Out and About in BA

So, we finally left our barrio (neighborhood) and saw a bit of the city. On Saturday we took a bus tour with other people from the embassy. It was a greatest hits tour of BA, and a great way to get a sense of the city and what else we wanted to go back to and spend more time at. The first stop was Recoleta neighborhood. In the middle of the neighborhood is the famous Recoleta Cemetery, where Evita is buried. It is a huge cemetery of all of these mausoleums for all these famous and rich Argentines over the generations. It is the family's responsibility to maintain the mausoleums, so there are some that are literally falling down because no one from that family is left to take care of them, and there are others that are just beautiful.

If you go to the Picasa pictures, there are some pictures of a big tree which is right outside the cemetery and was planted when the area was first developed. The tree is huge and the branches are held up with posts!

We then drove down the famous a 9 de Julio Avenue, which is a big wide avenue with parks down the center and a obelisk is the middle. After that it was off to the center of the city where the government buildings are. we saw their congress building (the one with the green dome), the presidential offices (the pink building) - which is the building where Evita gave her famous speeches from. The balcony on the left in the picture is the famous "Evita Balcony". The white building is the original "Town Hall" from when Argentina was a Spanish colony and the large building with the columns is the National Cathedral.

Our next stop was La Boca, which is on the water and where those colorful houses that you always see pictures of are. We didn't bring the camera on that stop - next time, we promise.

Finally we drove past Puerto Madero, a rehabilitated area of BA that is now very ritzy with restaurants and shops, and finally back past the parks and the zoo and back to the embassy.

So, now we have an idea of where we need to go back to and where to take all of our visitors when they come!

Chillin Like a Villain

So, every weekend, on Saturday or Sunday mornings we take the required weekly update photos of the bug. He is generally super happy in the morning and crazy chatty. He talks to himself when he wakes up which we like this becuase it is way more pleasant to wake up to that as opposed to him crying!

He is also becoming more interested in what is going on around him - especially when it comes to the dogs. If they come into the room all his attention goes to them.

When you check out the pictures, make sure and take a look at the ones from 14 weeks that I forgot to blog. He looks great in his frog outfit!

Our Apartment - Before

So, this is our place! Consider these the before pictures - before all of our stuff shows up. The place is pretty sparce. We have asked for some more furniture, and once our stuff shows up, it should be even better.

We have a 4 bedrooms, three and a half bath apartment in a more residential neighborhood (barrio) inside the city. In the picasa stream are pictures of the rooms, but basically you come off the elevator right outside our front door. Inside the front door is a little hallway and then to the right the living spaces, which sort of wrap around the front of the apartment. To the left is the long hallway to the bedrooms.

The living and dining room are a big L-shape room with a porch off the one wall that looks out towards the east towards the river. Then there is a small den, family dining area with a small porch looking to the south and a kitchen. Off the kitchen is the utility area and maid's quarters (currently the dog's room) and back door to the stairs and service elevator.

The bedrooms face the north and are nice sizes. Our bedroom has a small porch off it too.

Give us a couple of months and we will have some "after" pictures for you!

Ethan - 15 Weeks

Here it is - a "bug fix"! Ethan at 15 weeks. He is doing well and is as cool as ever. Currently he likes it when mommy and daddy sing. The "ABC Song", "Safety Dance" and "All Star" are current favorites. He also enjoys the new game of finding himself in the mirror. Our den has mirrors on two of the walls and he can see himself in one of them when he is on the love seat. The best part is when he sees himself , smiles and then gets all coy and shy and hides his face - hystercial.

He also his making quite the hit with the locals. Sometime Steve or I will put him in the baby bjorn and walk him and the dogs. We get multiple "que lindo!" (How cute!) on every walk.

Where's your family?

Several weeks ago, Katie and I noticed that our blog was full of KEGGS pictures and several of Katie's family, but very few of mine.
"Why is that," we asked each other? Then we figured it out - we saw my parents and brother frequently enough, and they were close enough, that we regularly forgot to bring a camera with us. Additionally, when we saw them, my Mom would take pictures with her camera, or Dad with his iFlip (where do you think the videos of Ethan, Mom and Gracie came from?).
I mentioned this to Mom, who said that several other people had also noted the lack. "Well," I said, "can you please help rectify the situation? Please send me a CD or SD Card with your pictures on it!"
She did, and so now we have an extra 78 pictures from her camera. Mom warned me in advance, and I pass this along to you, that there won't be all that many pictures of her: she hates having her picture taken!
So sit back, relax, and check out the latest additions to the Picasa web album. The photos were filed by the date they were taken, but you should be able to find them by looking for the most recently modified pictures.
Take note of one other thing, too. If you mail us pictures, or a link with high quality digital pictures, we'll add them to our album! We don't post many on Facebook, mostly because we put everything up here!

Puppy Walk!

Well, we know most of our pictures have been of Ethan, so as to not to leave out the other kids, here is a George and Gracie fix! This is a picture of Gracie walking George and I to the park. Every morning and evening they get a nice walk to the park, which is about three block away. Steve is their usual walker, but in the evenings and on the weekends, Ethan and I tag along.

All of the parks here are "dog parks", which means there are always dogs off leash running around in them. Unfortunately, they are not fenced in, so G&G are not allowed to go off leash. Actually, the only fenced areas at the parks are the children's playgrounds!

A very dog-happy city here, the supermarkets even have a place where you can tie up your dog outside while you shop - sort of like a puppy hitching post! Look for pictures in the photo stream!

Three Months Old!

Today is Ethan's three month birthday! He is falling into his new BA routine really well. An E-man day goes something like this:

5:00am - Wake up mom for morning snack
5:30 - 6:00 - Talk to myself in my crib and fall back asleep
6:00-7:00 -Sleep!
7:00 - 7:30 - Get up and dressed
8:00 - EAT!
8:30 - 9:00 - Play
9:00 - 11:00 - Nap
11:00 until dad comes home - rinse and repeat -Eat, Play, Nap - with some general fussiness and multiple diaper changes mixed in to change things up.
6:00 -Go on walk with dad, mom and doggies
7:00 -Bath time!
8:00 - Last meal of the day (maybe.....)
8:30 - Bedtime

I know, a very excting day!