1st Camping Trip!

We did a quick camping trip last weekend to see how Tiago handled it, in hopes of being able to go camping a few more times this summer.  

Overall, I'd say it was a success.  We had more difficulties putting up and taking down the tent with the threat of rain than we did with the baby.  

We packed all of our "S" items:  sandals, shorts, sun hats, swimsuits, sunscreen.  But when we arrived, it got really cold.  We layered Tiago in all the warm clothes we had brought for him, and figured it would just be a cold camping trip. 

The place we found was only 20 minutes away, called Monte Kaolino.  I think we were both surprised how much we liked it!    The campground is right next to a big pile of sand, with a lift that takes people to the top.  They have rentals for people to sled or ski down.  We watched people sledding and it looked like an adventure.  

I think they rent these Teepees for people to sleep in.  

Santiago was very entertained by this new environment.  He crawled all around the tent, playing with whatever he could find.  

We went to explore the campground, which had several really nice pools.  Then we walked over to the sand mountain area, and saw that you could ride a roller-coaster thing up to the top, then wind down the mountain.  Hyrum took a ride.

   

By the time that fun was over, it had gotten very warm.  We changed into our swimsuits and swam while Tiago napped in the stroller.  When he woke up he was happy as could be.

Besides not bringing enough warm clothes, our other packing mistake was not bringing our propane canister.  We considered driving home to get it, and saw that the campground sold propane (but it came in containers that looked like WWII bombs), but in the end we just ended up using a burner that was in the campground "Küche" [kitchen].  For 20 cents we got 15 minutes, which was plenty.  And in the end we didn't have to clean our little grill, which was a bonus.  The rain brought our little feast indoors.

I love this picture of Tiago because I think that peaceful sleeping face will be one of the things I miss the most when he gets older.  When he's awake, he doesn't let me hold him very close, so when he occasionally falls asleep in my arms I take advantage.  It was cold that night, so he woke up several times, and kept me up for much longer than I wanted to be awake, but overall we rated it a successful trip!

Life in Pictures April/May

People are right when they say you forget things when you start having kids.  I used to think it was just an excuse, but it's real!  I used to pride myself on remembering everything--names, events, where I put my keys, the locker combination I had in high school...

I apparently traded that in when I joined the mom club.  All that to say, I don't remember which of these things I've already written about.  So if I repeat, that's why.  

General Conference was forever ago, but I still think this picture of Tiago is cute.  He has earned himself quite the reputation for being serious.  He does smile and laugh though, just not publicly.  

Heeeeeeeeellllllllllp!!!

The sunsets have been beautiful, and the best views are always out our kitchen window.  The other night we looked into the kitchen and it was glowing red, thanks to a bright sun setting out the window.

Here's another shot out the kitchen window.  The field in front of our house is filled with long bright green grass.  When the wind blows it's fun to watch.

I hate recycling.  Not necessarily the act of reducing trash and re-using materials; but the actual cans and plastics that build up in the corner of my kitchen drive me crazy.  Since it doesn't get picked up, we have to go drop it off.  Now that Hyrum is home, he does a better job than me of consolidating the 'garbage' and getting it out of my kitchen.  To the right is Hyrum playing soccer around Tiago.

The first time Tiago tried a kinder egg he was much more interested in the toy than the chocolate.  [Random fact: you can't mail kinder eggs to the states because they're considered a choking hazard.  So here is my baby, trying to stuff one in his mouth.  Parent of the year award.]

At the beginning of May we went to the squadron's end-of-deployment ball.  I have mixed feelings about balls.  I'll leave it at that.  It's nice to get some use out of that expensive uniform Hyrum bought, though.  Also, ignore all the business behind us in this picture.  We have no blank walls in our house.    

Fun before work one morning.

When Santiago wakes up from naps, he's either really happy (meaning it was a great, long nap, which isn't as often as I would hope) or he's sad and still zoned out.  This is his sad face.  

 But life can't be that bad when you get to roll around in a stroller and eat gelato.  

Ice cream is not the only food he gets all over his face.  He clearly doesn't like the green beans I was trying to feed him, so they mostly ended up all over his face.  In fact, he doesn't like any vegetables, and quite honestly I don't blame him.  They're just not as good as fruit and delicious Greek yogurt, especially when you don't add salt.   

At church I'm in charge of planning the Relief Society activities, so in the middle of May we had a dinner with Hawaiian Haystacks.  What to do with extra noodles??   Make spiders!

Twins!  And a banana phone.

In the mornings I've been trading off babysitting with a friend while we each take a turn running.  Do I love it?  No.  I hate running.  But I love that I can exercise, and do it first thing in the morning.  And I love that I don't have to exercise while pushing a baby stroller.  And I love that it's not too hot yet.  And meanwhile, Santiago is making friends.

Last week Hyrum's regiment had a family day activity.  When we were driving to the big field where it was held, there was a huge line of cars trying to leave.  To say 'huge' is an understatement.  Some people waited an hour to get out.  (There's only one small road leading in/out.)  So once we were there we figured we ought to just stay put while the line died down.  It was very hot and sunny, so we did what we could to keep Tiago cool.  Lucky for us there was free food and entertainment.  Plus lots of tanks (strykers?) to see.    

London Flashback

While we were in London, it had me wondering about the pictures I took half a life-time ago.  I went into our storage and dug them out of the bottom of a plastic container.

So here I present: England Trip 2000, along with some observations and comparison

We flew from Boston to London, and then hit the ground running by going to Stonehenge.  I laugh whenever I see this picture, because it definitely looks like we just rolled off an airplane.  Also, I decided this will probably be the one and only time I see Stonehenge, because there's no way I'd drive on the wrong side of the road (or let Hyrum drive on the wrong side of the road.)  Fortunately for us, my dad was a pro and safely drove us around England.  

