We experienced our first earthquake! Phil and I woke up to the room moving. The curtains were swinging in the window. We looked at each other and I said, “We just had our first earthquake!” And then we went right back to sleep. The kids missed it all. The next morning we slept in and had a delicious, lazy breakfast then headed to the Botanical Garden. Abby loved all the flowers. Actually, we all did. I had no idea one in five plants in Ecuador is an orchid! Phil’s parents and then Rodrigo and Maria Elena met us in the garden for lunch. Ellie, Abby and I walked back to the hotel. Phil and Voss tried to play soccer in the park again. Marly went with the adults to shop for a bathing suit. That afternoon I signed my life away, handed over a credit card and passports to book a few trips in the next weeks. Jamie Jr. picked us up and took us to his parent’s house for dinner. It was such a nice night with great conversation. The next morning we went with Fernando’s family to Papallarta, a natural spring bath, thermally heated in the Andes mountains. It was so nice (except for the kids fighting). Then we went to his mom, Hilda’s house for empanadas. We had to get up very early the next morning. The Saavedra brothers took us to Mindo, a city in the rain forest. We went zip lining! Ten zips, saw a toucan and then the older girls, Jamie Jr. and I did the Tarzan swing (a bungee jump). I’m so proud of Phil for doing all the canopies, too! It was such a fun day! Phil left bright and early the next morning. The kids and I slept in, packed up then Rodrigo took us on the metro downtown for me to sign over my life to a travel agency. We had a nice lunch then back to settle in at his place. The kids and I ventured out the next day to TeleferiQo, a cable car that goes to the top of Quito. We hiked another 1,228 meters and then swang on swings overlooking the city, in the clouds! A taxi driver tried to rip me off so we Ubered back to Rodrigo’s. Another delicious family dinner. Saturday, cousin Gabby put major trust in me and let me drive her electric BMW an hour to Cascadas del Rio Pita. We did this super cool hike to a waterfall. It was an awesome day! We had dinner at Jamie’s again. Pizza! Then Jamie Jr took us back to Rodi’s. Sunday we slept in and took it easy, having breakfast on the rooftop al fresco. The kids and I went to Cayetana’s Birthday party on the rooftop of their apartment. They hired a party coordinator who orchestrated games and then Minnie Mouse showed up. It was a fun family party. I made the big mistake of saying we could walk to mass but it turned into a 4 mile walk of the city…and we were 5min late to mass. We had dinner with the abus then back to Rodi’s. We packed and got ready for an early trip. Here are our pics of the week. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z7m6M32FGH6rE9DG7
RSS Feed
