Two videos

Fun at the Georgia Aquarium!


Eleanor loves handing us a pen and watching us write words, so we've been working on recognizing a few.

Licking the spoon

Eleanor got to lick the spoon after I made my pumpkin bars. (no raw egg) I think she enjoyed herself!

Christmas card preview

I had a pretty awesome coupon for Target portrait studios so I decided to have our Christmas cards made there. Total it cost about the same as what it would for me to try to get a cute picture on my own and then order them from Shutterfly or somewhere.

None of these pictures are on the actual card - they're just a little preview. The bow was an experiment, but I decided I really like Eleanor better without it. She's beautiful enough on her own.

More on Guatemala

As I mentioned in my other post, I really loved my time in Guatemala.  Hunter and I both agree that we liked it more than Costa Rica or Puerto Rico, and possibly even more than our honeymoon in Mexico.  Why?  I'm not totally sure.  Maybe it's because it was less commercialized, or maybe it's because this was our first trip without Eleanor since she was born and we were just excited to have so much freedom!

Guatemala is DEFINITELY a third world country.  There were quite a few times that we were out and couldn't find a bathroom that had running water so you could flush.  You have to throw your used toilet paper in a trash can instead of the toilet.  You can't drink the water anywhere.  (Our hotel did have filtered water available.)  There were mudslides in the country recently that took out huge portions of major roads, so we ended up having to drive on side dirt roads for short stretches and we even drove through a creek once.  This was definitely the poorest place we have visited.  BUT!  The people were so amazingly nice.  They were incredibly hard working.  In Costa Rica we got frustrated several times because everything was running so late, but that never happened at all in Guatemala.  I can't really describe it, but we just felt so much more comfortable in Guatemala.  It's not nearly as "American-ized" as other places we've visited, although we did see several American stores and fast food places around Guatemala City.

Here are some of the interesting things that I learned during our time there:

• Somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of the population is Mayan.  I had no idea it was that high!  This means that for the majority of the population, Spanish is their second language.  Very few people spoke English and I would not recommend traveling here if you don't have at least a basic command of Spanish.
• The literacy rate is only around 72%, and it can be as low as 8% in some Mayan villages.  Part of the reason it's so low is that, until recently, Guatemala's top two money makers were coffee and sugarcane.  Their school calendar is set up around harvest season for their former top money makers, two kinds of dye.  The school year starts in January, but January - March is harvest season for coffee, so parents kept their kids out of school for those months of the year...meaning the kids didn't learn to read.  There was an older lady sitting on the plane next to me on the flight down, and during the flight when we got our immigration forms to fill out, she passed her form and her passport off to a stranger so he could fill it out for her.  On the flight back, I noticed that the people in front of us took about 30 minutes to fill out the form that took me under a minute to complete.  Illiteracy and lack of education are real issues, even with people who have visas and can afford plane tickets.
• What are the top two sources of income in Guatemala today?  Number 1 is remittances from Guatemalans who now live in the US, legally or illegally, and send money back to their family.  One tour guide told us that if you go up in the mountains, you might see a really nice house in the middle of nowhere with the US flag painted on it because the money to build the house came from relatives in the US.  Or, you might see a really nice van with "Regalo de Dios" (gift from God) painted on it, but "Really it's a gift from his second cousin working in the US."  
• Source of income number 2 is tourism.  By the way, being a tourist in Guatemala is CHEAP!  We stayed in a nicer hotel that cost less than my recent stay at a Comfort Inn & Suites in the US, and we saw some basic places that offered hot water, cable, etc. for under $5/night per person.  I might be concerned about noise at some of those places, but I think they would definitely be safe and clean.  Our tour to the volcano was $8/person and that included a nice shuttle that was 2 hours each way and a 3 hour guided tour up the volcano and back.  A nice meal for both of us, including non-alcoholic drinks, was anywhere from $8-$30, depending on how fancy the restaurant was.  (You can't just order water for free since you can't drink the water.)
• Antigua, where we stayed, is the biggest tourist attraction in Guatemala.  Some tourists don't like it because it is "too touristy", but I didn't think it was nearly as bad as Costa Rica.  I actually felt like it was just right.  It was definitely the cleanest place I have been to in Latin America.  The city actually pays people to sweep the streets and clean up trash, and there's an expat who has a farm up in the mountains and she takes in all of the stray dogs from Antigua.  She has over 200 dogs!  
• Antigua is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It's cool because they have to keep all of the colonial charm in the city and they can't modernize it, but the rules are kind of extreme and don't allow for common sense.  Everything in the city has to be built in the same style they used in the 1700's.  Well, now they know that walls need to be really thick to withstand earthquakes, but they didn't build them thick enough in the 1700's.  Are they allowed to build the walls thicker today?  Nope, they have to be like they were in the 1700's, meaning that if there's another earthquake...  Well, it would not be good.  Still, I really appreciated how everything in the city looked.  It's so beautiful!

