What Would You Do?

Welcome to the game show that asks 'What Would You Do?'. Here's how you play. Imagine yourself in some parallel universe, or a South American country, whichever you prefer. Then read the question and consider what you would do in the given situation. If your response matches what actually happened, you're a winner. If it doesn't, well, you're a loser.

Let's get started.

Scenario #1: You're driving down the road and you come to a stoplight. You look in the car next to you and see the other driver, a father, holding an infant in his arms with his wife in the passenger seat with nothing in her arms. Light turns green and everybody goes. What Would You Do?

Scenario #2: You travel from one large city to an even larger city. The city you left was known for its petty crime, but the city you're going to is legendary for its petty and violent crimes. You have been warned to not go exploring. What Would You Do?

Scenario #3: You live in a city where one of the most storied and historic sports franchises is about to be demoted from the major leagues to a lesser league. Riots are planned whether they win or lose. You've been invited to go somewhere to watch the game. What Would You Do?

Scenario #4: Your family is gone for three weeks. You plan to meet up with them and then have a blast on vacation together. However, you still have two weeks to go all by yourself. What Would You Do?

Are you done contemplating? Let's see how you did.

#1: Yes, this really happened... earlier today. In the United States, I would immediately reach for my phone and call 911 and give the license plate number of the irresponsible parents. However, after the initial shock and disappointment, I remember there is no enforcement of seatbelt or carseat laws for children or adults, if such laws exist. Furthermore, Argentine Federal Police are more often than not the ones telling you not to worry about crimes being committed because "these things happen." So... I shook my head and drove away, hoping the infant made it home safely.

#2: Earlier this week, I traveled from Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Two very large cities and one with a horrible reputation for crime: Sao Paulo. I was told to avoid going out and walking around, even around the ritzy hotel I was staying at due to the prevalence of crime in all parts of Sao Paulo. What did I do? I took taxis everywhere and am now 1 for 1 on mugging-free trips to Brazil. Yay me!

#3: I went to watch the game. Kind of a trick question because I live four miles from the River Plate Stadium where the game was being played with 2,000 extra police (see #1 comment about Argentine Federal Police) and the place I was invited to was another 2 miles away in the opposite direction. The game ended in a tie, cementing River Plate's demotion to the Liga B (B league) for the first time in its 110 year history. The fans were none too happy and caused much damage to the stadium and surrounding area. I hope they all go home tonight since the stadium (and neighborhood) stand between me and my place of employment. Sorry, River.

#4: I'm sad they're gone. I'm bored they're gone. Other families are gone too. Guess I'll find something else to clean.

Thank you for playing 'What Would You Do?'.

The Week that Wasn't

As you saw in last week's post, the Puyehue volcano in Chile erupted and made for some awesome photos. With the wind patterns and the jet stream, the ashes from the eruption affected air travel in and out of Buenos Aires for nearly a week. Flights were cancelled from both the international and domestic airports. While that normally wouldn't matter, school had just gotten out and many families were planning their summer vacations... including us. Our Monday night departing flight was cancelled... then our Tuesday night departing flight was cancelled... and we finally made it out of Buenos Aires on Thursday.

In the end, the airports were closed for two days, open for a day and half, then closed for two and a half days, and then the rain came and dispersed the ashes. From the reports, however, the volcano is still spewing ash and could bothersome for the coming weeks. What's worse is what it has done to Argentina's beautiful lake district, including large tourist communities of Bariloche and Villa La Angostura. Sad.

Bariloche before and after:

Villa La Angostura before and after

So the good news is that we made it out of the country. We had originally planned to spend 5 days together as a family in Park City before I returned for a few weeks while Candace stayed with the kids for the summer. As the week drew on (with us having expected to be gone), Candace was more and more distraught at the possibility of losing her guaranteed one full day of kid-free shopping at the Park City outlet mall. Luckily, with us getting out on Thursday (arriving in Utah on Friday), Candace got to shop all day Saturday before I departed Utah for Buenos Aires on Sunday (arriving Monday).

One of the best things of the week was that Claire was so pleased that every spoke English. When we told her that at the airport in Dallas, she said 'hi' to everyone. She's always been a very social and loving girl, but sometimes gets shy with the language barrier. But there's nothing like speaking your own language.

As I was going to have the kids for a whole day, I was trying to make some good plans. I was lucky. [This next part is dedicated to having good friends] As you grow up and get married and have families, it's hard to stay in touch, especially as everyone moves all around, but there are those few friends that it doesn't matter how much time passes, you can pick up like no time has passed. My friend Andy is one of those. While never companions, we met in the Buenos Aires West Mission. We had a great time during the mission, and continued afterwards. Heck, our mom's even have the same name. He's a firefighter in Park City and offered to give a tour to the kids. So we went and spent two hours at the fire department getting the VIP tour of the station and the vehicles. Claire and Sam (and I'm sure Caroline too) were so pleased to meet a real firefighter. They called him Fireman Andy and talked about him the rest of the day and the whole next day. It was one of those activities that the kids will remember for a long long time. They got great fireman hats, stickers, and bracelets, and I got a pencil (thanks, Andy). They got to climb in and on an ambulance and a fire truck and spent a while talking to Fireman Andy about why it's important for firefighters to be healthy (while playing on exercise equipment). It was such a great visit.

