Peru Trip! (Cusco)

DAY 3: TO CUSCO

We flew from Lima (sea level) south into the Andes to Cusco (11k feet or something bananas), and it was a really stunning flight.

I can see why doing this journey by bus would take 24 hours, even though it was such a short flight. There are so. many. mountains. And not that many roads, and definitely not great roads. It was beautiful to see though.

When we landed there was a bowl of coca leaves (not coco, not cocoa -- but coca: a whole 'nother thing) which we were welcome to chew on to help with elevation sickness? Apparently? I don't know it looks pretty legit to me?

ONLY THREE FREE THOUGH, DO NOT GO CRAZY NOW.

I mean, if you're not getting off the plane in a new place and putting random plants in your mouth immediately, then why even travel, right? (They were not tasty. But, yknow, when in Rome or whatever.)

Basically when we landed it was suddenly winter (because, it was winter) (and in the mountains) but we got checked into our hotel/ guesthouse and I climbed to the roof to look at the hillside. The building is an inteesting mix of indoor/outdoor space (chilly!) but it makes for fun exploring.

We all went out for a great dinner together. Steaks (more alpaca!) came on sizzling hot rocks and finished cooking right at the table. This is also a trend America should embrace, soon and very soon.

It was cold at night. Like, cold! No heater! Winter! Mountains! But they had these giant wool blankets (heavy rugs, basically) and oh man can I say again how amazing alpaca wool is? That stuff is no joke.

Unrelated, I met a baby goat. So there's that.

DAY 4: CUSCO

We started our day with Peruvian Starbucks (judge away, it delighted me and I'm  not sorry) and we used a room there to drink our coffee and have some team meetings, which, well. {Insert unbloggagble frustrations here, and feel free to ask me any time about the intersection of faith and workplace, when you're not in a specific faith-related call. It gets... complicated.}

But the historical city square is just gorgeous.

I really liked this door. It was my favorite door I saw in Peru. I called it early, on day 3.

Also, there's a random courtyard with random alpacas. I don't know why. I wasn't with any spanish speakers at the time so I couldn't ask. I just waved.

Always with the alpacas.

We adventured on a city bus (they don't look official, BUT THEY ARE) to the home of one of my colleagues who lives there. He is heading up a nonprofit with some local teachers, to aid and support kids who are aging out of orphanages and group homes. Foster care isn't really a Thing in Peru, so for most of these kids they don't have much of an idea about what living alone or cooking or getting around a city even looks like. I mean it would be a lot for any 18-year-old, but particularly when you've never even seen the life you're trying to live. It's very cool work they are doing, and it was fun to meet his friends and other people involved in his organization, and some of the kids he is working with.

Also the view from his house is not shabby.

We had Pervuian pizza for dinner. Peruvian pizza is a lot like American pizza except you have to walk to the carry-out place to order it, and then it takes several hours (!) because Peru.

While we waited, we went to a Peruvian grocery store, because grocery shopping in new places is one of my MOST FAVORITE THINGS to do when traveling in a new place. I bought all manner of fun snacks and treats to bring home.

Why are these juice boxes this shape, besides simply to delight me?

purple maize!

it's super dry and cold. my lips needed help. this seems legit yes?

Also, we had Inca Kola! I don't know why this delights me so much, it's basically just a super sweet tropical Sun Drop, and yet. Delightful.

I bought Mark an Inca Kola shirt to bring home. Oh yes I did. WHAT. HE LIKES SHIRTS.

I actually did some other fun shopping and wandering in our downtime in Cusco, with one of my colleagues who is also prone to such things. Places stay open late, and shopping in the dark in crowds of people was totally fun! (I'm not being sarcastic in the least.)

There were some really nice stores with beautiful clothes and hats, and I splurged on some amazing alpaca-cashmere scarves in bright colors that I could not walk away from, and a tunic sweater for Charlotte.

