11 Months

Okay, they're actually 11 months, 1 week, and 2 days, but really, who's counting? Besides their mother, obviously. We are on a quick slide towards their 1st birthday, yikes!!! They celebrated 11 months in Peru, and all these pictures are from there. Nuala still only takes a step or two, and acts like it's such a chore. She prefers her hobble-crawl. Bran, meanwhile, totally took off in Peru! He'd been walking before, but really began to walk all the time while we were there. It's so cute to see him just ambling about the house. He does this hip swivel thing while he walks, and is just so pleased with himself! He kinda reminds me of a little Elvis. In Elvis' younger days, of course...Nuala's become a bit more of a fit-thrower, she tragically flings herself backwards or onto the floor to make her point. Such a drama queen -- but both ways. She still laughs a ton, and likes to bonk heads with us. They both are super helpful and hand us stuff all the time. They're so much fun! Here are some pics:







Bran snoozing at Machu Picchu, some little friends in Cuzco, Nuala on the bus up the mountain, and two shots on the train. Nuala was so not afraid of this guy...they both loved watching him dance up and down the aisle, but Nuala didn't hesitate at all to go to him. Bran was a tad bit nervous.

Machu Picchu with 'Los Gringitos'

Well, we are back! Whew...what a trip! We had an amazing time, it almost feels like we didn't even go, that it was all a dream. Of course, to dream, you usually sleep, and really we didn't get a whole lot of that in Peru. But who cares, we got to go to Machu Picchu! We left our new camera in Lima, where we stayed for one night before flying to Cuzco. Luckily, we brought our 3-year old digital camera, just in case our newer one got stolen...or left behind. The hotel staff found it right when we called them and held it for us till we returned, so that was good. They even left us a nice little video on it as a souvenir of our stay.

Nuala making friends in Lima

Cuzco from the train

Cuzco was an awesome city! We wish we could have stayed there longer. We saw some ruins nearby and enjoyed the city square and giant cathedral. Also in Cuzco we first became aware of what true celebrities we are. Okay, what celebrities the babies are. It's kinda rare to see such little whiteys there, especially cute little twins with blondish hair and big blue eyes. They attracted attention everywhere, and we were often mobbed by Peruvian locals and tour groups where everyone wanted a photo of "los gringitos." Sometimes it was such a big spectacle that other American/European tourists took pictures of the mobs of Bran and Nuala groupies. Too funny! Nuala and Bran basked in it all. Nuala was super social, as usual, and grinned her big scrunchy-nose grin at everyone. Bran was a little more reserved, but still pretty smiley. They made so many friends and got too many kisses to count. Good thing we're not all that germaphobic. We also met up with Uncle Randy and Aunt Pat in Cuzco. Aunt Pat gave us chocolate chips. Ghirardelli Dark. We love Aunt Pat. We went to church there in Cuzco, we really enjoy going to local wards, and we met some nice people.

Saying goodbye to Pat and Randy in Aguas Calientes

Monday we took the train to Aguas Calientes, the little town by Machu Picchu. On the way, the babies made a bunch of friends, especially with some Japanese tourists. Zachariah talked with them a bunch, and then couldn't speak Spanish for a while. Poor guy...the perils of being trilingual...We met up with Pat and Randy again and went to lunch right before they headed back to Cuzco.

Mmmm...cuy. Can you see its teeth?

We tried the cuy, or guinea pig, and also alpaca. Nuala and Bran tried both also, we can't wait to tell them in a few years when they or their friends have pet guinea pigs that they once ate a cute little guy and liked it!

The bus up to Machu Picchu had to have been one of the best parts of the entire trip!!! It took 20 minutes up the side of a steep mountain. What a view!!! Seriously, that view alone was worth taking the trip. Okay, not really, but almost. WOW.

Bus road snaking up the mountain in the background

The first day we went to the ruins, they were shrouded in mist. We were able to stand above the city and just watch as the bottoms of the clouds skimmed over the top of the mountains, drifting through the remains of Machu Picchu. It was beautiful.

We went back the next day, too, as we were taking things slowly because of the two celebrities -- I mean babies -- who were with us. It was a clear, sunny day, and we got to see lots of llamas wandering about the ruins. Bran was especially pleased with that. He would grunt and stick his arm out any time he spotted one.

Both days we let the babes go free for a while to somewhat get the wiggles out. They loved to climb up on the big rocks, especially Nuala. She was like a little mountain goat, we kept thinking she was going to fall and would rush to save her, but she was stuck to the rock like gum on a shoe.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip, we feel very blessed that we were able to go! We were all excited to get home, though, especially the two celebrities who missed their toys and their beds. Of course we took tons of pictures, if you want to see more, click here.

Machu Picchu, here we come...

Tomorrow, we're off! We leave Friday morning, nice and early. Maybe not "nice," but definitely "early." We're taking the opportunity of being slightly closer to Peru to go to Machu Picchu. Zachariah's Uncle Randy and Aunt Pat decided rather last-minute to meet up with us at some point in Peru, so we're looking forward to seeing them, too. We're so excited, we've always wanted to go to Machu Picchu!! I don't think we ever thought we'd be taking two 11-month olds with us, though...It's only a four hour flight to Lima, then a 45-minute flight to Cuzco, then a 3-4 hour train ride to Aguas Calientes, the little town right by the ruins. The thing is, the departure times for all these different legs of the journey don't line up nicely at all, so the traveling bit of it will be a little more drawn out than we would like with such little ones. That's okay, they're pretty good travelers. The key is organization. And lots of prayers. And a little bit of bribery with really yummy snacks.

Also, as I'm sure you're all wondering...my novel could be going better, but at least it is going. I have just under 10,000 words. The goal is 50,000 by the end of November, and seeing as how we're halfway there, things are not looking good, especially with us leaving for a week. But, the way I look at it is (and Zac, too, he's doing it also but didn't tell!), I wouldn't have written any words if I hadn't signed up. And the month's not over yet. And even though I totally want to change my entire story, I'm having a lot of fun writing it!

So, goodbye for now, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we will see y'all next week! And to tide you over, here are a couple of baby pictures:

They like to crawl in and out of this basket. Bran is not as adept at it as Nuala, and often demands assistance



Nuala loves tomato sauce, among other things.






Bran has totally taken to "talking" on the phone.










Kickin' back with a nice, cool watered-down juice...