fun winter weekend

Keith and I were able to take a day off together last Friday and we took Dylan to New York City for some Christmas-y fun. We took the train into Penn Station, which made him happy, considering his love for all things "choo-choo" Then, we took Dylan to each of our offices so he could meet everyone and have a warm lunch inside. We checked out the train store and walked through Bryant Park. We saw a kind of creepy Elmo and cookie monster and took pictures with them on the street. Then we went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. By that point, Dylan was exhausted and fell asleep in his stroller, allowing me and Keith to enjoy some burgers & fries at our favorite diner near Carnegie Hall. After that nap/lunch break, we went to FAO Schwartz and Dylan picked out one toy for himself (a train, of course) and then we headed home. We took a taxi back to Penn Station which also seemed to be exciting for Dylan who repeated many, many times that we were in a "taxi-car."

The following day, the whole Mason family attended mass in honor of Keith's dad. After mass, we went out to dinner together at Charlie Brown's. Dylan always enjoys spending times with his cousins, who he also calls "my friends!" It was nice to have the family together for a little bit.

The day after that we had Chloe's Chef party, and as you can see from the picture, it involved actual cooking. Dylan made stromboli and a gingerbread cookie, though he was probably the only child concerned about getting his hands dirty. We'll have to work on that! We also took last weekend to decorate the house and put up the tree. We're officially ready for Christmas now!

Very Thankful

Just wanted to post a quick note as the holiday season gets under way. Dylan has had some fun visits from friends who have visited us from the west coast like Miles (and Nate and Meg) and Emiliana (and Todd and Amanda). He has gotten to to birthday parties like Franco's and Mikah's and is looking forward to Chloe's cooking party next weekend. He got to go to the Thanksgiving Day Parade with his daddy and his grandma and he's been bundling up with his Abu in the mornings now that's it's so cold and I've been having early morning court hearings way too often.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are, as always, so grateful for everything we have, most of all each other. Though there are loved ones who are missed, we are surrounded by friends and family and you can't ask for too much more than that. And though we are really busy and sometimes tired, we are always happy and thankful for the life we have together. Plus, Keith is never too tired for a kitchen dance-party and Dylan takes after his daddy, which makes for some fun times. Above is a picture from Thanksgiving, our family with our good friends the Martinez family.

Now, on to Christmas decorating and making plans for New Years!

Halloween, raaaar!

So, this Halloween Dylan ended up being a Dragon. At first, we had actually gone to the mall with him and he picked out a giraffe costume for himself from Old Navy. After a couple of weeks of asking him if he was excited to be a giraffe for Halloween, and him responding, "NO!....my want to be a dragon, raaar!" we finally gave in and exchanged the giraffe costume for a dragon costume. After Keith and I spent a very fun weekend seeing Phish on Friday and Saturday in Atlantic City and Dylan having fun with his Grandma at the beach, we headed back home to Cranford and went to Drew and Mindy's "Hallerween" party for a while where Dylan was surrounded by many cute, costumed kids. As it was getting dark, we headed back home and trick-or-treated around our neighborhood. It was Dylan's first time trick-or-treating and he caught on pretty well, asking after each house"one more house???"

After collecting all his candy, our little munchkin laid it all out on the floor so he could look at it, organize it, and pick a couple of pieces to eat. It turns out he really likes candy.

Other cute little things: as he picks up better pronunciation and more and more words each day, Dylan is now able to have full conversations with us. And he has really funny comments -- like today when we had to get up early because I had to be in court in New York. First he was very confused as to why were up while it was still "night out?!" And then I told him I had to go to work and take him to his Abu's house, but since we were up at the same time as Daddy, we were going to drive Daddy to the bus stop. He answered: "that's a great idea!"

We always get to see his little brain working in really cute ways...like, since he knows it sometimes only rains a little...he calls the opposite, storms, "big rain." And since he knows he's sometimes just a little tired, when he's really tired, he says he's BIG TIRED.

Yesterday, when he was driving in the car with Keith, Keith asked him if he loved the song that was playing on the radio and Dylan answered: "NO, my no love that song, my love you!"

Does it even get any cuter than that?!

"you make me happy"

Just wanted to post a couple quick stories before I forget.
We had a lovely labor day weekend even though the three of us were all a little sick with colds.

