We started our Day 2 with an early lunch at Kentucky Pizza, followed by a visit to the Palermo Botanical Gardens. It was wonderful to walk around in a lush place full of trees, plants and flowers. Kat was so excited when we saw a Magnolia tree. We had one in our backyard in Clayton. We were so surprised to see so many cats wondering the gardens.
Our boysKentucky Pizza- a little different than home
Botanical Gardens in Palermo
Kat was so happy to see a tree from home! It deserved a hug.
Need a cat? Botanical Gardens in Buenos Aires is the place to go!
We caught a taxi to Recoleta Cementary. It is the famous cemetery in Buenos Aires where many Presidents, Politicians, Nobel Prize Winners, the granddaughter of Napoleon, Eva Peron and many other rich and famous people are buried. It is listed as one of top 10 most beautiful cemetaries in the world. Massive rows of stunning, ornate mausoleums that tower over you. Each mausoleum belongs to one family and multiple generations are buried there. Some of the mausoleums are unkempt and falling apart, some new. The place is a history lesson of Argentina in itself. Wish I would have known more history about Argentina.
Evita Peron’s Grave-you can tell she is one of the most visited by the amount of flowers on her door.
After the cementary, we headed across the parking lot to a gigantic tree that Kane spotted and wanted to climb. It was an awesome climbing tree with its long branches. Our kids love to climb!
Cool tree that our kids climbed
Monkey #2 in our familyThis boy loves to climb!
Followed by coffee and snacks at La Biel.
I came up behind Kat and thought she was hugging some man.
That night we had one the best steak dinners at Don Julio in Palermo. It was a favorite dinner spot for us. We had dinner here 2 more times.
Very helpful pic!Chefs are cooking on the parilla(grill).Loving her steak that we split!
Nervous, worried and nauseous describes Scott and I! I truly felt like I was dropping my kids off for the first day of kindergarten. I had a hundred different scenarios that could happen and what ifs… Well, it all went fine!
Kids woke up around 6:10a.m. and were excited and a little nervous about school. They both got their uniforms on without prompting, had breakfast and were ready to go. Wow, I don’t remember it being that easy in St. Louis. 🙂
Both kids start school at 7:45am, so we split up to get them to each of their schools on time. Kat’s school is walking distance from our apartment, so Scott walked Kat to school and Kane and I caught a taxi to school at 7:20a.m. No sleeping in for us!
Here’s what our kids had to say about school:
Kane: I was kind of nervous at first and excited! Then once I started in class, I got bored. At break, I made tons of new friends and played soccer with them. Classes were really boring. People punch each other a lot and teacher barely gets mad at them. Everyone was really nice to me! Kids gave me money, mints, played and talked with me. That is pretty much it!
Kat: I had a great day! It was the first day of school today. My school is called Santa Maria Reyna. Everyone was really nice to me. I did cursive which I have never done before and I was pretty good at it. We did English which I was really good at. It was about animals. I saw my friend Zadie at school who is from US(They are the only 2 Americans in the whole school). I love school!
Taxi ride to schoolKat sitting at her desk in the classroom.
We have been living in Cusco for 1 month now. I can hardly believe it! Time has flown…
About 23 years ago, I spent a semester in Guadalajara, Mexico. I lived with a Mexican family and went to school at Universidad de Autonoma. It was an incredible opportunity for me to experience another culture and learn another language. I can still remember sitting in a restaurant and seeing two American children speaking fluent spanish and I have always dreamed of my children learning spanish someday. It is surreal that it is starting to happen!
Two of our main goals, for our trip to South America, are for our kids to learn spanish and to immerse ourselves in the culture. After some time here and reflection, we have realized that our original plan will not truly give us what we were wanting. We were originally planning on being in Cusco one month, but we are not where we want to be with our spanish, and we feel like moving from place to place, we won’t be able to really to immerse ourselves in the culture.
So after some careful consideration, we are going to stay in Cusco for 2-3 months more, so that Kane and Kat can attend Peruvian school. Yes, Kane and Kat are going to real school starting this Monday, March 10, 2014. After some research and alot of help from a friend we met here, Raisa, Kat is going to attend an all girls Catholic School, called Santa Maria Reyna and Kane is going to attend a coed school called Collegio San Jose. They only speak spanish and are not bilingual at the schools, so our kids are going to be forced to learn and use their spanish. The Fall Semester, first day of school, was last Monday, so our kids are only a week behind. Kane and Kat are so excited to attend! We are so happy about this!!
