100th Blog Post

It took us five years to get to 100 blog posts. When Mrs. Bluth started this blog, it was to help keep her mother up-to-date on our lives. Since then, we have used this blog as a diary and family history. Because it is so incredibly easy to forget. Just as quickly as we are learning, we are forgetting.

But Adaline continues to amaze me at the things she remembers. She has an interesting personality and she sometimes doesn't seem to be paying attention, but she is. This last week we were walking up Clark Street when we passed Santa. He was taking pictures and greeting pedestrians. We tried to introduce Adaline, but the normally friendly girl was distressed by his friendliness. She bade him a farewell and we continued on our way. After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed back down the same way. A block before we could see Santa, she started pointing ahead and exclaiming, "Santa!"

She had remembered on which intersection he had been standing and recognized it from the other direction.

Mrs. Bluth and Adaline were walking past our old apartment last week. Adaline started to head towards our old door as if we had never left the place. It has been nearly 5 months since we moved - she was only 18 months old at the time - but she remembered.

The last couple times we went to the pediatrician, we were told to discipline with distraction. If we needed to take something away from Adaline, distract her, take it away, and then let her continue on her way. She would have typically forgotten what she had been doing. If she was throwing a fit, we could promise her a treat when we got home. And she would have forgotten by the time we arrived.

This is no longer working so well. She remembers promises that we make and she holds us accountable. She doesn't get distracted so easily. And if we take something away from her, she will remember exactly where we put and remember to find it there at a later time. We are going to have to get more creative.

Little Things

Just a few of the little things I want to remember about Adaline.

1. Always watching. While my parents were in town, Adaline quickly learned a few tricks from my Mom like how to open things with her teeth. And things like that are happening daily around here -for better or for worse.

2. Strong-willed. Her nursery leader recently used those words to Mr. Bluth as he went in to pick her up one Sunday. Mr. Bluth found Adaline holding onto a toy while ALL the other toys were put away and he didn't ask how big of a fight she put up to keep that toy out. It was almost reassuring to know that others see it too. Sometimes I feel like all I do is fight Adaline because it is always her way or the highway (or at least screaming, tears and full body meltdowns).

3. Babies. She loves her baby doll and loves to find her friend's baby dolls and hold on to them with all her might. Related to point number 2: she will not share any baby doll. She loves to take care of her doll and will change the diaper, put the doll to bed, and do just about anything else with the doll. Her love is not just for dolls, but for all babies and loves to say "hi" to real babies that she sees around the city.

4. Daniel Tiger & Moana. We recently gave in to allowing her to watch some shows. Screen time does not happen everyday, but every once in awhile we will turn on an episode of Daniel Tiger. She loves it and will stand with her face inches away from the TV and especially loves Trolley. Adaline also recently attempted to watch her first movie. It was late on Saturday afternoon and the weather was bad, which prevented us from going outside, so we pulled out the computer and all three sat together to watch Moana. She was captivated for about 45 minutes, but then became a little restless and started moving around. She went and stood behind the computer and watched us watching Moana. Bedtime came around so she didn't get to finish it, but she still keeps saying "Moana".

5. Cheese. Not referring to food, but rather what you say when taking a picture. Frequently she will stand somewhere and say "CHEESE" with a grin and won't stop until I pull out my phone and take a picture. This usually occurs when she sees others taking a picture or when she is somewhere were we have previously taken a picture before. I now just pretend to take a picture because I would have zero space on my phone if I took a picture every time she said "cheese".

6. Friends. She loves her friends and gets so excited when we play with them. Most of the time she gets tired of me so I try to give her opportunities to socialize everyday. I can't say she has a favorite friend, but currently she is obsessed with Gigi. She gets so excited whenever she sees her and I will find her saying "Gigi" during the day when she is having one of her many conversations where I only pick up on a few words.

Fall 2017

This fall has been nothing short of a wonderful and crazy whirlwind. From our own travels to having visitors we have spent the last two months laughing with friends and family, and seeing more of our world. 

We love when people take us up on the offer to stay at the Bluth Bed & Breakfast and we had wonderful visits from Jessie and Mark Brown, Michelle Bluth, Marisa Johnson, and Grandpa and Grandma Lee. I hope that one day we will be able to offer more than just an air mattress in our dinning room and maybe even a guest bathroom. But there is nothing like sharing a bathroom and having a baby wake everyone in the entire apartment to help strengthen a relationship. It is fun to share our little world with others; and visitors always help us appreciate our little city and the adventures that are right in our backyard. We had wonderful weather for all of our visitors except for my parents who got to experience a Midwest monsoon for a day. Luckily the day before the monsoon we had beautiful weather and Adaline was spoiled at the zoo as Grandma bought her a ticket to ride the carousel and to go on a big slide. Most importantly, Adaline was able to show her grandparents a couple of her favorite parks and the beach where we spent most of the summer. 