Guatemala!

Let me just say that I LOVE Guatemala. I have been to Peru, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and Puerto Rico...and Guatemala just might be my favorite. It's definitely up near the top, at least. I'll write another post with more on that, but I wanted this one to just be a summary of our trip, in pictures.

We stayed in Antigua, Guatemala, which was the colonial capital of most of central America.

The main square is really pretty at night, too.

The cathedral used to be huge and it had domes, but a large earthquake in 1773 destroyed that.

There's also an arch in the city.

We climbed/rode a horse up a volcano.
"Oooh, let's go this way!"

This is the lava field we had to hike across at the top of Volcan Pacaya.

Hiking across the lava field - occasionally we would feel bursts of heat coming out from below.

This is as close to the top as we were allowed to get.  That's a sunset, not an eruption.

The next day we went to Lake Atitlan, probably the most beautiful in the world.

We took a boat tour to three Mayan villages, and these sweet boys showed us around their town.

We saw Mayan women at the market.

We saw other people out on the lake.

We saw lots of Mayan people - who don't all speak Spanish, by the way - going on with their traditional way of life.

Answers

Here are the answers to my previous post:

2003 - Asheville, NC - Biltmore House in the picture

2004 - Miami and the Everglades

2005 - Atlanta, GA - GA Aquarium in the picture

2006 - Washington, D.C. - the Declaration of Independence in the picture

2007 - a cruise to Key West and Cozumel - Earnest Hemingway's house in Key West in the picture

Spring 2008 - Out West - Sequoia National Park in the picture

December 2008 - Costa Rica

2009 - Fort Lauderdale/Naples - the smallest post office in the US, located in Alligator Alley, in the picture

Anniversary Trip Picture Trivia!

When Hunter and I were first married, we came up with an anniversary tradition.  Instead of exchanging gifts, we take a trip every year and we take turns planning it.  The person who plans the trip A) keeps it a surprise and B) plans the trip with the other person's interests in mind.

We are preparing to embark on trip number 9 for our 8th anniversary, but first I thought it would be fun to see if you can figure out where we went in years past.  These are not necessarily my most beautiful pictures, but they all give a clue as to where we went.  Some are way more obvious than others.  Leave your answers in the comments!

If it helps, our anniversary is December 28, so we tend to migrate towards warmer places.  Also, Hunter planned the trips in odd years and I planned the trips in even years.

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

(the place where you find this was ONE destination...)

Spring 2008

(We thought we had a baby coming in November so we took our trip early.)

December 2008

(We decided to do another trip on our anniversary since we had such a crummy year.)

2009

Eleanor was with us for this one, but she won't be joining us this year.

Now, we're about to leave on our 2010 trip!  Since I'm no longer tied down to the school calendar and since travel is a fraction of the cost in mid-November than the week between Christmas and New Year's, we're taking our trip early.

Destination:  Antigua, Guatemala!