Kane and Kat’s spanish teacher, Carina, went with me to sign Kane up at San Jose. I would not have been able to do it by myself. No one spoke english and my spanish is not good enough to comprehend everything they were saying. Thank goodness for Carina! Kane will be in 5th grade, section A. There are 14 kids in his class. His teacher’s name is Profesora Maria. Kane is required to wear a uniform also which he is excited about.
Thank goodness for Carina’s help!
Kane’s School: Collegio San Jose – this is just the elementary school.
After, we got Kane signed up, Carina had to head back to spanish school, so the kids and I took a taxi to Santa Maria Reyna. I was pretty nervous about trying to sign Kat up by myself, but it all went well. I was able to communicate in spanish with the director and I got her signed up. Whew!! I felt like I achieved a blue ribbon for that. 🙂
Kat’s school: Santa Maria Reyna
Next, was running all over town for the uniforms and school supplies. No Wal-Mart here! After shopping yesterday afternoon and today, we think we have all the supplies, uniforms, and shoes that we need. Can’t believe our kids are going to school in PERU!
Kane’s school supply listKat’s School Supply List
The stores are are tiny inside a market. They are lined up one after another.Kane trying on his sweater for his school uniform.
Kat trying on her jacket for her uniform.
Kane getting his pants hemmed in the market.
Trying on white tennis shoes to go with her “buzo” or in english: sweatsuit. She has to have solid white tennis shoes per instructions.
This is where we had to go to get Kane’s school books.This place was busy!
School Supplies-Yes, that is toilet paper that both kids have to bring.
Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them. ~Francesco Guicciardini
Friends are such blessings! That is one thing that has been hard on the sabbatical for me. I miss my friends and my family! On our RV journey, we crossed paths with a couple other families who were on sabbatical. It was wonderful talking and getting to know them. Unfortunately, these times were brief, except for Halloween with the Trojacs(another family on sabbatical) in San Francisco. It was a gift to connect with others.
We met 2 other families who are studying spanish and living in South America(Thanks to the owner of our spanish school for introducing us!). We have met up at the park a couple times and they came over for dinner on Friday night. It is such a joy to see our kids smiles and happiness playing with other children. It felt like such a gift to have friends over!
Rhoni and Dillon are from Canada. They have been in Cusco since December. They are visiting Peru, Chili and Ecuador and will be heading to Spain by the Fall.
Raisa, August and Zadie are from New Hampshire. They are in Cusco till July and then will see some of South America before heading home.
Thank you God for the blessings of friendship!
Kids Table in our apartment.
Raisa and Zadie teaching Kat to finger knit. Hope to be pros, time we come ho
Hanging with the MomsKids loved jumping on the trampoline!Fun place to meet up with friends: Parque Urpicha
Kane and Kat were so excited to get to Everglades to see alligators and crocodiles! We arrived on Friday night and dry camped the first night, since we did not have a reservation till Saturday with electricity. As soon as we got set up, our kids and I hopped on our bikes and headed to the visitor center. We got a beautiful view of Florida Bay on the way there. Unfortunately, the Visitor Center was closed, but a passing ranger told us to head over by the marina and look for the crocodiles there. We could not get there quick enough! Success: Our first crocodile and black turkey vulture spotting!
View of Florida Bay in the Evervglades-Flamingo.Going for a bike ride to Visitor Center.
Osprey
Black turkey vulture. It’s a crocodile!
It was a rainy second day. Mid afternoon, the kids and I loaded up our bikes and headed to the Snake Bight Trail to bike the path to the bay. We went about 1/4 mile to the trail. What a surprise-it was overgrown and no way could our hybrid bikes make it down this trail! No problem, I decided, we can head to another trail on the biking list: Bear Lake. We had to drive 2 miles down a very muddy, wet rode. Unloaded the bikes again and realized another trail that could not be biked on with our bikes! Oh well… we sure did try!
