Briam's Family Blog

So I had mention some time ago about the stuffed dolls that they make in Ecuador near years end.  These things are made from wood and paper... and then stuffed lovingly with tons of fireworks for good measure.

They make these dolls to represent all kind of things.  Cartoon characters, heroes, villains, poloticians...

These pictures where taken down one of the streets that gets filled with tons of Viejos.  Blocks and blocks of all of these elaborate creations.  Click HERE to see a bunch more pictures.  So as they count down to the years end, each neighborhood collects all of their 'viejos' into giant piles.... and they burn them.... fireworks and all...

Some months ago I had posted a few pics from a trip that we had take to Fernbank last year... I was finishing up on some emails and I noticed some of the pics that my wife had sent out.

....this is a picture of some of the wild 'people' that come to check out the Fernbank museum.  They may look nice and friendly ... just don't get too close.  Specially during feeding time...

Sophia tends to love the animals the most... As if they are magical stuffed animals that she is supposed to grab and drag around...

Matthew tends to like the more dangerous items that may be fun to play with or strike fear into those around him... He also seems to think these would look cool if we had them at our house.

I did not get a good one of Megan, but we did have a bit of a scare as we ran around looking for Sophia who decided it was time to play hide and go seek without letting us know...

In the end, it was a lot of fun hanging out with the family.  No one got hurt, or lost too bad.  I am not sure why, but this picture reminds me of one of the scenes from The wizard of oz when they are all walking down the yellow brick road....

So it took me forever (slightly less) to go through all the pictures from the the Bahamas trip that Paola and I took last month... but there are finally here.  Just lick on the pic or HERE to jump to the gallery.

Some of the pictures turned out a bit too dark, and I did what I could... but I think its time to get a new camera...

Looking back at the vacation... It was soooooo relaxing... If only we could do that once a month...

There are few places that you can take to a truck load of kids to... specially this rowdy bunch.  A couple of weeks months ago, it was all we could do to keep these crazy monkeys in line.

We did take these kids to the park (in Riobamba).... of course they had a blast.  Want to see some more pictures?  CLICK HERE ...of course it was not all fun and games.  There was also food!  We went to a local pig roastery (is that a real word?)

On all sides, there are pigs cooked and roasted.  Each stand with a different pig is making a different offer... People walk in and walk around hearing the deals, and then they choose... sit in the center seating areas, and the food is brought to them.  The whole room smells of delicious roasted piggy goodness.

But what is this sad face we see on Matthew.... sometimes we want things in our own special way... and sometimes when we don't get it... we show our bad side.  Luckily he did not stay like this for too long.  He apologized for his behavior, and we were able to move on with our lives.

In a little town, tucked away in the mountains of Ecuador there was this little village.  Not just any village mind you (why do people say 'mind you'?)...  Home spun taffy, made from hand picked sugar canes...

A couple of months back (when we were there), we got to see the process up close and personal.  The canes are cut... chopped... then put through a grinder thinga ma jiggy (This of course is the official name for this device).

When the 'stuff' is ready its time for the pulling.  They pull and hook the taffy over and over and over.  We counted, and its about one million times... roughly.

Then comes the cutting and wrapping into perfect portions.  And finally the part everyone was waiting for...

...if candy can taste fresh... I guess this would be it.  The only thing I forgot to do was to ask if it was diet...

Here is an interesting conversation Matthew and Paola had the other day...

Matthew: "I need a Nintendo"
Paola: "If you get a Nintendo, all you will do is play video games ALL THE TIME..."
Matthew: "...no I won't.... sometimes the battery will need to recharge..."

A true gamer in the making... Just like his dad.