When my dad took us, we spent a full week in England, so we saw all the main attractions in London.  Many of them we re-visited on our recent trip so Hyrum could check them out.  What a difference... returning with a husband and baby!

[Same spot at Tower of London]

 Looking through my pictures, I noticed several differences in the way we take picture today vs 2000.  First, no digital cameras.  So I literally had one or two rolls of film for the whole trip (vs the hundreds of pictures we take on most of our weekend trips now.)  Our camera today takes much better pictures to start with, and then photo editing makes a huge difference.

[Westminster Abbey... not much change]

I also noticed a big difference in the subjects of my pictures.  Most were just buildings, several were of my sister, and I was just in a few.  I feel like today we take pictures of ourselves doing just about everything, and then publish them on the internet.  They're no longer just personal reminders of a trip, but also public travelogues for strangers.  Slightly more narcissistic, but also more interesting.

[Jenna at Buckingham Palace]

[St Paul's Cathedral... much less crowded on our recent trip, and it looks like the pillars were cleaned]

 Cell phones existed in 2000 (even much earlier, as Saved by the Bell proves), but it was a few more years before they really gained traction.  (Four years later, by the end of high school, many students had them, but not all.)  Anyway, on our first trip I think these phone booths were still used for phone calls.  Today, they mostly collect trash.  They're dirty, and there's no way I'd step inside.  

I was surprised when I found this old Tube ticket and saw that our fare was only 80 cents!  On our recent trip, it would have been four pounds for a single ticket.  Using Oyster cards, we still paid 2.20!

 Lastly, London is the first place I saw Les Miserables!  And loved it, of course.  With a baby in tow we weren't able to see any shows this time, but when we saw posters for Lion Kind and Wicked I really wished we could!  Maybe an excuse for a 3rd trip?

Last day in London

Having spent the previous day running around to all of London's expensive sites, we were able to take our second (3rd for Hyrum) day at a slower pace.

Our first stop was St Paul's Cathedral.  It was really the only part of the day where it rained, but we spent the rest of the day dry and freezing.  It definitely didn't feel like May.

Hyrum told me to pose like this queen... so here's my best effort.  Yep, I'm not really sure either.

Hyrum is better at coming up with poses.

This building is HUGE.  Buildings usually don't seem that big until you're standing right next to them.

Hyrum crossing two "streets"... one was fake (and legal) and the other was real (and jaywalking)

 Hyrum considered it his exercise for the day to run up the stairs in every Tube station (while carrying Tiago's stroller--sans baby).  I happily rode the escalator and met him at the top.  There's enough walking involved in traveling for me to 'choose the stairs'.

 Two street views:

 Our second stop was the [free!] British Museum, where we spent several hours.

As I'm usually the one who makes plans, I just give Hyrum an overview of where we're going right before the trip.  After I told him we were going to the British Museum he kept referring to it as "my" museum.  As if I were going all for me and just dragging him along.  When we're done with your museum, can we go here?  

I finally convinced him he'd like it more than me... and he did.  (I liked it, but my attention span in museums is limited.  Hyrum could look at mummies and ancient artifacts all day.)

Here's an overview of the museum:

The British have spent centuries plundering the world, and now have all their treasures in one place!

Next month we're going to Greece, and Hyrum is flying to spend a day at the Acropolis.  I'm afraid when he gets there he might see a naked Parthenon, because the British Museum was filled with its columns, friezes and stratues.  What's left to see in Greece??  We saw several rooms of the museum lined with pieces of ancient Greece.  It's kind of astounding that they don't give some of these treasures back.  

I wouldn't be surprised if Egypt's pyramid's were completely empty with the amount of stuff found in the British Museum.  

Ethics and social responsibility factor aside, it was neat to see everything.  

Right up front is the Rosetta Stone, a decree from 196 BC written in 3 languages--one of which was Egyptian Hieroglyphs.  It's the key to understanding all those little pictures.  After that was a LOT of Egyptian things--mummies, heads, tombs, etc.  I enjoy seeing big artifacts like that (as opposed to coin collections... we hurried through a 'currency' section of the museum later on.)

Then we got into knights, and gladiators, and the first wheel (?).  I might have made that up.  

 Fortunately Tiago was asleep for most of the museum.  When he finally woke up he just wanted to be held, then he was all smiles. Hyrum decided the most comfortable way to carry him is like a sack of potatoes.  Just toss him over the shoulder.  The funniest thing about that is the number of tourists walking behind Hyrum who start making faces at Tiago, and he flirts back with them.  The picture I have below if fuzzy, but you can see the technique.

 There were some artifacts from the Americas, including a statue from Easter Island.

 Leaving the museum, we decided to walk to Hyde Park.  Hyrum found some soccer players along the way.  (I surprised myself by being able to recognize several of the players by name.  Who have I become??)

 Because it was Sunday, Speakers Corner was in full swing.  There were several people standing on ladders talking (debating) with the crowds nearby.

Our last stop of the day was at a Colombian restaurant.  One of Hyrum's good friends from college in Colombia now lives in London, so we met up for delicious food.  Colombian food is very labor intensive, so any time I can pay someone else to make it I am happy.  (It's a much better alternative than slaving away for hours in a hot kitchen.) 

There were two guitar players, and whenever they were near us, Santiago looked at them like they came straight from planet mars.  

Hyrum got the bandeja paisa, which is a LOT of food.  I got ajiaco, which was also a crazy amount of food.

And that concludes our fun in London.  

We took the bus back to the hotel (Santiago was exhausted!), and woke up at 3:30 in the morning to catch our early (but cheap!) flight home.  It was great to be unpacking before noon, and we had the rest of the afternoon to relax and recover from our traveling.