A TOTALLY FUN SATURDAY!!!

The day started with the yummy breakfast I made for everyone! The kids LOVE chocolate chip pancakes, and the fam has gotten used to me making a yummy brekky on Saturday mornings. So, today I did not disappoint them. BTW, Aunty Heather, Zack is a chocoholic like you!

After brekky, Zack enjoyed his one hour of video games upstairs as he played Fantastic Four on the XBox 360. He is learning more and more about how to play but what I like is the eye hand coordination that it is building. He only gets an hour a day during the summer so he doesn't grow tired of the games too quickly. I think tha once he starts school that hour will go down to half an hour.

While Zack played, Sophia, Aunty Stepha, and I went for a swim. Zack isn't clear to swim just yet so we enjoyed an hour of swimming while he was busy. Sophia knows how to swim now so it is great fun to woop and hollar for her each time she jumps in and swims to the side. We had great fun!


Later, Amy came over to cut and color our hair. She rocks! Sophia had fun talking her ear off, combing her hair, and watching snippets of "Night at the Museum" with her. Amy's little sister Lizzie is much like Sophia so Amy was all geared up for the little chatter box!

After the haircuts were finished, we actually talked Aunty Gina into joining us for a movie. We went to see Hairspray and we ALL loved it. Sophia was bee boppin' around in her seat. Zack love all the parts that a boy would love and said ew to all the parts that had anything to do with love! LOL The kids enjoy going to the movies. It continues to be one of their favorite activities. I fear I don' t fall into the extreme conservative group as I indulge them by taking them to the theater at least 3 times a month. For shame... Where else can I get Sophia a large bucket of YUMMY popcorn?

After the movie, we walked around Dos Logos which is Corona's Fashion Island. It truly is very nice minus the beach. It is full of upscale stores and the ambience matches what you'd expect at an upscale Orange County outdoor mall. I try hard not to enter any stores!!! As we were walking, Zack was playing Spiderman with Gina. He figured out how to do that jump that Spiderman does when he spins his web and jumps from web to web. Quite amazing that he has studied it so closely. He really does have it down pat.

At Dos Logos, there is the long tunnel covered with bamboo. It is very prettily lit and runs between the two lakes. The water actuallay falls as you walk through. Below are just a couple of pics from our walk across the bridge. Can you tell that we had a blast?!!! I can't remember the last night we had out that was this much fun.

When we got to the car, we put on the oldies and were singing at the top of our lungs. Everyone except Uncle Drew was dancing their little booties off! Fun stuff, I tell you! The Rivera bunch is losin' it! Gina better be careful because she has rubbed off on us, and now she's in for trouble!



One thing I have failed to share which I find precious is that every single time we sit down to eat, no matter where we are, Zack stops and says, "Let's pray" before he touches his food. So precious. I can't wait until the day he asks to say grace for us!

Random fact: Did you know that in Russia when a child ages out of an orphanage, he she is given a small stipend and a passport stamped Detsky Dome? This means that when applying for a job or a place to live, they are discriminated against because they are "orphans". So incredible to think about the rights we have against various types of less offensive discrimination. I praise and thank God each and every day for paving the way for Zack and Sophia to have a new lot in life. I am so blessed to have been hand chosen by God to care for these two.

I pray for more fantastically fun Saturdays in the future!!!!! One more weekend living in CA and then we're off to Texas. Still surreal...