Happy Fathers Day!!

 

Happy Father’s Day everyone! Our weekend started a day early this week. Toni and I took Friday off and we went to see “Man of Steel” which we both enjoyed a lot. After that, we went to the kids school and brought Caitlin’s class a cake and cupcakes. Emma joined the class as well and we had a nice visit before nap time with the girls. Next we went to the mall and to “The Art of Shaving” store so I could get a “Royal Shave” for Father’s Day. Basically it’s an old fashioned shave with a straight razor. It was a nice experience with the hot towel, pre-shave lotion and hot shaving cream. It was enjoyable until the lady started shaving my neck. When she got to my neck she went against the growth which for me is not a good thing. Even 3 days later my neck is still red and one big rash. The strange thing was that it really didn’t start bothering me until she was done but when it flared up, it wasn’t fun. If I ever do it again, I’ll definitely need to tell the person not to go against the growth.

We had a good weekend with the girls. We went out for breakfast and besides the shave, the girls got me cards and a snoopy mailbox with candy in it. They both picked out their own cards which were nice, Emma chose a Snoopy card and Caitlin got me one with a dog wearing Superman costume because both me and Shiloh are her super heroes. Emma also stuck with the super hero theme with her mask that she's wearing in the first picture. It says "My Dad is my super hero". I thought she looked so cute wearing it. Caitlin also drew a family portrait which I thought was very cute. She didn't want to leave anyone out so she drew a lot of people and she was especially proud of the dogs which she said look like ants. :-)

Other than that, the week seemed to fly by. Toni is taking Taekwando classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights so I’m getting to spend quite a bit of time with the girls during the week which is fun.

Graduation!

This weekend, we celebrated a major milestone in Caitlin's life! She graduated from Pre-school! On Saturday we went to the Pre-K2 graduation at Caitlin's school and I can honestly say, it's one of the proudest moments of my life. I realize of course that there will be other, much bigger days in the kids lives but I was so proud of Caitlin. She did introductions and thanked everyone for coming to the graduation and did a great job singing and doing the performances. She's usually so shy but she really did very well. To mark this important moment in her life, I got her a small pair of diamond hoop earrings. Obviously I didn't go overboard but they are really pretty and she's very proud of them. I could see on her face how important she felt and how happy it made her that I was proud of her. Both girls are growing up so fast and I am really trying to enjoy every moment. Besides getting her diploma, Caitlin also got a certificate of attendance. She and one other boy are the first kids to attend the school from the infant room through Pre-k2!

Other than the graduation, things are going busy as usual. Toni is really enjoying her mini-van, as are the girls. Both girls love opening their own doors and they now want to take Toni's car everywhere rather than mine. On Sunday night we took the girls to Rudy's for bar-b-que. We had a good time and Caitlin had a lot of fun giving mommy goose bumps by whispering into her ear. It was funny to watch and that's what's going on in the second to last pic. Emma is doing great as well and is very proud of her big sister. Right as the graduation was starting, Emma got out of her chair and walked over to Caitlin to say hi. It was funny to watch. I recorded the entire graduation which will be nice to have to look back on.

Seattle, Bandera, and a new car!

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been another busy time in the Vargas house. Since my last post, I’ve travelled to Seattle, Toni has gone to Bandera and we’ve bought a new car! To make it easy, I’ll start at the beginning. To start, I took a day off a couple of weeks ago to take Caitlin to her annual eye appointment. Everything looks good and she doesn't have to go back for another year. We had a pretty good day hanging out after her appointment. We went to the library and the park and had a good time together before I had to go out of town. I traveled to Seattle for a training conference at Microsoft. Microsoft’s campus was incredible and the entire area was very pretty. With the exception of the rain and temps in the 40’s in May, it was nice. The conference itself wasn’t the most informative but overall the trip was alright. I spent a week up there with my friend John who works with me. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much while we were there; maybe someday… I picked up some teddy bears for the girls with “Seattle” on them. Caitlin named hers “Seattle Flower” and Emma named hers “Patty”.
 

The next week Toni spent most of the week out of town in Bandera Texas. It’s only about 45 minutes away so it wasn’t too bad. I had a good time hanging out with the girls every night. This weekend we bought Toni a new car! Actually a mini-van as Caitlin is quick to correct everyone about. J We got her a 2013 Nissan Quest SV. It’s very nice! It actually feels like a luxury car and handles very well. It came with a lot of great options that will surely make life easier for Toni. It has heated leather seats, backup camera, Bluetooth and push button doors and starter. Both girls can now just push a button on the door and their door slides open. They can also get into the van a lot easier than they could in Toni’s Kia. She actually used to carry a step stool around so Emma could climb in by herself. Caitlin is able to reach the button to close her own door from her seat which she is really enjoying. Emma’s is still a little out of reach. The third row is surprisingly roomy and I was actually able to sit in it comfortably. The other cool thing is that behind the 3^rd row is a well beneath the floor panels that can easily carry luggage or as I found, a full cart of groceries. I never thought I’d be excited about a minivan but it’s going to be very nice having it. Our next road trip should be far more enjoyable. My Aunt asked me if I ever thought I’d be a “mini-van couple” and the more I think about it, the more I’m OK with it.J The fact is, we are a family with 2 small kids and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Most importantly, Toni is extremely happy with her new vehicle. It was a little sad to get rid of her old Kia Sorento. We originally bought it 2 months after we got married so that vehicle had a lot of good memories. I will say though that if you’re in the market for a new car, I can’t say enough good things about Kia. Toni had hers for 10 years and put over 122k miles on it and never had a problem outside routine maintenance. Hopefully the Quest will serve her just as well.