I also got to haggle in some little stalls for cute kitch, like coin purses and alpaca ornaments and these tiny Peruvian style hats that I cannot wait for my children to adorn their winter coats with. They're so charming. I'm charmed! SO CHARMED.

Less charming: since most bathrooms don't provide toilet paper, there is TP for sale everywhere, by the roll. Everyone just keeps a roll in their purse. It both makes all the sense in the world and yet none at all. By the end of the trip it made me smile to see it everywhere on every street corner and even roadside farm stands. Ha.

And thus ends this post, with toilet paper.

Seattle Blathering

Remember how we all used to do some wild and fun thing, or some new and bland thing, but.. some Thing, and then somehow still had the bandwidth to blog about it, that day? Or that week? Or that month? How did we do that, y'all?

So, I went to Seattle. In April.

Part, the First: The Blathering

My trip was to meet up with internet friends, who aren't even "internet friends" at this point anymore, but just friends (thanks Hillary) who have an annual ladies weekend, and it has become a highlight of my year. It's a "conference" in the sense that it involves meeting people and having dinners and drinks and shopping and hanging out, so, that's to say, not a conference at all. Just a fun weekend with friends.

I roomed with Hillary and Sarah, both of whom I adore. They are smart and funny and wise and easy, which, for me these days, is about the best thing someone can be. A group of us rode the ferris wheel and looked at the seattle waterfront and I didn't even panic at all because I am a super cool and collected person in all situations.

We had a dinner party at Maggie's house and ate delicious food and had blathering signature cocktails and I spent some quality time with Elizabeth on the bathroom floor, not in a college drunk way but in a solid friendship Feelings way because hello, we are in our thirties. I am sad to say I did not exit Maggie's deck on the slide, because dat ass.

We rode a party bus called I Have a Woody or something equally phallic-and-trying-too-hard (I looked it up. Big Woody's. I juuuuuust realized the interior of the bus has wood paneling, and now I appreciate that this is a legit pun.

We ate dim sum (legit! I have never done that before) and had a wonderful hilarious talk about the ages of blogging gone by (ages of yore!) and laughed til we cried and also I would like to eat a whole plate of bbq pork buns right now, please and thanks.

We also went up into a skyscraper and looked down on the city, and look at that space needle down there! Can't you imagine how tall and futuristic it must have seemed in the sixties?

From up here it mostly looks adorable. I have a soft spot for that tower and I don't even know why. (It's probably Frasier-related. Shut up.)

We had a farewell dinner with the most bizarre pie situation that has ever pie'd: pie by the slice, one per plate, served four at a time to a table of ten, with question marks on our faces. And then repeated ten minutes later. And then again ten minutes after that. And then I laughed so hard I cried. And I could write a whole post of just the pie, playing it out moment by moment, yet I still don't think any words could accurately convey the insanity.

Pie. If you say it enough times it gets really funny again, even months later. PIE.

And then everyone left town, and I had a day of quiet, which was lovely, and then Another Nathan landed.

Part, the Second: Another Nathan 

A year ago when Nathan was in the throes of making a job decision, and I was signing up for the blathering, we loved the idea of a friendcation in Seattle, no matter where he was living come spring, and it turns out we actually made it happen! It worked great for him to fly out after church on Sunday right as my ladies weekend was ending, and we had a fantastic time together.

We had a foodie dinner with his favorite aunt (who lives in Olympia), we had top pot donuts for our coffee dates (more than once), we drank ginger beer, we walked through a sculpture park, we rode the monorail, and I told him a thousand more stories about Frasier than he actually wanted to hear.

And! We wandered through Pike Place market and made our pilgrimage to the original Starbucks.

We also went into this wonderful paper store, and I got lost in there for quite some time picking out letterpress cards and hand-bound books and notepads.

We had lunch in the revolving tower restaurant at the top of the space needle which was surprisingly kind of awesome in its cheesiness. We got to walk around outside (that viewing area at the top is outside, y'all) and then eat spendy cheeseburgers while spinning in a circle and reading post-it notes left on the window from other tables who had passed by. Pure tourist delightfulness.