We started our day with the Mangrove Wilderness Tour. Before we left the marina, we saw multiple crocodiles and two manatees. The boat took us up the Buttonwood Canal through mangrove forest up to Coot’s Bay then on to Whitewater Bay. On the way back, we saw two bottlenose dolphins. We learned a little about the mangrove forests, air plants, birds and animals that live in the Everglades.
Boat cruise into the backcountry.Kane loves his daddy!Look whose driving the boat!The crocodiles were out today!
Great Blue HeronLots of mangrove trees
After lunch, we headed to Snake Bight Trail to do the hike on our feet(no bikes this time). We put on our mosquito spray and headed out. Well, I think our mosquito spray attracted the mosquitos, because within 5 minutes down the trail we were covered in mosquitos. And I mean covered! We turned around, I put the mosquito head net quickly on Kat and we booked it back to our Jeep. We gave up on hiking and headed to the Visitor Center to see the exhibits and for our kids to turn in their Junior Ranger books.
Going for a hike on Snake Bight Trail…Heading home-too many mosquitos!
Here’s a pic of our campground. Definitely, not as beautiful as many of the other National Parks.
Our campsite
Kane had been wanting to hike the Anhinga Trail since we arrived. Unfortunately, it was about 35 miles from our campground toward the Ernst Coe entrance. In our National Park book, it rated the Anhinga Trail as the best hike in the park. So as we were leaving to head to the Florida Keys, we stopped at the Anhinga Trail. We saw so much wildlife! Great call by Kane!! 🙂
Kat loved these cormorants.
TurtllesWe saw lots of alligators.Kat spotted a alligator.
Kane trying to capture a pic of this little alligator.Sawgrass prairie in the background.This one was huge!We saw lots of alligators.
We arrived in Naples on December 30th in time to bring in the New Year! Scott brought up the idea of trying to go to Thailand and Laos for the month of February then we would go on to South America. Boy, were we excited thinking about how we can make this happen.
New Year’s Eve day, I ran around to get groceries and get ingredients for Scott to make a Thai dinner. Have you ever asked for galangal at a regular grocery? Well, at the one I was at, they looked at me blankly and had no idea where I could find it, as well as Thai Basil Leaves and Thai Chiles. Thank goodness for the internet! I found a small little Asian store about 25 minutes from where we were staying. When I found all my ingredients at the Asian store, I was so happy! The little things excite me these days… 🙂
Scott made Tom Yum Soup and Drunken Noodles with chicken for dinner for the first time. It was fantastic! I was dreaming of all the yummy Thai food we would be eating in Thailand. After dinner, we watched Free Willy for the first time. We felt so blessed in 2013 and are so excited about our adventures in 2014. God has been so good to us!
Galangal-it is in the ginger family, but has a stronger taste.Thai basil leaves-they smell so good!Drunken NoodlesTom Yum Soup
New Year’s Eve Dinner 2013
Movie Night!
We kicked the New Year off with canoeing at Collier Seminole State Park which is south of Naples near the Everglades. We signed up for a guided nature float down the Blackwater River. This was the first time that we had each took a kid alone in a canoe. Kane went with me and Kat with Scott. I was a little nervous with the prospect of alligators in the river, but the guides did not seem worried at all. About 10 minutes into our trip, we spotted our first alligator and only alligator of our trip. It was a little freaky paddling by it!
Our first alligator spotting of our trip and on this canoe trip!
We saw one alligator, lots of Great Blue Herons, snow egrets, ibis, turkey vultures, mangrove crabs, gar and we learned about the red, white and black mangrove trees. Kane and Kat did great in the front of the canoes! It’s hard to believe they are big enough to be in the front, not in the middle between us.
Going through the mangrove forestScott and Kat
Driving home from our canoe trip, Kane spotted an alligator on the side of the road by a ditch filled with water. We turned around and pulled off the road and went to take a look. I LOVE our kids excitement over spotting wildlife! We took a couple pictures, but when the alligator slipped into the water, we decided on heading out in case, he was coming toward us for lunch.
See the alligator across the ditch?Kane spotted this alligator from the car. Here’s a closeup.
