Iguazu Falls (Day 1)

I have been thinking about how to blog our trip to Iguazu Falls.  Words cannot describe the shear beauty and power of this natural wonder.  God's hand is truly in our lives and it is evident by His creations.  I felt that as we were on this trip.  Not only at the Falls but in the jungle, in the wild life, and even in the complexity of the man made dam we saw.  Truly our intelligence as humans is God given.  I feel extremely blessed to have had this week with my family in a place that two years ago I never could dream existed.  It was not just good because of where we went, but because of the time we spent together.  Don't get me wrong there were times when I thought how nice it would be to have left the kids at home...but for the most part it was amazing.  We were able to stay at a place which was not only amazing, but perfect for our family. 
Our taxi driver from the airport became our transport for the week, door to door service where ever we went.  He was waiting for us whenever we came out at all locations, ready to take us any where at any time (and for less than the bus would cost for our family).  The reason I mention this was because this was one of my biggest worries before the trip.  Getting our family around is no easy task and with a person who knows where to go and how to do everything it can make or break the trip.  And it made everything work. 
So finally I will start...

On our way.  Monday we travelled.

 Day 1 Tuesday begins with a jungle jeep tour to the river.

A short walk with lots of stairs down to the motor boat.  And this thing had some real kick.  The rapids we went through to get to the falls were strong and a lot of fun too.

 

 Our first glimpse of the falls.  These pictures on the motorboat are only of part of the falls, they just keep going and going.

See that big cloud of mist...we are about to go into that. And the only smart person was Drew who put on a poncho. The rest of us took a shower (several actually).

As we were getting our shoes back on after the boat, we were greeted by this big guy.

 

 The rainbows were incredible, always gorgeous.  Oh and Mason...double rainbow, double rainbow.

 There were so many butterflies, thousands (the guide said millions).  This was soon after the boat, notice I am drenched and Drew is dry.  I guess those ponchos work.

 

 Then lunch.  We saw the coatis when we first got to the picnic area and thought it was so cool to see this new animal.  It only took a few minutes to figure out these raccoon type animals are over grown rats who drive you crazy when you try to eat.  There were so many of them.  We also learned a couple of days later that they are not nice (which is the fault of people for feeding them).

 A little train ride always brings smiles.

"Devil's Throat"

 

You walk nearly 2km on catwalks over the river to get to the Devil's throat.

 Our first glimpse.

This place was overwhelming. The volume of water takes your breathe away.  The bottom was a long way down, however pictures of the bottom only show up as a white cloud so it is hard to get the whole effect.

Not a great picture of me, however, it shows how wet it was.  We had the camera in a plastic bag and would bring it out really quickly to take a pic and then wipe the lens and put it away.  It didn't take more than 2-3 seconds to be covered.

 It was extremely loud. And Easton was not a fan.

A calm river raft after all that walking.

You can see a water plume in the distance, that is Devil's Throat.

On the short walk through the jungle to the exit we got to see our first toucan in the wild.

Then back to the jungle bungalow for a little swim and some dinner.  A big day with a lot to see and amazing memories.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday babe!  I love you!  Here's to another amazing year.  Thank you for being an amazing father, husband, friend, and provider.  Thank you for making me laugh, love, and look forward to all that our crazy life brings. 

Dieciocho School event

So each grade in the elementary memorized a poem, sang a song, and danced a certain dance, in costume for the performance.  It was a lot of fun for us to watch and for the kids to learn of the hertiage here.  I am so grateful for these experiences.  Mason also had a performance that the MS and HS did.  I unfortunately did not get to see Mason's, as I was helping in another classroom.  But he had to also learn a dance in gym class, ask a partner, and dress in costume.  And his grade in gym depended on it too. 

This is so funny! It just describes Drew to a tee. See how that little girl is so enjoying herself? See Drew tolerating it! I am laughing so hard right now. Mark and I were belly laughing watching him that day. Love that kid.

 

 

Easton's fiesta at school was without parents.  Which was a little sad for me, but in talking to other parents, we think it would be completely overwhelming to have all the parents of all the kids there at once.  It is a big preschool, there are over 120 kids there.  But doesn't he look so cute!  And the teachers took pictures, so we got to see pics of them dancing.