I went on a solo trip to Denver for a girls' weekend in the mountains and I fell in love with Denver. It was a special little getaway with dear friends from college and it was so good for my soul. Another family weekend trip was to Orlando, but it was not to go to DisneyWorld or any theme park. We met up with our bestie Andrea and just relaxed at the pool, explored Gatorland, and visited DisneySprings. Adaline loved Gatorland and the Rain Forest Cafe. Mr. Bluth loved visiting a new place. I loved being with my bestie and swimming in a pool. And we learned some good tips if we ever visit Orlando again in the future. Last year we visited Andrea and Colin in Philadelphia, so fingers crossed we will be able to meet up with them next year somewhere as they are friends you just don't ever want to lose. 

We took another family trip to Nashville due to Lindon traveling there for work. He was attending a conference that was more time consuming than we thought it was going to be, but he got a special certification that will benefit him and his career so we won't complain that we only got to see him in the evenings and during his lunch break. My main objective in going to Nashville was to catch up on some sleep. There is always something to take care of at home so I was able to escape some responsibility for a few days and just focus on Adaline and relaxing during her naps and early bed time. I worked on some goals and read some of a book--so I lucked out the most on this trip. 

Nashville was a little underwhelming, but still fun to see and explore. Since country music is not my first choice and I don't know enough about hall of famers in the industry, I found myself mostly enjoying the history part of Nashville. We found the Tennessee State Museum and I could have spent an entire day walking around and reading about the state, but Adaline could only be entertained there for a bit--except when we were looking at the horses. We ventured up to the state capitol a couple of times just because it was beautiful and had fun walking around a national park just off of the capitol grounds, until I realized bugs were attacking my legs. 

One day I had to mail a package so we found the Post Office which was located in Arcade Alley. Arcade Alley was one of my favorite discoveries. I found where all the locals go for lunch and it was so fun to sit and watch people and we found some great food establishments. It felt like a completely different world than Broadway Street and the honky tonks. One night when Mr. Bluth had a networking dinner, Adaline and I found a local spot for dinner and were blessed with lots of Tennessee charm. Adaline got an extra bowl of Mac & Cheese and a free banana pudding along with everyone in the kitchen coming out to meet her. As we were leaving the restaurant she started saying goodbye to everyone and before I knew it, EVERY patron in the restaurant was waving to her and blowing her kisses. 

Adaline and I also figured out their bus system so we could find a park with an actual playground and the Colosseum. I was just grateful for my city baby who is used to crazy adventures. If we ever go back to Nashville, my main stops would be at Mike's Ice Cream for some Tennessee fudge ice cream and Arcade Alley. Yes--my fav stops all revolve around food. 

One of the reasons I desperately needed to catch up on some sleep was because I was training for a marathon. We got back from Nashville on Thursday night, I hosted a bridal shower on Friday and then I ran 26.2 miles on Sunday. Leading up to our trip to Nashville, I was at the end of my training and just at the end of my energy. Waking up at 5:15 to go on long runs had taken its toll on me. (Editor's note: She absolutely crushed her marathon and ran a terrific time for a first time marathoner!)

Visitors, traveling, and running pretty much sums up my fall. 
Visitors, traveling, and learning more words sums up Adaline's fall.
Visitors, traveling, and managing a tired wife sums up Mr. Bluth's fall.

New Language

These last couple of weeks have been fun to watch Adaline explore her growing vocabulary. Random words are popping out of her mouth and she is learning to express herself. Recently she used her first comprehensible sentence:

“I sit with Mommy!”

She babbles frequently. Sometimes she whispers and sometimes she yells and it is almost always difficult to understand one, let alone all, of the words she is saying. But in this instance, the words came out clear as a bell. It’s a pretty good parallel for her relationship with Mrs. Bluth.

To add some more context, we were eating dinner at the table and she was sitting in Mrs. Bluth’s lap. However, Mrs. Bluth was trying to eat her soup and Adaline was just getting in the way. But there was no way she was giving up her prime real estate on mom’s lap. And so, like many other times every day, Mrs. Bluth gave up her comfort for Adaline.

