Preschools

Both kids started school within the past week so of course I had to show off some cute first day of school pictures!

Belén was always so sad last year when I dropped Shae off at Joy School and she didn't get to go, and she just loved participating on the days when it was at our house (even though it definitely made things a bit more challenging for me). So, the other week I was thinking how it would be fun to do a little playgroup/school thing for her once a week. There are three sweet little boys in our branch who are all just about the exact same age as Belén (they are all within 2 months of each other), so I reached out to their moms and we organized a once a week Toddler School. It's mostly just playtime with a few stories/songs/games depending on the kids interest level that day. We do it on Mondays, the same time as Shae's school so it works out really well for me.

She had her first class last Monday.

Yesterday it was at our house. We talked about animals, so each of the kids brought a favorite animal with them. We read a few animal books together, acted some animals out, and sang some songs, and then they played for a little over an hour (the school is just an hour and a half long, short and sweet, but perfect for them). 

 Shae had his first day of preschool yesterday. He started a little later than most kids because his school is part of a high school tech program, so the high schoolers that help out in the class had a few weeks of class to prepare before the kids arrived. 

Here's a few pictures of the classroom last week when we went to the Teacher Meet & Greet. He was beyond excited about his classroom, and his little cubby, and all the fun things in the classroom. I loved observing him play and interact with the teachers and students that day.

While I hate that these kids are growing up so fast, I absolutely love watching them grow and learn and develop. 

All the Little August Things

 I better get this post done before September is over...

Yoga story time at the Groton library. We went to this new library a few times this summer to visit our friend Kira who does the story times there.

 The kids cheering me on at my final softball game this summer. Every time we drive past the field now Belén yells out, "Mommy ball game!"

 Little mama birthday brunch at Ithaca Bakery for some of the ladies in our congregation. There are four of us with birthdays within a month of a each other, so I made sure we celebrated. 

  The National Parks Concert!! I can't believe I haven't posted about this yet!! 

Anna came up to Ithaca and watched the kids for us so that we could go down to Bethlehem, PA for Musikfest. We drove down after Darin finished class on the first Friday in August and quickly made our way over to the festivities. We parked and took a shuttle over.

 While walking around, we found the National Parks van.

 While I liked the National Parks well enough before the concert, I completely fell in love with them during the concert. They were SO good. It was really amazing listening to them perform in person. So much so that we decided to stay for their concert Saturday evening as well (our original plan was to drive home during the day Saturday, instead of late at night--our new plan was better :).

 We met the band after the concert. Poor guys were SO hot and couldn't get over the humidity. It was such a hot day. They were the nicest people! Brady Parks chatted with us for a bit and after we told him that Darin has been a fan since they began way back when and that our kids are obsessed with their song Ba Ba Ra he was like, "Let's get these guys some free shirts, you guys are great!" And we turned red and were like, "No, you are!" 

 While walking around the smoke stacks before the concerted started on Saturday, we ran in to them again and like the weird-o nerdy fans we are, we asked them for another picture--you know since one of the band members was missing in the previous photo. Totally normal, right? Just wish Brady hadn't blinked right at that moment...

 Lots of waiting, as we had to check out of our hotel at 11 a.m. and the concert wasn't until 5 p.m.

 Mic check!

This concert was two hours rather than just one as was the night before. They did a bunch of acoustic songs which were really great, and the venue was just so much better. So glad we stayed the extra day!

And just to prove that we were not the only ones at the concert as it may appear from the above picture, I stole this one from their insta feed. There were a lot of people there, we just wanted to be front and center. Such a cool backdrop.

I was looking at some shirts one day in Target and turned to see where Belén was and found her modeling with the mannequins. 

 Love this little reading nook she discovered. And that she is looking at a chapter book.

 Our apartment management threw a big end of summer party for all the residents. There was face painting there which the kids were very excited about. Belén was so excited to get a ladybug on her cheek.

 And Shae wanted to be a cheetah.

 I spaced taking a picture of Belén's finished ladybug, but found this accidental shot on my camera that will have to work.

 We were gone for my birthday, but the kids still wanted to celebrate with me (and I still wanted cheesecake :), so we chose a day to celebrate.

 The kids found some pine cones on one of our nature walks that they really wanted to bring home to paint.