Let the fiestas begin

Dieciocho is HUGE here!  18th of September is the celebration of independence for Chile (like the 4th of July, only bigger).  It is an all out party.  It is a week of no school and 3 days off work.  They even have a law (though not enforced) that you must fly the flag for the 18th, and we did.  And the festivities start early.  So even though we weren't actually in Chile for the Dieciocho week, we got plenty of time to celebrate.  So let me start with September 8th were we celebrated at a Saturday school family event (and there were more days at the school too) and then went straight to the church celebration.  And lucky for us it was a extremely nice day, with sunshine and temps in the 70's (which is weird to think, because now I think temperature in Celsius).  So here are some pics of our first day of activities.

 At the school event

 

 There was a Rodeo.  This was a funny event trying to  complete some tasks with three people on at once.  It was entertaining.

 Dance offs, with the traditional dances of Chile.  All of the Chilenos learn these dances, starting in preschool (Easton included).  And everyone knows them...all my kids learned and will keep learning each year they are here.  You will see people as well at the church fiesta from the young ones to the more mature who learned in grade school and keep on doing it year after year.  I like this, it keeps the history alive and traditions going on through the years. 

 Mason climbing the very tall pole.  There were little flags on the top that the first few grabbed, after that it was strictly bragging rights.  Go Mason.  While I was taking these pictures Easton wandered off and gave me the scare of my life.  Mark had not returned from Australia yet so it was me, the kids, and a thousand people.  And a very panicked me, looking for a three year old wandering in a tightly packed crowd...for 4 minutes.  Luckily someone picked him up and brought him to the stage.  Oh, the misery.  So grateful to people who dropped everything to help me look for him.

On to the church for our next fiesta...there are a lot of pictures here, but these are the moments I want to cherish in Chile, where we laughed and loved with the people who have become our friends.  Mark had returned from Australia (a 16 hour flight over night), showered, and met us at this party.

 There was a lot of food and meat!

 There were flags and there was national anthem singing.

Friends who we love.

 

 

 

 Dancing.  This hermano here is the cutest man.  And he could dance.

A professional group was there to dance and then get everyone else dancing.

Look, they got the bishopric to dance.  Mark was such a good sport, since he had no idea and the others have been doing this for a long time.

 There were games...including, with your hands behind your back, shove your face into a plate of flour to find a piece of candy!  I won't include the pic of me looking less than thrilled with the flour up my nose.  Not pretty!

 



Got sports?

With the start of school came the start of afterschool activities.  And with it came ball games, at least for Mason.  In the elementary there are no games and only a few sports participate in any tournaments.  So for this season, Mason is the only one with games to cheer on.  It has been a slightly difficult season for Mason, as he is playing with some kids that have never played before.  It has made games a bit frustrating for him, however he has done very well.  He typically scores 25% of the points and is one of the few with defensive skills.  I have been very proud of him because despite the scores in the games, he has been mostly upbeat and continues to play his hardest.  There is a life lesson he is learning, sometimes no matter what the outcome you still have to strive for your own personal best. 

 

 He's got hops. (#8)

Skiing the Andes

So in the middle of August we made our way up the 55 switchbacks to ski the Andes Mountains.  It was the perfect ski day - sunny, little wind, and lots of fresh powder.  Drew and Mason hit ski school and Dallin went to snowboard school, while Mark and I got in a couple of hours on our own.  And it was rather successful for most.  But the problem with learning to snowboard with a skier is that it doesn't work AT ALL.  Once the lessons were over, it was pretty much pointless for poor Dallin.  So he pretty much sat at the top and watched us go down for close to 2 hours with Mason and Drew (we did offer to put him in more lessons, but he has decided that snowboarding is not for him).  Dallin was a good sport though and just played in the snow and waved to us each time we came up the ski lift.  Dallin has decided he will attempt skiing next year (and we will add a sixth to the pot with Easton doing lessons next winter). 
Mark took Drew up again the following weekend to get some more practice in.  They lucked out again with great weather and more new snow.  Unfortunately with basketball games and birthday parties the rest of us couldn't get up to ski again that day.  We planned on going up a couple more times, but spring came early with warm temperatures and there hasn't been any more snow at the resorts close by.  Oh well, until next year!

In the car as we start our drive to the ski resort.  Can you tell they were excited?

Look at that beautiful powder.

Getting ready.

 

This is the only picture of Mark I got...sorry about the gloved thumb.

This pic is from when Mark and Drew went up together the next week.  Fun dad and Drew time.