I feel very out of touch with the blogosphere!! I’ve been scrolling and reading other blogs on my phone, but haven’t had time to comment much anywhere. And, I haven’t updated here in a few days, either!
Anyway, here are a few updates from the long weekend:
*Sunday night 7/3– Ivan and I went to a baptism party for his friend’s two young daughters. They are the couple that own the Mexican restaurant we like to go to, and Ivan also plays soccer with the guy. We know the couple well, although we’d never actually met their daughters I don’t think. Anyway, Mexican baptisms are a wee bit different from the baptisms I knew growing up.
Think….almost like a wedding?! They go all out on decorations, food, booze for everyone, a DJ/ live band, dancing…. the whole shebang. This isn’t specific for Mexican baptisms– it could be a First Communion, a birthday party, etc. A Quinceanera (15th birthday party) would top them all though- that would definitely be wedding- party territory.
It’s very interesting!! Any time is a good time for a fiesta, I guess. I’d have a hard time shelling out that much dinero for a baptism, but that’s just me. 🙂
They actually hosted the party at their restaurant. We really didn’t know anyone else there, so we mostly just hung out at the bar, ate, and had a couple beers. The boys stayed home with my parents, since they definitely didn’t know anyone there. (We didn’t go to the actual baptism, just the party. We didn’t even get there until almost 9 pm…).
I am a terrible Latin dancer. Sometimes I will try, but I wasn’t up for it on Sunday. Not enough people on the dance floor for me to “blend in”. LOL. Sorry Ivan. Next time!! (We’re going to Mexico next month, and he already said he’s going to make me practice while we’re there. hahaha. Ivan is a good dancer! He grew up dancing salsa, cumbias, bachata, etc. Sadly, I grew up dancing the “white girl shuffle”. Or the “white girl hip bounce?” 🤣🤣 Whatever my “moves” are called, they aren’t impressive. I look tall, stiff and awkward when I try to dance. Oh well.
*Monday- 4th of July!
We kept it low key this year for the 4th. The weather wasn’t super awesome, and we’ve been so busy….I just wanted SIMPLE and EASY.
My parents came for the weekend and we planned to just grill out on the 4th, mostly. Fortunately, the boys are at the age that they didn’t really care if we went to a parade, etc. We usually always go to a parade and fireworks, so I felt a little bad skipping out. But when I asked them if they wanted to go to a parade, they just shrugged like, “Meh, whatever.” Since I kind of felt the same way, we skipped it!!
Ivan’s mom is in town, so she came over for lunch, along with Ivan’s sister and brother and their kids.
It RAINED, sadly, right in the middle of the day, so we had to eat inside. Ivan grilled the burgers with our patio umbrella over him. Haha.
It was nice, though! Burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, chips + pico de gallo, some strawberries and some store bought cupcakes.
We took some cute pictures in our red, white and blue:
Our remaining “ham-bone”, as we lovingly call our other hamster….lol…. celebrated with some chips, too:
Asher took this cute timer shot of us in his room:
Since the forecast called for rain, we had made plans to go to a movie that evening. Rainy summer days are perfect movie-going days. We (just the 4 of us + my parents) went to see the new Elvis movie at the theater.
No pics, but it was really good!!!! It’s a long movie- almost 3 hours- but it flew by and captured my attention the entire time. I’m a huge Elvis fan; LOVE his music. We all went to Memphis just last year, too (see my recaps here), so it was cool seeing shots of Graceland and Sun Studios. It was fun to think, “Ooh! I stood right there!!! I saw that!!” 🙂
The boys really liked the movie, too. Granted, they might know more than the average 12-13 year olds about Elvis, given our recent Memphis trip and Graceland tour. And I’ve played a lot of Elvis music for them over the years. But they really liked it. It was rather dark/ sad in many ways, showing many of the complicated struggles and demons Elvis faced over the years.
Later, after the movie, it was drizzling and muggy and buggy out, so we opted to not seek out any later night firework shows, and actually put another movie on at home.
We watched the movie Rise, on Disney+, about NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo. WATCH THIS MOVIE! If you have kids, or if you don’t, watch this movie!!! It is sooo good, so inspirational, so moving…. the immigration story, overcoming so many trials and tribulations, the story of hard work and family ties and never giving up and so much more. I loved this movie- highly recommend, especially a great movie for kids.
That was a wrap on our long weekend! It seemed to fly by. My dad went home yesterday, but my mom is staying til Friday. The boys are happy, hanging out with Grandma. 🙂
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for some nice family time this weekend.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Hey stranger!!
Wow, those Baptisms sound intense and go way past my bedtime! 😉
So glad you had a wonderful 4th… love all of your red, white and blue outfits!
LikeLike
Love all the 4th outfits. Sounds like a busy, but fun, weekend.
Wow – that baptism celebration is very, very different from what I experienced growing up!
Thanks for the movie rec in Rise. We’re always on the lookout for family movies everyone can enjoy and this looks like it hits the mark. My kids LOVE sports movies 🙂
LikeLike
I am so not fun enough for a Latin baptism. I love hearing about their traditions. I hate to generalize but the Latin culture is just very celebrational and outgoing! And need less sleep? Or it’s more culturally acceptable to sleep in or take a nap! Our baptisms were so so so so low key. We had a little brunch and called it good!
We had a low key 4th, too. It was rainy here during the day but even if it was nice we wouldn’t have gone to a parade – maybe when the boys are a bit older? We also didn’t see any fireworks since I was in bed when they happened. See comment above about not being fun. 😉 Again, another thing we’ll check out when our boys both can stay up later.
I have started to use Duo Lingo to learn some Spanish, btw! It’s been a fun thing to do. Will’s teachers in the toddler room don’t really speak English so while Phil can converse w/ them, I’d like to be able to communicate a bit. I was able to ask one of the teacher if she worked in Paul’s room in 2020. I am sure the way I asked was not completely grammatically correct, but she understood what I was saying and answered and I understood most of what she said. They know I don’t speak much so will use super basic works or just verbs like domir, comer, etc. They have a translator at conferences and again, I can rely on Phil to do most of the communication but it will be nice to be able to speak a little more/understand a bit more. Funnily Phil is very self-conscious about trying to communicate w/ them in Spanish. He was fluent but lost that fluency from lack of use. But I tell him they would probably rather his hear his not perfect Spanish than the try to come up with English words.
LikeLike
sounds like a good combo of outing and easy activities at home with family. I don’t like to go to parties with people I don’t know… feels strange. that’s what happened when I went to a baby shower last Saturday… I only knew the host and was okay, but none of the others. even Sofia was asking why were we invited if we didn’t know the pregnant lady. hahahah… I just chatted with the host and husband.
LikeLike
OH, what a fun fact to learn about you. I was a huge Elvis fan growing up. My sister and I watched all the cheesy movies (dubbed in German – I didn’t get to see the originals until I moved to the US LOL) and I remember a birthday party (we must have been 12 or 13) where all we wanted to play was Elvis music and all our friends were so annoyed (except for one friend who shared the Elvis love). I’d love to visit Graceland one day.
LikeLike