Wordless Wednesday

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Why Ecuador in March?

Ecuador is a small South American country on the Equator (hence the name) where both my mother and father were born. I was born in NYC where my parents migrated too. They actually met in NY and not in Ecuador. My dad was from the big city (Guayaquil) and my mom from the fishing town (Manta). My sister and I were both born in NY where I spent my entire life until I met Papa Peep. (more on that some other time)

OK back to my original story! So Ecuador is partly above and partly below the Equator. Quito is where the actual divide happens. Since Quito is located high in the Andes Mountains it has much cooler weather than Guayaquil. The summer is very mild but the winter can get very cold. Remember the seasons are flipped below the Equator. When we are enjoying cold weather they are enjoying warm weather and vice versa. Think Australia at Christmas time...they are at the beach and we in the US or above the Equator are digging ourselves out of snow.

Now in Guayaquil the weather is always hot. The winters are dry but hot and the summers are wet and hotter. March is cold in most parts of the US. Even Atlanta had cold weather in March.

Guayaquil in March is wet, and hotter than I have ever known a place to be. It rains in spurts but so hard that the streets flood almost immediately. The rain brings some relief from the heat but then the mosquitoes are rampant. So if the heat won't get you the mosquitoes will. It really is a miserable time. I do not recommend Ecuador in their summertime.

Knowing all this, you ask me why was I in Ecuador in March? Because my aunt was getting married. There was no way I was going to miss that. She is the youngest of my grandmother's 10 children. She is actually younger than I am. My mother is my grandmother's 2nd child but the oldest girl. While my mother was already a mother of 2, my grandmother became the mother of 10 children. Amazing!!!! I ask her all the time how she managed that many children. She still doesn't know.

Here is a picture of the beautiful bride.

Here are the bride's siblings....my aunts and uncles minus my mother and two uncles (one of them, the oldest child, passed away a few years ago. The other and my mother could not attend.)


Maybe tomorrow I will tell you all about the wedding.......

Grandma

These are some of my grandmother's flowers. Since she lives in a city (Guayaquil) space is limited. She has no yard to plant these in. They are all in flower pots and she cares for them the same way she cared for her 10 children.....lots of love, lots of patience and GREAT food. I am still downloading pictures of my trip and haven't found the right picture of my grandma to share. Soon to come......

But here is another picture of the crazy cousin peeps.

The Threee Musketeers

Here you find oldest peep with 2 cousins. Since the seasons are opposite in Ecuador, the children were on their summer vacations when we arrived. The cousins got to spend lots of time together which helped the peeps in their Spanish language acquisition. All 3 are girly peeps who got attacks of the giggles constantly. Over the following posts you will see these cousins and others who made our visit in Ecuador so much fun.

I will miss them all very much but I am really glad to be home......finally.

Back and gone again

I only have a brief update. I have returned from Ecuador safe and sound only a little sadder because I do not know when I will return. The flight is so much farther now and therefore so much more expensive.

We had a wonderful time. The peeps made many new friends and thanks to the internet they will be able to keep in touch easier. Many of them have already called them to make sure they made it home safely. I promise pictures soon but unfortunately my laptop has decided to not work properly. Papa Peep is on the case but I may end up with a new desk top. I am using Oldest Peep's computer for the moment. My pictures are not stored here but I doing some transferring.

But that will all have to wait until next week because......... We are headed out of town again. A vacation from my vacation! Since Papa Peep was not able to join us on our previous trip we are all going this time. It is a family retreat with our new homeschool group. We can't wait. The peeps are especially excited because we will be taking a ferry in a few shorts hours. You all have a fabulous week and I will post pictures upon our return.

HI ALL!

I am in Ecuador!
Hot!
Humid!
Rainy!

But we are having a great time. The wedding event is this Saturday and afterwards we will be free to go to Quito and some other places to visit. I *hope* to be able to post pictures soon.

