The rest of Peru

Well I survived the Anniversary party! Ha! Lucy went to bed around midnight and I fell into bed at 2am. It was a an amazing party! We started out that Friday evening going to church. Then we came home to get ready for the party. People started arriving around 9pm and lastly the happy couple that had been married for 40 yrs. A mariachi band even came to sing! The food was delicious. I tried sheep lung and cow stomach. The alcohol flowed freely and I had my first pisco sour. It is made with fresh lime juice, egg white and pisco. Pisco is a kind of like brandy and it is made here in Peru.

We all managed to wake up, pack up and drive to Ica (wine country) which is approximately 5 hrs South of Lima. We stayed at the Hotel Carmelo. It is a beautiful old hotel where they also make wine. We woke up early and drove to a little oasis in the middle of the desert to take a dune buggy ride. Oh my God! Talk about scary and fun all at the same time. When I was sure that Lucy wasn't going to fly out of her seat, I actually enjoyed it:) Talk about primal scream therapy. She kept pushing my hand off her leg and smiling ear to ear. My adventurer! Love it! Anyway, we stopped for a while and the driver started waxing up this snowboard...hmmm....Lucy even got into the act. As I was taking another turn, laying down on my belly to slide down the hill, Lucy jumped on my back! I hung onto her arms and away we went! She is definitely an adrenaline junkie. We got to the bottom of the hill and she said, "Otra vez Momma! Otra vez! Again Momma! Again!

I needed a drink after that so we drove to Tacama where they make wine and pisco. It is the oldest vineyard in Peru, spanning 4 generations. The tasting room was my favorite part;) On a side note, all that amazing Chilean wine? Grapes grown in Peru and bottled in Chile. The Peruvians aren't happy about it either!

Then is was off to Paracus to see the Sea Lions. Unfortunately we missed the last boat by the time we arrived. Oh well. Lucy and I were exhausted and it was only 230pm. So we decided to have lunch there by the ocean. I LOVE ceviche!

It was nice to come back to the hotel so my little fishy could relax, swim her brains out and go to bed.

By this time it is now Monday, my BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! Victoria agreed to watch Lucy for me so I could go see the Nazca lines. Myself and another couple staying at the hotel hired a driver, Hector, to take us to the airport to see the lines, the aquaducts, museum, lunch and then back to the hotel. It was an early morning without coffee:( But a few Inca colas and I was good as new. The Nazca are an ancient tribe of people that lived in this area a LONG time ago. They made the lines and the aqueducts. No one really knows what the lines are for. There was a German woman Maria Reiche that spent her life studying the lines. The aqueducts were fantastic! The Nazca people built the aqueducts to filter and irrigate water that flowed down the mountain. This area has many earthquakes and the aqueducts are still intact AND working! They still collect and filter water! Feel free to google for more info. I still need to read the book I bought about it and don't want to give you the wrong info and sound like an idiot.

OK so now Lucy and I need a rest from this fast paced vacation so we hired a taxi back toward Lima to the town of Asia (Ah-see-ah) which is a really nice resort area right on the beach. We stayed at the Aquavict resort and basicly had the place to ourselves! The perfect place to rest, swim, eat and rest and eat some more! Lucy and Victoria's boys swam in the Pacific ocean but loved the sand more. Notice the picture:)

Whew! The last few days of the trip were spent doing laundry, souvenir shopping and packing.

It was the trip of a lifetime! Victoria's family is terrific! They took great care of us. We were able to see so much of Peru in a short time. I feel like a part of their family now. Thanks Victoria for a wonderful vacation.

Smooch
PK

Enjoy the pictures!

Estamos en PERUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We arrived on Tuesday around 11pm. I think we got to bed around 2am. We were up for almost 24 hrs straight. Lucy was a total champ! What a great traveler. She must have my Dad's wanderlust;)

We did have a 5 hr layover in Miami but managed to get some lunch, go outside for a bit and watch a movie. It was so helpful that we were all together, Victoria and her twin boys Jacob and David (age 2) David and Lucy are big buddies. It was about 5 hrs from Miami to Lima.

Wednesday we slept in thank goodness. When I woke up it felt like I was home. Peru is very similar to Colombia to me anyway. I couldn't wait to get out and see everything. Victoria's nieces watched the kids and we went to Mira Flores to change dollars into Neuvo Sols, shop and sightseeing. We went to Parque Kennedy and the ocean. Later that evening after the kids went to bed, Gabrial, Victoria's brother in law took us to Paseo de Aguas. It was incredible! They have a water show with many different colors and pictures imposed onto the water. There are also many different kinds of fountains. One in particular is very popular. If you are very careful you can jump in when the water goes down and not get wet.

Yesterday we went to la Catedral. This church is huge! It takes up almost a whole city block. We also were lucky enough to see the changing of the guard at the presidential palace. Very cool!

We're staying at Victoria's sister and brother in law's house. They are throwing an anniversery party. All of the furniture is piled in the office. There has been a ton of preparation for this. I think I'll need more coffee and my Spanish dictionary to make it through! Should be fun. I'm sure they will love to see the gringa dancing:)

Tomorrow They are taking us to Huaracus I think, near the beach. There's supposed to be sea lions, peguins etc. At least what I can make out in my limited Spanish. We will stay there for a few days and come back on Tues I think. We will find a hotel and relax for some much needed R & R.


Enjoy the photos!

