Bus Tour and Toddler Selfies

 The other day, the boys were preparing for the babysitter to come over by dressing in all of Shelley's most luxurious clothes.  I wish you could see Theo's exercise glove better, but one must wave it around when one wears it.

Theo wanted to see the picture, of course.  This lead to him taking numerous selfies.

Naturally, Jett had to get in the action. 

By the way, Theo's outfit didn't last long, because he dumped out an entire bottle of rubbing alcohol onto it and the floor.  At least he didn't drink it, right?

Shelley and Rick took me to a fancy stake house for our date, La Cabrera. We got so. much. food.  We  had some traditional Argentine food for appetizers- empenadas (meat pastries) and churipan (sausage sandwich). For the main dish, I got crazy huge raviolis, Shelley got a bacon wrapped stake kabob thing, and Rick got the giantest cut of stake I have ever seen!  The picture above doesn't do it justice. There were also all those little bowls filled with sauces, mashed things like potatoes, carrots, and pumpkin, potato salad and corn chowder.  And all of it yummy.  We all looked at the dessert menu, and couldn't imagine eating any of it.

On Friday, Rick came home from work early so Shelley and I could have a sister date to do the bus tour of the city.  Bless you, Rick.  And we were very impressed when we heard that he took Jett, Theo, and Mora out for a walk all by himself.  I wouldn't have dared in a hundred years.  Bravo, Rick.

A sweet tribute to Evita

Apparently Shelley has tried several times to get on these buses, and for one reason or another their plans have been foiled.  But she and I had luck, and made it on! We were on the bus for two or three hours, enjoying the sights and each other's company. 

Casa Rosada

One of my favorite things was the Casa Rosada, which means the pink house. It's their equivalent to our White House.  The voice in our headphones said it has been traditionally painted pink since it was built, to symbolize the coming together of the two political parties, who's colors are red and white respectively. I think that's pretty cool.

Casa Rosada

The tour took us through the fanciest part of town, Boca, I think it was called.  It was so clean, and the sky scrapers were so shiny and tall.  It was right along the Rio as well, which was cool. 

Inside the mall

 We finally got off at the big fancy mall.  We strolled through a little park area before we actually went in, but quickly ditched it to use the bathroom in a McDonalds. Pregnant ladies, the nerve.

On our taxi ride home, we saw the building that (we thought) Rick works in.  Shelley also explained to me that he used to work for Farmers, but now works for Zurich, who owns Farmers. I feel so in the know.  Accept he doesn't actually work in that building, but another one that's close.  It should have been part of the tour!

It was the perfect day to tour, too.  Sometimes it was sunny, sometimes cloudy, always warm and beautiful. 

After we got back to our neighborhood, we stopped at a cafe on the corner and got dinner.  Our service was really quick, because it was only seven o'clock, so obviously no one else was eating dinner.  I guess people don't eat until eight or nine on most days, sometimes later.  So interesting.  

Anyways, our food was delicious.  We had originally planned to go to a different cafe after and get dessert, but there was no way our tummies could have accommodated all that food.

At one point during the afternoon, I said, "Is it Friday, already?" And Shelley said, "I don't want to talk about it!" We've started preparing for our journey home.  So bitter sweet.  In many ways, this month has gone by in a flash. 

Today the boys and I went on the balcony just to enjoy the sunshine.  We ate ice and looked at the cars.  We laughed about Mora "rosting" in the sun. I stopped Theo from playing with the pooper scooper. And I thought to myself, "I wish I could bring some of this summertime back with me."

There are lots of things I'll miss.  Like staying up til all hours of the night and talking with Shelley.  Or being able to peace out and take a nap while Theo is still awake. The sunshine. Having a doggie to play with. Eating crazy delicious food all the time. Snuggling Jett and reading stories. 

I feel so blessed that the Allisons have been so generous and lovely to Theo and me. I don't know if or when I will be able to repay them. Maybe in a lifetime supply of cheese-its if they never come back to the US. But I will sure miss getting to be with them every day. I love Shelley, Rick, Jett, and Mora!

Evita! And other random things

On Monday, Shelley and Jett showed us a real good time by taking us to the cemetery.  Seriously, it was pretty sweet. We got to see Evita's grave, I guess you call it. 

Since there aren't any anecdotes to go along with this adventure, I'll tell random stories that I've been meaning to write down here. 

One night right after Rick left to get some McDonalds, Theo kept asking me for a hammer.  He lead me into the kitchen and pointed to the cupboard where the treats are, so I was really confused.  I even went to the toy room to get a toy hammer for him, but nothing would do.  Finally, Rick got back with dinner, and as Theo was eating his hamburger, he contentedly said, "hammer." It all came together.

Shelley and Rick have a maid that comes twice a week (which would be so nice). I guess it's the thing to do here.  She is so sweet, and exhausts her English vocabulary trying to talk to me.  She even asked how I was feeling because of the baby.  Yesterday, Theo went into the kitchen where she was working, and came back with a cup of milk.  I guess he downed a few cups before he was satisfied. She is so nice to my silly boy.

