Tag Archives: kids

Ben’s Camping Trip

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Ben’s 1st grade class had an overnight camping trip at the school on Thursday night so we thought this would be a great experience for him to recount in his own words. Karma goes to the parents (not us) who sacrificed their night to give the kids this experience.

“We played volleyball, karate and I got an orange belt cause I already know karate.  Then we ate hamburgers, I ate at least 5.  I sat with my friend Ignacio.  We roasted marshmallows and I burnt mine.  I showed my friends how to burn theirs.  We made s’mores and I had 5.  Afterwards an Indian came, which was a fake one, cause they don’t exist.  We made hats and put our handprints on them.  We slept in the class on the floor.  My friend Santi brought a mattress for me.  I tried to sleep but so many girls and boys were talking.  My favorite part was doing karate.  We got to punch wood that was really thin. ”

-Ben

It was awesome seeing Ben completely comfortable in all the chaos of 30 kids totally amped for a sleepover.  This was one night after the police strike in Cordoba that resulted in looting and a city-wide lockdown, so tensions were still a little high.  We were not sure if he would be scared overnight, but all was well.   I picked him up the next morning and he was asleep on the couch an hour later.  To prepare and recover, the school was kind enough to cancel school for Ben’s whole class Thursday and Friday.  2 more weeks of school for the boys before summer break!

-Rob

Dia de Gracias

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So somehow we’ve made it to the end of November!  I still can’t imagine where the time has gone, but here we are!  We recently returned from a ten-day vacation to Buenos Aires and Punta del Este, Uruguay.  We had a wonderful time, and even though Molly came down with a terrible virus on the trip (high fever, terrible cough, and really stuffy nose), we managed to see and do a lot—including eat a lot of delicious ice cream as pictured above.

The purpose of the trip was to leave the country so that we could renew our tourist VISAs for another 90 days.  We didn’t need to leave for as long as we did, but since we were going as far as we were (BA is a 9-hour bus ride, and Punta del Este is another 2+ – hour ferry ride, and 1 1/2-hour bus ride), we decided to make the most of it.  The overnight bus ride was an experience in itself.  The kids were thrilled by the big seats that folded down into full beds (with blankets and pillows, even!!!), and the dinner that was served.  At one point, I heard Ben say to Rob, “These are some good meatballs!” To me, “good” seemed like a very strong word in this case, but I was happy that Ben was happy.

Both places we visited had fantastic weather.  We all managed to get sunburned in Punta del Este, and despite the arctic chill, the kids all swam in the water.  Molly’s cold set in almost as soon as we got to Punta del Este, but the good thing about South America is that the pharmacies are really helpful (read: liberal).  I went into one, and told them that my daughter had una fiebre muy grande, and un muy malo tos, and after a few questions about her age and size, I walked away with some awesome fever reducer, and cough medicine. At one point in Buenos Aires, poor Molly was so sick, and we were in between our hotel (where we couldn’t get a late check-out), and our night bus, that we decided to stop for lunch.  We had all ordered and were snacking on bread, when Molly put her on the table, and promptly fell asleep.  Fortunately, it was a nice restaurant, and they had a tablecloth, so the drool that was dripping out of her mouth was soaked up. The people at the restaurant we very nice to us and even wrapped up Molly’s chorizo in a piece of bread so that she could have a snack later. With the hours that families keep in Argentina, I doubt that Molly was the first kid to ever fall asleep in a restaurant.

So all of these things and events (and many others–like the fact that this Thursday is Thanksgiving) have gotten me thinking about the hundreds of things that I’m feeling thankful for this year.  Here’s a quick (not really) list:

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*HELADO:  I mean, REALLY!!!! How could ice cream like this NOT make some sort of “thankful” list?

*TRAVEL: This is no surprise to anyone, right? It is exciting and fascinating to see the world through our children’s eyes. To watch our children learning and growing at almost every turn, and to challenge ourselves beyond what we ever could from our safe haven of Portland is a true blessing.

*FRIENDSHIPS FAR: I never knew how much I would appreciate Facebook.  It is wonderful, and gives me such a cozy feeling to be able to keep up with our friends and family on a daily basis.

