Valentine's Weekend 2015

We began our holiday weekend celebration by baking some Valentine cookies.  The boys enjoyed getting to help me do that.

Cruz cutting out our heart shaped cookies

and here's the finished product

and once the icing dried we ate some for our afternoon snack.

David and the boys playing outside with race cars on Friday afternoon

This one makes me smile.  They are two peas in a pod.

We grilled steaks for supper on Friday and we had black beans and homemade pasta Alfredo to go with it.  Once the boys were in the bed that night I hung some streamers over their door for them to find the next morning.  I also set out a few more decorative items for them to find. 

the boys door for the month of February

Our Valentine's Day breakfast consisted of heart shaped banana pancakes with whipped cream, heart shaped strawberries and some blackberries.  We also had bacon to go with it.  I made place cards for the everyone too.  In addition to some new Hot Wheels and Batman figurines the boys also got a Mater and Lightning McQueen toy that I had on the table for them.  They both love their "Cars" themed place-mats I found them.

I saw this idea online and gave it a try.  These are our heart shaped strawberries that we had for breakfast.

My little guys LOVE all things "Cars" related!

a family picture before heading out for the morning

my sweet boys on Valentine's Day 2015

and a look back at my sweet boys on Valentine's Day 2013

Slow down time!!!

We drove down the road to visit the same place we had gone the Saturday before.  The boys had such a fun time playing there and had asked throughout the week when we would return.  So, we made plans to return on Valentine's morning.  Only this time instead of just visiting the animals we decided to surprise the boys with a family bike ride.  They rent bicycles for really cheap so David and I rented one to ride with the boys.  I'm not sure they had seen us ride before but they thought it was "super cool" that mama and daddy were riding with them.

A photo of us before we set out on our morning adventure. 

Of all the things we have done with our boys this was by far one of my favorites.  The place we visited, Los Laurelles, has beautiful grounds with beautiful mountain scenery all around.  The breezes were blowing and it was a perfect day to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air and time together.  I just loved it and I can't wait to return and do it again!

When our time was up for the bike rental we drove the boys back to the horse barn and let them play again on the race track.  They love that!

a family photo at the horse track

In addition to the mini zoo, horse track and barn on this property there are four restaurants and two hotels.  It is a huge place!  We spent some time walking around and exploring.  We decided to eat lunch at the poolside restaurant.  We had hamburgers, cheese quesadillas, and French fries.

We didn't go prepared to swim but the boys enjoyed putting their feet in the water while we waited for our food.

 David and Cruz "chillin' out" by the pool while we waited for our food

Cruz snapped this photo of his brother while we ate, ha

When the boys woke up from their afternoon naps we took them outside to play with their hammers.  There is a large pile of old wood from the construction that has lots of nails in it.  The boys love hitting the nails.

busy little bees!

There is a nice, new hotel right next to our subdivision.  That afternoon they were hosting a wedding reception.  We could see the activity from where we were playing but more than that we could hear the music blaring VERY loudly.  It was little distracting to the boys and they could hardly play for moving to the beat as you will see in the video below-

My little guys love to dance!  We dance a lot in our home just being silly with them.  I think it's rubbed off a little too much HA.

That night we ate hot dogs, chips and heart shaped red jello jigglers.  We watched  "Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown".  We usually watch our holiday movies outdoors but his time we just watched it in the living room on the t.v.  It wasn't quite the same but still fun.

 Most all holidays around here include a Charlie Brown movie and some jello jigglers.

We spent Sunday in Zacapa visiting with friends/ former missionaries Allen and Laurelle Stoudenmire.  They are here this week on a mission team working in that area.  It's been a few years since we've seen them in person so getting to catch up and hug necks was great treat.  Several of their family members were on the team also and we enjoyed seeing them again too.  We had a great visit and as always it was hard to say goodbye.   We made plans to visit again in July when they return with another team.

Allen, Laurelle, Ben, me, David, and Cruz

The boys had been a little sickly over the weekend and by Sunday night they were both feverish and ill.  We got in touch with a local doctor who graciously opened his clinic to see them.  He checked them out really well and they both have ear and sinus infections.  We left his clinic with a list of medications and stopped by the pharmacy on the way home to pick them up.

The boys waiting to see the doctor.  They might not look sick but they felt terrible.

David at the pharmacy getting their medicine.

Ending the weekend with antibiotics and breathing treatments is not how we had expected it to end but nonetheless that's how it went.  After two restless nights they both got a full nights sleep on Sunday night (we all did).  We're hoping they are both better soon and back to their normal full of energy selves.   In the meantime I'm going to sit down and enjoy the break, ha.  Have a great week everyone!