First Month of the New Year

We are already a month into 2019, and I honestly can't tell you how we got here. It just went by so quickly! It was a month packed full of family, friends, and fun! Our new year is definitely off to a great start, as you can see from the following highlight reel of January:

We spent the first week of the month in Houston,
making special memories with our Watts family

Ruth gave an Instagram tutorial to her aunt and Mimi.

Clay was glad to get back to school. He was excited to work on his reading,
discover a new love in Ken-Ken puzzles, and teach us all a money game.

Jeff spent two weeks in Mexico in an immersion Spanish class.
The vendors wouldn't approach him because they said he looked like Secret Service!
Nevertheless, he was able to track down all kinds of fun surprises to bring home.

We celebrated Max's 11th birthday with doughnuts, cake balls, and gifts.
And we spent the day at Corky's, playing arcade games,
throwing axes, and escaping from Alcatraz.

Weston and I got to attend Ruth's CAP banquet, where, among other things,
we saw her march in with the color guard, be recognized with her CyberPatriot team,
and receive an award for "Americanism" from the American Legion. We are so proud of her!

Max got a baseball pitching machine for his birthday,
and the boys have had a big time trying it out.

We somehow managed to survive WINTER STORM 2019. 

We made out like bandits at the library used book sale.

Clay adores his big sister and couldn't resist surprising her with flowers!

Mimi and Grandpa came to visit twice during the month,
and we had so much fun hanging out with them.

We attended the Minutemen Disaster Response open house and had a great time.
We were especially impressed with the 28-bed bunk trailer.

Ruth achieved the rank of Master Sergeant and
the title of First Sergeant at the CAP promotion ceremony.
She also gave a recruiting speech to encourage cadets
to attend Airman Leadership Training in the spring,
which is an event she will attend as medical staff. 

Clay started golf lessons and is absolutely the cutest little golfer ever!

The boys got new dressers, and I acquired
some new skills by putting them together.

Ruth brought me these beautiful tulips for no reason!

Weston spent hours climbing every tall tree in the woods.

Weston spent a ton of time working on Scout stuff this month.
He attended a Merit Badge College, where he worked on three
different merit badges. He hiked a total of 65 miles to complete
his hiking badge. And, he went on the monthly campout with his troop.
He also interviewed and was accepted to be on staff for one of the summer camps,
making him one of the youngest Scouts to receive such a position.
He has already attended one training session and begun practicing his speeches.
He loves Scouting so much, and we are so proud of his hard work and dedication!

One of my book clubs got together to throw axes, and we had so much fun!

Another Fun Week in Mendoza

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post! As usual, there has been plenty going on, but the days have been getting away from me to record all of it. I started my proofreading course, which has been interesting and informative and a little humbling. Weston and Max have been engrossed in their books. Ruth has been writing a story of her own. Clay has been very busy drawing, playing, and practicing his Spanish. And Jeff moved up to the next level of Spanish classes.

We've also gotten together with friends a few times, visited a chocolate factory, eaten some fabulous and cheap food, taken a couple of lovely hikes, played at parks, and watched a couple of World Cup games. It's been a wonderful week!

La Cabaña Chocolate Factory 

Good eats and drinks--at home and out

Date night at Don Aldo

Cutie Clay
(At his favorite playground, playing the "drums" at the house,
at the chocolate factory,  and doing pull-ups at the park)

A walk in the park

Out and about in Mendoza
(Weston with a huge calzone, a beautiful abandoned building,
Clay at the art store, the amphitheater at one of the plazas,
swing picnic table, walking by one of the acequias that makes
Mendoza so lush, a church, one of many sidewalk cafes)

Cerro de la Gloria hike

World Cup Watching

Various combinations of us have gone out at different times this week.

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!