No pictures to share today, but just wanted to give an update on the Lopez happenings :)

This is a big week for Diego and Alexia as they get ready to start school!  Today they had Meet and Greets in their classrooms to meet their teachers and classmates.  As we were parking at school, Diego said, "Mami, I'm so excited that I think I can feel my heart beating."  Alexia said, "When you have to drop me off the other tomorrow (that's how she says day after tomorrow), I will remember today when you were able to come in with me and so I won't be scared then."
Diego's meet and greet was a drop off, but we were able to stay with Alexia which she absolutely loved.  It was basically playground time with Popsicles, right up her alley!  Her teacher's name is Mrs McCarthy.  There are 4 girls and 5 boys in her class and she has decided that she wants it to be only girls because she doesn't like boys!  Last week she had a complete meltdown about going to school and through sobs, she explained to me that she didn't want to go to school because "I don't want to learn lower case letters, I don't want to be alone with my teacher and friends, I don't want to be away from mommy, I only want to be with my family, I don't want to work hard..." and a few more things that I can't remember right now.  We had a long talk about it and a sweet time of prayer and this week she seems to be more at ease with the whole idea.  Wednesday is the first official day of school where she will wear her uniform and be dropped off so we'll see how that goes!
Diego, on the other hand, knows what to expect and was excited to see his friends so he was super excited to go!  His class has 3 boys and 5 girls and his teacher's name is Mrs Jablonski.  We are thrilled with both of their teachers which is an absolute blessing!
I told them that since tomorrow is the last day of summer vacation they could choose any activity they wanted and they quickly said "The ZOO!"  So the zoo it is.
Marco is doing awesome.  He is such a goof ball and just cracks us all up all day long.  He is trying to talk so much these days, but has a hard time getting his words out.  He still loves to wear hats so he has claimed Ricardo's new baseball cap and wears it all around just like he used to wear the winter beaver hat.  He imitates whatever the big kids are doing and loves to get giggles out of them.  He is very strong willed and screams when he doesn't get his way.  He also pinches and scratches the kids when he is upset which is a habit we are trying to break.  He is a total cuddle bug and is super loving.  He loves to help out, put things away (when he's in the mood), play legos, play blocks, read books (on his own terms), dance to music, play hide and seek, play baby doll with Alexia, play doggy with the kids and crawl around barking, carry purses and/or necklaces around his neck and be a part of anything and everything that we're all doing.

We had a lovely weekend this past weekend, but I want to post about it when I have pictures...which are all on Ricardo's iphone.  We took Tio Diego away for the weekend to Dahlonega, GA and had a great time enjoying a special time away.  We rented a house for two nights and the kids thought it was the coolest place ever!  The property had a great creek that we splashed around in, a hot tub which the kids loved and a basketball hoop where the Double Diego team had a blast shooting hoops.  I'll ask Ricardo to email me the pictures because you have to see the images of everyone (except me) sliding down the rock slides at the bottom of a waterfall where we went on Saturday.

So, Wednesday is the big First Day of School so I will be sure to write a post for that.  Ricardo departed for Brazil and Chile tonight (Monday) and doesn't return until next Wednesday (!) so hopefully I will have some productive evenings and catch up on the blog.  Of the 31 days of  August, he will only have had 8 days at home!
The kids and I have been grateful for Tio Diego's company while Ricardo's been traveling a lot!
Marco had his first babysitting experience with him today and "Tio D" (as we now call him) said Marco was a breeze.  Marco has really warmed up to Tio D and loves to play with him, follow him around, pinch him, blow kisses at him, be in his arms, etc.  When we left this morning Marco was so very sad, but he calmed down before we even go to the top of the driveway.  It sounds like he really enjoyed his quality time with Tio! :)