Just hanging out with Evita

 For those who don't know, Argentina uses pesos, which are about only a twelfth of a dollar.  But they use the sign for what I understand to be the dollar on price tags.  So when I saw a four pack of rolls with the tag $20, my eyes bugged out of my head for a second. I still haven't gotten quite used to it.

An enormous metal flower, which I guess is a thing here

Jett is such a sweet cousin to Theo, most of the time.  He usually tries to remind Theo of what the rules are, and has called him Sweet Baby, and Chicky Baby (one of my nicknames for him). So I've heard Jett say, "No toys on the balcony, Sweet Baby." Kills me!

Aunt Shelley was so nice to help Theo climb on this cool tree, and hold all our stuff

The people here are so nice, usually.  When we were on the subway, a girl got up from her chair so Theo and I could have a place to sit.  I guess that's the norm here, but I still appreciated it.

When we were on our way home from the cemetery, we caught a cab and started loading all our bags, strollers, and bodies into the small car.  As we were still getting settled, Jett stuck his head up to the taxista and confidently said, "Santa Fe y Coronell Diez, por favor." Accurate directions. The taxista curiously looked at Shelley as she was still ducking into the taxi and repeated the directions.  After a surprised si from Shelley, we were off.  That little man is a charmer.

This one was the most awesomely haunted looking.

 Not to be weird, but I must also comment on how handsome all the men are here.  We see a lot of people walking around on the busy sidewalks here, and I can't believe how many good looking guys there are just walking around, being good looking. And the women are so well shaped.  Who manufactured these people?

Don't cry for me, Argentina! I'm entombed in your awesome cemetery!

 Something else I've noticed is the physical contact that would be weird in the US. Of course there's the kisses for hello and goodbye. But also kids holding their parents hands, like teenage kids. Or ladies walking arm in arm. One of the aforementioned attractive young men was walking with his grandma with linked arms, being so cute.  I told Shelley I admired that.  Even though she agreed with me, she still wouldn't hold my hand when we were on our walk. Lame!

Have I mentioned that I can feel the baby kicking now? This is a lot earlier than it was with Theo, but I hear that's normal.  It's fun feeling the presence of the little human in there, especially now when it's still so small and not uncomfortable.  It's especially poigniant to me when Theo is laying on me and I can feel them both.  I'm gonna have two kids soon. Weird!

Our trip is almost over, and I can't believe how quickly it has gone. There are so many things I'm going to miss when we leave, so I'll need to soak up every minute until we do!

The Zoo and Museum

This week was full of big fun things.  On Thursday, we had planned on going to the zoo. Rick took work off and everything.  Unfortunately, Shelley woke up feeling yucky, so the rest of us went without her.

My first dulce du leche experience

 I didn't mean for the first pictures to be ice cream, but here they are.  After we had a delicious lunch next to the bat exhibit, we went to the huge Munchi's a few steps away and got a tasty cold treat for the warm day.

The boys were happy and sticky afterwards.  It was a nice break from walking and sweating.

  Theo needed me to show him how to eat his waffle bowl. So I picked mine up and said, "just do this, Theo." I took a bite, and the whole thing shattered in my hand.  I thought Rick would bust a gut laughing at me.

Here are the huge scary awesome bats.  We went to watch them be "fed," which apparently meant going to watch the zoo keepers hang baskets of fruit in the trees.  They didn't even move.  We thought they'd be flying around and chittering, but nothing. Not impressive, bats.  But you are quite large, so that works.

We got to see tucans fighting, and hearing their beaks clack together was really weird and cool.

The parrots had just been given food when we got there, so there was plenty of action. (take a note from their book, bats!) Most of the bird exhibits were in enclosed spaces that we could walk through, which was cool. At one point, a parrot flew onto the hand rail next to us, saw a crumb by my foot, and flew right down to grab it.  That was pretty sweet.

Oh, when we first got to the park, we asked the boys if they wanted to see some animals, and of course they both yelled, "Yes!!" When I asked Theo what he wanted to see, he yelled with equal excitement, "Cows!!!"  The man loves cows.

 

It was quite an exhausting day for all of us.  I felt so relieved when Theo finally fell asleep near the end of our trip.  While Rick and Jett went to do some solo exploring, I strolled him over to the llama field and leaned his stroller back on a bench.  I got to sit and enjoy the calm of the llamas and the beautiful cloudy evening.  Not even passers by to interrupt us.  I loved that calm moment.

We got to see full-grown cheetahs wrestling and playing.  We got to see a white tiger taking a swim. We saw huge tortoises digging holes, and prairie dogs rolling around in the dirt.  

Despite the sunburns and day-long recovery from fatigue the next day, and missing Shelley, it was a really great day at the zoo! I can only hope Theo enjoyed seeing the animals as much as I did!

And here is the fattest shark I have ever seen.

