When the Cat's Away...

While we were doing this last week, the girls were at home in Santiago with Nana and Grampa.  It wasn't the first time we had left the girls with them but it was for the longest stretch of time.  We had never been gone more than 5 days and we had never been gone over the weekend.  And this time we were going to be gone two weekends.  In a row.  Ten full days.  In kid time that is an eternity.  I was a bit worried about how the girls would react.  Worried if they would behave.  Worried if they would drive Nana and Grampa to distraction.  Worried that they would cry, whine and miss us so much that they wouldn't enjoy the experience of having their grandparents all to themselves, to spoil them rotten, for 10 days.

I needn't have worried.

Now, I can't say exactly what they did, or how they behaved, or if they even missed us.  I wasn't here after all.  All I have is their word that they were good and a few pictures that Grampa took during their adventures.  I have heard the story of them going to McD's, Dunkin Donuts and then for Cotton Candy, all in one afternoon, more than once.  I learned that Stinkerbell likes tea and MadHatter really doesn't.  I have evidence that they went to the park, walked the dog and visited a new zoo.  But most of all, I had two very happy little girls to come home to.  Little girls that couldn't stop talking about their adventures and their time with their grandparents.

I know how lucky I am to have parents that have the means and the ability to take the time out of their lives for three weeks and basically move in to my house.  And I know how blessed the girls are to have grandparents that will readily drop everything in their lives to spend time with them.  They aren't old enough yet to understand how special that is.  But I do.

Thanks Nana and Grampa.  Big thanks.  You just left a couple of hours ago and the girls are already asking when you will be back.

Caribbean Cruisin'

This is what I did last week...

While doing this...

 But it wasn't all fun and relaxation because I also did this...

All while on board this...

The WORLD'S largest cruise ship (and it was HUGE)

Boardwalk with carousel, restaurants, and water theater.

Central Park (yep, an outdoor park on the inside of the boat!)

 I ate a lot of food here...

Here...

and Here...

 So, I spent a bit of time here...(great view though, huh?)

 And ate a few of these...(again, that view)

 So, that I didn't morph from this...

to this...

to this...

Not a  bad way to spend a week.

And all thanks to B's company.

Big Thanks.  Big Fun.  Big Memories.

(And a special thanks to Nana and Grampa for coming all the way to Chile to watch the girls while we were doing all of this fun stuff!)

 

See you real soon...

In a couple of hours I leave for the airport.  I am packed, dressed and ready to go.  At least physically.  Mentally is another thing all together.  See, I am leaving the little's behind.  Not something I do often (3 times in 5 years).  Not something I do easily.  And this time I am not only leaving them, I am heading to another country and I am going to be gone for 10 days.  10 days!  I have never been away from them for that long and never really thought I would...

Yes, I know, they are in great hands.  They have Nana and Grampa here to spoil them rotten.  By tomorrow they probably won't even remember why they thought they would miss me.  They will be having so much fun it will all be "Mom who"?  I, on the other hand, will be all out of sorts.  I will be watching other little girls wistfully, wishing mine were with me.  I will reach out to grab a small hand and get nothing but air.  I will lean down to whisper "I love you" in a tiny little ear and there will be no one there.  There will be a feeling of emptiness that will be with me the whole time I am gone.  Until I am reunited with them again. But I also know that I am going to have a great time with B.  Going to dinner and actually being able to have a conversation.  From beginning to end without interruptions.   We will be able to go out and dance without worrying about what time we have to get back to our room to still be able to get enough sleep before the girls wake up.  Because we can sleep until noon if we want.  We can head to the gym any time - not just at nap time.  And not in shifts since there will be no need for one of us to be with the girls.  We can eat when we are hungry instead of when the kids are, or we can not eat if we are too busy having fun.

I know this is a great thing. And I don't mean to make it sound like I am complaining about taking this "vacation" (It is still work for B) but it doesn't stop me from missing my kids.  Already.  And I haven't even left...

Y, oh, Y

Learning a new language as an adult is difficult.  It just is. I don't want to get into the debate of whether it is harder to learn Spanish or English or Arabic or Chinese or Tagalog.  Because I really think that each of them has their easy parts and each has their Ijustwanttoshootmyselfintheheadnow parts.  Let's just all take a minute to say kudos to those that have accepted the challenge of learning something new, later in life.  I do think we all deserve it.  And, yep, that is me, breaking my own arm, as I pat myself on the back.  

I started my formal study of the Spanish language two years ago.  But I have quite a history with the language that begins almost from birth.  When I was about 18 months old my family moved to Central America, where we stayed for a good number of years.  I learned to speak Spanish and English at the same time.  I picked it up organically, meaning I did not study it.  I did not learn to conjugate, I did not learn what an indirect object was...I just learned how to speak and I learned to speak fluently and like a native.  But then we moved back to the U.S. and I refused to speak a word of Spanish because no one wants to be the odd kid who speaks another language.  That lasted for a long time.  Almost 20 years.  And then I met B and Spanish was back in my life.  This time I picked up words and phrases from him.  Ones that I heard repeated a lot.  Still no idea how a verb was conjugated or how to put a sentence together but I could tell you that something was sucio (dirty) or asco (disgusting).  After the girls were born I learned bit more - no se toca (don't touch), siéntate (sit down), cálmate (calm down) and a few more.  We did have little kids after all...

