1st Week on my own!

The beginning of the week started off sad for me and both the boys.  It was hard to see Sohrab leave here so early Monday morning and know we won't be talking to him until Tuesday night.  We managed to get over our sadness and venture out every day except rainy Thursday.  Besides our fun outings, we also hit the grocery store every day.  Gustavo even enjoys grocery shopping now and looks forward to our trips!   What has made this week easier on all of us is the ability to "talk" to Sohrab and my family every day.  We look forward to the face-to-computer time and feel so much more connected to things back home.  Here's a quick synopsis and pics from our week!

Monday April 2nd
I think I wrote about his in a previous post but our fun outing of the day was to go to the McDonalds down the street.  I had some interaction with a few people as the lady who owns this apartment, Anna Maria, stopped by in the afternoon with her daughter to get the wifi working.  She brought one of the bell hops from downstairs to help translate so it was nice to speak English for a bit with someone that lives here.  It was nice to finally have wifi here.

Tuesday April 3rd (Happy Birthday to Sohrab again!)

We went to Oviedo mall since we were told they have a family park there.  There was a smaller play structure with ~4 slides on it that was free and Gustavo had a blast running around.  He does a lot of role playing from his Avengers and Transformer video so it's fun to watch him play on his own.  The "park" didn't open until 2PM.  There is not a lot of stuff to do there but there is a huge play structure with a ball pit and also a trampoline.  Gustavo played on each of these and also went down the giant slides.  The slides looked really cool but they were really slow and Gustavo kept getting stuck.  It was a huge climb up the hill and he had 5 minutes to go down and come up as many times as he could.  He was exhausted and sweaty when his time was up.  On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a special treat.  The special treat was a pineapple popsicle.  It's a great treat as it's cheap, low in calories and has a ton of pineapple chunks in it.  We went down to the 6th floor in our building to relax on the large balcony.  Tavo and I ate our special treat while David napped.  Afterwards, I read on my nook and thought Tavo was watching a video on his ipod touch but realized he was sound asleep :)  We finally got to connect with Sohrab that night so it put us all in good spirits.  David smiles so big when he hears Daddy's voice on the computer!!

 Stuck on the slide!

 Stuck again!

 This is a long ways up and this mat is getting heavy!

 Mom, can you carry the mat for me?

 Enjoying our special treat on the balcony!

 Naptime!  I am exhausted!

More naps!

Wednesday April 4
We went to Santa Fe mall so Tavo could go to Happy City and to look for another pair of jammies for Tavo.  The department store (Falabella) is reasonably priced and has some really good sales.  We were able to pick up a pair of jammies for less than $6 and Gustavo loved them!  We also bought some play dough and the play dough "hair maker" for cheap.  At Happy City, I was able to bring David in one of the play areas.  There is a giant pink octopus that the kids can jump on and it also spins around.  David was scared originally on it but then loved it!  He especially loved watching big brother jumping all around him.  There was also a ball pit in there and David loved picking up the balls and of course, putting them in his mouth.  On the way out, we stopped for ice cream at Mismos and Gustavo chose his favorite bubble gum ice cream.  We figure we need to fit in more and the culture here has everyone enjoying ice cream between 3:30 and 5:30PM.  We are looking forward to fitting in :)  A nice lady stopped by and gave David a huge balloon.

 Mommy, what are you doing to me?

 Help from Big Brother!

 Dark picture but wanted to show the "pink octupus"

 Enjoying Mimos bubble gum ice cream!

 Where's my ice cream?

 Modelling new jammies!

Thursday April 5
Today was a rainy day so we stuck around the apartment.  I received a call in the morning from our agency's rep, Cecilia, in Bogota.  I had emailed our agency on Monday asking if they could help us locate other families that may be here adopting so we could make some connections.  Cecilia suggested we move to the Intercontinental Hotel (where most families stay) but I told her we were happy with our apartment and location but would be interested in visiting the hotel.  She said she would get in touch with Lilliana so she could take us to the hotel next week.  I've been told we can purchase day passes for the hotel which would allow us to use the pool and playground.  Lilliana called us and said we would go next week but also said she would take us to the "fair" on Saturday.  We finally made it to the small gym here.  There are no weights but there are 2 nice treadmills, an elliptical and a bike.  Gustavo watched his avenger videos and David slept for part of my workout.  Nothing too exciting but I did finally update this blog :)  One other thing I did was post on the yahoo group for Colombian adoptions letting others know of our situation and also seeking out connections.  I received a lot of nice emails from people with suggestions on things to do here.  I also received a post from someone that knows another family here so I am hoping to connect with them next week.

