Movie review: "Planes"

Rounding up our summer movie round, we watched Disney's latest movie, "Planes"...
The girls were a little hesitant at first, claiming this would be a "boy" movie, but I'm usually pretty loyal to anything with the Disney stamp on it (and so are they), so we went!
"Planes" is very "Cars"-like, typical underdog story, filled with inspiring and colorful characters and with a wonderful message...
The main character is Dusty, who is a crop duster plane with big dreams of competing in the "Wings around the Globe" flying tournament, where some of the most special planes compete...
Of course, Dusty isn't built for that kind of competition so he finds so many obstacles along the way, including lack of training, physical limitations and lack of support... Dusty ends up competing and meeting wonderful friends during his journey; he is able to teach a lesson or two to his fellow competitors as well as learn a thing or two from his guide and partners.
In the end, following a difficult journey in the competition, Dusty is able to conquer his fears and win the competition...
The movie is beautifully written and the story is very compelling for both children and adults; the characters are cute and the voice overs are pretty genius...
I will give this one 3 out of 4 stars, only because some parts of the movie dragged on and the plot seemed a little "unoriginal" compared to the success of "Cars"... It was, however, a great movie with the perfect amount of Disney in it!
Highly recommended....

Summer Break: Week 9

Here we are.. at the end of summer break.. literally... well.. one more week left, but you get the point...

I don't know if I'm happy or sad about summer break ending, but it's definitely exciting to look forward to another school year and even more exciting to see my girls have so much fun!

Week 9 was fun for all of us...

There was some fun face painting, meet ups with friends, puzzle making, late dinners, birthday parties and much more!

Here are some pics...

We met up with my friend Roxy and her kids Jose M and Carlota (born just one day before Gaby)...They live in Venezuela and are here for the summer.. it was amazing to see them and hang out for a while.. the girls love their friends and I love mine! :)

Olivia spent some time making puzzles and playing at home... she has gotten really good at pretend play and independent activities...

This is the funniest picture taken this week.. Gaby fell asleep (food in hand and all) during one of our late dinners this week... How cute is this!?

We also went to Gaby's 4th birthday party.. Gaby is one of Gaby's best friends.. they're so close they even share a name! The party was in a water park and since the day was hot as hell, the girls loved swimming in the pool and playing with all their little friends.. it was awesome!

...and the following are just cute pictures we took this week and I felt like sharing.. 

And now with only one week left of this summer break, I'm so ready to spend some quality time with my girls.  I have a week off from work coming up and I plan to take advantage of it.  

This summer break has been one to remember, and I can only hope it ends as well as it started!

After this week, it's back to business! Can't wait! 

Happy Summer! 

Movie review: "Smurfs 2"

Animated little blue people starring in a movie always sounds like fun... now, when those little blue people are living it up in Paris (my favorite city, ever!), it can only get better... right? right?... I think so!
"Smurfs 2" is a fun sequel to an already fun movie.. the girls and I really enjoyed it and we thought the characters had great "flavor" to them...
This particular movie revolves around Smurfette, who is revealed to have been created by Gargamel and turned into a Smurf by "Papa smurf"...It is her birthday and as all the smurfs prepare a surprise party, she fears they have forgotten all about it...
In the meantime, she gets kidnapped by one of Gargamel's un-blue little people and she is taken to Paris....
As the  other smurfs go out to her rescue, they recruit Patrick, Grace and their family to help them save Smurfette...
The movie evolves as they all embark into a fun and crazy adventure through the streets of Paris...
It is fun, colorful and eventful..and just every entertaining...
I thought the movie was also incredibly creative and full of wonderful messages for the whole family....
I give it 3.5 out of 4 stars.. only because there were some sleepy parts as well as some overly "out there" sequences..but all in all, a good movie! ;)

Summer Break: Week 8

We're in the last stretch of our summer break and things have been pretty quiet around here...

The girls are in gymnastics summer camp for another week and I'm gearing up for a week off from work just to hang out with my girls before they start school...

School supplies have been bought, uniforms have been washed and we're just ready to rumble...

This past week was pretty uneventful.  We watched a few sunsets, read books, made puzzles and spent a couple of days with the girls' grandma, who was visiting from Venezuela. 