We took a ferry out to Bainbridge Island and took a thousand pics of the skyline, including this wavy one Nathan took because panoramic pics are hard to do on a moving boat, yo.

oh, it makes me laugh

Okay we actually got some for real pics, too.

And Bainbridge was lovely and calm and pretty, walked through town and down by the water and thoroughly enjoyed the walk and the boat ride alike.

One of my favorite things we did was take an Uber (ask me how many days it took Nathan to get over his Uber-cringing and concede that it's way awesomer than using a taxi) (all the days, is the answer) allll the way across downtown Seattle to the edge of Lake Washington, and into this tiny little glass-blowing store that Nathan'a aunt told us about, called Glassy Baby.

They make pretty jars for burning tealights, and they come out with new colors for different events and seasons, and they partner with a crap ton of charities and various cancer research fund, and the whole thing was very touchy feely fun and beautiful to see them blowing the glass and then light a bunch of jars to see which one makes you feeeeel what you want to feeeeel and then buy just the right ones for ourselves and for gifts and oh man it was just a lovely little shop and we had a delightful time, and they are such beautiful and warm souvenirs.

One of those things that makes me happy every time I look at it. Which is every day, even months later. I am watching it burn next to my computer as I type this, actually. Also, there is wine. That seems relevant, yes?

Anyway.

So it was a wonderful trip, and so great to be away from being a mom and a wife for a week. It was an awful trip home, a sleepless night by the Minneapolis airport before an early connection back, and a canceled flight, and so tired so many feelings much tears. But instead of dwelling on that I will just say that I've decided Seattle rain is a myth; it was sunny and gorgeous every day we were there until the last night, and then even the wet  night was beautiful.

As Frasier would say: goodnight Seattle, we love you.

(Oh yes I did.)

Seven and a Half

Nathan is seven and a half. SEVEN AND A HALF. (I keep waiting for the age that won't give me all-caps wide eyes, but we haven't hit it yet.)

My sister pointed out this week that being seven and a half means he's halfway to driver's ed. (I told her to shut her damn* mouth, because obviously.) (*I used a different word.) (Not a better one.) (Not the one you're thinking though.) (I digress.) (Parentheses!)

Anyway, he is growing up and I'm trying not to do any mom math in my head or I will realize it's all going to fast, and I will panic.  So instead I will just think about the here and now. So, some things about Now:

Nathan is growing, yet ever-smaller for his age, still wearing mostly size 6 clothes (the same as Anneliese!) but he is suddenly eating everything in sight, and asking for more, and he ordered a Korean steak taco at the smoothie place the other day, and I don't even know who he is anymore, is what I'm saying.

No, no. What I am saying is I think we are expecting a growth spurt any minute now, and maybe he won't be the smallest in his class forever. (Or maybe he will. He is also one of the very youngest. Mark was also the youngest and the smallest, so... it could happen.)

He is very into planes and ships and designing and building lego vehicles of any kind - flying and sailing and driving alike. He will read fiction with some coaxing, but mostly he reads biography after biography, even of people he has never heard of. (What?) He watches video footage about aviation and what causes plane crashes, and seems undisturbed, yet won't watch the Little Mermaid because Ursula terrifies him (see also: the first five minutes of Tangled).

He loves whales and space and geography - asking questions about countries and languages and poring over the giant world map on his ceiling (yes really) and the world atlas book my dad gave him for Christmas. (If you know my dad, that's the least shocking sentence in the history of ever.)

He and Anneliese remain best buddies, and he is jealous for her attention when she and Charlotte are feeling particularly chummy on a given day. He does his running club at school on Friday mornings, and is fast, but besides that he isn't super into sports. He sings in children's choir at church (a solid fifth-ish below everyone else, not that it matters) and still plays his cello, better and better all the time. He is a baby hoarder, squirreling away bits of paper, and pieces of toys and random... stuff that he thinks he might want to build something with.

