Guatemala Part 2: Volcan Pacaya Hike

It's a little eerie posting these pictures now after Pacaya's big eruption last night. Up until now, the volcano was considered active, but only mildly so- spewing smoke and small rivulets of lava but not much else. Even by safety-conscious western standards, it was regarded as very safe to climb ever since its last eruption in 1964.

We really enjoyed this hike. I rode a horse led by a cute little 7 year old boy during the steep ascent. Once we hit the black rocks and sand, I dismounted and continued on up the peak, taking in the beautiful view. It was cool to be hiking on such an otherworldly landscape and Jill took home many lava rock souvenirs. We could get as close as we wanted to the lava flow but the heat coming off of it was so intense that most of us stayed back at least 4 or 5 feet. I stayed even farther back since the loose rocks surrounding the flow were a little sketchy. Some of the folks in our group roasted marshmallows over the flow! Very cool.

Lucas Quotes

Lucas' inner dialogue is so funny and cute when he speaks his conflicting thoughts out loud. And thanks to Laith and I, who make every inanimate thing speak in high voices to Lucas, he's got some issues to work out! :)

* "I'm eating chips!", says Lucas, while leaning in closely towards his half-eaten hot dog.
Laith: "Who are you talking to, Lucas?"
Lucas: "The hotdog."
Laith (sensing the potential for some awesome silliness) says in a very high voice while making the hotdog dance on the plate: "Can I eat your pickle please?"
Lucas, seriously: "No, it's too big for you"

* While tears stream down his face, making their way towards his mouth and in a crying voice: "My tears are saying, 'Eat me!', but I don't want to eat them!"

* While playing by himself in his room: "Peshintoque" (or some other non-sensical word). "No, I don't want to make that sound!!"
"Peshingtoque". "No, no! Not peshingtoque!"

* In a sweet voice, requesting a drink: "Where arrrrrrrre you applejuice?"

* Lucas also has recently made up an imaginary friend named Quinneal who seems to get to do things that Lucas can't do. It's a pretty cute bargaining tactic. :)

Drumroll, please...

It's a GIRL!

Guatemala, Part 1: Antigua

Wow, what an adventure! Jill and I decided fairly last minute that we wanted to take a vacation together. We were thinking something like a long weekend to Seattle or San Diego. Bet then the planning took on a life of it's own and 3 weeks before our departure, we booked tickets to Antigua, Guatemala! It seems crazy and spontaneous (especially for me being pregnant!) but it was only a 2 1/2 hour plane ride from Houston and the American dollar is quite strong there. It's a clean town, easily accessible, friendly, safe and my new favorite international city (Sorry, Barcelona)!
Here are a few photos from our first day:

The view from our bedroom window

The view down the street from the front gates of our hotel

The Cathedral
La Merced Church. Doesn't this look like a delicious cake!? Or am I just a hungry preggo?

Guatemala is 60% ethnic Mayan. The rest of the local population is a mix of Mayan and Spanish (called Ladino). The full-blooded Mayan women usually dress in traditional clothing and make livings with their art or cooking. They're most well-known for their textiles, which these women are selling here.
Part 2 of this trip will be from our hike up an active volcano!
But the next posting will most likely be a totally unrelated topic... Monday we find out if our baby is healthy and if it's a boy or a girl!! I'll let you all know as soon as we find out! :)

Little Builder

Lucas and Daddy have found the perfect activity to do together! Maybe by the end of the month, Lucas will be experienced enough to help Laith tile the kitchen backsplash and tape and float the ceiling? :)



I love these photos because Lucas looks so proud of his work. He really enjoys 3 dimensional art much more than the 2D variety. It's so fun to see Lucas' interests and strengths develop. Good job, Little Lucas!

Giddy-up!

I thought we'd be mostly through the cuteness phase by age 2 1/2, but oh my goodness, I want to eat him! How is it that he continues to get cuter and more wonderful day after day!? Lucas, you can ride that horsey all day if you keep smiling like that!

