These are some fun pictures from the past few months or so that I just never got around to posting or writing about, but just HAD to share! They're in no particular order...
18 de Septiembre at the ECIM party.
Mmmmm...beer!
1 year wedding anniversary: lunch at the vineyard we got hitched at!
Family night out in Viña del Mar!
Camilo's first lady friend, Emilia. She's very flirtatious!
Camilo helped Emilia unwrap a baby cellphone on her first birthday - I LOVE their shared "Oh my god!" moment as they simultaneously realize that this is clearly the MOST AWESOME TOY OF ALL TIME!!!!
Halloween!
Camilo's first Santa picture - he didn't love it, but at least he didn't cry!
He LOVES the water!
Grumpy face.
Best. T-Shirt. Ever.
Some light gardening with Beto.
Camilo strapped into my office chair with my [now retired!] pumping bra.
Daddy and Camilo played with mommy's eyeliner pencil!
Camilo's sunglasses that his has sadly outgrown. What a goof!
Napping in his new bug-jar baby quilt that Aunty Megan made for him.
Pouting at the beach because I wouldn't let him eat the cigarette butts he found in the sand.
Our offices are getting repainted, the boss is on vacation, the sun is shining, summer is almost over....so we played hooky! Thursday morning we packed up the car and south for Camilo's first camping trip! Overall, Camilo did great, but mom and dad got a bit worn out chasing him all over the place all weekend!
Here we are in our campsite "Millaco" along the Estero Cahuíl, just south of Pichilemu. We had flat ground, a shade tree, a picnic bench and a fire ring all within our site. Bathrooms, cold showers, and dish washing stations were 100ft away. Quiet neighbors, friendly owners, by far the best campsite I've seen in Chile so far!
The estero is host to what local guide books call "tesoros vivos," or living treasures: Salt farmers. After we toured some salt ponds, Joan went nuts and HAD to buy salt. We came home with, eh-hem, 10 kilos!
We spent a morning walking around Pichilemu, a town we know well from field work. This is a really neat surf village that was in the full swing of their summer season. The crowd got the better of us before too long, but not before we sample artesanal ice cream, fresh fruit juice, kelp empanadas, and threw the tennis ball a few times in the sand for Beto.
My kid does not suck! Literally. So Joan feeds him momma-bird style with a straw.
Camilo's previous "interest" in the dog's bowls evolved into pure obsession on this trip. Kibble HAD to be moved from the drybowl to the water bowl by the handful, only to be upended entirely on the ground. Then comes the dish dancing. Only THEN is our toddler satisfied.
We tried lots of activities to keep Camilo out of the fire ring, away from the water's edge, and out of the dog bowls with some success, but he would NOT STOP climbing that picnic bench! He climbed up and fell, up and fell, up and fell, up and over to the cooler and fell, up and over a camp chair and fell up to the TOP of the table and almost fell... and on and on and on! Eventually we realized that he cried harder when we redirected him away from the table than when he actually fell, so we just pushed the knives out of reach and let him get it out of his system. Where were the damn baby gates at this campground?!?!
Best buds needed to nap together after playing hard!
On a little adventure up into the mountains we came across a local "trilla," which is a big party to celebrate the wheat harvest. Inside the pen the "huasos" take turns driving a group of horse over the wheat, separate the grains from the stalk. The event had live music, folkloric cueca dancing (quavers!), and plenty of drunken cowboys - it was a blast!
Camilo was looking good - as always!
We had roast lamb, charquican (a big delicious mess of mashed vegetables), and boxed wine for lunch - OUTSTANDING!
Here are some of the huasos waiting their turn in the wheat ring.
And what wheat festival would be complete without wheat princesses competing to be wheat queen?
Oh, did I mention we also spent an afternoon on the estero beach? Nice shallow, warm water for Camilo and Beto to splash around in!
Nothing says camping like a dirty-donkey-butt right after you've completed your 10th dirt angel of the day!
Our little drunk also did a lot of staggering around into other people's campsites while drinking his milk. This guy will NOT sit still for anything anymore!
And check out his sweet new wetsuit he got for Christmas from Alba!
Camilo conked out asleep 2 minutes into our family kayak trip!
I also tried to get back into the habit of "wearing" Camilo backpack style. He was pretty good about it and it was nice not to have to deal with a stroller. This is his no more paparazzi shot!
It's blurry and the scores don't really matter - the point is that Joan is FINALLY playing cards with me!!!
Sorry about the shakiness (bad video from my cell phone), but if you drink some boxed wine, you can watch and feel some of the action of the Trilla!
These are some pictures from our last stop on our trip in October - Aunty Sue's house! As always, this stopover was too short, but we had a wonderful time!
Camilo's first time in a wading pool!
He loved playing in the water but LOATHED touching the grass with his bare feet!
Camilo got pushed around and humped a bit by Beans, but I think she really enjoyed all the extra "handouts" that Camilo dropped all over the floor!
Nothing says welcome to California like a shopping cart tour of a grocery store bathroom! The handle says it all, "THANK YOU."
Camilo had so much fun with his Aunty! He played with all of her monkeys and toys!
After a couple of days, the rest of the Shinens caught up with us and Chuck cooked some DELICIOUS lamb chops!
Preggo Aunty Megan missed several golden oppurtunities to practise her parenting skills - she didn't want to change any diapers! But she's got playing baby-dress-up down pretty well!
Eating out like a true gentleman!
More wine, Mommy? ha ha ha....
On our way back to Chile with just a couple of small bags! Camilo was such a good flyer!
We'll be back in the USA again August 2014! So far, our travel plan looks like: Bodega Bay--> Sacramento --> Mammoth Lakes --> Las Vegas. Catch up with us if you can!
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