we all got up and went to Ihop for breakfast ( I think this shall be a new tradition!). Antonio got  his very own waffle and was super happy about it! Then we went to have him help pick out his birthday present from us, a new big boy bike (with training wheels). From there it was up to him. He debated between the Zoo and a ride on big boat. At the last minute he chose the big boat. :) So we went to Mukilteo to take the ferry over to Whidbey Island and back. It was a good, quick, tourist activity for Nina as well. After the boat ride we played around at the beach. Form there we went home to put together his new bike and have lunch. Per his request, he had a grilled cheese sandwich. After his nap we went to swimming then again, per his request, we had hot dogs and cake for dinner. Thanks to technology, we had Grandma, Grammy and Grandpa and Nino all with us via phones (on speaker) and the iPad to sing happy birthday to Antonio! It was a great day!

Friday was a day of prep for Antonio's birthday party the next day. Shopping, grass cutting, cleaning and more.

Saturday was party day! We had family come an hour before the friends came. We had lunch and opened presents just in time for his friends to show up! We had a couple friends from daycare come which included Ms. Rosemary as well as cousins and a couple other friends. There was a lot of basketball, baseball and sandbox playing! We did a book exchange instead of presents which happily went well! I had every kid bring a wrapped book to exchange. Everyone sat down and put their wrapped books in the middle. Antonio picked first then youngest to oldest. Then everyone got to open the one they picked and then could trade if if they wanted to. That way not only did Antonio not get a bunch of toys he would maybe only play with for a week but each kid got to open a present and take a book home as a "favor"! Then we did a piñata, which is always fun, water ballon toss and had cake and ice-cream! After everyone left Antonio took a nap. When he woke up and came back outside he asked where everyone went. I think he had fun! ;)

Sunday, Antonio, Nina and I went to the Everett Farmers market in the morning. After nap-time (I had to wake hime after 2hrs and 15m!) and Papa coming home from work, we went to the Snoqualime Ice Cream Cafe in Maltby. If you haven't been and your local, GO! Yes, it's pretty much an ice cream shop but the flavors are so good! We left home so late that it ended up being dinner! I guess there is a first for everything! :) The "scoop" they give you is huge, more like 3 normal scoops! Antonio thought it was the best thing ever! I had "Mukilteo Mudd" which was basically chocolate, maybe even like a dark chocolate ice cream but so much better that normal plain chocolate. Albert had "Tennessee Whiskey", yes, they use actual Whiskey. It was also so good. Nina got "Honey and Lavender". It also was good but had some sort of "planty" after taste that I wasn't fond of. Antonio got his own cone, cookies and cream. All their ice cream is so good and creamy; you pretty much can't go wrong with what you pick!

Monday, we went to Theo, which is a chocolate factory that is the first Organic and Fair Trade for life bean-to-bar chocolate factory in North America! Their factory is north of Seattle in the Freemont area, near the Zoo, on Phinney Ave. I must say, just walking in made me happier! As soon as you walk in the door you smell chocolate! Not only do they have a retail store attached to their factory but they also do tours of the factory. We wanted to take the tour until we read it was not recommended for children under 7.  :(  Albert and I both want to go back and take it sometime soon! Another place to check out if you're local. After that we went to the Zoo! As always, we had fun! Antonio seemed even more interested this time and happily (and surprisingly) our chocolate didn't melt in the hot car! Must be the organic/fair trade part! ;)

Tuesday, Nina, Antonio and I went to the outlets. Did you really think she would be here for a week and us not go?!? Happily Antonio was a happy shopper, he even went poop in the Starbucks bathroom with Nina! After lunch and a nap, we got ready to go to swimming and then to an AquaSox baseball game! Antonio was so excited to go and was looking forward to it all day! The weather people had been calling for thunder and lightening all day but somehow we made it to the 5th inning before it started to sprinkle! It was getting late anyways and Nina and Albert had to leave at 5am the next morning to head to the airport so we decided to head home. We definitely will go to another game. It was cheap, fun, close and Antonio had fun!

It was such a fun filled week and our hearts are, at least mine is, full. Antonio loved every second his Nina was here and cried pretty hard this morning when he realized she was gone. Broke my heart but it was worth it! I cannot believe my baby boy is 4, FOUR! How did this happen?! He is such a good kid and so smart. In just a few short weeks he will start preschool; wow! Before I know it he will be graduating... Slow down time, please!