On Friday night, we had a little dance party at home. I taped a couple of the songs and posted one below. Sometimes Dylan asks for dance parties, sometimes it's Keith that requests them, but the two of them always have fun and usually talk me into putting my book down and joining them.


I spent a lot of the weekend reading and studying and as you can see from this picture, Dylan helped me get through some of my more difficult and theoretical books. He looked through this book closely and then closed it and said "the end." and moved on to stealing my nose and telling me he was going to put it in his pocket until I asked him PLEASE to return it to my face. very cute.

After grilling at home on Sunday, we went to a BBQ at my aunt and uncle's on Monday and the whole family was there plus lots of family friends. Dylan debuted his new joke: "Guess What?" "...chicken butt!" (except in the cutest toddler voice imaginable). He also stole lots of noses and tried to do some knock-knock jokes except that he's still answering his own knocks, and sometimes just telling people that it's "Dylan" when they say "who's there."

On Tuesday the 7th of September, I went to pick him up from my mom's and I walked in on his going to the potty for the first time. very exciting! but it still hasn't been repeated. baby steps, I guess.

Finally, yesterday while I was at class, he and Keith were having a little talk before bed-time and Dylan stopped in the middle of the conversation to say "Daddy, you make me happy." When Keith told me that story, I just got filled up with joy. What can be better than hearing that? Must have been such a sweet moment. This morning when I dropped him off and was having breakfast with my mom, I told her the story and Dylan was next to me listening to us talking. After I finished he said, "you too, mommy. you make me happy, too." Just when I thought that story couldn't have gotten better...it did. Seeing my baby growing up and talking more and more is really nice and fulfilling. And watching him string so many words together to say a complete sentence is always fun, but having his complete thoughts and sentences be such kind and thoughtful ones makes me feel overjoyed. In some way or another, he makes us happy like that everyday.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmiSHwrLDTE

This way beach, that way ice cream.

This year's Mason family Jersey Shore trip was extra special...because we got to see Snooki. Just kidding. Though we did see Snooki, but that wasn't the special part. Dylan had so much fun hanging with his cousins all week. There were times he would look at them all and say, "my cousins!" We spent our mornings at the beach where the water was just beautiful most of the week. Dylan took his naps after lunch and by the time he woke up, his cousins would be back at the house, ready to play. They taught him how to play football (sort of)...he does love the hiking part but kind of lingers in a crouched position looking down for a while before throwing the ball forward. Emily gave him some soccer advice. They all played baseball and nerf bowling with him. He watched cartoons with Logan. He had a blast with each one of his cousins and they were so good to him, always letting him play with them and taking care of him, too. There were times they would be playing their own games, and Dylan would come in and demand attention and they just adjusted their game to include him...it was so sweet.

Though Dylan was very fearful of the water all week, and didn't really like the feel of sand at the beginning, or the look of the birds on the beach...he apparently turned into a fearless child at the boardwalk. Keith took him to the games at Seaside and Dylan went on lots of rides with his older cousins that mommy would not have approved of if she had been there. Luckily for Dylan, I was away for one night (seeing a Phish show) and the daredevil side of our child was allowed to shine, under the supervision of his older cousins who took good care of him on the rides, I hear. I wish I had been there.

Finally, the most consistent part of the trip was our nightly ice-cream walks. Every night, a while after eating dinner, we all took a walk to get ice cream together. Every night, Dylan ordered for himself. Some nights, "Nilla" (vanilla), other nights "Nilla and cookies." From our beach house, there were only two directions, according to Dylan: this way beach, that way ice cream. you'd think that's just a toddler's simple perspective, but for most of that week I think we all felt that way which was really nice.

Lilith Fair

We took Dylan to his first concert last weekend, the Lilith Fair. It was a beautiful day thanks to that month-long heat wave finally breaking. Though it was a little hot in the sun, once it started to go down a bit, it was a perfect evening for live music. We went with my friend Gina who is on an extended stay in NJ, having left her home in London to have her baby here in September before she moves to Lebanon. So it was nice to catch up with her and be around a nice big baby belly for the day. We also got to see "Grandma" who had been there early for a special lunch with her friend Kathy. The music was very mellow most of the show. Not too much dancing, unfortunately, but lots of relaxing. The Indigo Girls were the highlight and we left after their set because our little man was falling asleep at around 10pm. I'm glad we got to take Dylan to his first concert and saw that he had fun. I'm also glad it was at the PNC (Garden State) Arts Center where we've seen so many concerts, and I even remember seeing a play there on a grammar school field trip (about Jackie Robinson). That place is kind of special to us and it's so close to home. Now that we've been camping and to a concert and saw that Dylan liked both, a camping music festival seems like the next logical step...

