On the way there we saw some guanaco. They looked just like llamas. My dad wanted to see how friendly they were.
Here we are waiting to board our boat.
A really cool looking star fish
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Punta Choros
Punta Choros is a tiny little coastal town about an hour north of La Serena. The drive was interesting! We drove for about 30 minutes on the highway and then another 30 minutes on a dirt road out to the town of Punta Choros.
On the way there we saw some guanaco. They looked just like llamas. My dad wanted to see how friendly they were.
Once you arrive in the little town of Punta Choros you board a local fishing boat and the captain takes you out to some islands where there are penguins and tons of other sea wildlife. It was AMAZING! I would highly recommend this trip to anybody! We did arrive early- 9am and we were the first boat out. I think this was a good time. The animals were out for breakfast.
Here we are waiting to board our boat.
And we wondered how they were going to get the boat in the water. All the guys in the town who were awake came over to push the boat down into the water.
At 9 in the morning it was pretty chilly outside. We were so glad we all brought something warm to wear.
And then the fun began! We were right in the middle of hundreds of sea lions and dolphins swimming around us. It was awesome!
And then we got our first sight of the penguins!
They are kindof hard to see but they were everywhere.
A really cool looking star fish
And some darling sea lions
On the way there we saw some guanaco. They looked just like llamas. My dad wanted to see how friendly they were.
Here we are waiting to board our boat.
A really cool looking star fish
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Christmas Break 2012
We finally got Geoff to take a break. My parents came for the Christmas break. They arrived December 26th.
On Christmas day we had a little breakfast, skipped the presents and hit the road for Santiago. We were hoping to have a nice dinner that night in Santiago. We had high hopes that there would be a restaurant open that night. There were a couple.
At 9:30 the next morning my parents arrived and the fun began.
We took them out to see Coquimbo. Here is a photo of one of the streets in Coquimbo. This is a winding walkway up to the houses at the top.
We went to the cross in Coquimbo with my parents. Here is a photo of them at the top of the hill.
We couldn't get the photo at the right time. We all have funny hair.
Here is one with the wind to our faces.
We are a rough looking bunch but look at that beautiful scenery behind us! That is the coast of Coquimbo on top of the hill with the big cross.
On Christmas day we had a little breakfast, skipped the presents and hit the road for Santiago. We were hoping to have a nice dinner that night in Santiago. We had high hopes that there would be a restaurant open that night. There were a couple.
At 9:30 the next morning my parents arrived and the fun began.
We took them out to see Coquimbo. Here is a photo of one of the streets in Coquimbo. This is a winding walkway up to the houses at the top.
We couldn't get the photo at the right time. We all have funny hair.
Monday, January 28, 2013
One more move!
December 15th was our last move day. We left the beautiful beach condo to a lovely house out in the country. We were very pleasantly surprised at the price for the size of property. We searched for quite a while and saw more properties than I can count! We were trying to work within a budget, find something that feels safe, is comfortable, and near the kids friends and our church community. It is very comfortable, the yards are beautiful and it has a pool. It is in a gated community which makes me feel much safer while Geoff is still traveling and leaving home a lot.
It is missing some niceties including furniture! We took some advice from somebody living in La Serena who said that we ought to look for unfurnished houses because they are much cheaper and furniture was cheap. We decided that we didn't need much furniture anyway and this was probably our best option.
So we did find one of the least expensive properties with many more amenities and niceties than any other property we found and finalized a contract.
Here are some photos of the house. The front door is in there somewhere.
You can imagine how fun it was trying to furnish this home in the middle of all the crazy Christmas shoppers!
We are bargain shoppers so of course we couldn't just go to the first store and buy beds and such. After searching through many stores we were a little frustrated to learn that furniture was NOT cheap and a little difficult to find. Very frustrating!
