Varela 2

One of our days in Varela we spent at the finca of Ana's school friend Patricia. She graciously hosted us for the day. It was only a few miles out of town so we were able to take the bus. The kids loved it as they had a chance to play with Patricia's grandkids who were of similar ages. Also, Patricia made a wonderful asado to feed us. Finally, across from her finca is the Museo Guillermo Hudson. This guy was a famous naturalist back in the day and they have preserved his home and made a nice natural area around it.

Camilo doing trail work. Later he decided to eat the dirt!

Amalia tree climbing.
This is the tree she loved climbing. Its the national tree of Argentina (I think) and quite common and amazing.

Here is the tree from a wider angle, note the kids climbing.
Walking over to the park.
Camilo showing his speed.
Cousin Viviana.
Amalia in another tree.
Cousin Anacelia playing on a swing.
Amalia playing futbol with Patricio. He was more skilled, and almost 3 years older, but she was nearly as fast.
Camilo being cute.
More Futbol!
More Viviana.
LUNCH!!!
Having fun on a rope swing... and making Lisa very nervous.
Hold on tight.
Trying to play another version of futbol but a little too short.

Varela

The first few days of our trip were spent in Florencio Varela. After a long flight it was nice to relax there. This is the hometown of my mother and my birthplace. We stayed in the Mandirola house, which was originally built by my mother's sister. In fact, the family owns much of the block. Varela is a town of roughly 500,000 people and is pretty lower class in general. That said it is home and has lots of family and good memories for all.

This is the backyard of the house. My parents were married here.

Amalia with the family dogs, Juanita and Lola. They certainly loved getting attention from the kids.

The kids in the house. From L-R: Amalia, Viviana, Camilo, and Anacelia.
Abuelo Tom reading a story to Camilo as they both get ready for nap time.
Breakfast included pasteries, the most popular were stuffed with Dulce de Leche. Lisa and Amalia ate a boat load of these.
There is a playground a few blocks from the house and it included this little merry-go-round that the kids (Camilo, Anacelia, and Amalia) rode.
Amalia even grabbed the ring (not in this pic) and got a free ride.
more to follow.

travel recount- the Smithsonian.

We spent the last two weeks on a trip around Argentina. But to start with we spent a few hours at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport in Washington DC. Quick recount, we flew from ROA-IAD and had a long layover before flying to Argentina. The kids and I took the opportunity to visit the museum which is a quick bus ride from the airport. Its the BEST way to spend a few hours near the airport. Lisa decided to stay behind in the airport and guard the baggage. There are oner 100 planes and such in this hangar and it is amazing. Here are a few quick pics. There are too many great planes to show them all but seeing a P51, the Enola Gay, the Concord, and countless strange small planes is too cool.

The kids in front of the space shuttle. The space shuttle is huge and amazing!

These two pics put things in perspective.

The SR71 Blackbird is simply imposing and scary looking... and fast!
Hard to beat a Corsair! This is one of the first planes you see when you enter.

bike ride for Amalia

The kids and I have been riding the huckleberry trail all summer. Typically, Amalia rides her bike and Camilo rides in the stroller. Usually I push him but sometimes Lisa comes with us and pulls Camilo behind her bike. Today I put the GPS on Amalia so we could see how fast and far she rode. Here is her track.

Amalia's soccer season

This fall Amalia played in the Under-6 soccer league. Her team, the Green Gators, were great and they had a lot of fun. I finally remembered to bring the camera to her last game, which was tonight. Here are some pics, in no particular order.

Awards after the game... including green cupcakes!

Camilo didn't want his pic taken.
Amalia scores a goal!
So fast she blurs in pics.
And scores again!
OK, I like watching sometimes.
Practicing kicking goals.
Fast!
Which way should I go?
Nice pass.
Practicing dribbling.

pic update

Here are some pics from the fall to go along with the update above.

First some pics from Ecuador.

Inca Jay

Blue-gray tanager
Leaf-cutter ants

Sunrise above the jungle

Silver beaked tanager

Turqoise necked tanager

Amalia getting ready for the first day of school!

Finger painting fun!

a little update

This has been a crazy fall and I haven't updated as planned. I was gone to Ecuador for two weeks. Then Lisa was in Panama for a week and now she is in D.C. for a week. Then she goes to Phoenix for a week. So lots of traveling and general hectic life. But its all good. Amalia is doing great in school and loves her dance class on saturday mornings and soccer on friday evenings. I got to be a substitute coach a couple of times and that was fun. Camilo plays in the dirt while Amalia plays... he seems to think construction trucks are more fun than watching his sister play soccer.

Amalia in school

Amalia has been getting some VIP story readers recently.

You can see her about 5sec into this video.

Here is Camilo on his running bike.

video 1

video 2

so you think you can ride a bike?

Camping and trains in WV

We spent the weekend camping in West Virginia. This was the first official camping trip as a family and it went pretty well. Why WV? Because of the trains! The state of WV was pretty much clear cut to build the east coast cities and these trains were a large part of that. Not only that, but they burn coal, and WV means coal!

Camilo doesn't like to hike so much as sit between trees.

Amalia likes to walk on logs and scare her mom.
The whole family, minus the dogs (they didn't come on this trip). We slept in the van which was good, especially the second night as it rained all night.
The train ride was the goal of the trip. Here are the kids with Lisa after boarding the car. Amalia was yelling at me to get on the train quick.
Here is the old mill. Its seen better days and probably seen lots of board feet in its day.
Here is old number 4! They had ~5 operational locomotives that they use, all from the early 1900s. They are really neat.
Our train was 'pushed' up the mountain by the locomotive. Here is the pressure gauge that our brakeman was supposed to keep an eye on.
Looking down the hill at our locomotive pushing us up the hill. The mix of coal dust, steam, and smoke was amazing!
At the top of the mountain we stopped for a rest. The ride was about an hour each way. The fireman got out and greased the bearings. I was the only person who watched and talked to the guy. I learned a lot and thought it was neat to hear his story.
This locomotive, #11, is quite a beast!
That night Amalia roasted her first marshmellows. Camilo didn't like them.
Hiking at Beartown State park. Amazing geology that isn't really captured in pics.
The whole area is covered with boardwalks which the kids loved.
Anyway, it was a great trip and lots of fun.