Lily Pad in Ecuador

Sunday, 16 June 2013

11 Month Birthday

Here is Lily waking up on a day close to her actually 11 month birthday ... all smiles in the morning

... and then we put on the sticker and asked "How old are you?" and she rolled her eyes "Seriously?"

"I'm THIS old!"

... and then we started playing with her two favorites stuffed friends

So, we are visiting all of our favorite spots in Ecuador one last time. We headed to Papallacta to relax in the thermal hot springs. We took a taxi door to door which was amazing, but Lily didn't really get her second nap in the car. When we arrived, we had to wait an hour or two for our room to be ready so we headed to the pools ... and forgot to bring the camera. Lily loved it and we met tons of gringos who came over because of Lily.

When we finally got into our room and fed Lily, it was about 4 o'clock. Lily went down for a late second nap and didn't wake up until 6:30am ... she must have been SUPEr tired. Here is a picture of her after waking up from her 14 hours of sleep.

Then the pools outside were a little too hot, so we filled up the private jacuzzi tub and Lily had a blast.

We continued the part outside but had too much fun to take any photos. It was also father's day, so the camera man headed to the spa for a nice deep tissue massage. All in all a perfect weekend getaway.

Day 337 (Ruby red slipper dancing)

Here is Lily smiling for the camera ... when ... all of a sudden ...

"What are those?"

Ruby red slippers! Perfect for dancing!

Dat 336

Here is Lily waking up in the morning with a ton of happy energy as usual. She followed us into the kitchen pretty excitedly.

Then I had to get a picture of mother and daughter before mom went away for only her second night without Lily. She went to Mindo with her fifth graders overnight (cloud forest).

... and this is SUPER cute of Lily playing peek-a-boo with dad and the camera over mom's shoulder

Then dad and baby were home alone. I tried to get her 11 month photos, but she immediately began pulling the crinkly sounding sticker off of her chest, lol. So instead we just played around.

... as you can tell, she was having fun ... blinking and smiling at the same time is hard

Monday, 10 June 2013

Day 331 (Secret Garden)

Secret Garden

This weekend we start our first trip of three planned final getaways. We start at the one new place, a hostel at the base of Cotopaxi volcano. It is like the Mt. Fuji of Ecuador in that it is the beautiful triangular, photogenic snow-capped mountain. The hostel is eco-friendly and out in the middle of nowhere. On the ride up, Lauren said "Look! Stars! I haven't seen stars in two years."

Here was our view of Cotopaxi partly clouded over

... and our short hike

Then back to the hostel to check out some animal friends

... and we can't forget the craziest animals of all, our friends Pat and Kieran!

... then off for a nice picnic in the rolling glass hills

... and you can't help but take a few extra shots of Lily. The funny thing is that she loves being outside and seeing all the places, but doesn't yet really like the feel of grass. So when you sit her down she stays there. She tests the grass with her hand and then decides she is completely happy where she is, and continues to play by herself happy as can be.