Geoff found beds for the kids. And we found bedding for ourselves. Well, we settled on bedding. I am going to be just fine on an air mattress until April but I'm not sure Geoff is sold on the idea. It was cheap, and to be honest, similar (haha) to our sleep number bed we have at home, right? Those are air mattresses also....pretty much. After buying beds for the kids, a microwave and other kitchen utensils and necessities the budget was spent! We just couldn't afford to buy another bed! They are so darn expensive! I'm not a high maintenance kind of girl but buying a used mattress sounded kind of gross. This will work just fine! .....still trying to convince Geoff of that.
Here is a photo of our bed. You would never know there is an air mattress under those blankets! The camping chair is our end table.
There are ants EVERYWHERE!
Here is a photo of an ant pile we swept up in our bedroom.
We all wake in the middle of the night with ants crawling on us. We have cans of ant spray everywhere including the bathroom. It makes a certain person really mad when he (Wes) mistakenly picks up the can of ant spray and starts using it like hair spray.
I woke up a while ago and said, "dear, this feels like we are camping!" I don't know if it was the ants on me or the air mattress. Could've been the clothes out hanging on the line on the porch. BUT you know what!!! I have a dish washer and that's a TREAT! This may be one of the largest kitchens in all of La Serena too.
It has no dryer- a convenience that I already miss! So our porch ALWAYS has clothes out on the lines we strung up. I did say we are a little (lot) red neck, right?
The yard is beautiful and peaceful and it has a pool for the kids to enjoy. It is beautiful and comfortable- mostly.
Here is a photo of my favorite corner. These are my most favorite flower ever!
We brought in the ping pong table that was outside and we use it for our dining table. It works out great. It's large enough that all the kids are able to get their computers around it for school.
I kindof miss snuggling up into a cozy couch and turning on the tv to just sit and veg. We don't have either- a comfy couch or a tv!
The internet is so darn frustrating!!! I've got to get 4 kids on the internet everyday doing school work. Internet doesn't work throughout the house and it gets extremely slow with all of us on it. That's also a little frustrating. So to do the blog I have to pick a time when nobody else is on the internet or it takes FOREVER!
Ok- it sounds like I am complaining- I am about just a few things. Overall we are happy to be where we are and we are loving the yard and pool. All is well! All is good! This is an adventure we will remember forever!
It is missing some niceties including furniture! We took some advice from somebody living in La Serena who said that we ought to look for unfurnished houses because they are much cheaper and furniture was cheap. We decided that we didn't need much furniture anyway and this was probably our best option.
So we did find one of the least expensive properties with many more amenities and niceties than any other property we found and finalized a contract.
Here are some photos of the house. The front door is in there somewhere.
You can imagine how fun it was trying to furnish this home in the middle of all the crazy Christmas shoppers!
We are bargain shoppers so of course we couldn't just go to the first store and buy beds and such. After searching through many stores we were a little frustrated to learn that furniture was NOT cheap and a little difficult to find. Very frustrating!
Geoff found beds for the kids. And we found bedding for ourselves. Well, we settled on bedding. I am going to be just fine on an air mattress until April but I'm not sure Geoff is sold on the idea. It was cheap, and to be honest, similar (haha) to our sleep number bed we have at home, right? Those are air mattresses also....pretty much. After buying beds for the kids, a microwave and other kitchen utensils and necessities the budget was spent! We just couldn't afford to buy another bed! They are so darn expensive! I'm not a high maintenance kind of girl but buying a used mattress sounded kind of gross. This will work just fine! .....still trying to convince Geoff of that.
Here is a photo of our bed. You would never know there is an air mattress under those blankets! The camping chair is our end table.
There are ants EVERYWHERE!
Here is a photo of an ant pile we swept up in our bedroom.
We all wake in the middle of the night with ants crawling on us. We have cans of ant spray everywhere including the bathroom. It makes a certain person really mad when he (Wes) mistakenly picks up the can of ant spray and starts using it like hair spray.
I woke up a while ago and said, "dear, this feels like we are camping!" I don't know if it was the ants on me or the air mattress. Could've been the clothes out hanging on the line on the porch. BUT you know what!!! I have a dish washer and that's a TREAT! This may be one of the largest kitchens in all of La Serena too.
