Luckily, we can enjoy the time off as well as keeping in mind the reason for the time off, so we decided to go camping on Thursday. Seemed like half of Uruguay had the same idea! The first two campsites we hit, up near Minas, about 2 hours northeast, were full. As in FULL. We wouldn't have wanted to stay there even if there HAD been space. We did, however, let B&N play on the playground at one spot.


[As I was loading up this picture, I just had to go look at information about gauchos (focus, Fiona!), and apparently the baggy trousers they wear, stuffed into boots, are called bombachas!! This is only important because two (?) posts back I mentioned that "panties" are called bombachas, so guys couldn't talk about THEIR bombachas, etc. etc. (I'm so funny), but anyway...apparently MEN wear bombachas as well, just a different sort. So maybe I should get Zac some bombachas, and he and Nuala can wear their bombachas together! :) snicker, snicker...mmmm, Snickers...Focus! Focus!]
Then we built a fire. Bran and Nuala are awesome helpers.



Our dinner consisted of roasted hot dogs (panchos) on buns with ketchup. And, afterwards, marshmallows. Phew! Thank goodness ketchup counts as a vegetable! We almost had an unbalanced meal there! haha... Oh, we also had a bunch of cherry tomatoes. That redeems the meal slightly. Of course, all the Uruguayan campers probably thought our dinner was pretty pathetic, seeing as how they were eating stuff like...
....lamb. This was the dinner of that nice family. Seriously, our hot dogs are pretty sorry looking next to that. They invited us to come back and eat when it was ready, but it was going to be a little while longer and we had two pooped-yet-wired kiddos to put to bed. Also, look how little that lamb was! I don't mind it so much when it's just in pieces, but seeing him/her all splayed out like this just made me feel a bit sad for the little fella.
After a pretty chilly night, we were up nice and early. See the steam rising off the stream? See that cheesy scrunched-up grin? He makes me smile :) Lots.
We started the fire again and had fun poking sticks into it and waving the flames about. This was slightly dangerous, but obviously we like to walk on the wild side.
We have NO CLUE as to what started this. It had to do with someone eating something Nuala thought should be hers, I think... Anyway, she just cried for several minutes, sitting stock still, with her arms sticking out...yeah...it was rather humorous, so I took a bunch of pictures. Then she said, "All done cwy," and was all done. I showed her these pictures yesterday and asked her why she was crying and she said, "Zip up Noona!" Apparently she assumes she was crying because that blanket that's behind her had come undone. She had been all wrapped up in it, and ever since they spent 2 weeks in their little tents, being "zipped up" means to be tucked in.
We had fun, but later that morning packed up and headed home. I had to pee pretty badly. That's not the reason we left when we did. We were just ready. But, man! The toilets there were sorely lacking. Huh...rather, it would have been nice if they had been lacking...LACKING in poo smeared all over the walls, LACKING in the box of used toilet paper overflowing beside the hole in the floor where you squat, LACKING in the actual pile of poop in the box... Yeah, it was not a pleasant experience. One go at it was enough to convince me I could survive on very little water for one night/morning. And I did. After one time, my whole body and mind were on the same page, no part of me wanted to repeat the experience. I was also extremely, EXTREMELY grateful that neither child is potty-trained. I probably said that to Z about 15 times while we were there. "Thank goodness for diapers!"
On the way home we stopped at a roadside alfajor stand. Yummmm...we love the alfajores from Minas...and I still have a few downstairs. I best go make good use of them...