Language is fascinating to watch develop. We probably don’t speak more than 25% of the time in Spanish to her, but we do try. For some words and concepts we have tried to be very consistent. Interestingly, as soon as she learns a word in English, she never says it again in Spanish. She still understands, but doesn’t like to use it. Also, a lot of the most common words we are using tend to be easier in English (ball vs pelota, shoe vs zapato).

And, like I mentioned before, she is learning not just the vocabulary but also the volume. If we whisper, she whispers. She has a prayer voice for prayer time. She gets loud and animated when excited.

Sometimes she knows that words won’t get her the reaction quick enough that she wants. Ever since the Air and Water Show, she always notices the airplanes and helicopters around the city. She hasn’t learned the word for either (both are difficult in English and Spanish) so when she hears or sees one, she immediately grabs your face and points you towards the observed object.

And that is the other parallel that helps describe Adaline. When she is determined to do something (like showing a plane), she is so excited and passionate that she can be a little clumsy (grabbing your face).

But she does it in an effort to share her world with us.

Beach Bum Summer

The beach is the best because everyone gets to pick their favorite thing to do. In the Bluth household, I’ve been observing what all three of us each like to do and here are my conclusions.

Mr. Bluth: Dig holes. The deeper the better. The goal is to reach China, or at least to where the sand ends and it starts getting rocky. It’s preferable to have a sturdy shovel (very hard to find amongst beach toys, surprisingly!), but since we are a city family, we use a serving spoon usually. It’s not the cheap plastic of some beach toys. Maybe someday we’ll invest in a good gardening shovel. If there is no shovel-no problem! You can always dig with your hands. Now the key to digging a good hole is get plenty of water. You want a standing couple of inches in the bottom so that the diggings is easy. For that reason, it is recommended that you start pretty close to where the waves are coming in. Sometimes a nice big wave will even help fill up your hole! Once your hole is done (it’s never really done, you can always enlarge it), you can fill it with water and take a bath. Or bury somebody. Just make sure that you fill it up when you’re done - no need to break any unsuspecting beach-goer’s ankles.

Mrs. Bluth: Absorb the sun’s rays. The goal here is to recharge the body’s batteries as if you were a solar panel. You need to be exposed to the sun (use sunscreen!) as long as possible so that you can replenish to the max. This makes everyone feel better (as long as you use sunscreen!). The nice thing about this activity, is that it requires minimal tools and effort. You just need a towel to plod down on. And then rotate a couple times an hour. Minimum effort for maximum reward. Unlike digging a hole, this activity should be done a safe distance from the waves. There is nothing worse than being surprised during a sun-absorption session with a cold wave that reaches your unsuspecting towel. Nothing better than pretending you’re a plant and absorbing all that energy.

Adaline: Collecting rocks. Adaline likes to carry around a little bucket (usually the one Mr. Bluth is wanting to use to fill his hole with water) and put rocks in it. She can fit dozens of little rocks in there. Usually she takes them somewhere special to organize or dump them out. At our more-frequented beach, she takes them to the lifeguard tower and puts them along the base of the structure. She then sometimes has to guard them against other children trying to steal her hard work. Or sometimes she looks for another load. She is not the most methodical searcher. She starts down the beach passes up perfectly good rocks for other rocks farther down. Maybe there is a method to her madness, but it does seem mildly inefficient.

Also, Adaline’s other favorite activity is to ruin our activities. She can cave in a well-engineered hole or interrupt a sun-absorbing nap quite quickly.

The beach has been our home for most of the summer and we have all loved it.

San Diego

Back in March, Mr. Bluth received notice at work that they were sending him to a conference. A conference in San Diego, California! With only three weeks notice, we did not hesitate purchasing a ticket for me and before we knew it we were flying to what I call paradise.

The flight to San Diego was long and, unfortunately, Mr. Bluth and I both had middle seats across the aisle from each other, but somehow we managed to keep Adaline on our laps. All thanks to the two passengers that had aisle seats who would help pass Adaline over so we could trade off entertaining her. I didn't mind the hassle because we were going to San Diego! Walking off the airplane felt like Christmas morning and a flood of memories came back to me even just by being in the airport. We took an Uber to our luxurious hotel (thanks to Mr. Bluth's work we had a suite!) and headed first thing to eat a California Burrito. Mr. Bluth had never partaken of this type of burrito and he was rather impressed and even more impressed with how I just inhaled mine. It is not every day that I get to eat a burrito the size of a newborn baby that is filled with carne asada, guacamole, and french fries! To walk off all that food, we walked around downtown and over to Seaport Village. That evening we went to a dear friend's house and had more carne asada, arroz, and tortillas. I could hardly eat because I was so happy just being with this friend and her family. My last appointment on the mission was with this family and I ended my mission on such a good note. They are truly some of San Diego's finest residents.

