We celebrated Christmas with my play group friends on an Ecuadorian national holiday.  Appetizers which were more like full dinner entrees, a pumpkin spice latte cake, a water table and drinks in the bright sun, kiddie gift exchange, many language corrections to my Spanish and chaotic fun with friends.  Glad to have friends from here to celebrate with as we share our different traditions and talk about what Christmas means to each of us!

My new favorite thing is seasonal bucket lists.  They are fun and help fill up long toddler days with creative activities.  Our fall list included "s'mores over a campfire."  Honestly we have to skip many of the seasonal activities or change them up because they don't exist here but this was one we could do.  

In the end we turned it into a group event and invited about 15 people over for Brats and S'mores.  It was a chill night with minimal prep for me because everyone else brought sides.  We decided this might be the key to our entertaining with two young ones.  Eden had a rough time of it not letting me out of her grasp ... even when dad's arms were available.  This made hosting difficult but everyone helped out when my hands were full.  And we introduced Canaan to his first ever s'more.  I bet you guessed.  He's a fan.  Not of the fire.  Of the treat.

I hosted a mini Halloween party for our play group friends the week we got back from the beach.  Because Halloween is not commonly celebrated here in Ecuador, they left everything up to me and were excited to try out some of our traditions.  

People got in the spirit and dressed up their kids.  Originally two of the moms had planned to rent costumes.  In my part of the US this isn't really common and I was excited when both, in the end, made homemade costumes based off of internet ideas.  Totally my style :)  One mom even had her nanny dress up.

The kids did pumpkin stamping using potatoes I had pre-cut.  This involved a lot of paint, a lot of mess and about 10 minutes of actual stamping :)  Canaan could have stamped for an hour but I convinced him we could do more later once his friends had abandoned him to play some more.

We ate cheese and pretzel broom sticks, Autumn brittle (recipe to come), Candy Corn rice krispy treats and the kids' milk came in "ghost cups."  The adults also ate Prosciutto, Apple and Brie Sandwiches with Walnut Pesto but the kids were too sugared up to even realize they might need real food.  Everyone had fun participating in some US traditions and loved the rice krispy treats ... if only they knew how easy and common they are!  Makes me excited to introduce more of our traditions (including Jesus!) with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming.

Many of you know that I started a play group with a friend here shortly after arriving.  Play groups aren't a common Ecuadorian concept but my friends have really gotten into it and it's been a great opportunity for me to interact with other moms and Canaan to make some fun friends. 

This past week was full of play group activities.  Instead of doing our traditional play group, we had a birthday party for my friend as her husband was out of town.  The kids loves noisemakers, masks, balloons and a pinata.  Canaan hasn't stopped talking about "Happy Birthday Cake" since. 

Then over the weekend we had an all-family baby shower for the same friend, celebrating the arrival of her next baby girl ... who will be just about a full year younger than Eden.  I'm glad for another baby because Eden is far outnumbered!  There are 5 two-year-olds, all born within a month of each other, and poor, sweet, trampled over Eden. 

For the shower we went out to a Hosteria about 45 minutes away ... well 45 minutes if we hadn't made about 4 stops along the way for people to run various errands.  Definitely some cultural differences there around start time (we were supposed to meet at 9:30 to drive together and the last couple showed up at 10:15) and around caravan etiquette (4 stops to do things like pick up a prescription, pay a bill, etc!) 

It was a fun time.  The kids loved running together outdoors.  There was barely anyone around so I felt like we could give them a wide berth without worrying.  They checked out the goats, sheep, chickens and bunnies, but mostly just ran and played.  We ate lunch at the Hosteria, which consisted of two plates of salchipapas (fries with a cut up hot dog over top) for the kids (not ordered by me since we are not a hot dog and fries family but when in Rome ...) and steaks with an egg on top for the adult.  As always, in the cultural exchange I miss something but my friends are most gracious.  Originally the plan had been to picnic at a park.  When it changes to a Hosteria I didn't realized that changed lunch plans.  So yes, I showed up with a pasta salad, cantaloupe and cookies. 

