Noche Buena--Finally getting those pictures up!

OK--so, for those who dont know-- in Latin America, it's tradition to have a late night dinner on Christmas Eve (aka: Noche Buena) and then celebrate at the stroke of midnight by opening all of the gifts.  If you're wondering, this tradition works beautifully with tired, cranky, sugared out, small children!  The kids could barely make it through the 10pm dinner, let alone the midnight gift exchange.  We ended up taking the kids home after dinner, just to change them into their pajamas, in the hopes that they might fall asleep immediately following the gift openings.  But, OH!  Did we mention the setting off of illegal fire-crackers at midnight?!  (Above: they are literally about to fall on the floor with over excitement and fatigue.  Below: they get a second (or 18th?) wind after the midnight present frenzy)

 

 (mama/tia/G-Unit head mistress Korah bought the gang matching red Chuyos)

 The kids actually made out like little banditos...

 ...but had just as much fun passing out gifts as receiving them!

 Below is a haphazard vignette of the noche buena gift-exchange

Nuestro Tiempo En Peru

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When my tia Maria told me that she and my grandmother were exhausted (but in a good way) after our visit to Peru, I thought, "Really? We hardly ever stayed more than 15 minutes with you, at a time."  But, in hindsight, after reviewing all of my home movies (and noticing that there is a recurring theme of children, running and screaming for no good reason), I realized, "Of course you were!  I am exhausted EVERY DAY and have simply forgotten what it feels like to be rested."

(Below is one of the precious few videos that does NOT document my squealing, naughty, rambunctious child:) 

 w/Tio Ricardo

 w/Tia Maria

 w/Tia Teresa, Tio Carlos &...

 ...abuelita Yola

Adios family!  We miss you!

Feliz Año Nuevo

 The La Serna, Brogdon, Guilars wish you a very Happy New Year from Miraflores, Peru!

 As most of you know, we had hoped to dedicate a few blog postings to pictures of Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.  However, "acts of God" prevented this.  So the above picture is about as close as we got to the Andes (7 Chuyos on the Miraflores Malecón).  Nevertheless, we had a great time with family and enjoyed our outings in and around town.  We'll have to dedicate another blog entry to the antics of Tiago and his "twin" cousin, Micaela (the dynamic duo of mischief and merriment).

Probably for the same reason there was torrential rain in the Andes, the coast was overcast for the majority of our stay.  But, since it never actually rains in Miraflores (and not in the "it never rains in Southern California" sense--it really does not ever rain in Lima) we spent most of our time outdoors with the kids.  Nate and I enjoyed Barranco--sort of the Berkeley of Lima. 

 Above, Tiago and I pose on a cliff in Barranco.  Below, the family walks by the facade of a typical Barranco building.

 Below: Anticuchos in Barranco (yum!)

Parks, Parks & More Parks

 Down the street about 3 blocks is the Malecón.  Along the Malecón, are various parks and playgrounds, where we went almost daily to let the kids burn endless calories

 In the evening, we went to see the water fountains.  A park with many interactive and entertaining water fountains that dance, light-up and refresh.

 Also refreshing: Inka Kola, Chicha Morada, tropical fruit juices... Not so refreshing but certainly yummy and cholesterol inducing: The Peruvian Churro (not your average Churro).  These are stuffed with delicious Manjar Blanco.  Our son may be the only person on the planet to turn down a fried, sugary pastery, stuffed with caramelized goodness, and opt for OJ...

 (Above:  the only use that these "Machu Picchu" sun hats ever got!)

 More parks on the Malecón

 (this one had an old boat--converted into a play structure = genious!)

 (If only this thing had a lock on it...we adults would have gladly set this contraption on spin cycle and had ourselves a cocktail!)

 Parque de Leyendas

 We dont have black panthers at our local zoo back home!

 just a pretty picture in Barranco

Sometimes I wondered why we spent all of that money to fly out to Peru, when these kids were content to chase bubbles along the corridor and frequent the neighborhood park...but then I remembered: familia!!!  It really was a wonderful time!!!

Los Primitos

This picture captures exactly how our usually very adorable little guy looked, behaved and sounded for the majority of our trip to Peru--like a roided-out WWF world wrestler!  wOW!

And, even when he wasn't channeling The Hulk, he still managed to get into mischief with his little accomplice

These two were definitely the Dynamic Duo--their powers (of mischief and naughtiness) were magnified when near one another.

