It's Your Birthday!

So let's keep celebrating! Here are a few images from this weekend. We spent it in Long Beach and Los Angeles. We visited the Aquarium Of The Pacific with familia, spoiled ourselves with a couple nights at the Westin and dinner and drinks out (Thank you Abuelita Teresa!). The kiddos loved the heated pool and seeing there cousins! Then it was off to a baseball game (Stella's first not counting the many she attended in my belly).

 Tonight we are celebrating again. Love you so much Henry!

Nuestros Paseos

La comida a reposar; y la cena a pasear.

"After dinner rest a while, after supper walk a mile."

The days are getting longer and so are our walks in the evening. It is a lovely ritual greatly missed during winter.

Next week this little man starts T Ball and Soccer. His first organized class without Mama! I am eager to watch his interaction with the other kiddos and his teacher. I know Mr. is super excited to share his love for baseball with Joaquin outside of throwing the ball back and forth in the yard etc.

Linking to Small Style and Trendy Tots

On Joaquin:

Shirt- Old Navy

Shorts- Cherokee

Shoes- Keens

N.Y.C. (day two)

On this, our second day in New York our ultimate goal was to make it to the Yankees game at 1pm. We are baseball fans and since being on the east coast had visited a few stadiums so we could not miss this one! So after stopping in a for a coffee and pastry we headed up 7th Ave to Midtown West Manhattan toward Time Square ( and in the direction of the Bronx & Yankee Stadium). Time Square and Rockefeller Center are conveniently both on the way to Central Park which was a must see for me. Being in Time Square was like being inside a video game (how I would imagine it to be anyway).

Sensory overload to the max! Everything is humungus, with lights, you name it. Signs and billboards are the size of buildings and most are three dimensional. The lobster on a restuarant sign for example was twice as tall as me!! Joaquin sat back and just stared as we walked past everything. Just next to Time Square are all the Broadway Theaters which I find fasinating. You could spend over a week just seeing all the amazing shows!! Next Time when we are kid free! So after a nice mid-morning walk we arrived at Central Park. What an amazing oasis in the city! I could have spent most of the day walking the paths and letting Joaquin play. This the one and only place I felt comfortable taking Joaquin out of his stroller and letting him stretch his legs, poor guy. We spent quite a while next to The Pond watching ducks and people passing by. Joaquin being his usual self said hello to everyone waving and smiling,...I love my baby boy.

So around noon we braved the subway again this time headed the opposite direction as before, to The Bronx. It was a much smoother thrip this time, one train ending at Yankee Stadium. We bought tickets, (that for the price in Calfornia we would have been sitting behind home plate) and headed to our seats with a very sleepy JQ! The stadium was packed and the crowd was energized. I am so glad we went. My husband loves baseball and I know this was something he was looking forward to very much. The Yankees won, of course and the air started to cool and the wind picked up so we jumped back on the subway and headed back to Manhattan. We ended up getting off the subway at Grand Central Station, another on my list, and walked the remaining few blocks thru The Upper East Side to our Manhattan and our hotel. We caught the Bolt at 6pm back to Baltimore and all three slept on the ride. What a whirlwind trip!! I am SO glad we did it and am so NOT going to do it again for a while. I do plan on going back to New York state to visit family and my Grandmothers birthplace. THAT however will have to wait for now...

N.Y.C. (Day One)

Our first time to New York City was a  success! Complete exhaustion set in the moment we got home...I can't believe we did and saw everything we wanted too in two short days.  The Big Apple was good to us and left our heads reeling, the only disappointment was the weather,....just a bit chilly. There are 1705 rooms in our hotel,...WOW. Located in the Garment district of Manhattan, Macys, Maddison Square Garden, Penn Station and the Empire State Building are all right out the door so location wise it was perfect. The first thing we did after checking into our gigantic hotel was go to the observatory in the Empire State Building. Being New York City virgins the sensory overload was immediate. I am glad we choose to check out the view from 84 floors up to get our sense of direction back. You can really see everything from up there it is amazing as is the wind chill!! BRRRR. Being the adventurous soles that we are, after splurging on our first slice of New York style Pizza we headed to the Subway...YUP, we did! Getting on at Penn Station and riding it all the way to the Staten Island Ferry.

We missed the last ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty but enjoyed the view from Battery Park where we could let Joaquin run around a bit. As I stated it was a bit chilly so we decided since we were at the tip of Manhattan to turn around and walk a bit back toward some other sites. The New York Stock Exchange near which people were lining up to take there picture with thier head next to a bull's booty ( See the scene from Hitch). The Brooklyn Bridge and City Hall then there was Ground Zero which in all honestly just happened to be on our way. They are currently building a large memorial and museum at the site so there wasn't much to look at except steal beams and construction cranes. Then we hit the good stuff, SoHo and Greenwich Village where we stopped for dinner.

The homes in the West Village are are straight out of a romantic comedy as are the cafes and bistros that pop up in almost every block. Trendy restaurants, bars and clubs abound in this area and it was clean! After dinner at one of the super cute corner cafes we jumped back on the subway to the hotel. Side note on the subway...It is NOT stroller friendly and the elevators apparently double as urinals???!! It wasn't all terrible in the subway, it is quick and cheap and otherwise completely the way to go IF you don't have a stroller. Looking back I can not believe we did this all the first day especially because we didn't drive in until noon and I am 6+ months pregnant. We went back to our hotel, put the game on and all but passed out.