Friday April 6
The plan today was to have a nice dinner at Crepes and Waffles to celebrate the end of the week.  When Tavo woke up, I asked him if he wanted to have lunch or dinner out and he voted for lunch.  So, we had a nice late lunch at C&W.  Tavo had a different ice cream creation this time, Tin Tin.  Only 2 more creations to try on the kid's menu!  I was craving Indian food so had a nice chicken curry crepe that came with mango salsa, raisins and cashews, yum!  The mall was weird today in that many stores were closed for Good Friday.  There was no rhyme or reason as to what would be open and what would be closed.  Next, we headed to the gym and I did the first treadmill workout in the "couch to 5K" program.  It wasn't too bad so I am hoping to do this 3 times a week and add in other workouts. After we talked to Sohrab, we headed to the grocery store.  It was our first outing at night and there was one area that was a little scary but we made it.  The store was hopping and was crazy to walk through!  I was surprised to see so many people shopping at 7PM on a Friday night!

 Tin Tin!

 Mmmm, strawberry ice cream!

Saturday April 7
It rained over night and was still raining in the morning.  Lilliana called and said the "fair" is all outside and would be cancelled due to the rain.  We were all set to go by 9:30 when she called, even though she wasn't picking us up until 11.  So, we headed back over the Santa Fe.  I thought it would be fun to have lunch in food court but everything was so expensive.  Most everything was $12 or more.  I finally found a stand that had a deal going where you get 2 burgers, 2 fries and 2 fountain drinks for less than $12.  The meal actually wasn't bad and then we hung out for awhile trying to spot people to talk to (no luck).  Then, we headed back to Happy City and Gustavo rode a fun ride, played in the play structures and bouncy house.  We made one last grocery store run on the way home because I thought everything would be closed on Easter Sunday.  Instead of working out today, we decided to relax on the balcony with our special treats :)

Sunday April 8 (Easter)
Today was going to be a relaxing day since I figured everything would be closed.  Boy, was I wrong.  Everything was open!  I felt guilty sitting inside on such a beautiful day so again we headed to Santa Fe mall. We went to McDonalds for an ice cream cone and to let Tavo play for a bit.  Then we headed to the main level as there was huge kid's fiesta going on with games and some rides.  When we got there, I tried to translate the sign and think it said you need $100 in mall receipts just to enter.  Then, it looked like everyone was in line to buy tickets on top of that.  I felt bad we were unable to go but we hung out by one of the fountains while Gustavo ran around.  Then we did some shopping.  I went in a store that had all character clothing and toys such as Cars, Toy Story, Spiderman, etc. and couldn't believe how expensive everything was.  A basic short-sleeved Cars shirts was ~$25!  It was fun to look but we won't be buying anything in most of the stores.  When we returned to our building, the front desk said someone had been calling us.  Since Lilliana told me she would be calling on Monday, I brought the cell phone with but had it buried deep within the diaper bag.  I had 6 missed calls from her and when I called her back, she said she would take us to the zoo tomorrow.  I didn't have the heart to tell her we've already been there.  I know we'll all enjoy seeing the animals again and it will be nice to be away from the malls for a day.

While the boys were napping, I made our Easter dinner which consisted of chicken, cilantro-lime rice, and a tomato-cucumber salad.  When I told Tavo what we were having, he said he planned to have a sandwich.  Once he tasted the chicken, he kept asking for more and said he loves chicken.  Such a funny boy!  After dinner, he chowed down 2 apples and was still hungry.  He must really be growing!

Easter Dinner!

Off to bed!  David will be up in ~6 hours :)  Good night!