My thoughts and lot of photos!

Today was like a breath of fresh air. Everyone woke up and was in much better spirits.

It’s been interesting to observe the other families here. The German family has been here for a few weeks and seems to be a bit stressed today. They are ready to go home. Nate started calling the French family here the “Frenchies“, which makes me laugh every time he says it. He has become friends with Jan(Yan) from Germany who is 11. They play games on the computer together a lot.

We unplugged the microwave today, jut to keep the kids out of it. They were constantly wanting to heat stuff up. They are fascinated with water bottles and carry them everywhere but they were always wanting to fill up the bottles with the faucet water, which we can’t drink. So one of the staff ladies showed them how to fill their bottles from the water dispenser on the fridge, which is water they can drink. This will save us a lot of money in bottled water.

Jessica and Joaquin wouldn’t say Nate’s name much. The pronunciation is hard for everyone here. They all call him Nasan. But today Joaquin said Nate’s name several times and asked him to come out and play futbol with him. Joaquin was very proud of his new shoes. He had to go show all the other little boys here at the B&B. Then he had to take out his “CARS” pajamas to show them too. After that he showed them his and Jessica’s bears that Mimi and Papa gave them, and so on.

Jessica has been attached to Eric at the hip. She follows him everywhere he goes. Although she is still very affectionate with me she definitely prefers her Papi. She was very whiny today. She whines often when she wants something, it’s more just a tone of voice when she requests to do something or if she wants something. No tears, just whiny. We started telling her that she has to use a nice voice and it seems to be helping. We just have to remind her every once in a while. But she was very clingy to Eric this morning, so today when it was time for Eric to take Emi out I was a bit curious as to how Jessica would react. Once Eric and Emilee left, Jessica and Joaquin asked a few times where he was. I told them he was with Emilee and they would be back soon. They accepted my response and went on playing. Not one time did Jessica whine while they were gone. She was perfectly fine playing with me. When they returned it was time for a siesta for Joaquin and down time for Jessica. We let her watch TV softly while Joaquin sleeps. He says he doesn’t want to take a siesta, but falls right to sleep. Joaquin seems much more like a young 4 yr old, but will be 5 tomorrow.

Eric and Emi brought back some chips and soda. What a treat for me, comfort food. Can’t wait till the kids go to bed tonight! Emi picked me up some special chocolates, just for me, but I will share. She had a great time with her daddy and loved seeing McDonalds from another country. (Emilee is typing now) The McDonalds has a delivery, they deliver on motorcycles/mopeds. They have a thing they wear on their backs with an M on it and it keeps things cold and hot. They have all of the same kind of food, but not as many choices. Dad got a Big Mac and I got nuggets. The bathrooms did not have toilet seats on them either, but the toilet paper was in the stall this time. Also the McDonalds was two floors. When we were walking we saw grassy areas between the roads that people go and sit to play there. The roads were full of busses today. Josh and Adam, I still haven’t found the tiger and the monkey, sorry. (End of Emilee typing)

Once Joaquin woke up we took off to a nearby park. It makes for really long days to be in and around the casa for so many hours. We are going to try to do a short outing every afternoon, even if it’s just to the park. The parks here are lovely. The kids had a good time and we got them each and ice cream from a vendor at the park. Of course that was cause for much excitement. Jessica became very whiney again after her ice cream was gone insisting we leave for the casa. I think she gets scared and the casa is comfort to her. It drives Emilee crazy when Jessica whines, she doesn’t quite understand the depth of what’s going on. She knows if she behaved in such a way that she would be in big trouble. We try to explain the reasoning behind what is happening and why we respond the way we do, but she still doesn’t like it. The park was a hit, it’s a pleasant peaceful place.

A few other tid bits…

This morning Jessica was writing on a paper and showed one of the staff ladies here what she wrote. After fixing a few grammatical errors, she told us it said “I love my papi and mami with all of my heart.” She has the sweetest and most ornery expressions and a huge heart. I can’t imagine what is going through their minds. I am very proud of them and how they are dealing with all of this adjustment. Every time Jessica hears an airplane she has to run outside to see it. She knows she is going to fly on one.

Jessica is showing real interest in leaning English. We will tell her what various items are in English and she will repeat them. She has her colors and numbers from 1 - 10 down well. She is a very smart little girl. Joaquin is just going through the motions. Every once in a while I see confusion in his eyes, but he is a happy, silly little man.

Nate was excited to play Wii this evening with Daddy.
Tomorrow is Joaquin’s birthday, so I have to get things wrapped and together for the party. Jessica keeps saying it’s her birthday too and I’ve told her it’s only Joaquin’s birthday but we have regalos (gifts) for her too. Hmmm…we’ll see how that goes.

Emi and Nate have not had much to say about what they are eating. It seems to be mostly chicken made many different ways. When asked to describe it they just say “it’s okay I guess”.

Oh, and Mimi and Mamaw Starla, Emi says to look at the moon every night and she will too.

And I can't believe I forgot to talk aobut our visit to Juan Valdez yesterday. Carmen took us there and treated us to Juan Valdez. We had the most amazing mochachino (spelling, I dunno), and the kids had coffee flavored ice cream and loved it. We are ready to go back. We will be bringing coffee back for sure. Grandpa, I know you're a Folgers kind of guy, but you have to try true Colombian coffee. I will bring you some home.



Here are lots of park photos for you.










The sand box at the park

Emi found a really cool flower and made Nate wear it in his hair on the way back to the casa...this one's for you Mimi.

Time to head home