We also went shopping and took advantage of "tax free" week, which is always awesome!

Here are some pictures!

With all that said, there are only two weeks left in the summer break and I feel a little torn...

I have to say that the girls are in denial about going back to school and I just don't know what to think...they do enjoy spending time with us and just hanging out... but duty is calling!!

Summer Break: Week 7

Week 7 was a very eventful week, definitely fun and full of excitement. 

The girls went to Naples with their grandma for a few days and Iggy went away on a business trip, so I had some "me" time, which turned into some fun times with friends. 

I took a "Small Desserts" class with a few girlfriends and learned to make some delicious cakes, creams and other yummy stuff... such a fun time!

My mother in law sent me some pictures of the girls while they were away. 

I missed them so much, so it was great to get daily pictures of my two beauties having fun... 

They had so much fun at the beach and it definitely showed in their pictures...

After they came back, Olivia spent some time drawing and coloring, which she really enjoys. 

She has become quite the artist and I'm so proud of her for her creativity and vision.  I'm sure she will do great things with these skills!

And to close out the week, we went to Zoo Miami with my sister, niece and uncles. 

The weather was crappy and hot, but somehow we managed to enjoy it despite the dreadful sun (hello Miami!). The girls had a fun time seeing their favorite animals and we enjoyed the nice family time. 

It sure is fun to pedal a safari bike with the family!

It's crazy to see how fast this summer has gone by!

We have enjoyed family visits, parties, summer camps and many more things...and there are still 3 weeks left!

Tomorrow the girls will be going back to gymnastics summer camp and they are very excited about that. 

Happy Summer, everyone! ;)

Summer Break: Week 6- Birthday Party revisited

This week was all about birthdays and parties and all the excitement that comes along with two little sisters celebrating their special days!

I have already blogged about each birthday and what we did on each day, so there's no need to retell that...

Weather wise, the week was pretty crappy since it was raining nearly every day so the mood was just "gloomy".  I was very close to canceling the party due to the weather, but I'm glad I didn't...
Apparently the rain gods decided to be nice to me and there was not one drop of water during the girls' party.  The sun was shining and everyone was so happy about it. 

The girls had a great party with over 100 guests in attendance.  They were able to bathe in the pool with their friends and everything turned out so amazing!

Here are some pictures...

This is our beautiful cake, made by my friend Antonieta... such a cute creation!

The kids were scattered all over, so only about a quarter of them are in the picture.. We had over 45 kids, so you can imagine all the fun these girls had!

Thank you, everyone for coming to the party.  Thank you for your company and for all the beautiful gifts for the girls. 

With only 4 weeks left of summer, we're gearing up for school.  Most shopping is already done and the girls are enjoying their last few weeks of freedom!

This week, they will be going on a trip to Naples with their grandma and mommy will be resting a bit. 

Happy summer!

Movie review: "Turbo"

I will go ahead and admit that whenever I see a non-Disney movie, or a non-established franchise I am a little skeptical at first... Such was the case of "Turbo".
But it was Olivia's birthday yesterday and she begged me to take her to the movies so I obliged... and I'm glad I did!
"Turbo" was a great an AMAZING surprise.. wow! what a great movie.. one of those that will sure be added to our movie collection once it comes out in DVD... We loved it so much!
Turbo is about a snail that lived his life dreaming about being a racer; all his friend snails made fun of him for having this dream! Then something magic happens and Turbo finds himself racing in the Indy 500.
He meets some great people along the way, which make his adventure even better!
The movie has a great plot, which is fun and inspirational at the same time.  It is also simple enough for kids to follow and entertaining enough for adults to get into it.
The characters are flavorful and colorful and the soundtrack is really good.  This movie features voice overs by some awesome actors like Ryan Reynolds and Paul Giamatti among others.
It also has a great message "No dream is too big and no dreamer too small"... it was definitely a "feel good" movie... very enjoyable.
So although I will admit that I had my reservations (too boyish? too boring? too weird?), I'm so glad I listened to Olivia and saw it.. It gets 4 out of 4 stars in my book! So worth it!