Living this international lifestyle has so many perks (traveling, meeting interesting people, cultural exposure, etc.), but saying goodbye, by far, one of the hardest things to do. Originally, two of five close friends were leaving: one family to Santa Monica, CA and the other to Rio de Janeiro. We organized a weekend trip to Anapoima to be ALL together one last time and bid farewell. Little did we know back when we were doing all the planning, that we would also be leaving! L
So before these next couple of weeks sneak up on me and the stress rises from packing up the family, planning a goodbye party for Mateo and finding closure to this stage in our life, I am uploading some pictures from our trip to Anapoima.
Create what you most need to find … I’ve come back to this thought over and over again since learning about our move. As I see the pictures from this trip and relive the moments in my head, I realize how much I have to learn from my little boys. They laughed, played, enjoyed life and relished in uncomplicated relationships. Of course, there was drama, after all there were 8 kids ranging from 21 months to 5 ½!!!! But overall, I know that the only way to keep on going is to give this new change a good face and try to live with the simplicity and tenderness Santi and Mati do.
I think the boys did great in Anapoima, although it wasn’t always easy to share and learn to deal with other children who have such different personalities. Santi has woken up and is no longer a little wallflower. He will push and shove and fight for what he wants (or doesn’t want)! More and more, he enjoys the pool and pushes us away – he wants his independence in the water as well. He LOOOOOVES it when we let go of him and he kicks his way to the wall. If we are able to continue with swim classes, I feel he’ll start swimming by the time he’s three, if not before. Mati played so well, always sharing and being considerate of the smaller children. We did notice that he occasionally preferred the comfort of his imaginary world and played alone. Nico was a bit concerned but I was happy that he is confident enough to be okay with playing by himself, especially since the other two older boys are much more physical and rough.
As to the grown ups, we also had fun: lots of interesting after-meal talks and poker games. It was hectic, considering that there were about 20 people living in the house, but certainly a nice way to say goodbye to one set of friends and Colombia.
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