Happy Birthday Madison!

Charlie's American Girl "Baby"

The Birthday Girl

The Party Girls

Look at all those bags!

Charlie is such a lucky little girl...she got to go to The American Girl Store again! That would be twice in one summer! It was Madison's 5th birthday so we celebrated by having lunch, eating the best cake ever and shopping for every doll accessory there was! Madison picked out one of everything and she even bought Charlie's doll a dinosaur costume. Charlie really wanted the motorhome for her doll. There was no way I was going to buy that for her. So instead I bought the baby some pajamas. Since we had just been there for Cassie's birthday she thought she owned the place. Of course, she found the pink stroller and rolled it all over like crazy. It was another fun American girl day. Thanks Madison for inviting us!

Charlie's First Star Sighting: Oh yea, when we were walking back to the car I realized I forgot what level I parked on. I always have my mom or Nicole with me to remind me where I parked. It's just something I can't ever remember! Anyway, I started on the 3rd floor because I knew I didn't park on the 1st or 2nd. As Charlie and I walked up and down every isle we came upon an isle with security walking 1 girl and a few boys to their car. I almost was going to ask them for help, but then I realized they didn't look like regular security people. Then I heard the girl talk about the shirt she just bought and I realized it was Miley Cyrus! I totally missed my opportunity to talk to a famous person! I googled her just to make sure it was her and I found a picture of her that day and she was wearing the same outfit with really tall shoes. I remember seeing those shoes and thinking that normal people do not wear that kind of footwear to shop. Well, after 30 minutes later we finally found our car on the 4th level along with a few other lost people. I'm sure many people get lost in The Grove parking structure because I was not the only one!

Flores Family Reunion

Most of the Reunion Attendees

Charlotte (18 months) and Jayden (21 months)

Jayden


Auntie Darlene is Charlie's favorite person in the whole world!

Jimmy and his grandpa Jim (Super Jim)

Jim, Jim and Jim!

Isa and Caitlin

Olivia

Isa, Charlie and Penny

The Flores Family Tree Half Finished

Today we went to a Flores Family Reunion at Irvine Regional Park. I was excited to see what family reunions are all about because I had never been to one before. I guess Jimmy used to have these events when he was younger but they hadn't had one in years. Jimmy thinks the last time he saw these people he was 13 or so. When we arrived there were even signs posted "Flores" to guide us to the right section. So organized - I was impressed! There were around 60 people who attended ranging from 88 years old (Jimmy's grandpa) to 18 months old (Charlie). It was pretty amazing. I was going to attempt to write out the family tree right now but it is practically impossible without actually drawing a tree! At the reunion they started a poster but it wasn't finished. The reunion included Jimmy's grandpa and his 5 siblings' families. I definitely know where Charlie gets her curly hair from. There was a little girl named Jayden there that looked a lot like Charlie with the same hair. It's definitely a Flores trait! Jayden is related to Charlie because she is Jimmy's dad's cousin's kid. This sounds weird if you think about it but Jimmy's dad's cousin's mom is Jimmy's grandpa's youngest sister and Jayden's dad must have had her late in life! And to top it all off his name is Jimmy too! There was no way to keep all the Jimmys straight. Every time you turned around you heard someone calling for Jimmy...there were 5 of them! It was a little hard to introduce myself to anyone because of this as well. "I'm Jimmy's wife who is Jim's son who is Jim's son," I would say. The funniest part of the whole day is when we realized half of them live in La Mirada! We had a fun day and are looking forward to the next one. When we got home Jimmy and I were trying to figure out who actually had the Flores name still. After another long family tree diagram and a few text messages to Shana we came to realize that Jimmy (clarification on the Jimmy - my husband!) and Ryan (Jimmy's cousin) are the only two to keep the name alive. Do I see a little Jimmy Flores running around in my future? It would be the 6th Jim! Oh boy! (I am not pregnant so don't you dare comment on this topic!)