It was fun camping! We have realized, however, that we need to get Bran and Nuala actual sleeping bags. They were snuggled in several warm blankets, but kept wriggling out and then waking up cold. Lucky for me, Z hopped up and re-snuggled them each time. Yep, he's a keeper alright!
17 comments:
Camping sounds really fun! It looked like a beautiful camp spot! Too bad about the toilet though. gross!
Oh fun! You all looked like you had a good time at your beautiful camp site. This is going to sound really lame, but, we have never taken our kids camping! We have always had a baby/toddler during the summer that we just thought would be too much work... This year though, we'll have to do it! And from what I remember, the bathrooms here in the states are MUCH more pleasant than the nice picture you painted. Eew! I bet you were so thirsty! And good thing you aren't still breastfeeding. You just get SO THIRSTY. At least I do. All of the sudden, I need water RIGHT NOW!
I love B&N's facial expressions! They are so funny. Nuala's tantrum story is really funny, too. Alex has really gotten into throwing screeching tantrums. Not pretty. I keep thinking to myself, this is cute now, but it is not going to be fun when he is bigger and stronger! Ack! Hopefully he grows out of it (here's me crossing my fingers...). It sounds like you guys had a fun campout-minus the poop. I can't wait for July!!!!
That's such a pretty one of Nuala by the fire, and I love Bran's scrunched up face! Camping! That looks sooo fun. I really could have done with out the toilet description.
Also, I thought there was another child behind Nuala, but after reading and making the picture big, I realized it was you.
I like the picture of Nuala checking out the matches, I never even realized she got control of the box. Ah, camping with kids, lots of work...
Sounds like lots of fun! I love all the pictures. What's up with those wooden slides, very weird. Nuala's crying position is so awesome. I don't blame you for not wanting the lamb, I really don't like it when my meat is still animal shaped when it's ready to eat...Bran and Nuala look so cute holding their hotdogs to the fire!
Your family is so precious Fiona :) What fun the four of you will have throughout your lives! :)
Ah Camping. Can't wait to take the kids this summer. I am sure it is a lot of work, but always a great adventure!!!
Camping sounds fun, except for ALL that poop!!! The slides look interesting in Uruguay too. The crying pic cracks me up... sometimes a girl just needs a good cry, ya know?
What a fun post! I remember the slivery slides ...but that one looks really high and steep... poor N, she prob wondered why you couldn't read her mind and KNOW you were s'posed to wrap her in the blanket... after all, she had her arms and hands sticking out! Ooh, yes, sharp edges on B's car ... there must be a happy medium somewhere ... our local, nice, secure, little park over by HEB recently got rid of the cool climbing dome... the children were wondering where it was this last time ... seems some little child fell off it, so it's gone :( So do N&B have bikes or trikes ... looks like a yellow BIKE (training wheels?). The gaucho w/his wellies is very cute, but the little hat makes him look like a Frenchman more than an Irishman (wrong hat!) You all look great, and like you are having fun... it's good to make the effort... makes for great memories... Thanks for the several out loud laughs :) Love, Mom (Dad too) xox
And then there were matches... I love the fixation and fascination on Nuala's face when she's looking at the matches. I'm glad you guys had so much fun camping. Wish we were there :)
Rusty dilapidated playgrounds in foreign coutries- I'm actually jealous. ;-) And after that bathroom description, I'd be tempted to revert back to diapers myself! Yech!!! and curious, what kind of camera do you guys have, your photos are always so crisp.
Wow, I laughed so many times during that post! The bombaches, the pink shirt (I was just thinking you wear it a lot and then you wrote it! It was so funny!) OH MY GOSH THAT LAMB!!!! I gasped when I saw it. I thought, "What IS it? It IS in ANOTHER country." Then my mind started to wander and I thought, "It could be a DOG," then I kept reading. Lamb, I can handle that. But, OH! What a shuddering picture, as in it makes ME shudder! You had some GREAT shots of Nuala and Bran. |They are so cute and growing so fast! I can't believe it! I love how parents take pictures of their kids crying. I think it's so funny!
It was fun seeing Zac! He was a great guest.
Nuala and Bran have little balance bikes. They're two-wheelers, but with no pedals or training wheels. They just walk/run them along...supposed to help kiddos learn the whole balancing thing better. They love them!
Cameras: Our point-and-shoot is a Canon Powershot SD 750, but the photos that look especially crisp are most likely from our DSLR, the Olympus E410. DSLRs are kinda pricey, but we're glad we invested in one.
And I actually contemplated peeing in a diaper. Luckily my situation didn't get that desperate... :)
I, the avowed hater of all public restrooms (flushable or not) probably would have peed in a diaper (or the forest). Gross!
Up until that point the trip sounded fabulous - somewhat jealous, except we're just heading into summer there, so not so jealous about the cooler weather. Have had enough for awhile, thanks. :)
Wow looks like you guys had a lot of fun! That slide looks soo scary! I'm surprised there's no slivers! (but I bet the wood probably gets slicker than plastic!)
Mike and I want to go camping--we just need to get a bigger tent for the 6 of us!
can't wait to see you guys!
It looks like the little ones had a blast. They are growing up so fast now. Seems like they act older and older with each blog post!
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