Teenager!?!

A few weeks ago my baby turned 13!  There is now a teenager in our home.  We celebrated a bit differently this year because he was gone on a week long camp for Week Without Walls at school.  The seventh grade made there way 8 hours south to a beautiful place in the mountains to learn teamwork, confidence, and ecology.  So we went to lunch, opened presents, and then had cake the weekend before.  Then on the 23rd we made our way with five 13 year old boys to the local amusement park.  It was a good time.  Mason had his cell phone and off he and his friends (and brother Dallin) went to ride all the rides that make my stomach spin and neck ache.  We crossed paths to check in with them every once in a while or to get them food.  Mason and friends said it was a big success.

 

The weekend before his birthday.  

 At Fantasilandia with friends!

Mason has a good sense of humor and can make me laugh loudly.  Mason is protective of his brothers (even though they don't always appreciate it now, they will) and family.  Mason is extremely intelligent and can draw conclusions from things he studies that surprise me and leave me in awe often times.  Mason is adventurous and willing to try new things.  He can be stubborn, which can drive a mom crazy and yet make me so proud that he will not back down on his standards.  I love this little guy!  Mason, thank you for making me a mom!

Adventure is out there

The last Saturday my parents were here, Mark, Mason, Drew, Easton, and Grandpa headed up into the Andes mountains to find some adventure.  Dallin went to a birthday party and my mom and I headed to Pomaire.  A great little town about 30 km out of Santiago that is famous for it's blocks and blocks and more blocks of earth ware pottery (it is a fun place to shop for there are deals like you can't believe).  My mom and I were successful in our shopping and the boys were successful in adventure.

A few little things

What have we been doing in between all of our trips and excursions this summer?

Easton had swim lessons.  And I have been trying for 2 days to get a video of it uploaded with no success, so I just have to share that he went from floaties and Never putting his face in to swimming under water for 5-6 feet.  Wow.  Now we just have to keep it up so he keeps improving.

Lots of this. 

And this too.

My parents and I went to the LDS temple in Santiago.

Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.

We took my parents to our favorite Thai restaurant.  This is the outside, it is not marked and looks a little sketchy, but as they say, never judge a book by its cover.  You just have to walk through the gate to see it's an amazing place with fantastic food.  And the look on my parents face when we said this is the place - priceless.

Have you ever done perlers?  They are these tiny little plastic things that end up all over you house that occupy your kid for hours and once they finish, you iron it and make little projects that your kids think are great.  And I am amazed...Easton sat still for hours working on these.  He has been making them the last 3 weeks or so, but sadly we ran out earlier this week.

Look what happens when your entertainment goes back to school and your mom gets in the shower.  You take over 50 pictures of yourself and the ceiling using photo booth and all it's options.

Just a reminder of the magnificent place we live in.

My baby turns 4!

Easton turned four last week!  My baby has BIG personality.  He is clever, intelligent, and knows how to get what he wants.  He is definitely the baby.  He makes me laugh a lot of the day (and want to go crazy at other times).  He loves puzzles, books, cars, digging in the dirt, making others laugh, Disney's Cars, and doing what the big kids do.  He is full of hugs and kisses and thinks it is so funny to swat your buns as he says (luckily only to family members).  He loves his friends.  He has a hard time opening up to new kids, but once he does, he is devoted.  And if he doesn't know a Spanish word he just says it in English with a Spanish accent.  It cracks me up when he talks to the gal that works for us like she understands the English with a Spanish accent.  I love you my baby!

The big day was on a Thursday so we had part of the celebration on Thursday and finished on Friday.  We started with a little get together with Easton's good friends.  Easton believes all birthdays involve doughnuts so we met at Dunkin Doughnuts to celebrate.

That night we had his favorite thing for dinner crepes with nutella and lots of fresh fruit, followed by presents, and cupcakes.  Because really who doesn't need sugar rush after sugar rush on your birthday!

