Oma and Opa are Here!

OK - I'm late in posting this blog, as Oma and Opa (My/Nicole's parents) arrived on August 26th. But we've just been having so much fun that I haven't taken the time to post any info. This is a bit long, so bear with me.

Jacob loves having his grandparents here (read: more attention, and people who will do the things that Mom and Dad won't do.) Oma and Opa are delighted to meet Timothy. We will assume that Timothy expresses his appreciation for his newly-met grandparents through sleeping.

We've had a number of excursions in and around Quito. Here are some highlights. If you're going to visit, read closely, as you may want to do some of these things too!

Otavalo: This town, about 2 hours north of Quito, is known for its large markets on Saturday. The animal market, a forum for the exchange of pigs, cows, goats, llamas, etc., is a particular draw. We expected a touristy show, but found that this was a real live animal market. With the exception of us and about 3 other people, everyone was a local. I think they were as amused looking at us dodging between cows and cowdroppings, as we were intrigued by the indigenous outfits and variety of animals. Likewise, the fruit markets, artisans displays, and food vendors were great to see. Here are a few pictures:

We stayed at Hacienda Cusin, an old colonial ranch with beautiful gardens. Santiago and I took some time for horseback riding around the town of San Pablo.

We hiked around one of the three main lagoons in the area. This required a bit of toughening up for me to actually walk along the rim, given my fear of heights and edges and my added mom-fear with a baby strapped to my belly. That said, the views were spectacular.

All tourists have to see the equator, so we headed a few miles north to take a look. Unlike the trip which Santiago, Jacob, and I took when we first arrived, we decided to go to what is considered the real equator. (Who knew?!?) Just north of the tourist site that Santi and I visited, is a small museum on the site of the real equator, as proven by GPS and various other tests. (These tests include watching how water drains out of a sink on, north and south of the "real equator line", as well as balancing an egg on the "real equator line" and testing your strength at various point. We were convinced that this place is the real thing.) In addition to examining the equator, my dad took some time to practice shoot darts from a blow gun, like the indigenous do. Without commenting fully on my dad's blow gun skills, I’ll merely say we are happy that we weren’t relying on that for our dinner.



Naturally we spent some good old time in the various parks in and around Quito, as well as in the Old Historic City. Jacob loves exploring, trying out new things, and pushing his explorer skills one step further. Timmy came along for most of the excursions and ... slept.

So that's what we've been up to!