Dylan turns 4!

To our dearest Dylan,

We are so thrilled to celebrate your 4th birthday with you. In honor of your birth, we've made sure you are surrounded by those who love and adore you. Your day (or should we say your week long celebration) is filled with things you love the most: trucks, airplanes, cars, legos, swimming, movie night, dip-dip, pizza, ice cream, and cookies. You've earned and certainly deserve it!

In days of you turning four, we are amazed with how you’ve come out of your shy and quiet shell. Your talkativeness, charm, and sense of humor is heart-warming and uplifting. You have quickly turned into the big brother Logan looks up to.

Your favorite food is mac and cheese (must be orange and not white), you love to sing "You are my sunshine", and you enjoy eating watermelons, strawberries, beans, and cheese. Your favorite color is purple. Santa Train (Polar Express) is still your favorite movie two years in a row and your liking for mow-mowing is strong and growing. Trucks, cars, and trains continue to be your obsession with the addition of airplanes.

We are so proud of you! We are eager and excited what this year will bring you. We wish for you to continue to flourish and develop your individual personality, to keep on learning and imagining great things, and to experience a childhood filled with fun, loving memories. Most of all, on your birthday, we wish for you to always know how much pleasure and bliss you bring into our lives.

Happy 4th Birthday, D!

We love you always.

Mommy and Daddy

Random Summer Fun

One of the things we absolutely love about summer is the time were spend with all of our families. Our calendar is filled with birthday parties, BBQs, food, get-togethers, halo-halos, laughs and fun. They kids look forward to the weekends because they know they'll spend it doing something fun and exciting.

Ate Odette's family visits NJ - SOME of the Valdez clan.

A train ride at Jenkinson'sone of Dylan's favorite rides

"swimming" at Grandma and Uncle Tommy's

Even baby Jaden joined all of the summer fun

Bike riding with Ate Cece

The kids love Grandma and Uncle Tommy's backyard where they can ride their bikes and cars all day long

slip and sliding at Lolo and Lola's house

Three Monkeys in a Tub

Having Ate Cece with us for the weekend is always lots of fun. Today, we decided to have a bubble bath before bedtime and the kids were thrilled. An hour later, we finally had to drag them out of the tub, into the shower then off to bed. Within minutes, they were knocked out!

Heat Wave

With the weather reaching above 100 degrees, the only way to stay cool is to jump into the water. After Mommy and Daddy's work, we'd drive to Frog Falls and let the kids play in the pool. Although it is hot and humid, by about the 5pm, the heat isn't as bad and the water feels great!

This week Dylan also decided that he no longer needs his swim bubble/vest. He's become overly confident with his swimming skills which makes Mommy and Daddy very nervous. Dylan is now fully enjoying swimming, jumping into the water and swimming on his own. Although we are proud of his progress, we wish that he'd be a little bit more careful and cautious in the deep end.

Six Flags Great Adventure

Not sure what possessed Lolo and Lola to take all the kids to Great Adventure, but they did along with Tita Nikki and Tito Raymund. Not only did they see giraffes and monkeys as they drove through the Wild Safari, but they also rode all of the kiddie rides. Dylan rode his first ferris wheel with tita Nikki and Ate Cece. Logan also got to ride several of the little kiddie rides with Lola Mia and Lolo. At about 5pm, Mommy called them and asked what time they were coming home. Apparently, no one wanted to come home and Dylan begged for them to stay longer. They spent the whole day there and tired out the oldies. Finally, at 8pm, just almost closing time, they all packed into Lolo's "airplane" and went home. Or should we say, went to Lolo and Lola Mia's house because the kids were not ready to part ways from Ate Cece. So as an added bonus, they got to sleep over at Lolo and Lola's house which was a first for them!

Happy 8th Wedding Anniversary, Mommy and Daddy

The start of our little family started eight years ago today when Mommy and Daddy got married. Still madly in love and feeling extremely blessed, we celebrated with breakfast at Panera, massages, lunch at Alice's, and dinner at The Chart House. It was a day free of kids and attention just devoted to each other.

When we explained to Dylan that we got married 8 years ago today, he asked if we went to the big brown castle (Sheraton Parsipanny). He was also quick to let us know that he's very upset with us because we didn't invite him and Logan to our "wedding party".

Here's to many many many more years together...

Happy 4th!

In the past we've been out of town on 4th of July. But this year, we decided to stay local and go to the Hopatcong State Park to watch the fireworks. We brought a picnic dinner, met up with friends and waited for the fireworks show. Mommy and Daddy were thrilled to see the fireworks - wish we can say the same about kids. They were not entertained nor impressed to say the least. They were more focused on playing with Mommy and Daddy's phone and running around the park. We'll have to try again next year!

Logan enjoying his rice and beans

waiting for the fireworks










Kids are starting to get ansy... is it 9pm yet???