The tense situation between Ecuador and Columbia was interesting to experience first hand. To watch the news and how it was presented here really showed how bias the news media can be all over the world. It was a different picture painted than the one portrayed in the US.

Otherwise, fun in the sun (and rain). The peeps have befriended some neighborhood kids and somehow they understand each other. The boy peeps are really struggling but getting better everyday. The girl peep is trying but her tongue gets stuck while her brain freezes on the smallest words.

But all is well my friends and soon I will share some cool photos.

Wordless Wednesday

I have been waiting all month for this WW.......




I'd say not bad for one adult, 3 kids, and a 6 week long trip. I will try to post from where I am. Since I will have limited internet access (collective GASP) can you please link your WW below? I will try to visit them by weeks end. Thanks and Happy WW to all.

What's on your desk?

I was tagged by Mama Wolf over at My 5 Wolf Cubs for a meme.

What's on your desk?

RULES: You can tell a lot about a person by the state of their desk and what they keep on it. So, share what's on your desk. You can take pictures, take an inventory, or do both. Don't have a desk? That's okay, just give us a glimpse into the space where you pay bills, write letters, grade papers, study, or work on the computer.

When you've finished your photos or inventory, post it on your blog and tag five more people to do the same. Don't forget to share the rules with those you tag and ask them to share their posts with you when they are done.

MY DESK

To the left is my printer and a sack of mail/papers I need to go through before I leave.

Behind the computer is mail/paper I need to file. Stacks of blank cds. The kids love to listen to storys and with our audible subscription, I can barely manage to keep them satisfied.

To the right is my web cam, my lamp, a bunch of wires and my new 500GB hard drive. I needed more room for those photos. Also you will see my stash of snacks since I need to stay awake. TJ Dark Chocolate bar, chocolate ginger cookies and an Ecuadorian chocolate to get me ready.

More importantly is what you will not find on my desk? My huge pile of books! Those are now stored safely in my carry on and some in my luggage.

If you see anything that needs explaining, just ask.

Now, whose desk do I want to see?

Tina at Jetihoja Academy

Lisa at Koinonia Academy

Tammy at Evergreen Eclectic Academy

Jenny at Bits of Grey Matter
Lorna at Socks and Books

More Zoo Photos Continued....

But here are the true wild things at the zoo!!

Quiz!

This one is funny! I had to post this one.

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

No Child Left Inside

I love it!! To culminate a beautiful week in the Pacific Northwest, the kids and I decided to take the Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Barb at The Heart of Harmony has challenged the homeschool community to add nature study to their school week. To achieve and encourage homeschool bloggers she has decided to post a weekly challenge every Friday. That gives you all week to plan. Smart lady!

Well, the kids and I have met the challenge. Everyone who knows me knows I am not an outdoorsy mom. I don't enjoy hiking, and I don't enjoy camping. I do like the beach and can spend hours and hours sitting in the sun reading. I can bring a blanket to the park and lay in the sun with a good book. I will willingly sit by the pool as long as a book is in my hand. You get the idea. To accept this challenge I had to put down a book or stop cooking and get outside. I think Barb made an agreement with the weather to give me a whole week of sun so that the motivation would be there.

Nothing is really growing around our neighborhood. It is a new development and it is still winter in our neck of the woods. So we spent our time outdoors watching the clouds.We do have a very interesting tree we want to photograph but I left my camera behind on our walks. Perhaps next week....

The clouds are so cool here. You can have so many at one time. Here are the pictures we did manage to get today.

Oldest Peep took all of those as I was driving into downtown today.

We read about clouds here and here.


We also read Little Cloud by Eric Carle and then I found The Book of Clouds by John A. Day. I am going to look for it at the library.

In the challenge we were asked to research two things in nature that called our attention. Well, we looked and we looked but could not find what sort of pine tree this pinecone belongs to, so we are posting our pictures here in hopes that someone out there knows. We found it interesting because of the spikes or leaves sprouting from it. Please leave a comment if you know what kind they are and we will be forever in your debt.

Barb, thanks for letting us join in the fun.