Days when the kids were away

Almost accidentally, Jeff and I ended up childless for several days last week while the kids played with grandparents in the far reaches of Texas and Oklahoma. We made the most of our time and put together a brilliant staycation. On Tuesday, we headed to downtown Dallas, where we checked into the W hotel and then headed over to Happiest Hour for lunch. It was such a cool place, and we definitely want to go back sometime. From there, we braved the intense Texas heat and walked over to the Nasher Sculpture Center for some culture. After that, we went back to the hotel and spent several lazy hours lounging on the awesome pool deck, which has spectacular views of the city. Tuesday evening, we had dinner at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, a place we have always wanted to visit. We tried the tasting menu with wine pairings. The food was wonderful, the atmosphere was elegant, and it was an overall excellent experience!

W Dallas Victory

Happiest Hour

Nasher Sculpture Center 

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

On Wednesday, we came back to Flower Mound in time for me to do my deliveries for Meals on Wheels. It was fun to have Jeff ride along, and I think he enjoyed getting to participate in an activity that is important to me. When the deliveries were done, we made a beeline for McKinney, where we had lunch and visited wineries and shopped around the historic square. Later, we had dinner at Sol and then visited Trader Joe's and Half-Price Books.

McKinney

On Thursday morning, we hopped up before the sun so we could meet our hot air balloon flight crew and check an item off our bucket list. Just as the sun was coming up, we became airborne and flew around for about an hour, enjoying the peace and beauty all around us. It was spectacular! And, with the whole day still before us, we then headed to Jeff's parents' house to pick up our younger boys, stopping for lunch at George's in Waco.

Hot air balloon flight

George's

We love hanging out with our kiddos, but we were definitely glad for a chance to spend some quality one-on-one time together enjoying some of the wonderful things DFW has to offer!

The last five days

Maybe you think because I haven't been writing blog posts that we haven't had much going on the last few days, but, in fact, we've had a lot going on; I just haven't been getting it recorded.

On Wednesday, I went up to Jeff's school for a little cooking class they were having. We made pizzas and learned lots of vocabulary and had a great time.

Making pizza dough

Homemade pizza, ready to eat

On Thursday, we spent some time at our favorite park, soaking up the gorgeous weather and enjoying various activities, from working out to playing in the forest to writing.

These boys love "their" forest!

Knocking out some pull-ups

A pretty amazing place to get some writing done

Jeff's school hosted an asado (BBQ) on Friday, and we had a great time hanging out with the staff and students, eating perfectly cooked meat and drinking a variety of wines and beers while visiting with friends from England, Australia, Argentina, and the U.S. in Spanish and English. Afterwards, we stopped at a tiny but very interesting playground made entirely of metal, which the younger boys loved. And later that evening, the boys voted to stay home and watch a movie while the rest of us went out to dinner at Cara & Ceca and coffee at Zeze.

Goodies on the grill

Enjoying the asado at Jeff's school

Loving the all-metal playground

Cara & Ceca

A fancy dinner for about $10

After-dinner macchiato 

We spent a large part of the day yesterday at our favorite plaza, Plaza Independencia. And then we decided to have an asado of our own, except our guests ended up not being able to come, so we just carried on and had our own little party.

The boys love this ground-level merry-go-round

On Saturdays, the "Art Lady" sets up a long
line of kid-sized easels and chairs for budding artists.
Clay just can't resist!

Asado time

The bougainvillea in our courtyard is so gorgeous! 

Today we joined a tour group and headed out to Potrerillos Lake, making a couple of stops along the way. The drive was really lovely, and the lake is absolutely beautiful. It reminded us a bit of Lake Louise in Banff with the mountains all around and the vibrant blue water.

The Mendoza River

Crossing the Mendoza River on
a shaky suspension bridge

Wild and free!

We stopped at the Potrerillos Hotel for coffee and great views.

Clay was thrilled that he stepped on a rainbow.

Master of the monkey bars

Beautiful view from the hotel of
Lake Potrerillos and the Staphyle Vineyard 

The other view from the hotel (of the Andes) isn't bad either!

And in addition to all this, we have all spent time this week working on things that are important to us and that make us happy. Some of those included: reading, writing, Scouts, Hidden Pictures, cooking, Spanish, making plans for the upcoming school year, sleeping in, and hanging out with each other. It's a good life!

