A report from week #3.  First,we had some genuine sickness as everyone but Ted ended up spending some time worshipping the porcelain altar.  Second, Jake got promoted to second grade.  This was met with, how shall we say, mild degrees of enthusiasm.  Jake conceded that he now hates school less, but still doesn’t like it.

A bit of insight into our schedule.  A cab picks us up at 7:30 to drive us to school.

School, yay!

The first two weeks the drive to school was only about 15-20 minutes so we thought this would be a piece of cake.  Apparently, however, our school opened two weeks early.  Now that the other schools have started and the city is back in full swing after February (their summer) ended, it is 25-30 minutes each way.

Mucho traffico

After our first full week at school, we figured it would be good to celebrate with a nice Friday night family dinner.  We fed the kids an early evening snack to tide them over until dinner time while the adults leisurely sipped wine and had a little bite on our patio overlooking Buenos Aires.  We then strolled over to nearby Bella Italia Grille (3706 Segui) to have a proper dinner at the Argentine hour of 8:45.  What could possibly go wrong?

Total kid meltdown.  Jake was basically asleep face down in his pasta while Kate was demanding that we take a cab for the 8 block journey back to our house. We scarfed down what was otherwise a lovely dinner, stuck the cork in the wine bottle and left.  In the midst of this mayhem around 9:45 another couple walked in with kids who couldn’t have been more than 3 and 5 years old to begin their meal.  So we are still trying to get the hang of this whole Argentine eating thing.

The rest of the fin de semana (weekend) was much better as we went to a terrific estancia, La Estancia Candelaria del Monte.  The place is quaint and rustic, but what really set it apart was the amazing service.  Incredibly hospitable staff who made us feel at home and really tailored the experience for us.

Horsing around

Puppies!

The kids particularly loved the various dogs and cats that were running loose around the property.  There was some movement to take Salt and Pepper (the two 3 month old kittens) back with us to BA, but luckily cooler heads prevailed.  These dogs followed us around wherever we went (you can see them in front of Michele and Kate in the video below)

Happy Trails!

The horseback riding was particularly fun here because the Estancia is a working farm.  The owner, Sebastian, let us practice our riding by rounding up some cattle and herding them from one side of the pasture to the other.  Kate was particularly enthusiastic about hooting at the cows using a sound that is best written as “Oogah! Oogah!” but uttered in a low grunting tone.  This was a great family activity as it required coordination amongst all the riders to keep the cattle moving in the proper direction.

We also had some time for some horsing around in the pool

Splash!

Though perhaps upon viewing this video it seems that papa needs to layoff the empanadas.  As an homage to the gauchos we rode with Ted has added something to his fashion repertoire.  Palo Alto friends should brace themselves to see this around town soon.

Muy guapo

Hasta pronto!