The next day was Sunday and we got up and got out the door to catch the trolley to take us down to the border. I never used the trolley system on my mission and I have to thank living in Chicago for giving me such confidence to go to any city and figure out their public transportation. The trolley system was great and we got dropped off right next to the border crossing and followed everyone up. I am pretty pleased that the first time Adaline got to use her new passport was to see her father's mission. I think Mr. Bluth and I were just gleaming with delight. It was so funny that as soon as we crossed over, Mr. Bluth immediately got into his comfort zone, just like how I was feeling in San Diego. He got us a cab and we set off to visit the new temple. It was incredible to see how vastly different San Diego and Tijuana are, even just a couple of miles apart. I also found Tijuana to be beautiful, but just way more populated. We arrived to the temple grounds only to find that they were closed, but thanks to the nice security guy at the temple gate he was able to get permission to let us in to walk around for a bit. The Tijuana and San Diego temples are the two most beautiful in the world. Yes, we are slightly biased.

After enjoying the beautiful temple grounds (and enjoying the agua in the fountains) we set off to a church building close to the temple. Mr. Bluth served in this area so the drive was special as he pointed things out to us and the church building brought back a lot of memories to him too. Unfortunately, we arrived right after sacrament meeting and the next ward was not starting for a few hours. Church in Tijuana is very different than church in Utah. A system of set times for church to start does not exist and the whole "find a church" feature on Mormon.org proved to be incorrect with all the start times that were listed. So we set off to another ward building only to arrive to listen to the final sacrament talk, but Mr. Bluth recognized a few members so he was able to reconnect for a few minutes with them after the meeting. This church building was located close to El Centro so, after passing an apartment building where he had lived for a time, we went on a route that he took many times as a missionary and ended up down in a lively and fun section of town.

This may have been the most incredible moment of the entire trip for Mr. Bluth. It was in this section of town that he finally got to eat some street tacos. Mr. Bluth was in his element ordering tacos de birria, a vapor, and de cabeza. I like to think that he was grateful that he married me because I had no problem eating them off the street with him. He may have even been more proud when I wanted horchata and churros to finish the meal. I have heard many stories about Tijuana so to see Mr. Bluth walking and navigating this city made my heart beat a few beats faster. While most people never want to step foot in Tijuana, I would gladly return one day. Sadly, our time was coming to end to explore TJ so we walked to the border crossing and said adios to the beautiful country of Mexico.

Sunday evening turned out to be a very special evening for me as we met up with Noel who is someone that has been constant in my life since I first met him. He fits the Ensign stories that you read about how a dramatic change takes over someone when they are baptized. He is someone that will still call and text me and is always eager to tell me about his new calling in church. He is faithful, diligent, and truly hopes for a brighter future through the power of Christ. He now takes care of his niece so we met at a great park downtown where the girls could run around. Much fun was had.

The next day Mr. Bluth's conference started so Adaline and I played in the morning and we met up with Mr. Bluth after her nap at Las Cuatro Milpas, which just happens to be my favorite place for Mexican food north of the border. This place is incredible and always has a line clear out the door no matter what time of day you go. I can't describe the richness of the food too much because it makes me so home sick for San Diego. And to top everything off we then headed to Old Town to visit my old home for 18 months and to see the Mormon Battalion Historic Site! Too many emotions to describe how I felt walking into the Battalion, but I will say it was great to finally have Mr. Bluth go on the tour so that he could finally get a visual of all the stories I have told him. Time passed too quickly and I was not able to show Mr. Bluth everything I wanted in Old Town, but I think he got a great first introduction.

Our last full day in San Diego was spent taking a ferry ride to Coronado Island where we played at the beach. It was pretty magical to watch Adaline experience the ocean for the first time and I LOVE being her mother. I thought it would be fun to take her to the beach, but it was way more than just fun. She was so unsure of it, but loved it and was so intrigued by everything.

