Ecuador

The journey to Ecuador (May 31 to June 7) was for the purpose of presenting information on the treatment of swallowing disorders. We had 2 days of conference in Hospital Vozandes Quito with some terrific people helping to translate and facilitate.
Here's Patty and Michelle and I on Monday evening before we left for the Panecillo to have dinner at Pim's. This statue is at the highest elevation in Quito, overlooking the city. She is a representation of the Virgin Mary.

Here is a view to the north of Quito from the Panecillo, and you can see the lights of the Basillica. On Wednesday we travelled through the Andes mountains to a community about 1.5 hours east called Papallacta. We had a history lesson from our guide / driver Julio and had the opportunity to photograph the beautiful scenery. We hiked for a little bit along the River Papallacta (they have a hydroelectric plant in the community) and enjoyed the pastoral landscape with cows and horses grazing on the mountainsides.



OK I'm being brave showing these pictures - but the experience in the hot springs was very relaxing ... the dip in the FREEZING river was painful!

Joe had a "grande" beer after we got out of the hot pools ... we ate and ate and ate this week!
Patty, Michelle, and Karla were such great hostesses and really have a great vision for developing an effective dysphagia program in their country.
Thursday afternoon we had the opportunity to tour the Centro Historico after Joe presented at the Panamerican ENT Congress in the morning. We went into some very ornate baroque churches and again took lots of pictures of the people and places.
This pesky rooster crowed each morning around 4 AM in the yard next door to the guest house.



This is one of the guards at the Presidential Palace ... amazing how close we were allowed to get!






On Thursday night we were entertained by SEFAL before our Friday presentations to about 150 SLPs. Joe learned how to dance, sort of!



I'll post more pictures and tell more stories as I get them developed. I have to say I learned more than I taught and look forward to returning.

Phoenix

We had a great time at Aunt Cara's wedding. It rained in Phoenix (first time in the month of May it has rained there in 7 years) but it held off for the ceremony itself.

The wedding cake was actually cupcakes that we ate too many of ... but they were yummy!!

Not much dancing but towards the end Cara indulged Gumpy in one.

Kids had a fun time at the Oasis water park on Saturday afternoon - George even went down the 7-story tall slide. The lazy river was relaxing with the band playing in the background. Spicy Mexican food for dinner was an expected treat. The plane ride home went more quickly than the way there, maybe because we left so early.

Congratulations Cara and Phil! :)

Soccer

While George and John spent Saturday all day and overnight at Camp Miakonda, we girls had a great day of shopping ... interrupted by Estelle's soccer game. Check out the dirty knees! These pictures are from Saturday taken by another parent - on Sunday she actually scored a goal, not playing her usual defensive position. The guys did not take any pictures of the turkey roaster, the obstacle course, the kite-making, the kickball game, or the 4 s'mores with 8 marshmallows consumed by George. Oh well.

This week the first grade is going to the Mud Hens game so we'll hope for nice weather. Friday we leave for Arizona and Aunt Cara's wedding.

Craziness

The weekend course was in Seattle where I got to do touristy things with Meghan and Emelia. We visited the bronze pig at Pike Place Market and I got a coffee at the original Starbuck's ... Emelia is good at waving hello and goodbye, very friendly and laughy. What a great kid!






Today when I picked up the kids they were ... decorated! George went to sleep in his paint and will have to scrub off in the morning. Too bad we didn't have our BNL new CD yet for them to dance to in this crazy state ... check out www.bnlmusic.com/snacktime/ for a sample of the kids' new favorite song, 789.

Spring Flowers

John suggested we take some pictures with the azalea bushes this morning - to take a break from our busy weekend. Sydney was over so she joined in the photos too. Estelle's first soccer game is this afternoon and we had Mike & Nikki's baby shower at our house yesterday (and ate more leftovers today already!). Fun times, we're glad to see the flowers blooming!

Here's What's Happening!

George lost tooth #2 before celebrating with Little Ceasar's Pizza on March 31. Both bottom teeth are almost in to replace the lost teeth. Edward the Tooth Fairy noted "bigger" this time (remember, last time Edward said "small").


I went to NYC to do a presentation and actually made it into the city. At the highly recommended Carnegie Deli, I had a huge corned beef sandwich with a potato knish AND a piece of strawberry cheesecake - but it lasted me 3 days. The M & M World store was open until midnight. Of course, there were people everywhere! It seemed quite light with all of the neon signs and jumbotrons on every corner. Saturday night in Queens was an equally fascinating experience at a Hong Kong Market after dinner at Joe's Shanghai. Meats and fish in every imaginable state - dried, pickled, fresh, live - produce, an entire aisle of sauces ... it was crazy but I didn't want to be the rude tourist and take pictures (the place was also teeming with people).





This afternoon, George's Tiger Cub den had a visit to the Firefighter's Museum here in town. Very fun and held their attention. After the fire safety lesson Estelle got to put on the full gear and - try to - walk around. I don't think she'll be choosing that as a career but she had a good time dressing up.

Tonight George is supervising dinner - just hamburgers but he's referring to his recipe book and putting his own twist on things. That is a good break from cleaning up rooms and putting away laundry!

More E birthday and Church photos

When cousin Kate finally arrived in the hotel room, the girls had a great reunion.

Brunch with dolls was deeee-lish!!

Matching shirts are a big hit!

Cousins with Grandma Muffin and the view of Chicago ... from the 96th floor of the John Hancock Center.

Dinner at Maggiano's with Uncle David. The girls were happy to see him!!

More Palm Sunday parade pics ... dig the mag wheels!

Finally, the egg hunters at our snowy egg hunt. Fun crowd!

These pictures were taken with Estelle's camera, though most of them by someone else so that Estelle could be IN them.