We headed to Naples Beach in the afternoon for a hour. It was a very busy place! It was such a beautiful afternoon in the 70s. The last time, we took Kat to a beach in Florida, she would not get in the ocean. I can remember her saying, “Momma, I don’t like the waves!” Well, things have changed. She loved the water! You could just see the spring in her step. Kane looked like he was looking for fish as he walked out. When a flock of birds flew over, he was enthralled. Kids made sandcastles and I buried Kat in the sand, as Scott read 12 Years a Slave(he couldn’t put the book down). As the sun was starting to go down, it was the perfect picture! So Thankful for this time with my family!!
Testing out the water.
Joy!
Can’t put the book down!Team effort building a sand castle then they each ended up making their own.
Kane checking out the birdsCan you find Kat?
Thank you God for these two precious kids!
We are starting the New Year with each kids picking one night a week to cook. Kat had pizza night tonight! She made pizza(which she had to roll out), green beans and fruit salad. It was yummy!! Way to go Kat, Kat!
On Thursday, January 2nd, I needed to run some errands(post office, bank, Target) and Kat needed more clips for her Rainbow Loom bracelets, so we headed out to Naples.
Kat’s first visit to Michaels!
You may not know this, but I do not like shopping. Well, I could tell I have deprived my daughter, because when we got to Michaels, I realized that she had never been there before. A girl who loves arts and crafts had never been to Michaels! Well, I am sure that will change in the future. 🙂
That night I met Diane Hobbs, the mom of one of my best friends growing up, near Fort Meyers. She has a home on Sanibel Island now. Diane and Kenny were always so good to me! I have the best memories hanging out at their home. I also went to the Florida Keys twice with them. Such great memories! I just adore this lady!!
So happy to see Diane Hobbs!
Here’s a pic of our campsite. I think this was our most expensive campsite of the trip. RV park was beautiful and clean. Kids enjoyed the pool our first afternoon there. I don’t think it was worth the cost, but we had a great time there.
Here’s a couple pics during school time on January 2nd:
Kat practicing her Spanish with Rosetta StoneI love hearing her speak spanish!
Originally, we were going to head to Carlsbad Caverns after Albuquerque, but changed our plans with the temps being in the 20/30s and freezing fog. We decided to head to Big Bend, but stop in Fort Davis, Texas for 2 nights. We planned on trying to make it to McDonald Observatory(it has some of the darkest skies in the US) for the 7pm Star Party. The Star Party is a nighttime program where you learn about the constellations and they are pointed out, as well as, viewing through the telescopes. Sometimes you can even see Saturn’s rings! Oh, I wanted to go, unfortunately, we did not realize we would be moving into C.S.T. there, so we did not make the night program. It is only offered twice a week.
The next day we started at Fort Davis, which is a National Historical Site. Fort Davis was a key defense fort in west Texas. From 1854 to 1891, troops stationed at the post, protected emigrants, freighters, mail coaches and travelers on the San Antonio-El Paso Road. The San Antonio-El Paso road was the most southern route to the west and the gold fields of California. Primarily, they were protecting the travelers from the Comanche and Apaches. It is one the best remaining examples of a frontier military post.
Men’s Barracks
Looking across the lawn to the Commanding Officer’s Quarters from the Men’s BarracksCommanding Officer’s QuartersTools of the doctor
Cool game that you spin and move your wagon forward. It tells you something that might have happened to you on the trail.That’s the Commissary in the background.
Map of San Antonio-El Paso Trail.
We ate lunch in the car on the way to the McDonald Observatory for the last tour of the day. We were the only ones on our tour, so it was like a private tour. We learned about the history of the Sun, its formation, and what they expect the Sun to do over its expected 5-6 billion year remaining “lifetime”. It was cloudy or we would have seen a live feed from the sun, but they showed us a still picture from the day before. We learned so much! Did you know the sun is 108 Earths wide?
After the sun presentation, we headed up the hill in a shuttle to the top of Mt. Locke to 107″ dome. We got to see the 107″ telescope and hear about its history. Then we headed over the the Hobby Eberly Telescope. They were working on it the day we visited, because they are going to start a 3 year project to search for dark energy. They will collect data on at least 1 million galaxies that are 9 billion to 11billion light years away, yielding the largest map of the universe ever produced! Isn’t that incredible and mind boggling?
This picture does not do justice of how slick the roads were. It was getting scary!