*FRIENDSHIPS NEAR: I never would have thought that it would be possible to be so warmly embraced in a country where we are strangers to both the culture and language.  Just this weekend we were invited to two asados (had to send our regrets to one because two asados in one day is just madness—even by Argentine standards), Molly and Elliott were each invited to birthday parties, and Ben had a 5-hour playdate! At the asado, our friends asked us what has surprised us about Argentina.  I told them, with as much passionate Castellano as I could muster that we were thrilled and honored that so many people had made the effort to welcome us and include in their circle of friends.  It’s not easy to make time for, and foster a friendship with someone who does not speak the same language as you.  Every day I feel blessed that we have essentially plopped down where we have.

*ROB’S INCREDIBLE PLANNING: Because if I’m honest (and why not be?), I know that this trip would have never happened without it.

*DUMB LUCK: See above.

*FLEXIBLE CHILDREN: Some days are really, really hard, and we just want to throw in the towel.  My understanding of static electricity is thin in English, and then when you wrap it up in Spanish, it does’t get any better.  So sometimes I am completely lost trying to help Elliott with his homework.  And then other days, the boys have their friends over, and they’re all in the pool, and chattering back and forth to each other.  If I’m not looking right at them, I can’t tell if it’s my kids talking, or the kids from the neighborhood.  Their Spanish (or, as everyone here calls it, “Castellano”) has taken off, and it’s at this point when I think, “OK!  THIS is why we’re doing this!  THIS MOMENT!  RIGHT HERE!”

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So in honor of Thanksgiving, this Saturday we’re having some Argentine friends over for a Thanksgiving asado.  I have been told that I really shouldn’t use the word asado because we’ll be cooking turkey in our outdoor Chilean oven, not beef, but it’s going to be so much more than just a lunch.  Just like Thanksgiving in the states, we’ll eat too much, probably drink too much, some people may nap, the kids will probably swim (and some of the adults, too!), and we’ll spend the afternoon enjoying each other’s company, and feeling so very, very blessed that we find ourselves in the situation that we do.

Pictures & Maps

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A photo montage from our weekend trip to La Cumbre a few weeks ago and a trip to Villa General Belgrano for the day yesterday.  La Cumbre is located to the north of Cordoba in the Central Sierras and is famous for paragliding and the Cristo Redentor statue.   Yesterday we managed to visit VGB for one of the final days of Fiesta National de la Cerveza, otherwise known as Oktoberfest.   Villa General Belgrano is located south of Cordoba.   We’ve had some fun playing with a map program recently to document our travel, but we can’t quite figure out yet how to embed it nicely into the blog.  Until then, here is the link!!

Cristo Redentor, La Cumbre

Cristo Redentor, La Cumbre

Sunset from Cuchi Corral, La Cumbre

Sunset from Cuchi Corral, La Cumbre

Vast skies at sunset, La Cumbre

Vast skies at sunset, La Cumbre

Huge crowds at Oktoberfest, Villa General Belgrano

Huge crowds at Oktoberfest, Villa General Belgrano

Daily parade, VGB

Daily parade, VGB

Oktoberfest complete with amusement park!, VGB

Oktoberfest complete with amusement park!, VGB

Many different groups and dress in the parade, VGB

Many different groups and dress in the parade, VGB

And yes, bier. Note my selection of stein.

And yes, bier. Note my selection of stein

Day in the Life

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Viernes 04 de octubre: A busy day in the life

7:30 AM:  Up and at ’em!  Coffee on, check email, FB and a few hotel options in BA for an upcoming trip.  Solo breakfast of left-over cornmeal pancakes, fried steak and egg before chaos ensues.

8:00 AM:  Chaos ensues when waking the kids for the day.  A Molly no le gusta la manana.  Shades open and breakfast requests made.  The kids have morning and night checklists now for basic stuff.   They include getting dressed and making beds before breakfast among other duties.  $5 pesos can be earned daily for compliance.  Screaming and yelling follows when Molly realizes she’s supposed to wear her swimsuit under her clothes today for daycare.  Friday is pool day!  Molly’s preference is to wear no clothing at all, so the idea of a tight suit under clothes is unbearable.   Molly loses screen time today.

9:00 AM:  Daddy bolts for Spanish class.  The boys begin their morning tutoring and homework with Erica despite Molly’s tortured wails.  The school that Erica and I take Spanish lessons at is a 20 minute walk from the house.