Camping

Last weekend we took the kids camping and enjoyed some down time doing nothing but communing with nature, swatting mosquitos and playing with Kari and Avram's ipads. It was very nice. The kids seemed to have fun and the grown-ups really enjoyed some time away from everyday life.

We got pretty lucky in that despite the severe weather that seemed to have hit other parts of NJ, we only got some rain with minor thunder on each night and it started just about the time when we were getting ready for bed, so we never had to figure out what to do to entertain the kids during the day.

On Saturday we went to the Delaware river and spent a nice day there. We did well with the food, too. Brian and Keith grilled up some sausage and chicken on Friday and Keith made some burgers and hot-dogs on Saturday. Sunday, Avram made awesome breakfast treats that consisted of butter, bread, eggs, and more butter. YUM!

Sunday, we took a walk to the Wolf reserve that was on site. And finally after we were all packed up on Sunday and heading for Hot Dog Johnny's, the rain started coming down hard, which did not deter us from getting hot dogs, but did make us grateful that we weren't packing up in that storm.

All in all, it was great to spend a weekend not having any real plans, and just sitting around talking, always outdoors in fresh (although hot and humid) air. Dylan renewed and strengthened his bond with his new BFF, Brendan, who he now calls "that guy." And he came home saying he had fun with Sam (Kari's son). I think all in all, everyone had a good time and we hope to make this a yearly trip.

Here are some more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=185314&id=650388930&l=aaac7c2f3a

Family, Fun and Futbol!

Since summer has started, we've all been having lots of fun. As always, my parents have BBQ's about every other weekend for any "special occassion" they can think of to celebrate. We go swimming in the pool with "Tio Ney and 'Leria", which is Dylan for Tio Negro/Nestor and Valeria. We have gone to visit grandma, and Layla and Chloe, and Dylan and Daddy went to visit Alicia and Tommy and the baby in Alicia's belly.

Teresa and Abu have a pool set up for Dylan at Abu's house (my parent's house) and Dylan has been spending most of the heat wave comfortably playing in water, though the rest of us are melting!

Mommy and Daddy got to see some Phish shows, and go to some parties thanks to all the wonderful babysitters we have, including the grandmothers, tia, tio, and Vanessa and Jim. We had so much fun watching the World Cup games and rooting on the U.S. and Uruguay teams which did surpsingly well. Dylan sang along with all the chants: Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole!!!! and Soy Celeste!!! and was awakened from more than one nap with the crazy screaming of GOALLLLLLLL!!!!! Anthony and Monica got married in the middle of all the Futbol Fever and the wedding was a fun celebration of love, two cultures, and soccer.

Through it all, Dylan has been talking more and more every day. He surprises us with how well he communicates and has gotten so used to communicating that when we don't understand him, he sometimes gets frustrated and upsest. Luckily, he gets over things pretty quickly so that he may cry for about 30 seconds and then see a toy he wants to play with and it's all over. His "terrible two's" aren't really terrible at all thanks to his sweet disposition and his ability to get over things really fast...and we're really grateful. He's speaking two languages and picking up so many new words every day, and also he's generally a nice kid. When we were food shopping this last week, he told me he wanted out of the shopping cart. I explained that if I took him out, he had to behave and walk next to me, which he did. And then he helped me pick stuff out, load it on the conveyor belt at the check out line and then he helped me bag the little things I handed to him. He was this little toddler acting like a big kid...and it made everyone smile at how sweet he was.

We've got lots of fun stuff planned for the rest of the summer: camping, beach, concerts, and pool time. We plan on enjoying every minute of it!

Memorial Day BBQ

Just a few pictures and a link of some more of our memorial day BBQ at Merrill Park. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather for a picnic. Dylan, of course, loves being outside. A lot of people couldn't make it but some new folks were welcomed. Always nice to spend a nice day outside relaxing and playing games.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=172366&id=650388930&l=d4a587b376

Go Yankees!