(The other day he told me he was bored -- well, he started to, and then I reminded him if he says he is bored I will find some extra chores for him to do -- and so he went in the recycling bin and got this starbucks cup and built... a boat? I think? THIS IS SO NATHAN, Y'ALL.)

He is a kid who wavers between extreme chattiness, and not knowing how to say what he wants to say. He writes and draws a lot.

Here is some information about the Queen Mary 2. (Why, what does your seven-year-old obsess over?) You can choose whether you like or don't like the information. Complete with a hand-drawn thumbs-up, because he is a Child Of The Era. (I always circle "like." Duh.)

His obsession with this ship oddly makes me miss my Grandpa Schnack. They would have had so much fun being boring together. Truly. Grandpa would have delighted in him.

Here is a Japanese battleship, complete with WWII-era Japanese naval flag (?) (we are fully living in the age of when our kid knows more than we do about the stuff he's interested in).

And yes that's me on top, sitting on a lounge chair, reading a book. I mean... at least I get to go to war? (What does this say about what he thinks of me?)

He is known to bring random notes downstairs to us, that sometimes do or don't make any sense.

He also has an old phone of Mark's, which he can use when he asks permission. He has had a gmail account for several years, and he uses the chat app to "text" people which is usually pretty cute.

Well, usually pretty cute. Not always.

And sometimes just super exciting, as Mark is learning.

And sometimes really legitimately adorable.

And yes, like every other kid his age, he is into Minecraft (thanks Uncle John) (no really, it's fine -- cute, even) and he not only plays the game, but watches other people playing the game on YouTube. AND watches all manner of toy review and project/craft videos, and then got the harebrained idea that he should... do one himself?

Behold, a craft blogger in the making:


(Click here to watch the video on YouTube.)

So many questions. Is where/how to get that template not an important part of the instructions? Why not color the eyes before folding it? And WHY SO MUCH TAPE FOR THE LOVE. (He could use some time-lapse here also.)

(Please know, he is so proud of this. Really super duper pleased.)

(This all happened with Mark's help one night while I was at choir. I came home and it tickled me so much I cried.)

My child! Who spent years staring at adults, mute, when they asked him something. Who even now hates when people watch him or call attention to him or even laugh at his jokes... wants his own YouTube channel? Talks to the camera as if it's the most normal serious thing in the world? I don't even know, y'all.

Growing up. It's weird.

Happy half birthday, you quirky bright sweet wonderful child.

Family Weekend in DC

So, before Anneliese's birthday, we took a little family weekend jaunt to Washington, DC.

why, with the monument and my head, random-passers-by-photographer? why?

Our impetus was twofold:

1- The National Geographic Museum's special rotating exhibit right now is a big thing about spinosaurus, and... yeah. I just realized that sort of explains itself. SPINOSAURUS. So, we knew we wanted to take Nathan to see that this fall.

2- Anneliese has been asking for an American Girl doll for months and months, so we wanted to surprise her and get her one for her birthday. Yes she's a little young, and yes they're too expensive, but she made a giant effort at keeping her room and toys organized to prove that she is a big girl five-year-old who can handle having nice things, and I find zero objectionable anything about American Girl dolls in general (history! dolls! characters! books! they're good toys).  Anyway, the closest store to us (which is more fun than ordering online) is in DC.

So we mapped out the calendar looking for a weekend after the spino exhibit opened, before Anneliese's birthday, and when Mark was actually off work -- and last weekend was it. So we went! It wasn't the most conventional "Washington DC Family Trip" but we had our own goals of stuff to do, and we live close enough that we didn't feel like we had to do All The Important Things this time. So here's what we did:

1.) Rode the Metro a Lot - as far as Nathan and Anneliese are concerned, this IS seeing the sights of DC. That dark tunnel. Right there. Super! Exciting!