9:30 AM-12:30 PM:  Today my twice weekly class seems so tranquil after the crazy morning.  One-on-one with the teacher leaves me exhausted after 3 hours.  Today we work on reflexive and irregular verbs.  Erica walks Molly 2 blocks up to her daycare.   Drop-off has been going well for the week, but today started out rough, so she cries.  Daddy usually drops her off as a result.  Elliott works on science and Ben on math today.  We’re using a variety of home school books, but primarily the What Your XXXX Grader Needs to Know, by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.  The 3 strikes rule is working better for curbing freak-outs during this time each day.  Afterwards the boys entertain themselves by watching some baby pigeons in the backyard try to fly.

12:30 PM-1:30 PM:  Erica picks up Molly from daycare, and she had fun!  Today was the first day she decided to actually swim.  Erica feeds the kids lunch and gets the boys ready for school.  I finish up class and step out to catch a bus downtown.  We need money so time to visit the money guy.  The process of getting money in Argentina is a whole other post someday on its own!  I wait for the nicer, diferencial bus for the 20 minute ride to Centro.  Erica starts walking about 1pm with the kids to school (the walk to school takes about 25 minutes with the kids) but runs into Elliott’s friend’s mother, who gives the boys a ride.  Bonus since now Molly can have a nap!!

2:00 PM-3:30 PM:  After Molly’s nap Erica walks to the school kiosko to volunteer as kids scream in candy orders rapidly in Spanish during each recess.  Molly tags along today.  The kiosko is solely staffed by the equivalent of the PTA and raises money for the school.  We think incorporating a small shop that sells vast quantities of soda and candy to kids during the school day at Beach School back in North Portland would go over well.   After 3 previous trips to the office downtown where I pick up money I finally remember the correct bus stop.  Downtown during siesta is packed but my sense of direction is improving in Centro and find the office with little problems.   After a little chit-chat I descend the elevator with a large wad of pesos on my person.   Since we are planning a trip to Uruguay and Buenos Aires soon, I stop in across the street at the local Buquebus office to purchase 5 roundtrip ferry/bus tickets using my newly acquired pesos.  Fortunately they’re open despite siesta!  This takes longer than expected, but after an hour I leave with our tickets and exhausted after 3 hours of class plus an hour speaking completely in Spanish with the ticket agent.

3:30 PM-4:00 PM:  Before the bus ride back to our barrio, I stop in a La Tasca near San Martin Square for a bite to eat.  Little old men in bright red coats are servers, and seem to outnumber the customers.  I thoroughly enjoy a Quilmes beer and small pizza complete with the hearts of palm that seem to be on every pizza I end up with.

5:00 PM:  After short wait for another diferencial bus, I’m back where I started get off about 6 blocks from the boys school.  I walk up and relieve Erica of Molly’s company at the kiosko, if only for a short time before school’s out at 5:30.  Molly and I head back home, first stopping at the corner toy school to load up on a few birthday presents for the coming weekend and 3 scheduled parties.   We all end up back home about the same time.

6:30 PM:  Manuel (neighbor and rugby coach) honks and the boys race out the door to rugby practice.  Manuel is a saint and Elliott’s become good friends with his son, Santi.  My beautiful wife brings me a gin & tonic as I start on our dinner of fettuccine with squash, arugula and lemon!

9:30 PM:  Boys return and chow down.  We all devour the remains of a pint of Bariloche helado for dessert when  plates are cleaned.  The boys escape showers since they have a game in the morning and kids are in bed by 10pm.  1 kid out of 3 earns $5 pesos today.

Rinse and repeat

First day of school!

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Today the boys started 1st and 4th grade at Escuela Primaria Juan Zorilla de San Martin in the Cerro de Las Rosas neighborhood in Cordoba!   Big success considering no one tried to escape and Elliott was apparently mistaken for Justin Bieber.  The school day wrapped up with a promised heladoria stop (I had dulce de leche con brownie) and I had to jump in the pool on a 50 degree evening to make good on my promise to the boys if all went well.  Yo tengo frio.  Yesterday when it was 80 the idea seemed better.

The process to enroll the boys at Zorilla has been remarkably smooth, thanks to a great friend Gaby!!  She made introductions for us to the principal when we visited in April and elaborated on Erica’s PTO expertise to pave the way.  Getting all the right paperwork in order and supplies for the boys is ongoing, but we feel very fortunate.  The people we met in April swung the decision to Cordoba, and it’s the people who continue to reinforce our decision.