Last Friday, May 28th we kicked off our Memorial Day Weekend by going to Dylan's first Yankee game (against the Indians). It was my first time at the new stadium and Dylan's first professional baseball game ever. (He has seen his big cousin Colin play before). We had a great time at the game, Dylan made friends with everyone around us by repeating what people yelled out (luckily, we were in a family-friendly section and had kids in front of us and a behind us which was nice). Dylan also joked around with the two college guys behind us by calling them "this guy!" and laughing and the other one was "that guy!" They fist-bumped with him like they were old friends. Then we were walking around the promenade and eating delicious garlic fries when Robinson Cano hit a grand slam in the 6th inning, everyone started dancing and celebrating and the three of us danced with our garlicky french fries and drinks in our hands. Dylan didn't know what was going on but he always joins in on dancing and celebrating when he sees it, it's a pretty cute trait.

After all the excitement, we headed home and Dylan fell asleep in the car, which was as good a reason as any to stop and get ice-cream at Dairy Queen. The rest of the weekend was nice, with Franco's communion party on Saturday and then Keith's Birthday BBQ on Sunday. I'll post some pictures and stories from that day next.

All in all memorial day weekend 2010 was a good one!

Disney World

For Keith's birthday, we took a mini-vacation to Disney World. In exchange for sitting through a time-share presentation, we were given a 4 day and 3 night stay at Orange Lake Resort in Orlando. Our friends Brad and Kathleen and their baby Dominic joined us and we had wonderful long weekend in Florida.

The resort was beautiful and it was nice that the kids played together from the moment they woke up to the moment they fell asleep at night. Friday, we arrived and settled in. Dylan and Dom (or "Moose" his nickname) knew each other from before and they hit it off right away, running from room to room together. They shared the toys and held hands when we left the suite to walk anywhere, it was all adorable. Saturday we went to Magic Kingdom and Dylan enjoyed the Dumbo ride with daddy, the It's a Small World, the Peter Pan and the Winnie the Pooh rides with mommy AND daddy. That's what he was really excited about, that we were all on the ride together...it was so cute! He also really liked riding a little tram that rode around one of the sections of the park. It was pretty hot and sunny and there was a lot of walking around so that day was exhausting. Here is a picture of Dylan and Dominic taking a nap in one of the shady areas we were able to find. Kathleen had bought the boys both Micky shirts with their names on them and little Mickey dolls. they looked so cute wearing them together!

Sunday, we spent the morning doing the time-share presentation, which was an example of relentless salesmanship. For the record, the initial offer to buy a week a year at the resort was around $50,000 plus yearly maintence fees. By the 5th salesman, the price had gone down to around $5,000 plus maintenance fees. pretty insane! After that, we spent time at the resort pool, which was fun and then we headed to "Downtown Disney" for dinner and walking around. This place was great and we are so grateful to Keith's friend Krista for giving us this tip. We never would have known to go there, but it was perfect. Dylan and Dom spent almost an hour just playing on the little playground and Dylan loved Lego-land. We had a nice dinner, and Dylan rode a little choo-choo and a merry-go-round. All for a fraction of what we had paid in the park the day before.

The best part of the night was when we stopped along the path to hear a performer playing guitar and taking requests. There was a grassy area behind the singer and the boys started running around and playing while we listened to music and watched them. Then two older girls (maybe 7 and 8?) started playing with the boys and running around with them. They boys loved them and they played for a long time together as this singer provided a really sweet soundtrack for it all (Paul Simon and the Beatles). It was a perfect moment on a pefect night!
The boys exhausted themselves and slept beautifully that night.

On Monday, we went to Sea World where Keith and Seth's friend Krista works. She hooked us up with some free tickets and some half-priced tickets and gave us great advice about where to go. We saw the Shamu show, that Dylan is still talking about. Then we took a secret entrance and avoided the lines at the polar bear exhibit that was wonderfully air-conditioned! We saw all sorts of cool stuff in there while escaping the very hot sun outside.

