8 GIFs That Prove Alexa Vega Has Been a Badass Since Spy Kids

You might not even believe us when we tell you Spy Kids premiered 16 years ago. That's the first time we came across Alexa PenaVega, who at 13 totally nailed the part of Carmen Cortez, the daughter of two retired spies who has to come to the rescue when her parents are in danger. Alexa — who is now 28, married to singer Carlos PenaVega, and a mom to Ocean King — gave us serious superkid goals back then with her on-point one-liners (like "oh, shiitake mushrooms") and kickass fight moves. Keep scrolling to see all the reasons Alexa was the best character in Spy Kids.