We ate at some other delicious restaurants and Mr. Bluth was able to go to the US Midway one evening for cocktail event as part of the conference so overall we were able to see a lot of the iconic sites of San Diego. I just can't wait to go back and show Mr. Bluth and Adaline more of the hidden gems and true beauty of San Diego.

1-Bedroom

Sometimes we use the same description to describe two differnt things. In our case, we have discovered that not all "1-bedroom" apartments are created equal. We recently moved from our 1-bedroom apartment in North Lincoln Park, to another 1-bedroom apartment in North Lincoln Park.

Some people seem confused when I explain the move - "why go through the big hassle of moving, if it's a lateral move?"

Because the new 1-bedroom is so much more than the former!

Here are the pros:

-close to the zoo (there were only about 6 buildings closer to the zoo, so we were already pretty close).

-closets everywhere. Here is a list of all of our closets: coat closet, living space closet, XL hall closet, bedroom closet for her, bedroom closet for him. And there is a built-in located in the living space, another in the dining room, and another in the hall.

-the layout makes the place feel expansive. There is a hallway, the living space is seperate from the dining space which is seperate from the kitchen. The separated areas make it so that we can hardly hear each other from one end of the apartment to the other. It's great.

-Adaline gets to use the XL hall closest as her very own room. Her crib fits, she has her own shelves, and she sleeps like a champ in there.

-doormen means packages are delivered without any problems (although that wasn't really much of an issue before. 

-free cable! Tons of channels - we don't even know where to begin!

There are a few cons:

-the kitchen is a galley style and so it is very difficult to have more than one person working on meals.

-no parking anywhere close. Unless we are extremely fortunate.

-it kind of feels like we live in a hotel. Minus the room service.

Anyways, we are thrilled with the new arrangement and hope this year is as great as last year - but even more well-rested.

Adaline's Andean Adventure: Part 2

We get to the bottom of the mountain without incident and got to the train station to wait for our train. As we waited at the station, more and more people arrived. The boarding time on our ticket came and went and then about the time that our train was supposed to depart, they announced that the train had been delayed. It turns out that one of the train cars had slipped off the rail (not sure if it was due to the rain). So we sat and waited in this very full train station. They passed out free chips and some people even began to dance. Finally after three hours, the train was ready to board and we were on our way. This put Adaline way behind schedule and she stubbornly fought sleep until we got back to Ollantaytambo sometime after ten. She has a real determination to never miss out on anything. We collapsed into bed knowing we had another big day the next day.

At breakfast and checkout the next morning, the hotel staff and us took a picture for memory’s sake and we were on our way with our favorite taxista (Fidel; we had left our camera bag in his car on Wednesday but he randomly saw us on Friday morning and gave it back).

He drove us back up through the stunning sacred valley to Cusco. After a quick stop at the wrong hotel (d’oh Mr. Bluth!) we arrived at our charming place in Cusco. The streets of Cusco are the most narrow streets that cars can use, and all the buildings are built all the way up to the sidewalk. Sometimes there is only about 18 inches of sidewalk to navigate.

We headed out with the stroller and grabbed some of the best sandwiches we’ve ever had. Lomo saltado and chicken and egg. We quickly decided that the cobblestone-lined streets were not conducive to strollering and we returned the stroller. We then headed out on what was supposed to be a quick hike to some ruins just above the city. But somewhere we took a wrong turn and found ourselves climbing a never ending stairway that devolved into a dirt path. After 30 mins of climbing straight uphill we finally summited a hundred yards from Cristo Blanco - which was a gift from Arabic Palestinians that had been sheltered in Cucso during WWII (that sounds like a fascinating story!).

We then spent a little while exploring some fantastically large Inca walls that had once been a fortress. Mrs. Bluth then guided us to the Inca’s natural playground where we slid and played to everyone's delight.

At this point we were pretty exhausted and found the downward path (the one we were supposed to have taken up to the ruins!) to the city and headed in. We took a quick family nap to recover. Then we spent the evening exploring downtown Cusco. We spent a few minutes at the San Blas cathedral making friends. Soon we were headed down the Avenida del Sol where we found another cafe that served us some incredible sandwiches (again!) and cake. Afterwards, Adaline found delight in an amateur, middle-age, women’s basketball league that we came across. Finally dark, we headed in for the night.