Eventually it was time to go home. Our flight was delayed several times and we were given three separate seats in three separate rows (We had to work it out with people on the plane because Continental didn't help us in getting 2 seats next to each other for me and Dylan!). But through it all, Dylan was so good. He stayed in his car seat through all the delays on the plane and didn't cry the whole flight. The man next to him who had his two fighting sons behind us was impressed.

All in all it was a wonderful and perfect vacation and we can't wait to take more time off with our sweet little boy. Here's also a link of my pictures from our trip...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=169787&id=650388930&l=774d5644ce

happy mother's day / miss you Bis-y

Well, to catch up this blog up to our lives, I'll mention that March 16 was Dylan's birthday and he had a nice time with us at home that night and then the following weekend with family and friends.

When April started, we discussed what we might do on my grandmother's birthday which was May 2nd. Sadly, she got sick, then was in the hospital for 2 weeks, and she passed away on April 19th. April was a cruel month this year and we are all still recovering and missing her.

One good thing, however, as we look back on her life, we can know that she was loved and cared for. She had been living with my parents for over 20 years now and she was always around family and doted on by her two sons. For years she bugged me about having a baby (for many, many years). Finally, we gave her a great-grandson. And they soon became good friends. Dylan spends his weekdays at my mom's house so he played with my grandmother every day. He called her "Bis-y" (pronounced Beesy) -- short for "Bis-abuela" which means great-grandmother. On the weekends, she missed him so much, she would call my cell phone to ask me if he was eating OK (because "he looks so skinny"). She would get up and out of her bed so that she could sit on the couch and watch him play. He would bring his little toy cars to her and turn on the radio and ask her to dance with him. She probably danced more sitting down on the couch this last year than she did in the past 20-30 years. Dylan made her laugh and gave her energy and I think he brightened up her life so for that I am so grateful.

This picture is the last picture we took of my grandmother on Easter Sunday. It was a beautiful day and we all ate outside and then just lounged and enjoyed the weather. My grandmother said it felt like she was in Uruguay...with everyone eating a nice long meal and then relaxing and listening to a soccer game on the radio. Though I keep wanting to go back to that moment, I guess by remembering it and cherishing it, in a way I can keep going back. Today is our first Mother's Day without our grandmother and I think the lesson I'm taking is to really enjoy those moments with our family when we have them. Today I'm going to do just that with my own mom, with Keith's mom, and with my sweet darling baby who calls me 'mommy.'

Uruguay cont.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146806&id=650388930&l=34d9bcf096

So much has happened since the last post, but I will add some more details from the Uruguay trip. The link above is to our facebook album of pictures. It should open for anyone, though. First off, I remain amazed at how well Dylan handled the flights to and from Chile/Uruguay. We got some funny looks boarding the plane because toddlers on overnight flights understandably make people nervous. Luckily, Dylan was his sweet little self and didn't cry once during the 15 hour trips going and returning. We had a ton of toys and snacks to entertain him and he managed to sleep most of the night both ways, so that was a huge success on its own.

Once we arrived in Uruguay, we spent the first night in Montevideo. We went out for "chivitos" (best sandwich ever: thinly sliced filet mignon, with ham, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, egg, red peppers, and mayo.) The next day we set out for the cross-country drive to visit my mother's family. Again, Dylan was a trooper for the 6 hour car-ride. We spent 3 days and 2 nights in the town of Rio Branco where most of my mom's 14 brothers and sisters live. It's definitely got a small-town country feel but because it's on the border with Brazil, and it was Carnival time, it was insanely festive with party buses driving around blasting music at night. If it had been a few years earlier, our trip would surely have been different...but unlike our cousins who invited us out with them, and unlike what seemed to be the entire Brazilian town of Jaguaron, we actually went to bed while it was dark out and woke up in the mornings. This isn't to say we went to bed "early" -- we did have dinner out at 11pm, and yes Dylan somehow managed to stay on our crazy schedule. We had a family reunion for my mom's side of the family at one of my cousin's farms. It nice to catch up and especially nice to see my mom with her brothers and sisters.

On Tuesday, we left the Brazilian border / country-side town of Rio Branco and drove to Punta del Este, which was seemed like another world altogether. This is the richest resort town in the country and the residents liked to tell us all the American movie-stars and singers that had just passed through that summer. My parents' friends had rented us a house for the week as a birthday present to them (they both turned 60 within 2 months). That's gotta be the nicest gift I've ever heard of and it was an amazing time. My brother and his girlfriend had had their flight cancelled because of a storm, so they finally met up with us after having missed the more rustic part of the trip. Now we were in a very upscale beach-town and we had fun on the beach during the day and going out at night, though Keith and I always went home early while my siblings and cousins stayed out until the morning...we passed the torch on to the next generation I guess!