Haircut Time!

My shaggy-haired husband (and I mean that in the most affectionate way) had asked several times to let Lucas' hair grow out (maybe to look more like him?) only to come home from work to see our boy with a fresh haircut. :) Since it was wintertime, I made a deal with him that we'd let it grow until it got hot enough outside to make Lucas sweaty- and who wants long sweaty hair stuck to his face? (Besides Laith) :) So, after 3 months of hair growth, off to the barber chair we went. As much as I like his new sporty cut, I kinda miss the shag now that I look back on photos! What's your vote? Should we let it grow out again when the summer's over?

Ferrari

The other day, Lucas and his daddy (that being me) were talking about cars. I said to him "do you want to fix up an old jeep when you get older and drive it?" to which he responded "I want a Lamborghini!" Okay, we'll start saving now for your Lambo, Lucas, and maybe when YOU retire you can buy one. Lucky for him there is a Ferrari dealer less than a mile from our house, you know, exactly where you'd expect - right in between the taco shack and the vet clinic. Interesting.

So, apparently Ferrari is launching a new car and they were touring dealers in U.S., showing off the car, and Ferrari of Austin was the second dealership to show it. The dealer owner himself catered a party with wine, snacks, fancy bags with magazines about Ferraris, and a live band. The lot next to the dealer was filled with the cars from potential owners, which was almost a show on its own - Bentley, AMG, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Austin Martins. Yep, then there was Lucas and I, complete with a t-shirt, jeans, flip flops, and greasy fingers. I still don't know why no one came to talk to US about buying anything!

One of the cars there was an Enzo, of which only 399 were ever made. That is the one with gull wing doors. These models in particular trade at auctions for on average over $1,000,000. It just so happens that of those 399, two of them are in Austin, and BOTH were there that day (one belongs to the dealership owner). I ran into a guy that was telling me about the two Ferraris he owns and how he's going to buy another one. I guess you just can't have enough! :-) They really are beautiful works of art. These pictures don't do them justice, and as anyone in my family knows I've always loved these cars. The base price on the newest model was $225,000, and nicely equiped it topped $300K! I made SURE Lucas sat in that one, front and center! That's right, so whoever you are that buys that car worth more than my house, don't forget my two year old sat there FIRST! And pushed ALL the buttons while making beep beep and vroooom noises!

Cute

Even though this blog is mostly about the Vincent Family, I just couldn't resist posting these CUTE photos of Sufyan relaxing in his baby sister's napping hammock. I figure half my readers came here through the Abboushi's site anyway, so enjoy! :)

Perfect Day

Sunshine: check
Zilker Park (the one with the real fire engine climber): check
Train Ride: check
First Icecream Cone: check
The only thing that could make this better a day is if Daddy were here!

More Friends

Sufyan and Lucas now have matching motorcycles and it's the cutest thing in the world to see them driving around together. Unfortunately, these two are pros at making sure they're not in the same camera frame! This was the only good pic I got of them- unfortunately not half as cute as watching them side by side! :)

Isaac (4) and Ellie (7) live down the street from us. Lucas gets really amped up playing with Ike and loves joining him in any game he thinks up. In this case, tractor riding and hide n seek in my closet (same hiding place everytime)!




Dylan is our friend Lynne's son. They live in Seattle but were visiting Austin for the week and we caught up with them at Waterloo Icehouse for dinner and playground. Dylan and Lucas seem to have very common interests and we enjoyed seeing them play together!



And finally, our old friends the Lamberts. Hugh just turned one and is walking (really well!) The kids had a lot of fun (until the curtain rod came out of the wall!) playing hide and seek in the drapes. It was fun for me to see a big benefit of siblings at such a young age- this game wouldn't have been nearly as fun without Hugh's enthusiasm at finding the kids!

First Dentist Appointment!

Lucas did so amazingly well. No complaining or crying like I thought might happen. He did give the hygienist a finger workout as she had to pry open his clamped-shut lips on a few occasions! :)