Pot Pourri

Mateo having fun when wetting Enrique..but was not happy when Enrique took revenge!

Mati enjoying his "water-dispensing device " in Anapoima (gun is not a word in his vocabulary)

with one of his buddy juan lucas

Mateo was soooo excited, he would pretend to hide behind his hand.

As Pati, Mati and Santi are all having the time of their life on the beach in Spain, I am left alone to upload these selection of pictures from the last week or so.

They include Mati's summer camp performance (Mary Poppins..he was a penguin), a trip to Anapoima at our friends Enrique and Mereke's house, and some other random shots...Obviously I can't manage the blog as well as Paty, but hope you enjoy..Nico

Sweetness

Ay Mati ...

Mateo and Pablo are at the club digging for dinosaur bones. Pablo's dad goes over to check up on them. Mateo entertains his first question and then tells him:

"My Dad is over there," as he points in the direction of Nico. In other words: DON'T DISTURB US!!

Parties & Playdates

Playdate at El Rancho

I organized a playdate for Mateo with his closest friends from school, a sort of "graduation party", at the club on Saturday. It's unbelievable to watch their dynamics, how they play together, and how despite each one being so different, they get along so well. It was beautiful!! They dug in the sand for dinosaurs' bones, watched insects, played in the kids' gym and some of them got drenched from playing in the water shoots!! All of them left crying and against their will ... at 4:30pm!!! (5 hours of play!!!) We know they are all going to be separated next year because they seem to cause so much trouble, which is heartbreaking, but I hope they remain friends.

Jaco: "Mati, can we bury your brother?"

Pablo: "Look, I just dumped a pail-full of sand in the drain!!!"

As close as a group picture as I'll get!!

Watching a yellow spider the size of fingernail!!! (Talk about good eyes!!)

Mateo & Pablo

At the movies - ready to watch "UP" in 3D.

Mateo & Juan Lucas

Antonio's Birthday Party

Jeronimo & Mateo (Mati insisted in putting on his Lightning McQueen outfit)

Matias's Birthday Party

Dominique's Birthday Party

People here LOVE costume parties, so Mati went as no other than Lightning McQueen, Santi dressed up as the cutest bear ever!!! This party was on the last day of school and, being all emotional, I decided to take pictures of the clan of five boys. But let me tell you: it is so HARD to take pictures of 5 boys!! They run all over, pick their noses, cry, move so quickly ... it was impossible to take a group picture ... so I decided to give it up!

Pablo, Jeronimo & Mati

(Adorable) Party Crasher

Jacobo & Mati

Alex!!!!!!! (the lion from Madagascar 2)

As soon as he sees Alex, Mateo tells his friends, "Ya vuelvo!" He runs, through an obstacle course of other kids, and hugs the lion.

Jaco and Mati repeatedly asked Alex if he could talk. When he said no, they started feeding him chocolate coins.

"I'm sure there more juice in here ..."

Juan Lucas & Jaco

Mati & Pablo

Popayan

We finished off our first tour of Colombia with a trip to the colonial city of Popayan. Compared to all our other trips in the month of June, this one was so relaxing. We walked everywhere, the boys were able to nap, and there was no rushing to get to this museum or that restaurant before they closed or the crowds began to come in.

We flew in a Fokker 50 (with all these trips, I'm becoming an expert at airplanes!!), those with the propeller engines outside. About five minutes before landing, all the plane did was dip and recover, dip and recover. With all the airline troubles lately, I was glad we were all together ... seriously!! I had never bounced around so much!! Santi, on the other hand, slept right through it and Mati was cracking up and occasionally would let out a little scream!

Anyway, Popayan is a little town, painted all in white. There are churches in just about block, which meant that we visited every single one of them, every single day. We happened to go into a Mass and Mati made me stay for a good 10 minutes. It was actually a really pretty Mass, there was a lot of singing and clapping and God how I wished I had had the camcorder because little Mateo was clapping along with everyone!!!

Enjoy the pics!!

Iglesia de San Francisco

Entrance to the Club de Popayan

The "Look at me jump" series

La Catedral de Popayan

View from our room's terrace

Iglesia de las Carmelitas

Monasterio de San Francisco