In the past year, such relationships have become so much more important to me. You're the best, Andy.

There's a First Time for Everything

This was a big week in Buenos Aires. A week of firsts. Let's start with Caroline. She is 13 1/2 months old and is only recently interested in learning how to walk. She knows that crawling is faster and climbs and stands, but this week she finally took a step... then she took another. While she is far from walking, she has stepped. She is a stepper. She has climbed Mount Stepperest and returned. Now she's interested. Time to re-organize and move things a little bit higher.


Now to Sam. Sam had so much potential for a first this week. Unfortunately, he still goes number 2 in a diaper, and therefore doesn't get to wear his Spiderman underwear or get the marbles on top of the refrigerator. He is always first to finish his meal though.


Claire finished Kinder 4.


As for Candace and Dave, it was a joint issue: A regular spousal dispute. It was not the first spousal dispute and probably won't be the last, but Dave admitted he was wrong. How big of me! There is a first time for everything.


Lastly, let's talk about volcanoes (and I'm not returning to Sam's diaper issues). The Puyehue Volcano near Osorno, Chile erupted last week. While I wish I could claim credit for the below pictures, they came from a newspaper showing the eruption:

That's pretty awesome, right? Well, here we are over 1000 miles away suffering the effects. Both airports in Buenos Aires were closed for a few days as the ash cloud descended on Buenos Aires. While it normally wouldn't matter, school got out and a ton of families had plans to travel. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled. We're still fine as far as we know. But the city got a light dusting... and there were plenty of sore throats to go around. The below is a picture of our car this morning. And it's not just neglect of washing it... cause every car looks the same.

Thanks a lot, Chile.


Candace's contribution:


Sam

I love the way Sam talks. We spend all day everyday together, and he is a constant stream of chatter. He’s at the stage where he can articulate well what he wants to say, but there are many letter sounds he can’t make. I have tried to take a lot of videos of him talking. I know I’m used to his manner of speaking now, but it will melt my heart in the future when I watch it on video. The kids grow up so quickly. Sometimes they pass through the most adorable stages without me hardly noticing. I’m trying harder to enjoy each stage and to get it on video!

Claire’s Boutique

Claire loves to do art. She is into making art project out of random household items. She loves to display her art. I know if I let her she would cover every wall in the house with her art. I have limited her art displays to her bedroom and one wall in the playroom. Her closet doors and bedroom door are completely covered with art. She calls the playroom wall her mural and loves to add to it all the time. She is very creative. She often tells me that she wants to be an artist when she grows up. I love her enthusiasm.

Sing Along

So a few months ago, Candace told Claire that she could earn a date night with mommy and daddy if she learned the primary songs for an upcoming program in Spanish and in English. Well, she did it. She sings them with might, and they're not the short one-versed versions. One of the songs was two verses of Praise to the Man. She belts them out in English or Spanish whenever she wants.

So last night was the date reward. She chose one of the few restaurants near our house that is open before 8pm and went. She was so pleased... talking incessantly about how much fun she was having. It was a night all about her. After her Cheeseburger and chocolate milk and hot fudge sundae, we came home to watch a movie of her choice: The Air Buddies. Do you remember Air Bud the basketball dog.. then there was one about baseball, volleyball, and football (no, I have not seen them all). Well, the Air Buddies are about Air Bud's puppies. Let's just say it was Claire's choice.

Two weeks ago, we were able to take Sam with us as we cruised around downtown BA seeing some of the more common tourist sites... so both have had special time. It's a reminder that it's really easy to do and both activities were a blast.

This coming week is the last week of Kinder 4 for Claire at her school. They did a year-book that they give to everyone and we got a call from the Elementary School Principal advising us that they had elected to dedicate a page to Lily and he wanted to be the one to tell us before we saw the book. As it turns out, when you open the book, the first page is the welcome letter from the principal. Once you turn the page, there are a few pictures of Lily with a short tribute. It was very thoughtful and we have received some personal messages from other parents at the school talking about Lily.

Candace's addition:

Dinnertime

I don’t know how dinnertime is at your house, but I imagine it’s a challenge in most families with young children. I decided long ago that only one thing would be served for dinner. I love to cook and rarely take into account what my children will think when I plan my menus. I figure if they are exposed to a large variety of foods they will learn to like them. That has mostly proven to be true. It’s funny to watch the different kids at dinner. Claire is a good eater. She tries so hard to like what I make and is always willing to try new things. She will almost always say that she likes what I made even if it isn’t her favorite thing. She does her best to eat it. Sam asks what we are having and then declares he doesn’t like it before he even sees it or tries it. He has come a long way in his willingness to try new foods and eat vegetables, but we have a long way to go. He always makes me laugh when he puts a bite of dinner in his mouth and then quickly tries to wash it down with tons of milk. Caroline is my star dinner eater. She loves whatever I cook. She always makes me feel so good as she shovels the food into her mouth as quickly as she can and often eats more than the other kids. I get so much pleasure out of serving a healthy, homemade meal to my family. I have a wonderful husband who loves anything I cook and is always grateful. He’s probably the reason I love to cook.