 

The next day was Easter Sunday. We woke up early and headed to the traditional San Franciscan cathedral where we were hoping to catch mass in Quechua. We ended up getting there only for the last 15 minutes of so, which was mostly songs and chants. After mass we headed to the main cathedral in Cusco for another round of mass. However, in the square in front of the cathedral there was an Easter procession just beginning. It wasn’t huge but it had a few dozen dancers and some sign-holders and drummers. We observed for a half hour before ducking into mass. This cathedral only had standing room and Adaline was getting a little tired; probably due to back-to-back church meetings.

After that beautiful mass we headed to...a third hour of church. This time to the more familiar LDS meeting that was located a few blocks away. The building, while not a cathedral, was interesting, and pretty, by Mormon standards. The congregation was small and friendly. We stopped for some trout (very good) and some lomo saltado (drenched in soy sauce!) and then went to the hotel for a much needed nap.

By the end of nap time it felt like we had already done a full day’s worth of stuff but we still had the rest of the afternoon to enjoy.We headed back to the Plaza de Armas where we had gone to church. We toured a couple of chapels on either side of the main cathedral now that mass was over until that evening. We then headed to a special alley that was used by the Inca and led straight to one of the most impressive buildings in the city. Qurikancha is a fantastic example of palimpsest. The original Incan structure and stonework is readily apparent, but the Spanish built directly on top of and repurposed in order to further subjugate the native people. What’s left is an incredible edifice that we could explore. Adaline loved the very smooth floors.

That evening we ate at what would probably be our most visited restaurant if we lived in Cusco. Not well marked on the outside and down a dark hallway it was a little haven from the city. It was covered but felt like a patio seating because of all the plants. The food was great and the price was the best we had seen in Peru.

Exhausted, and knowing we had an early flight, we headed home and headed to bed.

Monday morning came early and our taxista Fidel gave us a lift to the airport. Flying from Cusco is kind of cool because there isn’t too much of an ascent and since it's only an hour and change from Lima, almost as soon as you hit the cruising altitude, it’s time to start descending.

Sometimes, even on vacation in a foreign country, you need to eat at a restaurant in a mall. Once back in Lima, we wandered around Jockey plaza (the largest mall I have ever been too) and found an Italian-Peruvian fusion place called Bodega de la Trattoria. We were not sure what to expect and we ended up being blown away. The Mr. had the Peruvian tortellini (stuffed with sweet potato and topped with some fantastic beef) and the Mrs. had the Peruvian-style lasagna (excelente). A nap was then in order.

Traditionally it's fun to visit the local LDS temple; so we did. It was only a 20 minute taxi ride and it was undergoing some minor work. There was scaffolding and a construction crew. So we walked around a little bit and took some photos. The Lima temple was built in the same unfortunate era as the Boise and Chicago temples. Lots of roof.

Estefania was kind enough to prepare us another fantastic meal that evening. And then our extremely gracious host took us on an 1.5 hour tour of the city. We waited until the traffic had finally died down and we zipped all over the city. Clear from the hill south of Miraflores to the Centro Historico with an extremely knowledgable guide sharing some great trivia.

Again we collapsed that night. (A quick note on our sleeping arrangements: It was much warmer than we were expecting but our hosts had a fan we could use. We spread a blanket on the floor and surrounded it with pillows where Adaline spent most of the nights. Except this night Mr. Bluth spent most of the night there and Adaline and the Mrs. shared the bed.)

Tuesday was our last full day in Peru and we had a few things we still wanted to do. We taxied to Miraflores and Kennedy Park for another play session. Afterwards we walked to a highly-recommended seafood joint named Punto Azul. Mr. Bluth enjoyed a delicious and large bowl of ceviche mixto with the spiciest sauce we found in Peru.

Since Miraflores is so pedestrian friendly and unique we then walked to a also highly-recommended Chinese restaurant. Madam Tusan’s was started by an up and coming Peruvian chef that has upscale restaurants in most of the big cities around the world. It was the fanciest meal we had there and it was sabroso.

Adaline had snuck a pretty good nap in during the walk and lunch and so we took her to the Parque de las Leyendas so that she could run around. The Parque de las Leyendas was full of geyser-shooting fountains that awed Adaline. And then we took the kiddie train all around the park and I think she was in heaven. We tried playing in one of the water features and she started getting a little mad. So we headed back to our accommodations for one last night in South America.

At 4 in the morning we were awake, and with little sleep since we had to pack up, we headed to the airport. The flight was long but Adaline did incredibly well. Lots of bathroom trips; she thought the little tiny sink was the coolest thing on the plane.