What a day!

Baseball Season Has Arrived!

Oh Yes, it is that time again and we are in full Baseball mode. Being on the east coast this time of year has been a blessing for my husband the super baseball fan because there are various stadiums in close proximity. We took Joaquin to an Orioles game opening weekend and this past weekend to the Bronx and Yankee Stadium!!! This coming weekend with my brother flying in we are going to try and catch a Nationals game in D.C. So see a trend here,.....gees!!! I so hope Joaquin loves baseball as much as his Dad. He seems to love the crowd, music and all the cheering so we are off to a good start. Oh and he loves the huge soft pretzels at the stadium too!!!It is just the beginning of Baseball madness in our household and that means summer is fast approaching, For me, I love to see my boys happy, life is good! Happy Earth Day Ya'll!!!

Sunset on Dean Way (for now)

And so we have left California again and landed safely back in Maryland. It was hard leaving our home, harder than it was before. (I only cried a little during take off.)It was a long day filled with airports but once again Joaquin was a great traveler. He slept on and off and looked out the window, threw some melon on the floor and shredded the foam coffee cup from the plane. I couldnt have been luckier, seriously! He was my entertainment.

We woke to cherry blossoms and sunshine which was a delightful suprise. A long walk thru Fells Point neighborhood and along the harbor. It was just what the little guy needed to sooth him into a nap...and me too. I am looking forward to these six or so weeks. We have a lot planned, baseball games, The Zoo (Joaquin's first time) trips to Philly and New York. ...I am also looking forward to being back at home, having my baby girl in July and lazy summer days next to the pool.

Dodgers VS Padres

We are fresh home from a week long vacation south and WOW what a blast! I have so much to blog about and only a moment while my little prince is knapping. Joaquin meet his Grandfather on my husbands side for the first time and many more relatives. He loved it and they loved him. One of our outings with the Garcia family was of course a Dodgers game. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that afternoon.

Take me out to the ball game...

Always excited for baseball season to start, I am just as pleased when it comes to an end. My husband adores the game of baseball. In fact he loves everything about the sport,...the food, the stadium, the history, all of it. We own baseball biographies, books on C.D. not to mention D.V.D's such as Field of Dreams, The Benchwarmer's and the list goes on. For this reason Joaquin at six and a half months old has been to two major league games, two minor league games and many, many "Sunday" league games here in town (which are NOT on Sundays but rather every Wednesday and two on Saturday). My husband plays on two teams, one which he manages and the other a more competitive traveling team. We travelled to Oregon where he played on the very nice Harry and David field and to San Francisco where he played in Golden Gate Park. Being the cautious Mommy I am I wasn't all that sure Joaquin would like the sound of the announcer on the load speaker or the roar of the crowd but it turns out I think he loves every minute of it. For the fourth of July we attended the local Outlaws game and the stadium had the greatest attendance in its history. Keener's seemed to be enjoying himself and even stared bright eyed at the fireworks proceeding the game. Finally, baseball season is winding down and the Autumn season is approaching. I can't help but realize that for next years baseball season Joaquin will be running around and perhaps cheering on his Daddy with a little voice, maybe even throwing a ball! (Wouldn't my husband just LOVE that!) So, thank goodness for playoffs and World Series and the end of baseball season. Thank goodness for something called "Fall ball" too...that is just getting started, ...oh my!

El Mar

This past weekend was Joaquin's first trip to the ocean. Of course he loved it as much as I thought he would and his uncle Richie loved him as much as I thought he would. Can you believe he hadn't seen Joaquin yet! Unlucky for us my camera was acting funny and the GREAT picture I got of Richie holding Joaquin was over exposed. arrrgh! But here it is anyway....(we miss you Rich!)

The ocean has always been a love of mine. I played in it as a child and play in it still. I have lived by the ocean and far from it. My happiest memories are near the ocean or in it. As soon as Keeners put his little toes in the sand the smile started. He wouldnt look up after that,...just stared at his toes as he moved his feet around in the sand. He smiled and screamed at the ocean and stuck his arms out in excitment.

He is as I have mentioned before, a water baby. My brother in Law lives five blocks from the beach in Santa Cruz and is enjoying every minute. He too is a fish and absolutely loves that Joaquin seems to be as well at six months old. :) Rich will probably be the one to show him how to surf and body board and I really hope he does. Joaquin and his uncle Richie will be fish together, in the sea...

Even though the time fly by way too fast we enjoyed it very, very much. After a day at the beach we head north on the Cabrillo Highway to Pacifica. Beautiful drive along the water especially with the fog rolling in. WOW. We picked this spot because it left only a 30 minute drive into San Francisco the following morning were my husband would be playing baseball in Golden Gate Park. Our room had a fantastic view of the ocean and the hillside and in the morning we could hardly eat our breakfast because we were watching dolphins and whales right off the shore. Two whales were playing and eating some 100 yards of the beach, back and forth right in front of the restaurant. Then a bit later a few dolphins showed up and starting playing in the surf. It was hard to pack up and head into the city but was an amazing start to the day. I know that Joaquin may not remember this first trip to the ocean however I will remember. I will remember this trip and the many more to come. My husband and I are already planning a trip to Pacifica again and it wont be to soon!