For our hot date this week, we went to the Latin American art museum, Malba.  I was expecting it to be all paintings of pueblos and woven rugs (which I now realize was inaccurate anyways.) I was pleasantly surprised at all the wonderful art there.

 

It was especially fun going with Shelley.  She is a lover of the arts, and it's fun being able to talk about them with her.  Also, I was naughty in thinking it funny how stressed out she would get when I would get "too close" to a work of art.  My poor sister and her protective ways. Sorry for being sassy, Shelley!

 

And here is a Frida Kahlo.  I don't really like her art, but it's famous so I felt like I should feature it. I wonder if her unibrow was really that defined?

 

I'm sure glad they let me go on their weekly hot dates!  

Although, I did stay in with the kids on Valentines day so they could go out.  I have a hot Skype date with my hubby and ate yummy dulce de leche while they were gone.  Also, Shelley was a sweet heart and got me a bouquet of flowers.  She also got each of the boys a single rose.  Jett kept hugging her and emphatically saying, "thank you, Mommy!"  Theo, on the other hand, immediately started whacking things with his. What a little romantic!

 

Anyways... After we got back from the museum, we stopped at the cafe next door to the apartment, and got dessert.  Since they were out of each of the desserts Shelley and I wanted, we both got cheesecake. It was the only food I have been less than impressed with here, just because it was so different than what I was expecting.  It was cakey. And who wants that!  Nevertheless, I ate my whole thing, so...

Teatro Colon and the Children's Hospital

Neat costumed mannequins were in the lobby

Yesterday, we met Rick after work at Teatro Colon, apparently one of the top five theaters in the whole world.  I believe it!  It was so gorgeous, and we got to take a tour. 

It was so huge and grand that I gawked the whole time.   We took the tour in Spanish so we wouldn't have to wait longer (the boys were already drawing to the end of their ropes before it began).  Shelley did a great job of translating the important bits.

When Theo was getting out of hand, Rick took him out of the group to walk around.  Near the end, he just took him completely outside and went to the park across the street.  Wow, that was nice. I sure like that brother-in-law of mine.

By the way, on the taxi ride there, we rode on the biggest street in the world, Nueve De Julio.  It was as wide as a Southern California freeway, maybe wider, but there were stoplights and everything.  It was pretty crazy.

I'm sad this picture of the stained glass didn't turn out, but many of he ceilings were beautiful stained glass with all kinds of pictures on them.  And because the sky was so bright, they looked even more stunning. 

This room was my favorite, and it wasn't even really a room.  It was more of a majestic hallway.  There were mirrors on either end, so you get the infinity effect.  The pillars, chandeliers, gold leafing, couches you weren't allowed to sit on because they're too fancy, it was all wonderful.  And the ceiling was painted with a lovely pastel heaven-ish scene, I wish I could have done it justice.  And of course, there is Rick chasing Theo around.  It was not quite Theo's type of prime environment. 

Then of course there was the big theater.  Our group sat in the box meant for visiting presidents and dignitaries.  Walking through the be-curtained doors and sitting in those plush chairs made me think, "I am not nearly fancy enough.  I don't belong here." And not just in the box, but in the whole theater. It was seriously so huge and beautiful.

 And Theo proved that the acoustics are impecable.  I pulled out my phone to take more pictures, and he wanted to watch Mickey Mouse on it instead. When I said no, the big meltdown happened and Rick took him out out. I swear we could hear him until they hit the park grass.

 On the ceiling of the theater, there was a dome with a painted scene of cherubs and all the rest, and the names of the great composers incorporated into it, like Mozart and Beethoven.

We got to visit the box on the proscenium where the president of Argentina sits when he comes.  And my, I have never seen a proscenium painted so lavishly and with so much molding.  It took my breath away.

So besides my out of control tired child, it was an awesome experience.  I'm so glad I'm getting to have all these awesome adventures with the Allisons!

Selfie while we were waiting for the tour to start.

Today, we all took Mora on her afternoon walk.  We ended up making our way to the Children's Hospital.  It takes up a whole block, and painted on the outside walls were murals of all different kinds of scenes.  There were cartoons like Handy Manny, Batman & Superman, Spiderman, and Doc McStuffins.  There were movie scenes like Finding Nemo, Alice in Wonderland, the Little Mermaid, Monsters Inc, and the Wizard of Oz.  Then there were nursery rhyme pictures, artsy pictures, and huge paintings of the founder of the hospital and the Pope. 

It was so fun to see all the hard work and creativity people put in for the hospital. It also made me want a space to paint a mural. That would be so fun!

Lastly, look at these sweet loves!  As I was putting Theo down for his nap today, he saw Shelley pass by the bedroom door.  The whole time I sang him songs, he cried for "Mama," meaning Shelley.  That's because she's the nice mama.  He'll always ask her to hold him, or to give him treats.  Later today he was asking me for a treat, and when I said no, he turned right to Shelley.

Also, Theo got into the bidet three times before 10 this morning.  And he can now open the fridge by himself.  What are we going to do with ourselves?