Our layover was in Miami this time. We left the airport and went to a mall (probably the Mr.’s worst decision of the trip) since we had such a long layover. We ate at a Johnny Rockets and turned right back around to the airport. Adaline did find a couple of friends in the airport to play with while we waited. As we were in line for that last leg of the journey, it looked like the last flight was going to be full. We were kind of dreading this especially since Adaline hadn’t napped and we were preparing for a gigantic melt-down. Blessedly, we somehow had a row to ourselves and Adaline mostly slept on Mrs. Bluth.

Somehow the trip of a lifetime was already over. Like all good vacations, if felt like it had simultaneously taken forever and was already over. We were missing both home and Peru. We had accomplished so many of the things we wanted to see and there was still a list of places to go. In sum, we highly recommend it.

Adaline’s (and her parents) Andean Adventure: Part 1

All good adventures start off with something going wrong. Harry’s parents were killed and he was sent to live with the Dursley’s. Princess Leia sends R2-D2 to Tatooine as she is being captured by Darth Vader. Mr. Bluth missed the updated flight status and therefore we missed the first leg of our three leg journey to Peru.

Thanks to the diligence of a couple of booking agents, we were quickly back on track and actually managed to drop one of our legs. So on Sunday April 9, we flew to DFW in the late afternoon. We were feeling good and optimistic. We had prepared for this trip and brought everything we thought we might need. Mrs. Bluth had been especially diligent in baby-proofing this trip and we planned to have a blast.

So from DFW we took an overnight flight to Lima Peru. 7 hours in the air was...not too terrible. Adaline kind of slept most of the time on one of us. We were trying to make this trip on a budget so we hadn’t bought her a seat of her own. Neither of us got much sleep though. But we were excited to be there.

We got off the plane sometime after 5am and instantly felt the heat. Somehow we had not been expecting this nearly equatorial country to be so warm. But jackets are easily taken off so we hopped in our ride’s car to stay with one of Mrs. Bluth’s friends.

Pedro’s beautiful home was just over an hour from the airport and our primary caretaker, Estephania, was off dropping her daughter at seminary so we started wandering around the neighborhood a little bleary-eyed. Eventually we got in and settled and Adaline immediately charmed our hostess. We tried napping a little bit but decided to go out and start visiting our first destination - Miraflores.

Miraflores is located on the cliffs just south of downtown that look over the Pacific Ocean. The neighborhood is full of parks and we started walking along the Parque del Amor. A few minutes of exploring took us to a cliff where some Peruvians were running a little paragliding operation. After some pressuring from Mrs. Bluth, and signing a form that declared that he was aware that the pilots were not licensed paragliders, Mr. Bluth strapped in and took a 15 minute ride high above Lima and the ocean. Pretty neat.

We continued walking until we reached one of our food recommendations, El Pan de la Chola. We spent some time looking for and exploring some ruins right there in Lima and had a small impromptu water fight in a park. Sometime during the day Adaline managed to sneak in a nap in her stroller. Eventually we ended up at a downtown children’s playground in a park named for President Kennedy (why? did he ever even go to Peru?).

We were all exhausted that night and slept like rocks.

Estephania prepared us a delicious breakfast the next morning and we were on our way to the Centro Historico. There was so much to see. We wandered to the Plaza de Armas to appreciate the architecture and buildings. We even watched a half hour military band and changing of the guard in front of the President’s Palace.

Eventually we found ourselves eating sanguiches (every Spanish-speaking country seems to spell this common creation--defined most commonly as two pieces of bread containing some filling--a little bit differently). Pork rinds and yam for Mr. and Andean ham for the Mrs.

Soon we had wandered to the cathedral of San Francisco where we took a tour of the catacombs located below. Lots of bones. Usually when Adaline drops her pacifier, we just pick it up and give it back. Felt kind of weird to do that since there might be HUMAN dust on the pacifier. So I put it in my pocket until I forgot and gave it back to her without cleaning off the maybe HUMAN dust.

Then we found ourselves resting in another park and then looking for the Chifatown. We never found out while they spell China with an “F”.

Tuckered out we headed back where our now very good friend Estephania had made us the traditional aji de gallina. Adaline ate with gusto and we had a great evening.

The following morning Wednesday, April 11, we jumped on a flight to Cusco Peru to begin our explorations of the Sacred Valley. It’s only an hour and a tad flight so it was still morning when we arrived. Since Cusco is north of 10,000 feet, we had planned to head down into the valley right away in order to mitigate any altitude sickness. On the way down we stopped to see some pretty incredible sites. The first was a few enormous auditorium-looking rings that were built into the side of the mountain. We were told that there were enormous growing laboratories where the Inca could test how certain crops grew at different altitudes and other conditions.

