April, Blake and Vivian

We had some amazing hosts during our Austin stay. Vivian greeted Gwendolyn with a giant blue bear, which Gwendolyn promptly named "Azul" and did not put down for most of the visit.

Vivian was extremely generous about sharing her incredible stash of amazing toys (much more generous than Gwendolyn, who seems to have entered into a more possessive stage, part of a larger stage in which she experiments and expounds on the meaning of the word "no").

Vivian introduced us to an excellent TV show - Pingu, a Swiss claymation starring some very cute penguins. (Trivia via Wikipedia: the Pingu theme song, "Pingu Dance Rap," was created by David Hasselhoff.)

We even got a brief visit with Edel, a very sweet standard poodle, also seeking temporary refuge in the Smith West home.

Thank you, Team Smith West!

Beautiful Texas

Texas in March is beautiful. The temperature was perfect. The bluebonnets were in full bloom. The frogs were just beginning to call. These first pictures were taken of the farm next door to the place David and I rented briefly in Bastrop. Fields full of purple flowers. Live oaks. Lost pines. It felt beautifully temperate compared to the tropics we'd just come from.

Wedding

We came to Austin to join in Darien and Justin's wedding celebration. Of which we have several hundred photos. Here are just a few, hopefully capturing a little bit of this wonderful weekend.

Rehearsal BBQ, Friday night.

Gwendolyn, doing her best to join the big girls.

The wedding was at Bastrop State Park.

We spent the weekend in cabins in the park, surrounded by pine trees. On a lake!

Marge put together bouquets.

Gwendolyn discovered Oscar, who became her new idol.

Pajama parade - Ada, Oscar and Gwendolyn spent the night together in our cabin. (Allowing their parents to take turns joining the party at night.)

Gwendolyn woke up to Cheerios with Jillian.

David, scribing his reading by hand (he lost the printed copy, only a minor panic).

The ceremony - YEAH!!!

The reception, with great food, toasts, cake, and even a wine from the Mimbres Valley, our former home in southwestern NM.

Gwendolyn, cutting a rug with April, dance queen extraordinaire.

The Wren with her handsome dad.

5 girls and a lot of sand.

The end of a great day.

Trip to Austin

This week we flew to Austin, Texas! Gwendolyn is still flying for free (though at 21 months, she will be a lap child for only a few months longer).

David lugged all our bags, stowed them overhead, and when he was finally ready to sit down, noticed that the Wren was happily buckling into his seat.

Lucky for him, she was persuaded to spend most of the flight asleep on my lap.

By the time we reached Houston, raced through immigrations and customs, and realized we'd missed our connecting flight, she was pent up with lots of energy to spare. She spent the next hour like this - dancing to airport music and smiling and waving as we raced around, helping her dodge the throngs of moving people and honking carts.

Fingers and Toes

Bye Grandpa

Until soon!

El Valle - Part 2

It was great to be up in the mountains. We had lunch in an outdoor cafe (with lots of Wren chasing between bites, this is a new, not very welcomed, theme in our restaurant eating).

And then went for a walk in El Níspero zoo and botanical gardens.

Where we saw some of the few remaining Golden Frogs in existence.

And a few more common species - Geoffroy's tamarins, for example.

The day disintegrated into some major fuss, though, as we hopped into the car for the trip home. Hunger and fatigue. Some snacks in the car solved half the problem. A long, solid night of sleep solved the other half, for all of us. (Ahhh, sweet sleep!)

El Valle - Part 1

With Gwendolyn recovered, we took one last trip with David's dad. We went to the El Valle, a little town in the crater of an extinct volcano. El Valle is famous for its Sunday market. All kinds of fruits and vegetables, flowers, and crafts.