Celebrating F's birthday!

Glad to see his friend M after 4 days apart!

Canaan and T LOVE each other.  T asked about Canaan daily.  And many times at play group they can be found playing quietly while the other kids wail over fought over toys.

Tough little girl.  My friends are often appalled that I set her down on the ground like this.

Classic Uruguayan who wouldn't leave home without his mate.  A is one of the most laid-back guys I've ever met, as you can see her, which complements his wife well.  She's one of the most high energy, high strung people I've ever met!  Even though she insists on ironing all of their underwear she still knows how to have a great time!

We managed to cross one thing off my summer bucket list by going blueberry picking in Michigan with the Runyans.  It was hot but not 100 degrees, like much of the summer was, and after quickly feeding Eden in the car we got to picking.  Canaan really got the concept and had fun for awhile, although his container had as many twigs and green blueberries as useful ones.  He’d been so excited on the ride over, asking every five minutes “Where are we going?”  When we’d say, “Do you remember?”  He’d yell, “Booburry picking!” 

After awhile he started having some success annoying Edie by poking her and so he had to come pick alongside me instead.  Eden just watched from her stroller and patiently sweated and got strolled through branches and twigs while we picked.  Ella is a fabulous picker, despite not liking blueberries and Jay turned out to be the quickest picker of the bunch.  We left with about four pounds of blueberries, more than enough to last us through the summer since we knew we couldn’t freeze and save any for later in the year.

Possibly the best part of blueberry picking is what comes after though.  You’re hot, you’re sweaty, you’re dirty and so you load back into your cars and head over to the MI side of Lake Michigan, which is much cleaner and prettier than the Chicago side.  I cannot tell you how perfect it felt to be in that water … once we got past the frustration of trying to feed a hungry Eden in the sand while keeping Canaan on the blanket and un-sandy while we applied sunscreen.  The beach was relatively light on people, the water is almost waveless and it goes about 10 yards out before it gets deeper than two feet.  It was perfect for Canaan and he adored walking in the water, swimming around on our backs and being thrown in the air.  He made us really proud with getting into a huge body of water after being so fearful of any type of water at the beginning of the summer.  We couldn’t figure out why we didn’t make the drive more often when we lived in Chicago because all of us felt so relaxed and happy (well, except for Eden who was desperately tired by this point) as we packed up the car and headed home, with two little heads nodding off quickly in the back.

One of my favorite places this summer was this backyard:

Not because it is the most amazing backyard ever, although I am thoroughly impressed with all the work that’s been put into it and the fun details (sherbet colored deck chairs and metal lanterns) that have been added to it since I first toured it as a not-yet-bought house over a year ago.  Mostly because of the people who make this backyard what is represents for me.

It’s a backyard where you can sit on the deck stairs or under the umbrella while the kids run circles around each other.  Where you can hike up your shorts and stand in the kiddie pool with the kids when its 106 out.  Where you can walk in the back gate through the alley and unleash your kids before even saying hi to the owners.

I appreciate this backyard for the centralized community it creates.  In Quito walls are high, glass shards partition and segregate and everything happens behind closed fences.  We go to parks but it’s different than being able to look out your kitchen window and watch your kids play with others.  I miss that feeling that I equate with “this American Life” of neighborhood kids on bicycles riding down the streets while other kids draw with sidewalk chalk.  This backyard gave me a small slice of that.  My kids play with a lot of other kids but I love, love when they get to play with Ella, Edie, Liam and Ava.  Because those four kids have grown up together, they play together differently and treat each other somewhere between siblings and friends.  I like watching Canaan be a part of this and feel that sense of belonging.  This summer it was a huge place of joy for him.  He calls his friends by a one word name, “Eedie-Elnor” and tries to hop into any red mini-van that he sees on the street. 