On Friday, we left Punta del Este and left for Montevideo again. My mom's big birthday bash was at night and despite a torrential downpour that caused some issues (the party was planned to be outside and the inside space was not quite big enough to comfortably accommodate everyone)...after the food came out and the music started, the party turned out great and a ton of my parents' Uruguayan and American friends (lots of people traveled to attend this party!) were together in one place. It was very fun. The party ended at around 3 in the morning. Again, Dylan had fun and when he got tired, he fell asleep in his stroller and slept through the band, the carnival/candombe drumming, and all the craziness.

Saturday we went to my cousin Diego's birthday party and spent some time with our family there. We walked around the neighborhood my dad and uncle grew up in and had dinner in the patio of my grandmother's house, where I lived when I was very small.

Sunday, we went to the fair and had some lunch but that was the last day of our trip -- it went by pretty fast.

On the way home Dylan made a friend at the Santiago airport, which had an indoor playground/area for kids that really helped our long lay-over there. Less than a week later that airport was destroyed by the earthquake...pretty crazy. I took some video of Dylan playing with kids at the airport and when we showed my grandmother back home, she laughed as hard I had ever seen her laugh, watching Dylan running and holding hands with his little friend. Watching her laugh and enjoy that video is a memory I'll now keep and cherish forever.

so that's our trip to Uruguay in a nutshell. It was a wonderful trip whose only drawback is that it was too short. I really can't wait to go back again.

SOY CELESTE!

We just returned from our wonderful but definetely too short trip to Uruguay. This picture is Dylan in front of my cousin Monica's home, which is also where my grandparents' lived and my dad and uncle were born and raised. Dylan did so well throughout the trip. Beginning with the 14 hour flight (including a 4 hour layover in Chile) which I was very nervous about, Dylan proved that he is a good traveller. No crying, minimum fussing, and he slept through the night on the plane. Very good flight. The way back was also good, with only a little more fidgeting and restlessness but no major meltdowns and he even made a friend at the Santiago airport during our return layover. I have video of them holding hands walking through the airport and playing on the (brilliant) indoor playground sets.

The actual trip itself was lovely and I'll post more pictures soon. We started with a few days in Rio Branco, where my mom is from, then went to the beach town of Punta del Este, and then ended up in Montevideo for a couple days. We got to see family, go to the beach, go to several parties, eat chivitos almost every day, and most important of all, Keith and I got to spend lots of time with our baby who each day gets more sweet, fun, and talkative.

I'll post more pictures and stories soon, but wanted to get this picture up (that my brother's girlfriend Lisa took) because I love it so much.

Happy Holidays!

I haven't posted in a while because things have been so crazy-busy, more than usual. But it's been a lovely holiday season. Thanksgiving was delicious as usual. December gave us the first snowstorm of the season and after weeks of Dylan refusing to wear his new winter coat, his daddy talked him into putting it on so they could go play in the snow. Of course it took much more time to get Dylan all suited up to take a walk outside than the actual time outside because it was late and cold...but it was all worth it.

Dylan is now spending his week-days at his Abu's (my mom's) house. We pulled him out of daycare for the winter because he was getting sick so often. He'll probably go back in the Spring. For now, he's got his new nanny Teresa, and plays with his great-grandmother all day, leaving her exhausted and dreaming about cartoons and toy cars.

Christmas was three-days long this year and Dylan got to play with his cousins and has a whole new set of fun toys that have taken over our house. We had some friends over for New Years and Dylan was the star of the party, hamming it up for everyone...he was a big hit and got to show off his dancing skills to a crowd for the first time, looks like he's a lot like his daddy.

At the end of November, Dylan welcomed his new friend Mikah -- his Madrina's new baby. In December, we celebrated Chloe's 4th birthday on the Santa train in Westfield (that's where this picture is from) and we had a blast.

All in all, it's been a great beginning to winter. Now we start to prepare for our trip in Uruguay in February!