Argentina's Independence Day

We spent the middle part of this gorgeous day participating in the Independence Day activities going on at a nearby plaza. It is always fun to get involved in local festivities, and doing so helps us appreciate how similar people are no matter where they come from. Later, we had a picnic and played at a small park in another, quieter plaza. It was a wonderful day, and we are so glad we got to be a part of it!

Meat upon meat
(And locro, a traditional Andean stew,
which is the main dish on this special day.)

Lots of sweet treats

Joining the crowd in the plaza

Marching Band

Dancers

Enjoying the Bubble Man

Clay was chosen from the crowd of eager kids
to put his arm through a bubble.

When National Wine Day corresponds
to Argentina's Independence Day

Picnic in the park

Big fun!

Round and round....

...And up and down

The boys found this dilapidated soccer ball and
gave it several hours of new life.

Any good Independence Day deserves a good BBQ.
These two were the fire starters.

And this one was the head chef!

January

This space has been quite neglected this month as I just haven't had the bandwidth to keep up with it. But since it's the main chronicle of our family life, I want to do a broad overview so we don't look back someday and wonder, "What the heck happened to January 2018?" Here are the highlights (not including regular activities and things that were already going on before this month):

• Jan. 1--Polar Bear Dip, South Padre Island

• Jan. 2-3--San Antonio with Mimi and Grandpa

• Jan. 4--I received a life-changing tiara in the mail

• Jan. 5--I started running again; Jeff found out he passed his personal narrative essays, which is the 2nd test he had to pass in his quest to become a Foreign Service Officer (Diplomat)
• Jan. 7--Weston joined a ping-pong club
• Jan. 8--Max started his Ninja Warrior class; Clay started his martial arts class

• Jan. 9--Max and Clay built a cotton gin during History class

• Jan. 10--I started my regular Meals on Wheels route; I took my first writing day out of the house; Clay started swim lessons; I started back to yoga

• Jan. 12--Max turned 10, and we celebrated at the Lego Discovery Center and Olive Garden

• Jan. 13-15--Weston went on a surprise campout with the Boy Scouts, and they got to spend the night on board a battleship
• Jan. 14--Ruth's last IEA horse show of the season

• Jan. 15--Ruth officially became a Civil Air Patrol cadet
• Jan. 18--Ruth started track
• Jan. 19-21--Max got to spend the weekend with Nana and Papa and got to attend a monster truck show

• Jan. 20--Weston attended the Boy Scout Merit Badge College where he got to work on badge requirements with other members of his troop
• Jan. 21--I got to dance with Weston at his last Cotillion class

• Jan. 22--Clay and I got to build castles and shields with the rest of his Cub Scout den
• Jan. 27--Clay got to participate in the Cub Scouts' Pinewood Derby; Ruth completed her first CAP PT test

• Jan. 28--Brunch at Blue Mesa Grill; Hiking at Ft. Worth Nature Center and Refuge

Ridiculously Awesome

We slept in this morning and had late workouts, so we didn't head out until 10:30 or so. Our first stop was the Boudin Bakery to pick up sandwiches for a picnic lunch. This huge bakery/cafe/store/museum in Fisherman's Wharf claims to be the first baker of San Francisco's famous sourdough bread, and it has been calling to us every day we've been here with its heavenly scents. Clay was also particularly interested in watching the bakers work and loved the animal-shaped loaves they were producing.

Boudin Bakery

Watching the baker make a crab

Once our lunch was purchased, we took an Uber over to Golden Gate Park, where we spent a lovely afternoon, soaking up the gorgeous weather and creating special memories. We visited the Japanese Tea Garden, had our picnic on the steps of what Clay called The Temple of Doom, rented a surrey bike which provided lots of laughs and was deemed "ridiculously awesome," watched a bit of lawn bowling, played at a really awesome playground, rode a fun indoor carousel, and saw many lovely plants and flowers.

Japanese Tea Garden

The waterwheel bridge in the
Tea Garden was the little boys' favorite!

Assembling in the "Temple of Doom"
for lunch

Our best memories of the day
were probably made in the surrey.

Carousel Riders

 Eventually, we made our way back over to the wharf for dinner at Pier 39's Crab House. And after dinner, we killed an hour in the puzzle and game store Think Out of the Box, where they encourage customers to try all the products, whether they buy them or not.

Crab House at Pier 39

Crab enchiladas

A skating dance group was
practicing at the pier.

Working on a puzzle at
Think Out of the Box

Playing a game

Last night in San Francisco
(Golden Gate Bridge on left, Alcatraz on right)

A sticky situation, a hike, a gathering, and hamburgers

The first thing that happened this morning was actually rather unpleasant but had a happy ending. As we attempted to leave our very steep camping spot, our hitch got in a bind on the pavement and our RV got stuck at a wonky angle where the tires couldn't get traction. Fortunately, some very kind fellow campers saw our situation and came to our rescue with some tire ramps that allowed us to gain enough traction to unstick, for which we were incredibly grateful. There are so many good people in the world, and we find many of them at RV parks.

When we were finally on our way, we headed over to Lovell Gulch Trail, just outside of Woodland Park, for a wonderful five-mile hike through Pike National Forest. There, we were able to stretch our legs and our lungs, and we were afforded breathtaking views of Pike's Peak and the Sawatch Range. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful place and just what we needed after a day of rain and relative inactivity yesterday.

Crossing the stream

King of the hill

A Clay-sized passage

The reward of our 950 foot increase in elevation

We were all pretty hungry after our hike, so we drove into Woodland Park and found the first park with a playground and stopped for a picnic. A while later a throng of people in costumes and with musical instruments began flooding the park. And soon the whole park was filled with music and dancing. After some inquiries, we learned that it was a gathering of Morris dancers from all over the country. If this type of dancing is new to you, as it was new to us, Morris dancing is a type of English folk dancing. It was a treat for us to be caught up in the festivities!

The Morris dancers create some of their own music with
the bells attached to their legs. 

Many of the dancers use handkerchiefs in their dances

Some of the dancers use sticks to beat out rhythms

Not really a dancer but something of a mascot

"The Betty" saw me watching from the sidelines
and decided to come educate me about what I
was seeing. He explained some of the history
and symbols of the dance. Apparently, "The Betty"
is always a man dressed in woman's clothing
and represents fertility.

The Betty bestowed a fertility gift upon me,
which I wouldn't have eaten for anything,
since it came from an unknown origin, out of a basket that no telling how many people had rifled through,
in the very permissive state of Colorado.
But, I did appreciate the gesture.

Our last activity of the day was to celebrate National Hamburger Day at the oldest restaurant in Woodland Park, The Ute Inn. They had a variety of gourmet burgers, and our group ended up with a tasty selection, which included a Bleu cheese burger, a spicy apricot burger with brie cheese, a grilled cheese cheeseburger (a hamburger patty between two grilled cheese sandwiches), a kid's cheeseburger, and a couple of Ute Sloppers, which were served open faced and smothered in green chile. It was a delicious end to a lovely day.

Happy National Hamburger Day!

The Ute Slopper

The grilled cheese cheeseburger