Our next stop was an enormous salt mine built directly into the walls of a canyon. Made for some great UIKEYINPUTDOWNARROWpictures and Adaline, who loves running water with a passion, loved the little streams that filled each miniature reservoir.

Eventually we reached Ollantaytambo. Which is the last city you can reach by car on the way to Machu Picchu. It has one road leading into town that goes by the central square and ends at the train station that takes you the rest of the way. We were making Ollantaytambo our homebase for a couple days since it is only(!) at 9,160 feet and centrally located.

The hotel staff, like everyone else we met this trip, instantly fell in love with Adaline and bent over backwards to accommodate us. We dined on flavorful quinoa soup and grilled chicken with a small personal hawaiian pizza for Adaline (c’mon Adaline! eating pizza in Peru?!).

Thursday we got up, breakfasted, and started exploring the ruins of Ollantaytambo. It has the distinction of having been one of the Inca strongholds that initially repelled and defeated the Spanish conquistadores. We found some friendly alpacas amongst ruins and played in the complex water system that ran through the fortress.

An hour and a half back up the valley were the Pisac ruins that we wanted to visit. They were located incredibly high up on the mountain and provided some of the most breathtaking views of the entire trip. We stopped at the famous Pisac market for empanadas. Then we headed back to Ollantaytambo for some rest. That evening we dined on alpaca steak (delicious! the perfect balance between mutton and beef) and aji de gallina (inferior to what our hostess had made back in Lima) and went to bed kind of early because we had a big day on the horizon.

Ollantaytambo is fascinating because it is where the road to Machu Picchu ends. You drive through the town (takes about 3 mins) and then you arrive at the end of the road where a train station sits. We got up early and walked down to the train station to board. It’s almost a two hour train ride but very comfortable. We were seated across from some honeymooning Australians that were friendly. The train had windows in the roofs so you can better observe the incredible valley you are navigating. At times we could see the highest peaks in that part of Peru and they were covered in snow.

The train arrives in Aguas Calientes which is at the base of the mountain where Machu Picchu sits. You can make a 90-120 min hike or take the 20 min switchback-laden bus ride. The line was long. Hundreds of people long. The Peruvian government restricts access to Machu Picchu to 2,500 people per day. At least half of them must have been in that line with us right then.

The bus ride is enough to make many a traveler gasp and futilely grab tight to an invisible steering wheel or stomp an imaginary brake. It’s pretty remarkable that the buses can pass each other actually. At times though, one would have to stop and back up to let another one pass. But we safely and efficiently made into the entrance of the main event.

And so we eagerly entered one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Unfortunately Adaline was also running out of energy after getting up early for a long train ride and bus ride. We started up a path to the Temple of the Sun, which has some spectacular views of the entire compound. We had to take a break in order for Adaline to eat and we spent precious minutes coaxing her to sleep. She hates missing out on anything though and so she fought to stay awake. After a decent fight she finally succumbed to sleep in the carrier. We wandered further up the path and took some pictures. It had started out a little overcast but by now the sun was out in full force and it was pretty toasty.

The place was teeming with people. Seemed like too many people, frankly. There were a couple of places and overlooks that took forever because everyone needed a picture there. There were also llamas wandering all over. We explored for a little over an hour before Adaline, feeling recharged, woke up and wanted to get out and play. From that point we took it a little more slowly so she could do it with us. Machu Picchu has remarkably little signage. Luckily we had a guidebook and had done some reading about some of the unique things to see. After about 3 hours in the park, it was time to catch the bus down so we could catch the train back to our hotel. As we walked to the back of the line, we realized that we were so far back that we were probably going to miss our train. And it started raining on us. It’s possible to walk down and that takes about an hour. We might have been able to catch our train that way, but we were nervous to walk down the steep mountain with the steady rain.

As the line slowly moved forward, we contemplated what would happen if we did miss our train and if there was anything else that could be done. Then an employee of the bus company wandered down the line and pulled all the families with small children to the front of the line to get out of the rain and to get on the next bus. Problem solved! Interestingly, this was not the first line we had avoided due to having a baby with us. Adaline was worth her weight in gold.

And so we headed down the mountain after visiting, appreciating, and worshipping one of the most incredible ancient sites in the world today.