 While Belén thrives in the nude, Shae is much less comfortable without a shirt on. I told him he either had to take off his shirt or put on a paint shirt and he didn't want to go back and get a paint shirt, so no shirt it was. He was so uncomfortable and it cracked me up.

Finish of the Trip

I gotta finish these South America posts! So here's the last one. Our final 48 hours.

We got back from the falls and went out to eat. We got some meat and ravioli. 

I loved this picture up on the wall of all the different parts of the cow. Oh so Argentine.

 We woke up early on Monday, a little before 6 so that we would have time to get ready, eat, and take a taxi in to town to catch our 7:30 bus to Ciudad de Este, Paraguay (right across the Argentine/Brasil border). I was pretty nervous about how things would go this day. We kept hearing/reading conflicing things about getting from Argentina to Paraguay. You have to cross through Fos de Iguazu, Brazil to get to Paraguay, and we didn't get Brasilian visas, so were a little nervous about being stopped as we passed through. Thankfully, everything went really smoothly (except for the actual bus ride which was the worst 45 minutes of the entire trip--the bus was PACKED and there was barely any seating. We were smashed up against the window holding on to our suitcases and backpacks). The bus went straight from Argentina to Paraguay without stopping (thank goodness). 

Ciudad de Este was crazy! It is known to be a shopping town, rightly so. There was shopping everywhere, and not just buildings where you could shop, but little tent/kiosk/umbrellas lining the street with people selling stuff. These pictures don't do it justice at all as you can barely see any of the street vendors. 

And those street vendors! They would not leave us alone! As soon as we walked into the shopping area people did not stop talking to us and handing us fliers and asking us what we were looking for. So many people asked us if we were looking for electronics, tvs to be precise. We were like, do we look like we want a tv?! Do you think that will fit in this little carry on suitcase? So crazy.

 

We ended up getting to Ciudad del Este super early (not realizing that Paraguay is an hour behind--I thought it was zoned like in the U.S., not just time by country). We could have taken the later bus to Paraguay but had chosen not to just to be sure we didn't miss our bus to Asuncion, but we were kicking ourselves later for doing that since we were exhausted and had 3 hours to spare in Ciudad de Este. We walked the 45 minutes to the bus terminal (with taxi drivers stopping us or slowing down next to us the whole walk there, ha! We definitely looked like target customers for them with our loaded backpacks, pulling luggage). 

Passed some pretty art and election signs (which Darin found to be very cool) while we walked.

 Hung out at the terminal for what felt like forever.

 This bus ride was easily the best out of the 3 long bus trips we took. The seats were so much nicer than the other buses and they even gave us pillows and blankets. We got settled and watched some Office before trying to sleep.

 We were on the second level, front seats of the bus so we had the panoramic view out the window which was really nice (at least once the sun set :). It was so crazy to watch the bus driver tailgate and zoom past people though. So crazy! Here we are with the oncoming traffic lane empty, zooming past a motorcycle. These bus drivers are legit.

When we got in to the terminal in Asuncion, Alia and David were there to grab us. They were so sweet and took us to their place to freshen up a bit, then we went out for our last meal. We both really wanted one last asado meal, so they took us to this really nice buffet. It was similar to Tucanos in style, as in the employees walked around with different kinds of meats and would give you slivers of them. MMMmmmmmm...so good. The sweet grilled pineapple with cinnamon was heavenly. 

 After the meal, they dropped us at the airport. It was sad to say goodbye, but I don't doubt this will be the last time we see them. We are just so so so grateful for this friendship.

1 a.m. flight--saying goodbye to Paraguay.

 We had a quick stop in Panama and then off to Miami. I LOVED flying over Miami, it was so cool to see all the beaches and big buildings. So sad to think about the hurricane that hit a few weeks later. It looks like such a beautiful city.

We got in to BWI at around 5 p.m.--absolutely exhausted. My friend Megan's mom picked us up and we grabbed our car and then drove the two hours to my parents hoping to see the kids before they went to bed.

Walking in the house and having the kids run to us full speed and wrap their little arms around us and not let go was really amazing. It felt so good to be back with them again.

And then we crashed.

(And then drove four more hours the next day to get back to Ithaca so that Darin could make it to his evening class that day).