Well, we had a plan(I like plans), but we had to throw them out the window when we hit snow and slick roads heading north toward Flagstaff, AZ. We were heading north then east to Petrified National Forest and over to New Mexico. Then we planned on going to Chaco Cultural National Historical Park the following day then down to Albuquerque to see Aunt Joyce. Well, the roads started getting slick heading north on I-17 and we did not think it was safe to keep going, so we turned around and decided we would head south to Tucson. I was disappointed that we would miss both parks, but the good news was we got to go to Saguaro National Park. Kane was begging to see a saguaro. He had only seen them in pictures. Well, his dreams came true right north of Phoenix. We started spotting our first saguaros. Our kids were SO Excited! We made it to Tucson mid afternoon, so the kids and I headed out to Saguaro National Park(west side). It was amazing to see saguaros as far as the eye could see!
Kat loved the Fishhook Barrel Cactus!Kids were amazed that more than 50 types of cacti grow there.We ended the day at In and Out for burgers and fries! Scott couldn’t wait to stop at one since we saw them in CA.
We stayed at LazyDays Campground in Tuscon. Guess what the kids could do there? Pick oranges, grapefruit and lemons from the trees! They had a blast picking fruit!!
Scott took the kids swimming in the pool while I did some Christmas shopping, then the kids and I headed to Saguaro National Park(east side).
Pool time! Kids didn’t mind the cool water.Santa Catalina Mts in the background
We love State Park Campgrounds! Dead Horse Ranch State Park is located in Cottonwood, Arizona(about 7 miles from Sedona). We arrived at our campsite late afternoon, so the kids and I went for a bike ride to scout out the park.
We biked around the campground.Our campsiteRoasting hot dogs over the fire.
The next day we went to Montezuma Castle National Monument. Montezuma Castle is a well preserved cliff dwelling of the Sinagua people. It is one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in the USA. It was built somewhere between 1100 AD to 1400AD. We attended a Ranger program that told us more about the history of the Sinagua and our kids completed their Jr. Ranger books about Montezuma.
Montezuma CastleKane working on his Jr. Ranger BadgeKim helping Kat with her Jr. Ranger book.Kids earned another Jr. Ranger Badge.
Then we headed to Sedona, AZ to see the red rocks and visit Red Rock State Park. We attended another Ranger Progam and learned alot about the plants, trees, rocks in the area and did a short hike.
Our last day, kids and I headed to Tuzigoot National Monument. Tuzigoot preserves a 2-3 story pueblo ruin built on a summit above the Verde River floodplain. This was also built by the Sinagua people sometime between 1100AD to 1400AD.
Tuzigoot on the summitInside Tuzigoot puebloKids checking out the remains of the pueblo.
In the afternoon, Scott took the kids fishing at the lake in our campground while I went grocery shopping and used book shopping at Goodwill. I cannot believe the great books I can find there for hardly anything! Unfortunately, no luck catching fish that day, but it was a beautiful day to be outside.
Dead Horse Ranch State ParkKane’s Jr. Ranger BadgesFishing
I was so excited to get an email from my friend, Laura Garret on Christmas telling me that she was in Tampa visiting family. She wanted to know if we could get together. We had planned on heading straight to the Everglades, but were thrilled to change our plans to see them. Laura’s daughter, Macy, is a good friend of Kats at Glenridge Elementary School. Laura and I were Girl Scout Leaders for our girl’s class last year.
Laura surprised us with tickets to go on a cruise to look for dolphins and go shell seeking at an island by the Gulf. Our kids were so excited at the chance to see a dolphin “in the wild.” Kids found some cool shells on the island and were hopeful that we would see a dolphin on the way back. Luck was on our side, we saw multiple bottlenose dolphins! We got a close up view, which thrilled the kids. Such a great idea! Thank you Laura!!
Kat got a Rainbow Loom for Christmas, but had not used it yet. Macy gave Kat a Rainbow Loom bracelet and then showed her how to make her own. So sweet! Now Kat is a Rainbow Loom making machine!! 🙂
Such a blessing to be able to see friends from home!
Kat is so happy to see Macy!
Ready to look for dolphins!
My sweet friend, Laura.Kids searching for shellsKane found something
Kane is pointing to the dolphins. Loved this pic of all of them looking at the dolphins!Bottlenose Dolphins
