And so the weekend begins...

Sean, Brooklyn, Madison, and I had a great dinner date tonight. Now that Maddie can sit up in a high chair, eating out is fun again. She sits up and eats her applesauce while we enjoy a meal that I didn't have to cook! Sean and I have always preferred to take our kids with us when we go out rather than get a babysitter. Part of it is that it isn't so easy to come by good babysitters here, part of it is that Madison is still not quite ready to be away from me for too long but most of it is the simple fact that we really enjoy the time with our kids. Don't get me wrong, dates are awesome - we used to have them once a week when we had two sets of grandparents nearby who were willing to babysit - but we can have just as much fun eating out with our children. Tonight was a perfect example. Brooklyn was playing peek-a-boo with Maddie while we waited for our chocolate pancake - our favorite treat when we go to El Jardin. Maddie giggled and squealed at her sister's antics. Sean and I were nigh to cracking a rib, we were laughing so hard at both of them. If it had been just the two of us we wouldn't have had nearly so much fun...and we would have spent the whole time talking about our two little girls anyway!

We've had a fun time seeing friends from our language school days lately. Last night we had 20 people (half kids, half adults) in our house for a barbeque party to celebrate our first year in Ecuador. The DiCrastos are with MAF as well and we came from language school in Costa Rica to Ecuador together a year ago April 27. The Cargiles graduated with us and live in Quito. The Harrisons went to the same school but graduated 4 months after we did - they live in Quito too. The other couple, the Bares, are here in Shell and we invited them along for the fun as well (they did actually go to the same language school several years ago). The house was jam-packed but it was a great time. Then today we got to spend a little more time with the Harrisons. Their daughter is Brooklyn's age and they had lots of catching up to do! It's fun to see friends we haven't seen in a while and remember our language school days. I was realizing today how very little I do remember from our time there. I think I was in survival mode or something because so many things have been erased from my mind! (I'm sure the morning sickness I had there has no influence whatsoever on the not-so-fond memories I have of the place) Oh well, I was so glad to finally get here to Ecuador that I didn't waste much time remembering Costa Rica...now I'm glad we at least have some pictures to remember that we actually were there!

Our cat had her first litter of kittens today. She's still a bit of a kitten herself so we were a little surprised when we noticed her belly growing about a month ago. Poor thing really didn't know what to do and acted a little shocked when things started happening. We actually discovered she was having her kittens when we heard Brooklyn screaming at our dog who happened to have one of the kittens in her mouth. *clears throat* We're not so sure that one is going to make it. Anyway, I found a quiet place for Luna to finish and she had four more kittens that seem very healthy. Growing up I always had cats having kittens and it was very fun (and educational) for me. Brooklyn loves it too and I'm glad she can experience it. Sean isn't too fond of the whole thing...he barely tolerates my love of cats - I think it's all just a show so he feels manly....but anyhoo.... If we can just keep our dog from thinking the kittens are chew toys and our daughter from thinking they're just toys, they might just make it long enough to find homes for. Maybe we can trade one or two for a parrot from the jungle!