Rachel, Adele and Titus Visit!!!

Rachel and two of her kids, Adele and Titus, came for a visit.  We love having visitors and we had so much fun with them.  We were worried about October being tough because of my volleyball schedule, but it ended up working out perfectly since the kids had an extra day off school while they were here. 

I love having visitors because it gets me to explore new places with them.  My kids love museums and exploring the city, but with the pandemic the past couple of years, we have not done much of it.  

I went with Rachel and the kids to the National Arboretum and we loved it.  They really wanted to see the Bansi garden.  We enjoyed everything we got to see.  I have lived in DC a long time now and I had never been.  

We did some other museums that I had been too and they came to some volleyball games and played with the kids in the evening while I was working.  

My girls had Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day off school, so we went to the Spy Museum!  Everyone loved it. We also hit up the National Archives.  It was a  fun filled Museum Day.  

The other highlight of the visit was piercing Natalia and Adele's ears.  I have been telling Natalia we could do it for awhile now and I guess Rachel had been telling Adele the same thing.  We ordered home kits from Amazon and I was the lucky person to get to do the piecing.  I was actually nervous for the first one, then I realized how easy it was.  They looked super cute.  And we had fun watching them be super nervous.  

Hector also took Sienna and Titus to the archery range.  It was a fun filled extended weekend.  We wish more people would come and visit.  

 

Having Fun

Estelle and I had a date.  She picked to go out to lunch at Village Chicken, then we played pickleball together.  Estelle had gotten quite good at pickleball...so that was a lot of fun.  Then we went and got some frozen yogurt followed by a movie at home.  It was a super fun date!!!

Estelle has also been having fun being in Activity Day girls this year.  They have done lots of service activities.  The filled backpacks for needy kids.  

We showed up to church one day and Natalia was totally twinning with one of my friends.  So cute she is!!! and so grown up looking.  

Mom and Dad have fun too!  We celebrate Brazilian New Years every year with our friends.  The food is so good, but the friends are even better.  

Natalia really enjoys her Young Women activities at church.  There is a really nice group of girls her age and they do lots of fun activities.  One night, the girls and boys did a cupcake decorating challenge.  Natalia got first place!  Just like her mom.

The girls get to have lots of fun with dad in the Fall since I am so busy with Volleyball.  It is really nice that the girls are old enough now to be home alone, it makes my work schedule so much easier.  

They have fun going to the volleyball games and hanging out in the evenings.  So much fun in the Fall

 

Halloween

My girls love Halloween more than I do, but I do love watching them have fun.  All three girls went the Halloween activity at the Elementary school.  They had a great time.  

Estelle, Natalia and I went to the church Fall party while Sienna and Hector were on their hunting trip.  Natalia loved her mime makeup and Estelle turned her robber outfit into a cat burglar!

After the church party, we headed to the school for a Girl Scout Party.  I helped 80 girl scouts decorate Halloween cupcakes.  It was fun...but a fair bit of work.  

The next day was actual Halloween, so we headed to Grandma's house for some trick or treating and family time.  The girls got way too much candy, but it was a nice night and we had fun walking around.  One house had full size candy bars displayed for the taking.  We were rather impressed.  It was a fun night...and nice to not have school the next day.  

 

Sienna and Dad's Hunting Trip

Sienna and Hector went on a hunting trip over the Halloween weekend.  The kids had a four day weekend from school and Hector took a couple days off work.  They joined up with Clark and Jackson.  Sienna was a little bummed to be missing the Halloween activities at home, but she also really likes hunting with dad.  

Jackson got a deer the first day, but they all stayed four days and got the whole experience.  Hunting, gutting, camping and some Halloween fun.  

 

Sports

Estelle played soccer this spring and Natalia and Sienna played Volleyball.  Estelle loves soccer so much and it was an extra fun season because some of her friends from school played on the same team as her.  We loved watching her play.  Natalia enjoyed her volleyball team, Sienna did not.  Haha...Sienna likes volleyball, but 5th grade volleyball was way too boring for her.  She likes more action and I cannot blame her.  Her games were super dull.  Serve, miss, rotate.  That is pretty much all that happend, plus there were 13 girls on her team, so they all sat out more than they played.  Oh well.  We will have to find her better teams in the future.  

Estelle also got to be in the homecoming parade with my high school volleyball team.  We decided that Natalia and Sienna were too big to participate since they are taller than some of the girls on my team.  

 

Archery with Dad!

Archery with Dad!  Sienna has been into archery for awhile now, but Estelle is starting to get into it too.