We're hoping to do this without killing ourselves:

and go on a boat tour (or perhaps kayaking...?) here:

Our weekend

Yesterday Eleanor and I went to a birthday party. All of the kids sat down to have cake, and Eleanor just sat at the little table like she had been sitting by herself at a table all her life.

I don't normally let her have sweets, but I figured why not. She thoroughly enjoyed herself.

This afternoon we went to a park so I could fly a kite for the first time ever!  That's one more item off my list of 101 goals.

Of course, this was a great photo op! Eleanor loved running around the big open field!

An Eleanor update

This is just a random little update about Eleanor's latest antics.

She LOVES to pretend to talk on the phone.  Anything is a phone - my phone, my ipod, a plastic bus, her hand, etc.  She holds it to her ear and babbles away.  Here she is talking on my ipod.  Be sure to notice her "I Voted" sticker that her daddy put on her!

She is very independent - most of the time - and loves to play on her own.  Her Legos, blocks, Little People, and books are her favorites.  Sometimes, though, I hear "Mama Mama Mama!" when she wants me to come play with her!

Our crazy early potty training seems to be working!  Today was the 10th day in a row that she has either peed or pooped in the potty at least once.  Most days there have been one success, but a couple of times she has even gone 2 or 3 times in a day.  About half the time she goes because I put her there at the correct time, but about half the time she lets me know when she needs to go.  Of course, we have had LOTS of false alarms!  For every one time she actually does something on the potty, we probably make at least 3 unsuccessful trips in there.  I'm learning a lot about patience!

Her newest words are "hot" and "cold" and I think she actually knows what they mean.  Today I gave her some avocado that came out of the fridge and she said, "Cold!"  It's kind of hard to teach her what hot is though, because I don't want to burn her!

She also knows the meaning of "touch" and "no touch."  I'm positive that she understands me when I say, "No touch," but she doesn't always obey!

She's walking a lot better now.  She'll walk on her own through the house and only crawls when she's frustrated or trying to get somewhere fast.  She prefers to hold my hand, but she can certainly do it on her own.

Eleanor loves to practice writing!  She's happily entertained with a capped marker or pen, but of course she prefers it when her writing utensil actually makes a mark.

Finally, here are some videos!

Waking up!

(She was already awake when I went in her room.)

Playing with Legos
(not blocks like the title says, oops)

And my personal favorite...

Tot School

I recently discovered this website and I have been so inspired!  It has SO many great ideas for things to do with preschool age kids!  (I'm sure it has lots of good things for older kids too since this mom homeschools her 3rd grander, but I haven't read that part.)  These are just simple Montessori type activities to encourage 1 to 3-year-olds to learn through play.  I really love her Tot Packs, but most of those are still a bit advanced for Eleanor.  I want to create some of the tot tray ideas that she has, and I'm starting to collect things I need.  If you live near me (or if I'm going to see you at some point over the holidays), I'd really appreciate it if you could help me by saving some of the following items:

• Plastic clear jars, like peanut butter jars, with their lids.  Big ones would be especially great!
• Large plastic clear bottles like Gatorade bottles.  (not average size water bottles)
• Plastic lids of all shapes, sizes, and colors!
• Tall Pringles cans (I don't need a ton of these, but a few would be nice.)

Other things I'm on the lookout for if you happen to have any extras:

• Beads of all shapes and sizes (I will always be supervising this)
• Small erasers
• Clothes pins, both large and small
• Clips
• Plastic tongs
• Shells
• Seasonal items, like stickers

My goal is to get this going on a daily or near daily basis by the beginning of December.  It's a little overwhelming at first, but I'm starting to form a plan and get some good ideas.  I'll be sure to post pictures and updates once we start our own little informal "Tot School."  And this is totally random, but if you're now interested in doing this too I just wanted to point out that there's this amazing laminating machine and these sheets for it.  Besides the initial cost of the machine ($32), it costs about 25 cents for every 8.5x11 sheet that you laminate.  That's not too bad!  I don't have one yet, but it's definitely a part of the eventual plan.