We prepped for today by visiting the school the day before to meet the principal and teachers and show the boys the classrooms.  The biggest adjustment so far is all the attention they are getting.  The teachers and staff all gush about how cute and handsome they are and give them lots of kisses (besos in Argentina in lieu of handshakes).  They are suddenly rockstars!  All the touching, kissing and attention has them freaked out.  Elliott was absolutely mobbed today when we arrived.   The girls were asking him to sign autographs thinking he was Justin Bieber.  The other kids are so curious and excited to meet both of them.   Elliott quickly had a few self-appointed buddies clearing space for him like bouncers.  Ben said he had to climb under a table at one point to escape the girls.  They are overwhelmed by all the attention so far and pretty worried, but after Day 1, the language barrier seems to be the lesser issue.   Everyone is so nice and accepting so far.

There are two sessions per day in primary school, morning and afternoon.  Gaby was great in helping to get the boys in the same session and Elliott is in the same class with Gaby’s daughter Malena, who is completely bilingual.  The boys start at 1:30pm and are done at 5:30pm.  We take a public bus from our hotel in Villa Belgano to Cerro for school.  They have 3 recesses and there is a kiosko (read candy shop) on site for the kids!  Selling points for the boys to be sure.  We’re blackmailing the boys with 2 pesos per day earning potential with good behavior to be readily spent at the kiosko.

More on house hunting and day-to-day challenges and observations soon!

Elliott surrounded before class

Elliott surrounded before class

Yelling and listening quietly

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We arrived in Cordoba just the other morning, but some times it feels like we’ve already been here for at least a week.  After a whirl wind couple of days filled with incredible asados with friends and house hunting, we tried some sight seeing downtown today, but that was kind-of a bust because it’s a holiday.  It’s a national holiday to honor the death of Jose de San Martin who was a leader Argentina’s successful struggle for independence from Spain.  We thought that maybe there would be some fun stuff happening downtown, but I guess it’s more of a holiday where you hang out with friends and family.  Which has gotten me thinking about all this “family” time we’ve had over the past month.

Frankly, I’m exhausted.  The constant stream of questions from Ben, our middle child, is almost more than I can handle.  I know that he’s a kid who needs to know the plan; he needs to know what we’re doing next IN DETAIL, but often (honestly, most of the time), I don’t have that answer.  I don’t know exactly where we’re going, but I gave the taxi driver an address, and here’s hoping he’s going to get us there.  I don’t know exactly what time everyone will be at the asado, but we’re going to get there around 12:30, or 8, or whenever, and when everyone else shows up, they show up. I don’t know what the taxi driver’s name is, or why he’s talking on the phone while driving, or what that sign says.  I’m just trying to take it all in, too.  I do know, however, that this is just Ben’s way of making sure that everything is ok, and that his parents are in control, at least, sort-of.  All this makes for a pretty short fuse.

Put that together with the fact that we’re staying in a guest house/bed and breakfast, where the people are wonderfully kind, but our quarters are close, and unfortunately, my best parenting techniques are out the window.  Rob and I are trying to be very conscious (and at the same time help the kids grasp the concept) of the other guests, so we spend a lot of time telling the kids to “be quiet!” and “stop running!” and “don’t slam the doors!”  I have lost count of how many times I’ve said to the boys, “And what about your behavior did you think was acceptable on ANY LEVEL?!?!?!?!”  With this phrase, I hope to accomplish two things:  make the kids shut up, and use confusing enough language so the non-English speakers here will have no idea of what I’m saying to my kids.

In all of this crazy, there are amazing glimmers, though.  Incredible moments that I grab and hold onto tightly:

*Molly dancing in her seat on the plane as she listened to music with her headphones.

*Ben and Elliott watching some cartoon in Spanish, then chatting about it IN SPANISH, I’m sure, without even realizing that they were speaking Spanish.

*Molly telling our friends that her Spanish is “fantastic.”

*Ben chatting with just about anyone who works at the hotels where we’ve stayed like they’re old friends from way back.

*Rob getting us downtown on the bus from our hotel without a hitch.

On Wednesday we’re going to the boys’ school to meet their teachers and have a look around, then they’ll start school on Thursday. I’m hoping I’ll be able to keep myself together when we drop them off on Thursday, but I’m not betting on it.  This is a BIG DEAL, and I would give almost anything to be a fly on the wall and listen in on their conversations.  I promise I would listen quietly; they wouldn’t even know I was there.

