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.