It has no dryer- a convenience that I already miss! So our porch ALWAYS has clothes out on the lines we strung up. I did say we are a little (lot) red neck, right?
Here is a photo of my favorite corner. These are my most favorite flower ever!
The internet is so darn frustrating!!! I've got to get 4 kids on the internet everyday doing school work. Internet doesn't work throughout the house and it gets extremely slow with all of us on it. That's also a little frustrating. So to do the blog I have to pick a time when nobody else is on the internet or it takes FOREVER!
Ok- it sounds like I am complaining- I am about just a few things. Overall we are happy to be where we are and we are loving the yard and pool. All is well! All is good! This is an adventure we will remember forever!
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Grandpa Bill
On January 19th Geoff's grandpa passed away. We love him and will miss him like crazy!
He was such a fun grandpa! One of my favorite memories of him is being with Grandpa Bill and Grandma Jeanie in Puerto Vallarta. It was just me and Geoff and the 2 of them. We hung out in their timeshare right on the beach. I taught Grandpa Bill how to play Sudoku and he spent hours sitting by the pool in a lounge chair trying to figure out that game!
He made me feel part of the family right away. And talk about talent!!! Wow! If I had lived closer to Vancouver Canada where he lived I would have had him give me art lessons. He was an amazing artist.
Around Christmas time he went into the hospital. We all knew it would be a short time before he passed away. We are all so thankful that we had the opportunity to call him. Each of us had a chance to talk with him and say our goodbyes. We are all sad that we aren't closer so we can attend the funeral but he knows we would be there if we could. He also knows we love him.
His last words to Geoff were "It's been a fun ride but it's time to get off".
Man we will miss him! We love you Grandpa Bill!!!
He was such a fun grandpa! One of my favorite memories of him is being with Grandpa Bill and Grandma Jeanie in Puerto Vallarta. It was just me and Geoff and the 2 of them. We hung out in their timeshare right on the beach. I taught Grandpa Bill how to play Sudoku and he spent hours sitting by the pool in a lounge chair trying to figure out that game!
He made me feel part of the family right away. And talk about talent!!! Wow! If I had lived closer to Vancouver Canada where he lived I would have had him give me art lessons. He was an amazing artist.
Around Christmas time he went into the hospital. We all knew it would be a short time before he passed away. We are all so thankful that we had the opportunity to call him. Each of us had a chance to talk with him and say our goodbyes. We are all sad that we aren't closer so we can attend the funeral but he knows we would be there if we could. He also knows we love him.
His last words to Geoff were "It's been a fun ride but it's time to get off".
Man we will miss him! We love you Grandpa Bill!!!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Things that make me nervous
We had to leave Chile. We had been here for 90 days and their law states that we have to leave and re-enter. So we headed to Argentina. I will post more about the trip later. I HAD to post these things before I forget about them. Too funny.
#1
So after Geoff and I had done all the research on the airfare we settled on a flight. I was doing the booking and had the confirm page loaded. It was the page with the "pay now" button on the bottom of the page. I read through the itinerary and was about to give my ok and push the "pay now" button when I read the sentence just above that button. It said, "after we check your blood press "pay now". No! I'm not kidding! It was funny. Clearly something went awry with the google translate!
#2
Ok- so I pushed "pay now" and we were on our way. You have all read here, on this blog, that the Chileans are late. They are just late people. They stay up late, they wake up late, church starts late, appointments are late, etc. etc. We had to take a 5:30 am ride in the transfer van to get to the airport in Santiago to catch our flight to Argentina. Surprisingly our taxi driver was on time! We began driving. Geoff was in the front seat with the driver and me and the kids were in the back. Ash and I could see the driver through the rear view mirror. Ash leaned over and said, "mom, I think our driver is falling asleep". I said, "no he's not". But curiosity got the better of me so I got a better look at this driver and sure enough he was falling asleep!!! 5:30am was just too early for this Chilean taxi driver and he was napping on the job! He would doze and head over into the other lane and wake up. He kept doing this and making us more and more nervous so I told Geoff he better start talking to the driver which he did and seemed to keep the driver awake. Not 2 minutes later- I'm not joking- just 2 cars in front of us another taxi car spun out of control. We had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. When we drove past the spun-out car we all looked over and there was nobody in the car but the driver. Ok- my huge guess is that the driver fell asleep and lost control of the car.