Nosara

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Posing at the blowhole on Playa Pelada

Posing at the blowhole on Playa Pelada

For the past 10 days we’ve been in the Nosara in the western state of Guanacaste.   Since we left Turrialba we haven’t had a lot of practice speaking Spanish, since Nosara is big with American expats and is a surfing mecca.  The drive here was trial by fire with a standard transmission and Costa Rican roads.  Erica manned the wheel for most of the drive thankfully.  Not long after I took over driving the afternoon deluge began that required pulling off the road until our windshield wipers  could keep up.  Not long after that we took a wrong turn in Samara and were subsequently led across a river fjord by a very nice German guy who clearly wondered what the hell we were doing.  Think 3 young kids, Dad who can’t drive a stick to save his life, water up to the doors.  No biggie.  Thankfully I didn’t stall in the river.

Nosara has been wonderful and exactly what we were looking for before we head on to Cordoba.  It’s a pretty primitive surfing town south of much more visited Tamarindo.  We’ve been surprised at really how little there is here.  As the sticker on our fire extinguisher in our house says, “you are the fire department, think about it!”  There are essentially two main beaches, Playa Pelada and Playa Guiones.  Since it was Sunday yesterday, Guiones was “crowded” with maybe 200 people.  We rented a house from VRBO about 200 meters into the jungle on Playa Pelada.  The kids have had a great time exploring all the creatures in the tide pools at low tide.  The roads here are crazy!  Just dirt tracks in the jungle really.  We’ve had our token flat a few days ago.  Somehow we haven’t broken an axle.

There are some nice restaurants in the area but we’ve cooked in most of the time to save.  Lots of pasta with red sauce until we finally found some dorado to grill the other day!  Our efforts to find meat to grill in the Super have ended with a hotdog-like product that was coveted by the boys but left Erica and I a bit disturbed.  Elliott has developed an addiction to Nutella and all the kids are digging all the pineapple.

After a few days here we discovered some blowholes on the beach and a giant tree in front of the house that was home to about 4 iguanas.  We have regular visits from a troop of howler monkeys and the biggest bugs we’ve ever seen!  The boys and I had a great time learning how to surf together a week ago.   Since then we’ve rented boards a few times.  Since we seem to wear out after a few hours on the beach or the rain starts, so we’ve also taken a liking the pool and cocktails at the Guilded Iguana.  Buy a drink and the kids can swim in the pool!  We attempted a grownup activity the other night when we visited Lagarta Lodge to watch the sunset.  Our fellow tourists at the Sunset Bar were quite glad to the Vaughn family depart since apparently kids don’t seem to cherish a quiet, romantic sunset like adults.  Tonight we went to check out the seemingly abandoned Nosara Beach Hotel (otherwise called the Scoobie Doo Hotel by me) and ended up getting a personal tour of the renovation by the laborer and his 10 dogs.  Elliott thought it was hilarious that he asked why our Spanish wasn’t as good as Elliott’s.

We’ve had a ton of beach time and it pains me to admit we’ve all gotten our fill of beaches and inhaled enough saltwater to move south into winter in Cordoba.  Our tans, burns and rashes are complete.  Ben’s lost two teeth (by natural cause not by accident).  We’ve realized that kids still fight and argue in paradise!  Who knew?  Time to go to Argentina!  We leave Nosara tomorrow and spend a few days collecting stored luggage in San Jose before our flight Thursday.  Ciao!

9 Reasons to Visit Costa Rica

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Touring Guayabo National Monument

Touring Guayabo National Monument

Here are the kid’s top 3 highlights each from our trip so far in their own words!!  Believe me getting this done was no small feat.  Last day of classes tomorrow because of a national holiday on Friday; El Dia de La Virgen de los Angeles.

Elliott

1) Friends:  I’ve met 5 new friends and their names are David, Thomas, Ari, Vivi and Carlos.  David cool and fun.  Thomas is weird and fun.  They are neighbors.  We play lots with them.  Today we played for 2 hours with them.  We played at the park and played soccer.  Ari is nice. She lets us watch movies and play her phone.  Ari is the host family’s daughter.  So is Vivi and Carlos.  Vivi is the oldest and I don’t really know her.  Carlos speaks English and Spanish.  He’s a really good translator and fun.

2) School:  I’ve had two teachers at school.  Their names are Evelyn and Oscar.  We work on Spanish games and vocabulary.  We also go to play.  Yesterday I went to a fire station.  Fireman are called bomberos.  We got to put on a fireman’s suit and we got to go in the fire truck.

