Friends and Fun in Lima

One of the things Jeff has been working on as part of the process to become a diplomat is being able to show fluency in Spanish. So, he has been working with a few tutors on italki. There is one tutor he has been meeting with consistently for months. She is Venezuelan, but she lives in Lima, and it was a privilege for  us to meet up with her and her family for a day of fun. We met at a lovely park (Parque Maria Reiche) where much of the landscaping is designed to look like the Nazca drawings. Eventually, we all headed out to grab some lunch in a small, local restaurant with delicious food. After lunch, we decided to Uber into the city center to see the Circuito Magico del Agua, an impressive display of fountains and flowers in the Parque de Reserva. It was a wonderful day, and we had so much fun! Interestingly, in the course of our conversation, we found out that Ruth's italki Spanish tutor, who is Venezuelan but lives in Argentina, is the cousin of the husband of Jeff's tutor. It's such a small world! When we had said "Adios" to our friends, we headed back to our apartment for dinner. After dinner, Jeff and I went for a walk along the malecon, while the kids opted to stay at the apartment reading and playing games. Our walk took us through a large, fancy shopping area, where we popped in to a restaurant overlooking the ocean called "Popular" for pisco sours. Unexpectedly, we also ordered a dessert called "Ponderacion." We ordered it simply because of the vague description on the menu, thinking it would be a fun surprise, which it definitely was.

Nazca lines landscaping

Wheat tea (or something similar),
which was served with our lunch

Circuito Mágico del Agua

Water Tunnel
(Just before this picture was taken,
my oldest son ran his hand along
 the outside of the fountain, 
causing the water to fall inward 
and effectively soaking us
 and also causing the
attendant to blow his whistle!
I did not kill the child, but he
had better produce an
 amazing Mother's Day gift!)

Gardens at Parque de Reserva

Other diversions at Parque de Reserva

A fun day with friends!

Date night at Popular

Bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy. Fun, fun, fun, fun fun!

We've had a wild but very fun weekend. The boys worked really hard to get all their school work done early this past week so we could play on Friday afternoon. We met up with some friends at a trampoline park in Grapevine, and the boys had a blast. I did not participate, as I'm only cleared for activities on "predictable surfaces" at the moment. The lady who checked us in did ask if I wanted to jump, and Weston's face registered pure horror as he thought about the possibility of me hurting my knee again, and he pleaded, "Mom, please don't!" Of course, I wasn't going to anyway, but it was sweet how concerned he was for me.

There were only action shots at the trampoline park.
They are all blurry, but that's how you know it was fun!

Bouncy, bouncy basketball

Yesterday morning, Weston had his first basketball game, and yesterday afternoon he had his second. By the second one, he had kind of gotten the hang of it and scored nine out of his team's fifteen points.

The big man making a big grab in game one

Number 29, with the rebound

Between the games, Jeff went to pick up Ruth from the airport. She was returning from a week of working with her aunt at a vet clinic in Houston. She had a wonderful time and so many great experiences, but we sure did miss her and are glad to have her back!

Spleen surgery

Max and Clay and I left the first basketball game early, so we could make it to the Christmas party for Clay's Cub Scout den. It was another opportunity for climbing and bouncing at an indoor playground called Going Bonkers, and the boys loved it. (They were not still enough or close enough for me to get any pictures!)

Later in the day, Max got to participate in show-off meets for both his gymnastics class and his tumbling/trampoline class. I can really tell his skills and flexibility have improved since he started in September, and he thoroughly enjoys the classes.

He flies through the air with the greatest of ease

The rings are all about strength and control

Stellar straddle jump during the trampoline routine

So proud of this kid!

Meanwhile, Jeff took Ruth over to Farmersville for a Christmas party with the homeschool honor society she's a part of. He took advantage of his waiting time by visiting the Landon Winery in Greenville. He was lucky enough to get a private tasting with the owner, Bob Landon. He enjoyed the wine and the experience tremendously. (I have to admit, I was a little jealous, but I'm hoping he'll take me there for a date sometime!)

When all the boys' activities were finished, they settled in for movies and pizza, and I started working on some of the things for Winter Breakfast, which was on the agenda for this morning. (There will be a separate post about that.) This is a tradition my kids love, even though we haven't yet actually gotten it to work out for the morning of the Winter Solstice.

Weston had another basketball game this afternoon (because through a series of odd events, he is actually playing in two leagues). And, then we headed to the theater to see The Last Jedi. It was a crazy, whirlwind, super fun weekend!

Taking (and making) a free throw

Ready to see The Last Jedi