#3
So we get all snuggled into the airplane and we are taxing down the runway listening to the announcer make their safety announcements. They do it in Spanish and then say the same things in English. At the end of the English announcement she says, "we want to make this flight as convertible as possible". Geoff looked at me and said something like...."wow. After all my flying I have never been on a convertible flight" and I was thinking.....darn I wish I hadn't done my hair today!
#4
Ok- one more. On the return trip back to Santiago from Argentina we got into the hotel pretty late. It was 1am before we got into bed. The hotel we booked did NOT have A/C. It was a toasty warm night and the windows had to be opened. At 7:30am the next morning there was construction going on right outside our window. What cracked me up was them blaring their sappy English love songs like "I'm almost over you" I think it is a 1970's song. And then there was, "you're once, twice, three times a lady" and "My Love". Then the jack hammer started. Maybe it's just me but Chilean construction workers listening to sappy English love songs and classical music??? What's not right here?
#1
So after Geoff and I had done all the research on the airfare we settled on a flight. I was doing the booking and had the confirm page loaded. It was the page with the "pay now" button on the bottom of the page. I read through the itinerary and was about to give my ok and push the "pay now" button when I read the sentence just above that button. It said, "after we check your blood press "pay now". No! I'm not kidding! It was funny. Clearly something went awry with the google translate!
#2
Ok- so I pushed "pay now" and we were on our way. You have all read here, on this blog, that the Chileans are late. They are just late people. They stay up late, they wake up late, church starts late, appointments are late, etc. etc. We had to take a 5:30 am ride in the transfer van to get to the airport in Santiago to catch our flight to Argentina. Surprisingly our taxi driver was on time! We began driving. Geoff was in the front seat with the driver and me and the kids were in the back. Ash and I could see the driver through the rear view mirror. Ash leaned over and said, "mom, I think our driver is falling asleep". I said, "no he's not". But curiosity got the better of me so I got a better look at this driver and sure enough he was falling asleep!!! 5:30am was just too early for this Chilean taxi driver and he was napping on the job! He would doze and head over into the other lane and wake up. He kept doing this and making us more and more nervous so I told Geoff he better start talking to the driver which he did and seemed to keep the driver awake. Not 2 minutes later- I'm not joking- just 2 cars in front of us another taxi car spun out of control. We had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. When we drove past the spun-out car we all looked over and there was nobody in the car but the driver. Ok- my huge guess is that the driver fell asleep and lost control of the car.
#3
So we get all snuggled into the airplane and we are taxing down the runway listening to the announcer make their safety announcements. They do it in Spanish and then say the same things in English. At the end of the English announcement she says, "we want to make this flight as convertible as possible". Geoff looked at me and said something like...."wow. After all my flying I have never been on a convertible flight" and I was thinking.....darn I wish I hadn't done my hair today!
#4
Ok- one more. On the return trip back to Santiago from Argentina we got into the hotel pretty late. It was 1am before we got into bed. The hotel we booked did NOT have A/C. It was a toasty warm night and the windows had to be opened. At 7:30am the next morning there was construction going on right outside our window. What cracked me up was them blaring their sappy English love songs like "I'm almost over you" I think it is a 1970's song. And then there was, "you're once, twice, three times a lady" and "My Love". Then the jack hammer started. Maybe it's just me but Chilean construction workers listening to sappy English love songs and classical music??? What's not right here?
Monday, January 14, 2013
Just the girls
My parents came for the Christmas break. We loved it! I don't know where the time went. Well, yes I do. We saw as much as possible in the short time they were here. We had been driving one day and stopped to rest in the shade of a beautiful little park and took some photos. I couldn't believe how much my mom and Ash look alike!
My mom and Ash
Me and Ash
All 3 of us
My mom and Ash
Me and Ash
All 3 of us
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