Friday we went bowling as a family at the adventura centre in one of the malls.  Followed by dinner in the food court, since Easton's choice was McDonald's and the court provided that (and other things for those whose favorite isn't McDonald's).  Then we finished up with milkshakes at Johnny Rockets!  It was a fun celebration.  And it Grandma and Grandpa were here for it!

This is Easton's new favorite faces to make for pictures.  

More sights of Santiago

The kids were back to school after their two month summer break on Feb. 18th, so a couple of days later (with Easton at a friends) we headed down to the city center.  We saw the changing of the guard at La Moneda (originally where money was printed, then as the president's residence, now as government buildings.  Every other day the military pays homage to history by changing the guard.  Then we walked to the very center of the city to Plaza de Aramas to visit the plaza where the original conquistadors   set up the city.  We went into the cathedral and the post office museum.  Then walked down to the fish market to see the activity there.  Then took the metro back to the car.  Afterwards we finished up with a nice late lunch.

Changing of the guard.  It started with a parade with band and horses from a few blocks away,  then band music, marching, weapon stuff, soldiers coming out, new ones going in, etc.  I was so glad that we went and I plan on taking my kids to see it soon.  Also I realized after I took about 20 pictures that I didn't have an SD card in my camera and ended up using my phone, so photos not so good.  However as we walked the couple of blocks to the plaza I picked one up, so the rest of the trip was much better (hate when that happens).

The parade out. 

This is so downtown.  These officers had this entourage of stray dogs.  Where ever the officers went these 6 dogs followed.

In the plaza.

The post office

Inside the post office is a nice little museum about the history of the mail and telegraph systems in Chile.  I really enjoyed it.  It is small and takes only about 15 minutes, but it is free.

In the center of the plaza.

South to HuiloHuilo

We spent a week in the lake district on a private reserve called HuiloHuilo.  It took us about 10 hours to drive there.  The scenery was drastically different from Santiago.  The sky was clear and so blue (I didn't realize how muddy the blue is here in Santiago due to the smog until we went south).  The area we went to is a temperate rain forest.  We lucked out in that for the most part it just rained heavily for one day.  There was drizzle at times, but nothing to hold us back from seeing the beautiful area.

We stayed in a beautiful cabin in the woods and could hear a waterfall nearby.  It also provided a little cat for the first couple of days that the kids named Oreo and played with, the kids were thrilled a vacation and a pet (one in which I didn't have to bring home, a win-win situation).

So our adventure included hiking, waterfalls, zip-lining (or canopying as they call it here), a ferry boat ride, and time sitting in front of our wood burning stove enjoying each others company and views of all the green.

Oh, and I couldn't decide, so there are tons of pictures.

 

Salto de Leonas

Drew did the little kid zip-line.  At the resort they told us a person had to be 10 yrs. for the big one, however we found out it is a height requirement, not years.  So the next day he went with the big kids.  But he loved this one too.

Easton is pretty crazy, but for some reason, zip-lining was not his thing....there were tears.

Here are the big kids in the canopy. Mason.

Me.

Dallin.

Mark.

My dad.

This is not where we stayed, but it is on the reserve.  It is called the Magic Mountain, and it looks like a hobbit home.  Even on the inside.

We rode a ferry on the lake.

This is at Salto Huilo Huilo (Salto = Waterfall).  Look at the color of the water.

Salto del Puma (thank you Mason for the zombie eyes, we took a whole bunch and Mason had the same face in everyone!)

Our rain day...notice how many electronics are going on in our log cabin.

On the rain day there was a break in the rain for a couple of hours, so some went zip-lining again.  Including Drew who got to do the big kid canopy.  The rest of us saw the waterfall again.  Then we joined back together and had hot chocolate in the cutest little hobbit cafe.

There was a place to see animals...wild boars, deer, llama, chickens, and geese.

And no trip is complete with out seeing things that make you question just why we don't fully utilize our small pick-ups in the States.  This guy was not only hauling a cut up car in the bed, but also towing an old car.