2.) National Geographic Museum - Mark and I know DC well, but had never been to this museum. Fun to do something that's new to us too. Also, the look on Nathan's face here, when we saw the spino they had specially installed outside the museum = maybe worth the whole weekend away.

3.) American Girl Doll Store - oh man Anneliese was so sweet wandering through this whole store (we had never been in one! I was overwhelmed) and seeing all the dolls and books and outfits and such. She waffled a while but then settled on Kit, and seems really happy about that, and she was so happy I thought she would burst. It was lovely and special in a way that 5th birthday treats should be, and it was so fun to shop excitedly with her. So, meet Kit, from 1934.

PS I just realized why we can't find Anneliese's orange hoodie anywhere at home. :/

4.) Air & Space Museum at Dulles - another new place for Mark and me! This is an extension of the Smithsonian museum downtown on the mall, and we have heard great things about it for years, but have never gone out to Dulles to see it. We did this time, and we are so glad. It was very cool. Like, the other museum sort of pales in comparison (don't hate me, internet, I still love the original too!) -- it is really hard to overstate the massive numbers of planes housed in this one giant hangar out there. Like, hundreds. HUNDREDS. Including some tough ones (the Enola Gay? Hm I don't want to explain that history to my fascinated child, kthx) and some cool ones (space shuttle!) and everything in between.

There was also a section with a tower where you could go up and see what was happening at Dulles airport, and a small exhibit on radars and air traffic controlling, which Nathan found a little more fascinating than the rest of us, but he was cute. (His favorite lego things to build these days are airplanes; this trip was good timing.)

I will leave you with this oddly fascinating fact from the museum at Dulles: the space shuttle is covered in... thermal blankets.

THAT BEAST WENT TO SPACE COVERED IN QUILTS. That is all.

5.) Air & Space Museum at the Mall - it was the most crowded I had ever seen it, and it was hot inside, and the throngs of people were overwhelming, and also there was an area cleared for salsa dancing lessons, and I don't even know. We hit a few exhibits and climbed in two display planes and Nathan gleefully spent some allowance money at the gift shop, and then we were done. Basically I could not get us out of there fast enough. (And I love that museum! Just, not that day.)

we saw a lot of planes last weekend, y'all

6.) Carousel on the Mall - because obviously. It's close, it's easy, it's fun, it wasn't raining, so yes.

And then we sat and had a funnel cake, and let the kids run around and play, because sometimes unorganized fun is just... necessary.

Walking back to the Metro, Nathan wanted to take some pics with us and the Washington Monument. He clearly has a future in photography.

I mean. Yeah.

7.) Adorable Cosi Dinner - this is DC dining at its finest, right? HA HA HA. But it is a good place with kids, it's tasty and relatively fast and relatively inexpensive, and it ended up being a delightful dinner. The manager thought they were out of stuff for make-at-your-own-table s'mores, but then found more fire, and comped us the whole thing and extra brownies, for no reason at all other than he said we were sweet. SO NICE. It was all lovely. And cozy. (See what I did there?)

8.) Walk Around the Monuments - on Sunday morning we took a walk in a big loop around part of the mall - from the Washington Monument down past the White House and then over to the World War II Memorial.

It was gorgeous and sunny out, and the kids needed some time to run in circles where they wanted, instead of us clutching their hands crossing a million trafficky intersections, so they played in the grass and chased each other and had lots of big talks about being president. They somehow decided it would probably be Charlotte, because she's a lefty (?) and they kept asking her if they could visit when she lived in the White House. Adorable. (She said yes.)

Lying in the grass looking up at the Washington Monument. I totally remember doing this as a kid.

Aaaaaaand that was our weekend. Honestly, one of the best parts might've just been staying in a hotel all together. We had two big beds and a sofabed so it felt big, and who doesn't like hotels, just in general, right?

this is like a vision of my own childhood, right here

The second night wasn't great sleep, but a slumber party in one room was mostly really fun! I like having all my people close. Especially when get all angelic when they sleep.