A Tour to the Park, Jaime Duque

Last night about 11 pm Joaquin began to whimper in his sleep, a soft cry and sniffles. He never cries so I quickly went and picked him up. He was totally asleep, I think they were tears of grieving and acceptance of his new life journey. I laid him in bed with us and he held onto my hand tightly for hours. Then it was Jessica’s turn. She also was not awake but crying and kicking the wall. I think their little minds just can’t take care of everything while the are awake and last night was a way for them to get it out of their systems. Needless to say it was another sleepless night for Eric and I, so this evening Eric crashed when the kids did and I am sitting up waiting for laundry to dry.

Jessica woke with a bit of an attitude, partly because she didn’t sleep well and partly because it’s all just part of the deal. Emi had not been feeling well yesterday evening and thru the night, but some Imodium kicked it in the butt (no pun intended) and she was fine today.

I took the kids to breakfast while Eric finished getting ready. Jessica decided to be obstinate, no crying or whining, just dirty looks and not talking to me. I decided that she has realized she gets attention for such behavior and I would just ignore her. I ordered what I know she likes and within a few minutes she was eating and happy again. Of course I praised her for her good behavior. You really can tell when they are acting out of grief and fear, or testing the limits to see what works and what doesn’t verses acting up for attention. She is very smart and has definitely learned that we mean what we say, that we lover her no matter what and we will stand firm. So this morning she decided to push the limits for what seemed to be for no other reason than for attention. We asked Emi and Nate to ignore it and we would see what would happen. When her attitude changed we would praise her and have fun. By later in the afternoon she figured it out and again was a perfect angel. I am not sure what happened today but she watched an entire movie sitting with me, with Eric in the other room, she didn’t favor Eric nearly as much for the rest of the day, not sure what’s up with that.

One of the sayings we have been using with Jessica (in Spanish of course) is to be nice, or behave nicely and no dirty looks, or to not behave ugly. You wonder just how much they take what we say to heart, but this afternoon, Joaquin was being ornery to her and she used my lines on him. Oh yeah, she understands alright!

We did go to the park today, the Jaime Duque Park. it’s not a huge place but very nice. There are several animal exhibits, rides and play areas for the kids, replicas of various things etc. Joaquin loves animals so he was having a ball. Emi was the photographer today, so all the pics Emi took.

Joaquin's face every time he saw a new animal. The expression was followed by Mami Look or More Animals! (In Spanish of course)


Eric was taking care of Jessica, and I keeping up with Joaquin. Jessica was not so fond of all the animals, she especially didn’t like the snakes. Joaquin took two pony rides and would have stayed on all day if I wouldn’t have made him get off. Jessica was a bit apprehensive but stayed on just long enough to get a pic. Then we aren’t sure exactly what happened but the darn horse Jessica was on bit Eric and so that was the end of Jessica’s ride. (Eric’s okay, he just has a bruise)

You can see Jessica was not real thrilled


They had a group of big slides that Jessica loved.


They had some rides on the other side of the park for bigger kids, but we didn’t get to them. We were with a group and were on a time limit. It was the perfect amount of time to be out with Jessica and Joaquin, but it meant that Emi and Nate didn’t get to ride anything. Neither one of them complained, not even one time. I am so proud of them for allowing the day to be about their new siblings. They were great sports.

Before I switch gears, we just happened to come across monkeys and tigers today in Colombia, well how ‘bout that 6th grade boys. These pics are for you from Emilee!




The drive to and from was great. We had great views of the mountains, various living styles of Colombian people, it was nice to take in some culture. The park is just outside of Bogota. But coming home we sat in traffic and the pollution/smog is so bad you can hardly breathe. It really gives you a headache and a few times I had to cover my nose with my shirt just to filter the air a bit. We noticed this the other day when we went to the mall. By afternoon the air is so thick with pollution/smog you can hardly stand it. I guess that’s what happens when a million cars are on the road during the day.

Okay, now for a few tid bits I don’t want to forget. Today Joaquin left without taking his backpack anywhere. He is feeling much more comfortable with his belongings and trusting they will not disappear. Tonight he only went to sleep with his ball cap on and his bear. Big improvement. Way to go Joaquin.

Jessica is addicted to soap operas. Yes, you read that right, soap operas. There is a channel here that is like 24 hour soap operas, she specifically turns it on to that channel and is glued. We have a feeling that during nap time the staff at the orphanage would watch this kind of stuff and so it’s kind of habit, comfortable for her. We make her change the channel. You know how in the corner of the screen it will show the channel name, like FOX. Well she will sit in front of the TV with her hand over the channel name thinking we don’t know what she is watching and won’t make her change it.

Another funny thing is that she has called Eric, Charlie. Eric’s real name is Charles Eric. So the social worker told them our first names etc. I guess they assumed Eric went by Charlie. He hates to be called Charlie, and the first time she said it we cracked up. Now she thinks it’s funny and every once in a while will call him Charlie for a good laugh.

Ketchup is called salsa in Colombia. Ice is called hielo, which sounds like they are saying Jello.

One last thing, remember I talked about the security around the buildings here. I have some pics for you. You either see barb wire fencing like material around the top of buildings or broken glass secured to the top of walls or buildings. You’d have to be pretty crazy to try to climb over this stuff.



Joaquin gave great kisses and hugs tonight, all by himself with no coaxing, even to Emi. I could see a difference in his eyes today, he’s coming around, and I think he likes the change…smile. He winds up easily and has a hard time winding down. He gets so excited, but we are going to have to teach him self control, they boy is a riot. Jessica has come such a long way in just a few short days. We have 4 great kids!

And one last pic...yes, two days in a row I am in a pic...don't get used to it.
This is the first picture we had of all 6 of us together, not a great picture, but none the less, it's the first of all 6 of us.