Good Morning!

Feliz Cumpleaños, E.!

E. turns 10 years old today! This afternoon, we got all of the boys and girls together to celebrate. I brought a few of our boys from the baby house over, and Jennifer and Jake came over with their family, too. Danyelle was also there so we had quite a crowd! 

Most of the afternoon was spent running around the house which is always fun. I know Edgar really loved being able to spend time with Jen and Jake's boys, and my little ones always like playing with the big kids. We put in a movie for a bit too as we set up for the party. We had cake, jello, and soda… quite a feast if you ask me! 

As an aside, Matias moved over to House 2 earlier this week and since I still haven't blogged about it… We were all excited to see him and hear how great he's doing with the big boys! He already seems so much older and is just so happy to be with them. So not only did we have a fun afternoon celebrating E.'s birthday but also a fun afternoon catching up with our baby house graduate! 

Chau for Now, Sarah and Daniel!

This morning we said adios to Sarah and Daniel, two volunteers from Northern Ireland who have been here for the past six months. Not only were they great volunteers but they were also great friends to all of us! I know (and I'm sure I can speak for the kids too) I'll miss our Saturday afternoon outings, impromptu Globos trips, and their baby house visits. Sarah, and maybe Dan as well, will be back in Cochabamba in July so we don't have to wait too long to see her again! 

Although I brought a camera to the airport, this is the only picture I managed to take. They brought E. and Baby A. along, and E. insisted on carrying one of their carry-on bags. He has made unbelievable progress with Sarah and Dan's constant work with him, and they definitely have a special bond. When I took him back to House 2 after leaving the airport, the first place he went was into Sarah's room to look for her. When he saw that it was empty, he came back out saying "Tía? Tía?" The poor thing was so confused!

Sarah and Dan, safe travels and come back soon!

Carnaval

This weekend, Bolivia celebrated Carnaval. It's a big celebration all over Bolivia, especially in Oruro. In Cochabamba, I've seen parades and all of the elementary schools celebrate. In the days leading up to Carnaval, you better be careful going out because you're likely to get hit with water balloons and/or foam. Kids love this holiday! 

I was sprayed with water much more last year than this year and didn't notice much water in the streets this year. Some of the tías have told me that it's because there is a shortage of water this year so playing with water balloons and water guns has been banned in some areas. 

Today after church, we had a going away party for Sarah and Daniel, and then the kids got to celebrate Carnaval at house 2. We didn't have water balloons, but Sarah and I bought the toddlers water guns and the big kids used buckets and whatever else they could find to throw water on each other. Most of us stayed out of the line of fire while they played but by the end, we were all soaked! The toddlers loved spraying the water guns and acted surprisingly okay with being sprayed too. The only time they cried was when they got hit with buckets of water!

I would have liked to have taken more pictures but with so much water being thrown everywhere, I was nervous to have my camera and phone outside too much!

Rudi bought ice cream for everyone. It's not a treat our babies usually enjoy, and L. loved his! 

R. had fun playing in the water before the big kids threw a bucket of it on her. 

…and the celebrations begin!

The Boohers' kids, especially Myles and Clancy, had a great time soaking the big kids!

On a mission…

…to soak E.! It's hard to see him but he tried hiding in the playset.

 B. was so busy throwing water on the other kids that he didn't realize his pants had fallen down!

Sarah and I bought water guns for the little ones to use!

 Sitting in the safe zone before they managed to get wet too!

Nobody was safe from the water!

Emily teaching S. and N. how to use their water guns.

 After the tías put an end to the water play, we had to wrangle the kids up for a group picture. We'd actually planned on taking the picture before everyone was wet, but some of the kids managed to soak others while we were waiting on everyone to come outside. 

Casa de Amor Volunteers!

 C. acting like she actually enjoyed having water thrown on her… She wasn't a fan!

After everyone was thoroughly soaked, we sent them all inside to change and put on a movie so we could clean up the house.

We tried to make the babies rest and they wanted none of it.

Brother and sister asleep on the way home.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Día de Amor (Day of Love) isn't celebrated in Bolivia until September, but we celebrated the American holiday today! Bolivians in general do not eat many sweet foods, and our kids are no exception. When we have cake or ice cream, although they like it for a few bites, none are huge fans. That didn't stop me from giving them sweets today though! They had a special snack of a PilFrut (a juice pouch) and these cute little dinosaur-shaped chocolates that I found at a chocolate store in the city. Then, after dinner, they got to try Fun Dip for the first time! It was much more sour than I was expecting so we were hoping to get some funny faces from them… They barely reacted though! They all LOVED the Fun Dip and wanted seconds. Although we didn't give the babies their own pack, we did let them try ours, even Baby Benjo (who has now tried ice cream, cake frosting, and Fun Dip)! Benjo did make a couple of silly faces but I wasn't able to get any of them on camera. 

We hope your Valentine's Day was filled with as much love (and candy!) as ours was!