My actual, formal lessons began in earnest when we moved here.  And I think I have done ok.  I was even feeling a bit smug as I finished my first post in Spanish.  Ok, so I was able to take some time in writing it.  Going back to correct mistakes.  (It is so much easier to write than to speak.  When you are speaking, you have to conjugate on the fly.  You have to think ahead and hope you have all the words at your disposal to be able to finish the sentence you started.  You have to be comfortable stopping mid-sentence, realize that you don't have all the words you need to finish that sentence, and then start all over again.  Maybe more than once to just get one thought across.)  I am getting pretty good these days and less and less often I fumble around for the right words.  I really thought I was getting a handle on it.

And then they went and changed the alphabet.

Soak that in for a minute.

They. Changed. The. Alphabet.

Yep, just dropped a few letters out of the alphabet completely since they felt they were a bit redundant.  Changed the  pronunciation of a couple more.  They changed when some words are capitalized and where the accent can and cannot be placed on others.  There was a laundry list of changes published and I was not very excited to learn about any of them.  Who would be?  I had just spent two years learning the rules and now they are going to change them?   Nope, uh uh, no way.  Who do I appeal this to?

The answer - the Real Acedemia Española (Spanish Royal Academy).  They are the governing body of the Spanish language.  But I don't think they would care about what my little issues and I think they are a bit more versed in the nuances of the language (any language) than I.  At least I hope so...

Founded in 1713 their mission is to keep the Castilian language unified. (If you have been to Spain, Argentina or Chile - you will know that they have failed in keeping Spanish speakers to one voice...oh, the accents that even I can differentiate.)  They have 46 members, each of whose only job is to keep pure and in true voice their singular letter of the alphabet.  Yep, they each have one letter that they are responsible for and even then it is only the uppercase or the lowercase, not both.  The latest letter opening is for the silla B (seat for letter B).  If you have ever been on Sesame Street when B was the letter of the day you may have a chance but probably not.  The members elected are usually prolific and famous writers, historians, and important persons from the arts and sciences.  Oh, and they have to be native Spanish speakers so that would get me left off the short list pretty quickly.  The voting process is long and the seats are hard won but once you have a seat at the Academy, it is for life.  Unless you are the letters ch, ll and rr.  Then your job ended with the latest changes...

Oh, about those last changes, posted about a year ago (but that I was just informed of last week) are as follows (just in case you need to brush up):

• The letters 'ch' and 'll' and 'rr' (which is different from r) have been eliminated from the alphabet.  {Good to know I am not going crazy because I swear I learned them as a kid and now my kids think I am weird when we sing the alphabet song and I use them...}
• The pronunciation of the letter y will change from i-griega to ye (or yay).  V will go from vay to uve and W from doble vay to uve doble.  {I kinda get these changes.  B and V sound exactly - e.x.a.c.t.l.y.- the same in Spanish.  Makes it hard to make the distinction when spelling something. Something like, oh,  I don't know, like my last name. Now instead of having to say vay chica - which is v - I can say uve.  If, and only if, that person has read the RAE guidlines.  BTW - vay grande is B.}
• o (which means or) will no longer have a tilde, or accent, mark.  Well, of course except...There are rules to the rules and I didn't understand them all.
• Terms that come before proper nouns - ex. Gulf of Mexico - will now not be capitalized   In Spanish it will now be written gulf of Mexico.  
• The ex-, anti- or pro- that precedes the noun, ex. - ex-wife, ex-president, pro-human rights -no longer becomes hyphenated.  They will be considered one word. 

And on, and on, and on...  If you would like to see all the rule changes, click here.  As for me, I think it will take this old goat a while to remember that they have changed the pronunciation of y, much less any of the other rules. 

Lollapalooza

It was Saturday.  It was about 80 degrees and sunny.  It was a great day to go to the park.  So, we packed up a blanket, some snacks and the family and headed out to one of the largest outdoor spaces in Santiago.  Us, and about 70,000 of our closest friends.  Maybe closer to 80,000.  We're a pretty popular family, huh?

