Vandalism

These lamps can never be left in peace. Whether they are being knocked over by a dog or the kids running through the yard, we often find them uprooted in the yard. Today, however, while I was at home, I heard a bunch of kids outside but didn't pay much attention to them. Came out to go pick up the kids, and saw the lamps, two of them, laying on the sidewalk, one of them taken apart.

These kids need to get back to school. School starts on Monday and it will be about time, since they are starting to get up to no good.

Piggy bank

Nicolás is really into his piggy bank at the moment. He spent a good half hour collecting all the pennies and small change he could find around the house and putting it into his piggy bank. Finally, when he was done, he asked, "Now how do I get it out?" I told him he'd have to break it, and he didn't like that idea at all. Got a little teary-eyed to be precise.

Then Agustín woke up with a nightmare tonight screaming, "No, please don't! Don't break my piggy bank!!! I don't want to break it!"

Calderón

Went to the lot today in Calderon to go through the house and clean some things out. The kids love it here - as you can see it is really dry and is like a huge sandbox for them. They hung out a little with their uncle, which they absolutely loved. They especially loved kicking him and getting his pants all dirty.



Took a picture of the pine trees we planted about ten years ago. They were tiny little things, probably came up to our knees, and it took them a good couple of years to really get going. Look at them now! I thought they would never grow. I love them.

The New Face of the Lego Magazine

There is a feature in the Lego magazine where kids send in a picture of themselves with an invention. Agustín decided tonight that his car was cool and original enough to send in, so we took a picture of him in front of it and will see if he gets his mug in the mag!

Happy anniversary, sweetie!

Fifteen years together today.

Wow.

And can you believe it? We have very few pictures together. I went through iPhoto and the newest photo we have with just the two of us is from Vegas, December 2009.

"Take a picture of Plomito!"

Even Plomito is getting in on the action. Happy as well to be back home, he wanted a picture this afternoon, and wouldn't take no as an answer.

TV afternoon

Lazy afternoon here today. Kids spent some time in front of the TV so Mom and Dad could get some things done. I look over because I hear Agustín say, "Nico, let's cuddle. I want to hug you." And this is what I see.

Nico was loving it!

Shoes

One of the things we stock up on every year in the U.S. is - you guessed it! - shoes. Aside from the fact that a "cheap" pair of shoes here costs about $50-70, they never have my size. When I go to the store and ask for my size, most of the time they laugh at me and say, "No, we don't carry that size" or they just look at me like an alien. It is really not worth the effort. Or embarrassment. Hard to be a 9 1/2 in a sea of 5's.

Unpacking 4

Here is my pile of special stuff - lots of scrapbooking things in there that are tempting me to forget everything else and just scrapbook! Oh, and lots of good reads, including some ebooks for my iPod. Can't wait to get started on all this literature!

Unpacking 3

Here is the pile of my clothes and Andres's clothes. Also requiring a major rehaul of our drawers and closets. I think it was a good idea to unpack up here so that we wouldn't have a lot of things in the way, but then again, out of sight, out of mind, and things are not getting put away very quickly...

Need to play catch up

I really really need to catch up on my blog, and I do plan on doing so. I will work on it this weekend, highlighting the best, most interesting, craziest or sweetest moments from our three-week family vacation.

In the meantime, enjoy Marcel. He sure is a cutie!

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

Unpacking 2

Today we worked a bit on the kids' clothes, but we are going to have to do some major cleaning out drawers in order to get all this into their rooms. School and art supplies are below. It won't be long before school starts!

Unpacking 1

Starting the long and slow (but fun!) process of unpacking. Taking things out on the third floor this year, and grouping them in piles. This is the food pile. Oh and home decorations as well. One of the largest piles, and lots of candy in there...

That Toy Story macaroni won't last long. The kids spotted it and now we have heard nonstop how they want it.

Waiting for the word

Agustin cannot wait to get at his new Legos. Daddy is torturing him, telling him to wait until things are put away a bit form the trip, but I don't know how much longer he will hold out.

The forbidden fruit.

Spiderman pajamas

Excited to be home, missing family but excited to open all our goodies and get back into the routine, Agustín shows his excitement by dressing up as Spiderman in his new jammies. He was really looking forward to wearing them with his Spiderman mask!

Welcome to MN!

Having lunch in the Miami airport. So excited to see the family.



And there they were! It was late, almost 11, but even Hannah was there! Boy were we excited, and it was hard to get to sleep that night, but what a great thing to see family.

Packing

Packing tonight took some time. As you can see, Agustín got a little creative with where he was going to put his clothes. Needless to say, most didn't get into his bag.

No place like home

Bye, Panama!

While I will miss your friendly people, your beautiful skies, your peaceful ocean, your sense of pride, and the warm wind, I am ready to come home to this:

If only they would notice I'm here!

I think I'll have to force quit the program. I don't think they heard me come in.

Ummmm... hello?

(I should mention that they spent the entire week in Ambato with grandma and grandpa, not realizing I was out of town. It worked out great, since they were the ones on vacation!)

At the beach

After the last session today we had some time to relax before the closing ceremony. I spent some time on the beach.

Then by the pool.

Oh, I will miss Panama, but in two days will be in Minnesota, and hopefully at the cabin, where I plan to do more of this. But by a lake of course!

The Canal

Went to the canal this afternoon. It was quite neat seeing how it works, watching the boats go through, watching the locks fill with water, drain with water, etc. To imagine that they built it over a hundred years ago, and so many people died from disease during its construction.

It sure brings in a lot of money for the country. If only every country could have a canal!