Tubing Lessons

Charlie has finally learned the concept of "holding your breath under the water with your mouth closed"...so now we're on to kicking. Most of the time she kicks with one leg. I think she is part sea cow like her mama and would rather float around on a raft all day than actually get any exercise. Paddling would come next if she ever learned to kick! So I decided it's about time she learns to swim in a tube. She freaks out if you let go of her so we are slowing teaching her that it's ok if I let go because the tube will make her float. She does not like it when you let go of her under the water either! I can tell there has been some progress because her cry has changed from sad cry to fake cry. (For the record, Charlie still does not have any tears that come out of her eyes. Now if you have never known this about Charlie I will tell you it is ok. Her tear ducts work extra amazing and her tears run out her nose instead. One day she will grow into her tear ducts and have tears like everyone else...but her body has not caught up to the well developed tear ducts just yet. Now I think that is what the doctor meant as he told me in a medical kind of way. Funky I know!) Back to swimming, she now will hold on to the sides without screaming also. She will also jump to me from the step but only while holding on to a finger. Summer has only begun to I am confident that Charlie will be swimming by September. Adelyn on the other hand has made tremendous progress this week with help from Grandpa and M & Ms. She is well on her way to becoming a swimmer. She actually was swimming with her head above the water yesterday. I think all the screaming I did scared her a little. I will try not to overreact next time...it was just sooo exciting!

One Buggy Hunt

Charlotte's half birthday party was pretty hectic for me so I did not get a chance to have her go on a bug hunt that actual day. She was just too busy playing with all her friends, jumping in the bouncy house, eating cupcakes, dancing with the princess shoes on, etc. so she didn't get to participate in the amazing bug hunt. So today I decided to recreate the scene and have another one. I hid some bugs and we had some fun. She had a blast. She loved the squishy bugs the most and had the most fun when Jimmy came out to join in the fun. She saw him and her face lit up. She made him eat bugs and giggled so much. Charlie's giggling has got to be the cutest sound in the whole world. I'm so glad we had a bug party for her. She seems to enjoy them so much...in a girly sort of way!

An Evening at the Park

Guarding the Princess's Chariot

We love to walk to the park by our house to let the dogs run and to play on the play structure. It is a really nice park and it is right around the corner from our house. It's called Gardenhill Park I think. It has 2 great structures to play on, 4 swings and a large grassy area. There is even an amphitheater where the students from Gardenhill Elementary probably perform. Someday we might watch Charlie there you never know. We used to take Charlie the park in her car she loved, but now we take her in the wagon Grandma and Grandpa bought her for her birthday. She loves to ride in it and spread out. Along the way she told me "Nigh nigh" and laid down. It's the perfect size. Smokey and the Bandit guarded the wagon while we played on the structure. The only problem is she usually doesn't like to ride home in the wagon. Well, she usually doesn't want to leave the park at all. Today she kept saying "Peez" because she wanted to get back on the swings instead of go home. It is so cute when she says please!

Happy 4th of July!

This is her pose when she something happens that she can't explain.

I can't wait for Charlie to wear that dress next year!

This was her second outfit!

There is Matlida.

She still has a few more bathing suits to wear! Who's counting?!

Getting warmed up on Daddy's shoulder - We are having some weird July summer weather.

I think Jimmy was more excited than Charlie was to do some sparklers. Maybe next year

Jimmy!

She seemed to have the most fun playing in the car.

Last year on the 4th Charlie got her first tooth...it was one rough day! This year was much better. We went to Nicole and Mike's to celebrate like we always do. Even though there wasn't a car race it was still fun. Charlotte had fun playing with Adelyn, Denise and Michael in the water table, jumper, roller coaster, sandbox and water fountain pool. By far her favorite was Matilda, the wiener dog. She chased her all over all night long. It was just her size. She also got to see two new babies. She wasn't too sure what to think of them. After she almost poked Zach in the eye we tried to stay away from them. In the sandbox she refused to keep her dress on. She only can stand a dress on for so long....that's why I bought her two outfits for the 4th. I knew she wouldn't want to keep the dress on all day. It just kept getting in the way. Finally, it was time for the fireworks. She wasn't too sure about them either. She liked the ones that sparkled and popped continuously and would clap and say, "More" when they were done. The ones that were loud and the ones in the air she wanted to be held and she would put her head on your shoulder while watching them. Even though she liked the fireworks she had more fun playing in our car that was parked in the driveway. I don't know why she likes playing in the car so much. It was a very successful day. Great food Mike! My dessert was super good too!

FYI - I attempt to make an American flag looking dessert every year. This year I was a little ambitious making a 4 layer dessert. Layer 1 was brownies, layer 2 was crumbled up Oreo cookies, layer 3 was the white creamy Kansas Dirt pie and the top layer had blueberries and raspberries. I was a little nervous but it came out so cute and tasted good too!