3) Animals:  In Costa Rica we’ve seen lots of animals.  The first thing we saw was an iguana and turtles.  We saw wild duck and sloths, monkeys, tucans, snakes and lots of ants.  I got bit on the finger by an ant.  I also almost got bit on the leg by a baby monkey at the Jaguar Reserve.

Ben

1) Beach:  Playa Blanca was my favorite beach because there were bigger waves and it was shallow.

2) Ariana:  Ari is fun because she always let’s Molly play her phone.  Molly plays it a lot, more than me!  I’ve only played it like two times.  She is a really nice person.  She’s part of our host family.  We were playing a lot in the pool and she pulled us around in an inner tube, we loved it, but Elliott kept flipping me over.  I thought I was going to die!

3) Carlos:  Carlos throws Molly up in the air and give her candy most of the time, and Carlos has given me cookies.  He never got in the pool.  Carlos is part of our host family just like Ariana.

Molly

1) Waterfall trip: I liked going in the water.  I liked seeing birds and butterflies.  The water felt good.

2) Beach: I liked both beaches we went to, the black beach and the white beach.  I swammed and I made holes in the sand.

3) Host Family: Sonia painted my nails and my toes. I love them so much.  They give me food.  They let me watch TV and play phone.  I love Ari so much.  She lives here.  She let me play with the Barbies.  I love Carlos so much.  He does so much fun things me.  He makes me jump up in the air.

Moving Day

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Movers at the house all day today dodging kids underfoot.  The Vaughn family spent our last night at Castle Ave on Tuesday night (until someday).  We move in with the Krogh’s for the next 2 nights and get some quality cousin-time in before Friday afternoon.  Flights confirmed and bags mostly packed.  Kids are either unusually cranky and crazy or beginning to act out on the unsettled nature of our life right now.  We’re hoping to reestablish a routine of sorts in a week as school in Turrialba gets going.  It’s been a massive yet satisfying project to purge and pack.  Erica and I can’t believe how fast time if moving these last few days.  We’re getting pretty anxious and hope the real excitement kicks in on the plane Friday.  Last night on the way to yet another goodbye dinner with friends, Elliott observed that we’re sure having dinner with a lot of people lately.  The goodbyes are getting tougher and frequent, but this still doesn’t faze the kids.  Rodrigo (his 3rd grade teacher) asked him if he was excited.   He said yes, but was referring to the upcoming sleepover at his cousin’s house.  Ah to live in the moment as a child.

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For Real

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Our next adventure is rapidly becoming reality.  The week has been a whirlwind of emotions and activity.  Last Friday was my last day of work after over 12 years at the Portland Business Journal.  I do feel like I’ve learned a lot as a manager over the last few months.  It’s probably a combination of having a weight off my shoulders and having more fun at work.  Hopefully it’s a lesson I can carry forward.  I spent a while staring my last direct deposit on my phone Thursday morning.  Last paycheck.  It’s probably a little like bungee jumping I suppose, but I’m afraid of heights.  Earlier there was a lot of anxiety, now we’re too busy to think about it.  All the worry and planning are done.  Now we finally get to act on plans made ages ago.

Saturday we had a great party with friends and neighbors and began some difficult goodbyes.  We love our neighborhood and have tremendous friends, making the next few weeks a tough time.  Sunday we dropped Elliott off at his first overnight camp in Purdy, Washington with his cousins, while Ben and Molly will stay at Camp Grandma & Grandpa in Gig Harbor for a few days.  It’s wonderful that the kids get to spend some quality time with Dave and Cathy before we head south.

Erica and I raced back to Portland to truly begin packing.  Despite beginning months ago, it feels like we’ve got days of packing and cleaning still to do.  Today we began actually laying out belongings for packing.   We’ve got a crazy assortment to consider packing.  We’ve started a “maybe” pile as we consider weight and number of bags.  More on the packing list later.  We’re cleaning, packing and organizing as we dodge potential tenants checking out the house.  (No it’s not rented yet and no we haven’t found a place in Cordoba to rent yet, but why worry!).

The kids are taking it all in stride.  Ben said goodbye to his great friend Zé the other day and neither seemed fazed.  We think the kids just aren’t able to wrap their heads around the scope and duration.  All seem so absorbed by the moment that we’re much more upset by their farewells than they are.

The movers come on 7/10!  We’re hoping to have our junk gone and stuff packed before heading north to rejoin the kids for the 4th.  Our 14th wedding anniversary tomorrow will be short on romance long on packing!