Beach Trip with the Bat Girls

The day after we got back from David's birthday trip, we set out again - this time for a beach on the Caribbean - Playa Blanca.

We'd been wanting to take the bat interns to the beach, and were worried that the longer we waited the less able we would be to go. A well founded concern - these two trips, back to back, took it out of me for many days to come.

But it was wonderful to relax a little in the ocean.

Build sand castles.

And bask a bit in the sun. Gwendolyn wore a life vest, and for the first time really seemed to get the concept of swimming - she has a long way to go, but she was kicking and floating and overall was extremely pleased with the prospect.

 

We saw two sloths and an eel and a bunch of interesting fish, but Gwendolyn's favorite discovery by far was this piece of algae. She kept referring to it as her "friend" and was very sad to part with it at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, the girls took turns trying on Gwendolyn's accessories. Here's Victoria, almost fitting into Gwendolyn's life vest.

Patty, looking very good in Gwendolyn's sunglasses!

And me, feeling wonderfully weightless in the water, and then enormously heavy out of it!

Happy Birthday, David!

For David's birthday we took a trip to the mountains - to a rundown hotel in El Valle called El Campestre.

Which fit David's love of rundown hotels perfectly. It was a little derelict, but actually quite wonderful. Complete with endangered golden frogs, a one-eyed scarlet macaw, beautiful mist-covered mountains...

And a delicious spring fed pool (which was so cold, I think I'm the only one who fully enjoyed it).

We took hikes right from our front door. Gwendolyn noticing her ever expanding little brother.

And having her first pool lesson.

Dinner was suitably heavy on the french fries.

And David was offered quite a bit of help opening his presents. 

When we got home the next day, a chocolate cake was waiting. And a very patient Gwendolyn, singing Happy Birthday over and over again until I finally found the right camera.

We love you, David! Happy Birthday!

Punta Culebra

A field trip with Gwendolyn's preschool today! The preschool theme this month has been ocean ecosystems, so Damond decided a trip to Punta Culebra was in order. It was a major coordination event involving many cars, car seats and chaperons.

 

David took a car full of toddlers, and it seemed like the kids loved it! They could touch the starfish.

 

 Observe the moray eels.

Observe themselves.

Color in ocean scenes. (You may not recognize Gwendolyn here - second from the bottom right - Graciela braided her hair last night, and she was so excited, she might never take these braids out. Consequently, her hair is much more subdued than usual.)

And spot the occasional sloth.

Thanks to everyone for such a great trip!

Accessories!

And a green blob.

Turtle Beach

Here's an old post - in mid-September, the Seids invited us to join them on a trip to see nesting sea turtles. It's never clear exactly what day the turtles will come to the beach to lay their eggs, so we weren't sure we would see anything. Nevertheless, we packed up our tent and two day's supply of food and water, and set off for the Azuero Peninsula, to a beach called Playa Guánico. I carried Gwendolyn, which meant that David carried everything else.

This was our first backpacking trip since Gwendolyn was born, and it was wonderful. Thank you to the Seids for getting us out!

The tricky part of the hike was crossing a large tidal river, only possible at low tide.

Here are the triumphant kids, river crossing accomplished!

We set up camp near the turtle research hut, and ran out to the beach to find...

nesting sea turtles! And this was only the beginning. As night fell, more and more Olive Ridleys waddled their way up the beach to lay their eggs. A long, exhausting process. When the eggs were laid, the turtles would cover the holes and thump down the sand with their legs and bodies. At the height of the laying the whole beach seemed to be shaking. These mass nesting events are called "arribada", and our timing was nearly perfect. The night before, the beach had been covered with thousands of nesting turtles, so the peak was already a bit past but we still saw hundreds. So many it was hard to turn around, there were turtles everywhere.

The eggs looked like large ping pong balls. Many of the females would lay their eggs by the river rather than on the safety of the upper beach, and their eggs would very quickly get washed away. Several of these doomed nests were salvaged by the turtle researchers, and buried in an enclosure to keep them safe from predators until they were ready to hatch. But a huge majority washed back out to sea.
 

 Here is an egg that Gwendolyn found the next day.

During the night, we watched the incredible process of turtle nesting. During the days we explored the coastline.

Around the point, there was a beach that did not have nesting turtles. We spent a lot of the day playing in the black sand and surf, in and out of rain.

Exploring a nearby cave.

And taking long naps in the tent - here her friends Tomara and Sobria are stopping by to see if Gwendolyn had (finally!) woken up.

And then the hike back. A wonderful trip, in great company, so much fun!

  

The Seids later put together this great video, with the video clips they'd taken over the weekend. It's funny, I was about 3 months pregnant when we went on this trip. What a weekend of fecundity and reproduction - quite a portend of our own baby to come!

Celebration

Baby shower & Valentine's Day!

 

We hadn't thought about having a baby shower at all for this baby. Gwendolyn had a splendid shower at Rachelle and Lubo's house in Austin, filled with friends and family (grandparents from both sides flew in!). But we seem to be taking this pregnancy in stride - we're much calmer, we have many fewer worries, but we're also doing less to actively prepare or celebrate. So it took me completely by surprised when Amy, Sunshine and Helene said they'd been talking about organizing a shower. Here is the sweet invitation they made. And some of the fun pictures from the event!

Amy had David email her a photo of me pregnant (hard to find, there weren't many!). She took it to a print shop in Panama City and printed it out LARGE on canvas. Then the decorating began.

In the space of two hours, with lots of breaks for incredible brunch quiches, cakes and fruit salads, this is what emerged:

I love it! Thank you, amigas!

Favorite new friend Nico

We have new neighbors across the street - Rebecca, Matteo and Nicolas. Whom Gwendolyn loves! Nico is 1 year older than the Wren, but they play really well together. Here they are at a dinner party at our house. 

Here's before.

And here's after.They rile each other up, and tire each other out :).

Bye Jaime and Jarrod!

Just after Christmas, our good friends Jaime and Jarrod left Gamboa. We miss them!

We had lots of wonderful dinners together (we miss Jaime's wonderful cooking!).

Lots of fun games.

And possibly most exciting in Gwendolyn's eyes, a beautiful baby cat, rescued from the street, now happily translocated to Texas.