Between the three cousins, there was no rest for the weary.  Below: While waiting for a table at the local Chinese restaurant, we adults quickly realized that these "creaturas," as Peruvians gingerly call young children, were not to be taken out into public, at least, not around nap time...

...Chifa TO-GO-PLEASE!

But the lesson was not learned by the familia...we continued to tempt fate by taking the children out into public spaces...to places serving caffeine (hey, how else are we supposed to keep up?) "Look son--it's the coffee train!  Double espresso, porfavor!"

Below: just moments before becoming every waiter's nightmare (i.e. pulling all of the napkins out of the holders and throwing them to the floor).  Well, at least we ordered something (we had only planned on taking a peak inside--but realized a monetary contribution was the way to go)!

Below: mid-performance of a demand for cappuccino (decaf please!) and more napkins (notice the table is now bare).

Below: documentation of some semblance of tranquility (although, I do not recall this quiet story-time moment...please refer to picture #1 for my recollection)

Procrastination 2011

 This year we were a little behind the 8-ball on Halloween preparedness (I know, so unlike mama-Korah to let an opportunity to dress up go to waste!)... Tiago brought home a nasty bug and, subsequently, mommy and daddy were down for the count shortly thereafter...but, technically, we were all well on Halloween night...

 And, being as how this was the first Halloween that Tiago could be actively involved in, mommy felt a pang of guilt at about 5:00pm on the 31st (on the way to pick Tiago up from daycare).  A quick stop at the local Diddam's, turned out fortunate.  (Tiago LOVES the Cat In The Hat and happens to have a nearly too small set of flannel one-piece-pajamas.)  A Dr. Seus hat and a Don King wig proved to be just the necessary accessories to make our little guy squeal with delight (well, the wig resulted in more of a squeal of absolute refusal--but the hat was were it was at).  Check out our little "Thing 2" bellow:

 So mommy had thought the Dr. Seus hat would make a perfect "treat" bag, but because Tiago wanted to wear the hat, his costume ended up more of a Cat In The Hat/Thing 2 cross-breed...and Tiago ended up using a Nordstrom's shopping bag to put his treats in...

 Our little 2 year old mad-hatter (oops wrong cartoon) walked confidently up to our neighbors' doors along with the "big" kids (ok, these girls were probably only 4 years old)

And took all of about 20 minutes to go from knowing absolutely nothing of Halloween to running, singing and skipping, from door to door politely thrusting his bag into strangers' doorways saying, "trick or treat." 

(Note to self: son is extremely motivated by lavish attention followed by chocolate--then again, who isn't?!)

He didn't even have a single piece of candy that night, and he was running up and down the streets like a little hyperactive "Thing 2" reincarnate...

(Coya unknowingly went as a tiger--rrrroaaar!)

San Carlos Art and Wine Festival

Holy Moley--Has it been a month since the last post--already?!

This year, mommy was able to convince the guys that we should support our local community by attending the San Carlos Art and Wine festival.  It was like pulling teeth getting everyone out of the house but once we arrived Tiago was in heaven.  First of all, there was a car show.  Each car, received the same enthusiastic, "Ooooooh!" followed by a request to be hoisted up to take a peek inside

 Mommy and Tiago inspected each of the 30 or so vehicles while daddy searched for the best beer booth.  When he returned with drinks and treats, Tiago insisted that daddy take a look as well.

 One of the older vehicles (below) was impressive but the motor was not nearly loud (or startling) enough to keep Tiago's interest for more than a few seconds

 After purusing the various artists booths, we made our way over to the Reading Bug to check out Lisa Loeb's kiddi-concert.  But, apparently, we "dont listen hard or pay attention..." and we just "Missed" her performance.  BUT, she did "Stay" and we got to see her sign a few books.  As you can see (below) Tiago was more interested in playing with trains than meeting a 1990's one-hit wonder book-signing.

 Back out on the streets of San Carlos, we explored more community booths.  We visited the San Carlos Aviation Museum display.

 (Tiago was trying to give a thumbs up--still working on that concept)

 The sherrif's display was absolutely meaningless to Tiago, since he doesn't know what a gun is and the SWAT was not dressed in any sort of recognizable uniform.

 But, the firetrucks, "Oooooooh!"

 All in all, the art and wine festival was a welcomed diversion for a grumpy toddler who no longer naps for mommy or daddy!