Homework time

This is what nights have been looking like around here. Nicolas, doing his homework. Grandpa Dan doing his.

Calderon today

Today our mission was Calderon - visit the old lot (the wall has been painted maroon and there is no sign of the little house at all!), and look for the perfect picture. It's tough work writing a book, apparently!

This is the house of Grandma Shushu's aunt. She passed away a few months ago, but the family still owns it and has fixed it up a bit. It holds a special place in their heart, but I have never actually been inside. The colors - white and gray - are the ones Grandpa Dan has suggested for our walls. I like!

What do you think of when I say...?

...Baños?

Yes! Sugar cane, melcocha taffy, and the church with all the volcano erupting pictures.

...Bender?

Agustín and Nico next to a real, life-sized Bender at the restaurant Ali's in Ambato.

...Yambo?

What? You didn't know about Yambo Lake? Well, let me tell you. It is in a crater, along the highway (we are looking down from the highway to get the picture), no one knows how deep it is (some say it goes to the center of the Earth), and the deathbed of old trains, which used to run alongside the lake and inevitably fell in. Some people say that political dissidents may have been dumped in the lake. It is quite mysterious, cold, slimy green and a bit suspicious.

Photo Shoot in Ambato

Today we took a trip to Ambato. The weather could have been a little better, but we had a nice time anyway. First we went to eat the famous gallinas de Pinllo (Pinllo chickens) in peanut sauce, finishing it of with some local pop: pineapple-flavored Fruitkiss.

Next we went up to the Primera Imprenta to view the city. As Grandpa Dan searched the horizons for that perfect building and perfect shot, Agustín asked me to take a "few" pictures of him.

"Mommy, take a picture of me here."

"Mommy, now take a picture of me here."

"Mommy, now here."

"Here too."

"Now take a picture of me here."

"And now here."

"Oh, this looks like a good place, right Mommy?"

And after all those pictures, I had to get one of the two of us. He was so huggable at that moment!

The whole time Agustín was posing, I ket trying to get Nico, but he kept giving me his back.I did get this one, though, surprising him by coming up behind him and sticking the camera in his face!

Next we went up to Quisapincha.

Driving around later that afternoon, we came across an indigenous celebration. Got to watch as adults and kids went out dancing, some dressed as devils, others as angels, others as animals (there was even Bigfoot), all dancing around statues of the Baby Jesus and Joseph and Mary. Very very cool.

This guy was a bit creepy, but cool to watch. He had a stuffed skunk that he used as a phallic symbol and/or pointer. I am not sure at all what was going on, but it was one of the neatest shows I have seen. I need to do some research to understand more about what the celebration and custom was all about.

That night it was Ali's for supper.

"Mommy, here is good too, right? One more. Last one for today, OK?"

A night of relaxation

I had an especially trying time with the kids this week. There were quite a few accidents, lots of bodily fluids to clean up, quite a bit of excitement over having Grandpa Dan around (the novelty still hasn't quite worn off), Grandma Shushú at the beach (meaning interrupted routines), and Nico ending up at the doctor's office last night (sinus infection - nothing $70 of medicine and a $45 doctor appointment can't fix), so we had a well-deserved night of tapas and wine on the town (Shushú got back and we dropped the kids off and went out for supper - I think she was really happy to see them too after a week of not seeing them at all).

Nico didn't go to school today so I stayed home with him while Bati took Grandpa Dan out and around. Nico is feeling much much better already. Thank goodness for antibiotics! :)

Photographer at work

One of the fun things so far this trip has been watching Grandpa Dan really get into taking pictures. I am one of those people that usually just snaps the picture, not really thinking about it. (I always wonder why everyone's pictures are better than mine. Ummm, maybe because they actually think about it before they press the button?)

Got some lessons from the pro - try to get a little green in the picture.

Notice the difference?

And Quito from the Panecillo. Looking north. It seems interminable.

Around Quito

It's nice having someone here to take around town and enjoy some of the scenery with. I haven't been doing many tourist-y things lately, so getting out and seeing some of the newer stuff has been really fun.

Grandpa Dan and I went to the park today, then spent the rest of the morning doing some errands. Grandma Shushú is at the beach, so we have also been in charge of picking the kids up from school this week. Agustín is usually happy to see us, but Nico always wants his grandma. More than anything because he wants ice cream after school!

Little ducks, all lined up in a row

We are all really enjoying our fluffy Crocs. Mine don't come off my feet. I feel like I am walking on a cloud when I have them on. It feels like a huge disappointment whenever I take them off.

Will my TV survive the Wii...???

We got a Wii from my family for Christmas. Grandpa Dan brought it down with him and it was the coolest, best present ever.

We got it set up a couple of days ago but haven't had a lot of time to play on it. Decided to try some tonight. So far the kids like cycling. And of course boxing and...

swordfighting!

We have a winner!!!

The only problem is that I'm not sure if my TV will survive the Wii. Nicolás is pretty good about staying back.

Agustín, however, really gets going. He gets off into his own little world and doesn't realize that he is about to smash in the TV screen.

Gulp.

Raclette and airplanes

Bati had us over today for lunch at his new place. We had Raclette, which is where you put an electric grill on your table and heat up cheese, meat, potatoes (in this case) as you eat. It's something the Swiss do, I guess. We had chocolate fondu with strawberries and bananas for dessert.

It gets a little smoky when you've got the Raclette at work.

After lunch we went downstairs to the park. Bati's apartment is right in front of Carolina park. Grandpa Dan had brought the kids some blasa wood gliders and we put them together and flew them for a while. It was really fun, although Nico seems to be getting sick. He was so crabby and cried and whined the whole time that he couldn't get his to "go like Tin's".

That kid is a handful, I'll tell ya!

Happy New Year!

Well happy new year! Welcome 2011. Wow. When I was little that sounded soooooo far away. Thought we'd be living on the moon or driving in flying cars or something. Of course, we DO have iPods so... almost the same thing! haha.

Had a quiet day at home. Not much going on around here on New Year's. Most people just went to bed by 6 a.m. when the kids are getting up. Nothing open. Dad helped me take down the Christmas decorations though. It's so nice to know that that is taking care of!

New Year's Eve 2010

What a great way to spend the end of an equally terrific year.

A tour of this year's año viejo contest on Amazonas.

Some pretty architecture.

A tour of the city and the viudas and viejos. (Grandpa Dan has some great pictures of the viudas, or widows.)

The green wig was a hit this year!

Lots of time with family.

Celebrating another year. (Happy birthday, Grandpa Dan!)

And we did end up making a viejo...

and burning it. (Shhhh, don't tell Agustín. He would NOT be happy! He prohibited us from burning the viejo this year.)

Amidst LOTS of fireworks. (Maybe a bit too much. A few went off a little too close to us, as well as our house windows!)

And my personal favorite story of the night. It was getting late, and Agustín was trying his best to stay up. We put him on the stairs to draw a bit. After a while he got up and started passing out pictures of dinosaurs that he had drawn. He had pictures for everyone, even people who weren't there (Great Grandma Ali is in Cuba at the moment on a trip, and Nico had fallen asleep in the car while we went out to see the viejos.) It was super sweet as he passed them out. He had written a dedication on each: To: (name).

He made it until 11. After I put him to bed, I found another drawing he had made. It was a picture of a a Hot Wheels car (a 7x7 - "Daddy, if 4x4 is good, why don't they make 7x7? That would be even better!" - his own personal invention). The drawing said: To: me.

I just love that sweetie!!!!

Happy New Year.