Our first Saturday in Mendoza

Today was our first Saturday in Mendoza, and we packed it full of fun. Jeff didn't have class, but his school organized a tour out to Villavicencio, a natural oasis in the otherwise barren Andes. The natural springs there provide the water for one of the most popular bottled waters in the area and one of the best sparkling waters we've ever had. There is a lovely hotel that is in the process of being restored with the goal of reopening next year. And the grounds contain a lush garden and spa that is beautiful now but must have really been something in the former heyday of the hotel. Even though the whole tour was conducted in Spanish and was a little difficult for most of us to follow, we still had a wonderful time and enjoyed the experience.

A fun outing to Villavicenio

It was fun to visit the home of
one of our very favorite sparkling waters.

In the afternoon, Jeff and I took Clay to the main plaza and park in Mendoza, while the other kids stayed behind to rest. Clay was determined to make a friend and use as much Spanish as he could remember. He played hard on the playground and also had a chance to do some painting, buy a balloon sword, and see a mimi magic show. Jeff and I took turns watching him at the playground and strolling through the rest of the enormous park, where there were tons of craft vendors and interesting characters set up enjoying the beautiful day. We found one vendor selling wooden kitchen utensils and were able to add some unique pieces to our collection.

So many lovely wooden utensils to choose from

The great playground defender

This boy's happy place

A new friend

Deciding on a special treat on the way home

Since today was Weston's half-birthday, he got to drive the plans for the rest of the day, which included a dinner of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and a trip out for gelato after dinner. We also decided to revisit Plaza Independencia so we could see what it was like after dark. The answer is "happening." There were so many people and vendors and the whole park was lit up and full of life.

You can take the kid out of Texas,
but you can't take the Texas out of the kid!

Half-birthday gelato party

Plaza Independencia

The Amazon

We arrived late last night in Iquitos and spent the day today exploring. Our day started with a delicious breakfast at our hotel. Then we had our first rides in motortaxis, which whisked us away to the Belena Market, the largest in the city. It was certainly a spectacle! We enjoyed (and didn't enjoy!) a vareity of experiences for all our senses. We got to try concha, an egg-based drink with boiled yuca, sweetened with sugar and vanilla. We all thought it was delicious! The bravest amongst us (Ruth and Weston) also tried a type of grilled worm. It was one of the more unique items for sale, but we saw plenty of other interesting things.

Hotel breakfast

Motortaxis

Balena Market

From bait to brunch

When we finished up in the market, we climbed aboard a couple of very small homemade boats in order to explore the floating village. For six months out of the year, the river overtakes the streets of the village and the area is only navigable by boat. I have never seen anything like it, and I truly cannot imagine living that way. However, the people seemed quite content, and we were told by our guide that they are a very happy people.

The floating village

Later, we boarded a larger boat for a tour of the Amazon and one of its tributaries. The tributary was especially beautiful and serene. We saw all kinds of birds and two varieties of river dolphins. The boys also got to fish for piranhas, but to their disappointment, they weren't successful. We had lunch aboard the boat, which included fresh fruits, cheese sandwiches, and juane, a local dish consisting of chicken, eggs, and olives wrapped up in a ball of rice and baked in some sort of leaf. It is a traditional dish of that region of the Amazon and it was very good.

An Amazon tributary

Fishing for piranhas

Juane

Pink dolphins playing in
the mighty Amazon

At the end of our tour, we visited a smaller market, where we tasted some roasted seeds from a plant related to cacao and some freshly shelled and peeled Brazil nuts. We enjoyed both.

The smaller market

Back at our hotel, we rested for a while before going out for dinner at a place recommended by the person working at the front desk, who, along with the rest of the staff, were very eager to please us. We suspect we may have been their first American visitors. Anyway, the dinner place turned out to be a sort of fast food place, which we think was recommended to keep us from having to wait long. Mother's Day is a huge deal here, and the restaurants were indeed packed. We got a good chuckle out of celebrating Mother's Day with fast food, which is typically forbidden by me when we're in the States. The food was good, though, and we had a great time.

A very happy Mother's Day indeed!