PK

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I had good intentions of getting out an actual Christmas letter out this year but it seems I'm here doing an online one instead again. Lucy is into wearing princess dresses and tutus these days with black patent leather shoes. She has quite the look going on. Unfortunately the battery died when she broke out the best ensemble. But I'm sure there will be more where that came from though;)

Christmas was sooo fun this year. Kurt was on vacation for two weeks. It was so nice to have him home! We decorated the Christmas tree together, made Christmas cookies, shoveled a lot of snow, went sledding and made a snowman. The weather was lousy which forced us to take it easy at home. Kinda relaxing. We were home Christmas Eve. Kurt, Lucy and I woke up Christmas morning and opened presents together as a family. Lucy was in her glory! Then we went to grandma and grandpa's house to celebrate and spend the night. It was a really great Christmas spent with family and friends.

Lucy was in dance class this fall. She loved it and can't wait until March when class starts again. They even had a show. She's been shasaying around the house ever since. She even broke out some dance moves at Grandma Jane's 90 birthday party in Chicago. It was a big hit.

Lucy is my little fishy. She loves to be in the water. We enrolled her in swimming class which she enjoyed thoroughly. I have the wet clothes to prove it. Let's just say that Miss Lucy has a hard time getting out of the pool when class is over. There is a little protesting and splashing. She never wants the party to end. At least I don't have to carry her out of places anymore under my arm like a football to keep the thrashing around to a minimum.

Lucy and I are going to Peru on Tuesday! My friend Victoria (Peruvian)and her twin boys are going home for a visit and were kind enough to invite us to come along. Kurt and I talked it over and decided we just couldn't pass it up. We seem to be on the cusp of getting a referral but this trip will be the opportunity of a lifetime especially for Lucy. Our life has been on hold for 27 mos now, just waiting for "the call". We don't dare make any big plans for fear we'd have to cancel them. I did call our SW to let her know that we'd be out of the country. Did I detect a smidge of nervousness or maybe I'm over-analyzing again... "Please make sure you're reachable should you get a referral." Whatever that means. Time to live in the present. So we decided to go for it. Kurt will stay home in order to save his vacation time for our Colombia trip. We'll be staying in Lima most of the time with her family with some day trips.Maybe an overnight or two by the beach. I will try to post some pics and blog here and on facebook.

Smooch
PK

Fall 09

I know. I know. I'm a little behind on posting. And I'm doing so reluctantly today. I really thought my next post would be "WE GOT OUR REFERRAL!!!!!!" But that doesn't seem to be the case obviously so life goes on. It's been a real nail biter this time around though. Maybe that has something to do with the TWENTY SIX month wait. Sigh...

October and November flip flopped this year. Snow in October? What gives? This is the Midwest however so anything is possible. Lucy is potty trained! She was finally willing to cooperate which is kinda helpful. Up until this point she screamed anytime we suggested it or tried to put her on the toilet. Nevermind that she's consistently woken up from overnight and naps dry, could tell me when she was wet and change her own pullup. Girlfriend's got her own time table I guess. I just didn't want to go back to Colombia and get a bunch of flack for not having her trained yet. Whew!

Lucy had a great Halloween this year. We had a lot of fun going to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch. I have 4 pies in my freezer to prove it:)

We also took a trip to see my side of the family recently. Solomon was baptized and I have the honor of being his Godmother. We went to the Milwaukee zoo. Awesome! It's always so heart warming to see the cousins together.

Kurt's grandma turned 90 so we went to Chicago as well. We had a fantastic time. Gotta love Lou Malnotti's pizza:)

Smooch
PK

Moving on up

We received a call in September from our agency stating that los Pisingos requested we update some of our documents. We're just waiting on 2 more forms and then we can send them off. In the meantime, the home study needs to be updated as well so our social worker came over this morning. During our meeting the international adoption coordinator called to let us know that they received our acceptance letter from LP. Last time around we waited about 4-5 months before we got our referral for Lucy. But I heard from another family that they got their letter and then their referral ONE WEEK LATER!!!!! Can you believe it? After this TWO YEAR wait we could possibly be toward the end of this crazy ride? I can hardly get my brain wrapped around it. Imagine that our little son or daughter is already on this planet and waiting for us... That is a very nice thought:)

Smooch
PK

Family Reunion

We have our family reunion on my mom's side every 2 years. Each family member's children take a turn planning and it was our year to host. It is always so fun to see everyone. I wish it was a week instead of just a weekend. There's never enough time to pack it all in. There are only my two Auntie's left. So our reunions seem to take on an extra special feel these days. We all get nostalgic, looking at pictures, chatting about old times and my Mom's gifted abilities in the kitchen. Boy could she cook!

Since the picnic was at a state park, Kurt and I decided to camp there as well. Can I just say that LC is a master camper? I'm just so proud of her! Now if we can just get her potty trained, we could go to BWCA! Ha! Her cousins Max, Ben and their Dad also camped with us.

It was an action packed very fun weekend!

Smooch
PK

The Great Get Together

Wow! We had a great time at the fair this year. I've decided this is the one day that LC can eat whatever she wants (within reason of course. We don't want any projectile vomiting!) We arrived around 930AM and warmed up the taste buds with cheese curds and vanilla milk shakes. Yum!

Lucy really enjoyed the animal barns again this year, especially the Miracle of Birth bldg and the horses. Can you say I really want a pony momma?

We also went to the kiddie ride area which turned out to be a big mistake as LC was only 33 inches and kids had to be 36 to get on most of them. She was only able to do about 3 rides. She also refused to get off the rides when they were done! She totally melted down of course and I had to drag her across the street and just let her buck. This is one spicy little girl! At one point she was rolling around on the patio brick screaming when a guy came out of the landscape display building to try to give her candy! Luckily I intervened, thanked him for the treat and assured him (and LC) that I would be happy to give it to her when she calmed down. It was totally my fault, a full day at the fair with no nap. Not to mention the horrible predujice of the vertically challanged in kiddie playland!

Smooch
PK