Not really.  It was us and about 70,000 others but that's just because it was Lollapalooza weekend in Santiago.  This is it's third year here Santiago and this time we were determined to make it.  In 2011, the first year they held it here (or anywhere outside of the U.S.),  it was held the same week we moved.  I like to make plans on short notice but even I couldn't pull that off.  Last year, I considered it.   I would have liked to have seen Joan Jett, Björk, The Foo Fighters.  But the little's were, well, little.  Even I couldn't figure out how to take a not even 3 year old into that kind of ear splitting sound.  One that cries at the sound of fireworks.  Even if she was wearing earmuffs.  That says a lot since I am known to be able to take my kids anywhere, no matter the age.  Stinkerbell was at Disneyland at the ripe old age of 19 days.  (And I don't want to hear any backlash on how I could take a baby that little to such a public place.  It's not like I let her lick the hand rails while we were standing in line.  If she could, she would tell you what fibers my dress was made of, since that was what she breathed in all day).  ANYway...

We put it off attending until this year.  And even then it was iffy.  B though he was going to be gone for work until about a month before.  Thankfully, his trip didn't begin until Sunday so we were able to secure tickets for Saturday.  One day is better than none in my opinion.  Especially when it is the day we really wanted to see (hear?) anyway.  See, Pearl Jam was headlining.  And Pearl Jam has a special place in B's heart as it was the first album he ever spent his own personal money on.  Running all the way home from the store so he could listen to it.  Over. And over.  And over again.  And as of yesterday, he had yet to see them in concert.  Check one off the bucket list.

But this wasn't all for us (ok, it was, but we made sure the little's had fun too).  They have their very own KidzaPalooza.  Full of coloring and face painting, a park and kid concerts, fairy making and jugglers.  There were bubbles floating everywhere and a town full of Lego characters.  They were in heaven and it was hard to get them to want to walk back out in to adult world.

But hunger got the best of them and to get food we had to go back to the front gate.  Which meant passing by the 2 big stages set up to play "adult" music.  Funny to say that it was for adults since that is the music that set their feet to tapping and their hair a' swinging.  It took us almost an hour to get to the food since no one's feet seemed to move forward, but simply in time to the music.  Mostly in circles.  I love that my girls love music, and any time they hear it, they just can't help but dance.   The crowd seemed to feel the same way since every time I looked up from my camera, there was another group of people taking pictures of them.  Not sure if that should worry me or not...nah, they just saw cute kids dancing.

Stinkerbell was the biggest hit.  Dancing or not.  She had her earmuffs on most of the walk (loud, Mama, loud!) and everyone couldn't help but look and exclaim how cute it was.  She. ate. it. up.  And played it up.  Definitely her Papa's girl!

We had dinner, we danced and we watched a few bands.  I think the girls favorite was the Hives (mine too), and B's was definitely Pearl Jam (loved that too) but Queens of the Stone Age, Of Monsters and Men and the Kaiser Chiefs were pretty cool too.

All in all, a great day.  The mile or two walk back to the car at 10:30 was not my favorite moment, especially since I was carrying a sleeping 30 lb. baby who valiantly stayed up to see her first concert but just couldn't keep the eyes open any more.

Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat.  Music is lifeblood for me.  For B.  And hopefully for my kids.  Anything I can do to instill this into their hearts, their minds, their souls will be my pleasure.

MadHatter giving me Rock Fingers.  Stinkerbell a bit confused on what that is...

 These two are ready to Rock!

Nothing to do with Lollapalooza - just a cute pic of a cute baby ready for her first concert.

Same goes for her.

Things were a bit disorganized.  But this is Chile and I didn't expect much.  So this line - that you can't even see half of was about 2 hours.  Thank goodness we had a stroller and a "guagua" (baby).  VIP treatment and we were through in less than 15 minutes.

Of Monsters and Men were playing when we came in.  I really like them...the girls like to dance to anything...but Kidzapalooza closes at 6:30 so we don't have time to just sit and listen...

According to the little's THIS is where the fun begins.

 They both put their drawings on the wall.

Took a time out for a swing break...

They fished for ducks (that gave them a sucker as a prize)...

They "milked" a cow and couldn't stop laughing...

They Conked the Crow...

Well, almost...

We watched the performers...

 Posed with some Lego friends...

And watched the bubbles permeate the air.

We got hearts painted on our faces...with a bit of glitter thrown in

Or we chose to be a puppy...

We talked Papa into a fashionable headband...

And then. we. danced.  

And danced...and danced...

It didn't matter who was watching.  It didn't matter who was trying to walk.  The music was permeating every cell of our beings and we had to dance...

Until we had to take a break and put our earmuff's on...And then we just looked cute.

And then we really. really.  really.  got into it.

And we rested some more...because that dancing stuff, especially to the hard, hard rock of Queens of the Stone Age is hard stuff (the Hives was easier as it was bouncy...less head banging)

And then it was time to head to the main stage.  We stayed away from the front for obvious reasons.  We headed back to about here...

Not Pearl Jam - But about how far back we were from them...

And we waited.  Both girls were so excited to see their first real concert.  I can't believe they saw Pearl Jam for the first time the same time I did.  Never in my wildest dreams was that the scenario I saw in my mind when I was 16 and their first album came out...But they loved it...listened to about 3 songs and then passed out.

And were so cute doing so.