I appreciate it for the meals shared, the conversations, the afternoons of children’s laughter and screams.  I will remember how many meals we ate early at 5 just to accommodate our kids’ bedtimes, the conversations about how many bites of chicken needed to be eaten before Canaan or Edie could leave the table, the many glasses of spilled milk, the glass shards in the grass.  I will remember Canaan’s uncanny ability to sense when we were about to leave, resulting in a dive into the pool fully clothed on multiple occasions.  I will remember sky-high cupcakes, goat cheese mac’n’cheese and pasta salad, and burgers (although Jim Polcaster holds the burger crown in my mind after that 4^th of July!).  I will remember kids falling off the chairs attempting to jump into the pool, the many tea cups full of pool water Canaan purposefully ingested, and an orange balloon. 

Some real backyard favorites included a rock concert entitled “I have a leaf, I have a tree” by five kids, two photoshoots by Emily of my darling daughter, and pinterest-projecting – the hottest new way to spend time with your friends!  Doing a project found on pinterest with Em turned out to be a great way to blend two favorites: completing a task and reconnecting about life … all while inhaling massive amounts of spray paint.

I will miss this backyard as its leaves fall off and the colors change from greens and oranges to winter whites and grays.

Part of the long process of moving overseas has so far involved a lot of moving within the US!  We spent the first three weeks of October living at Keystone, our friends' building, while we waited for our temporary apartment at headquarters to open up.  We had our own private bedroom, living room, and bathroom but did meals together every night.  Four adults and three kids under four was definitely a recipe for chaos at times (plus four more adults and four more kids on the other floors), but we appreciated the extra and unique time this gave us with our friends.  I think we did manage to avoid all three kids melting down at once but they each had their own moments!  It was a sweet, temporary period to do life together in before life becomes more separate than we would ever want.  Eric and Em were extremely gracious in letting us interrupt their regular schedule for an extended time.

I liked having people to watch Parenthood with, being able to tag along on the many activities that Em plans such as pumpkin patches and apple picking, witnessing life with a 3 and a half year old first hand and spending dinner trying not to laugh out loud at Eleanor's renditions of what pre-school teachers are like, that Canaan has become better acclimated to lots of people, "strangers", and loud noises, participating in riveting, opinionated, funny, and intense conversations at house desserts, being invited to play Ticket to Ride with Charlie & Beth, trying Las Cemitas delicious cemitas, having extra people to cook for (and people who really like dessert unlike Nate), having an insider's perspective as to what some of the negotiations/conversations about having a shared ownership in a building and block look like, watching Katie and Emily's coupon savvy shopping trips, sharing a babysitter and completing the monumental task of getting enough kids asleep to leave the babysitter with 5 kids 4 and under, Friday play group being so easy because Canaan could nap in his own bed when he needed to, coming home from one night away in Indiana and having Eleanor tell us she missed us at dinner, and more.

We had a totally relaxing Sunday afternoon out in the backyard with some fun drinks and all of the kids peaceful and playing.  Edie and Canaan are starting to be aware of each other's existence now.  Can you believe Canaan is three weeks younger with his giant head and long body?

Dressed for Fall in the Keystone backyard with Em and Katie during a neighborhood pumpkin carving and painting party.

So far Ella is the only member of her family that likes to cook. She's quite a champ to have fun making dessert with me ... a dessert she knows she cannot eat herself because she has to start eating her vegetables first.

Sharing life, sharing kids. Em has been irreplaceable in my transition to being a parent.

Welcome to life on Keystone. It has its moments. We jumped in our car to go get visas one morning only to discover this lovely, spray painted message on our hood.

One benefit of community living comes from the fact that Em is always very motivated to do family activities and get out of the house.  It's much easier to tag along on these things when we all start from the same place and can check in all morning on what kid is napping when in order to figure out when we will actually leave.  For Columbus Day we went out to Goebbert's Pumpkin Patch, land of pumpkins-o-plenty, camels and ponies to ride, kettle corn, roasted corn, and apple cider donuts, hay bales, tractor rides and more.  Mostly it's a land full of photo-ops for parents of young kids and our crew was no different!  But it's always nice to get out in 80 degree weather in October and do something different for a day.

(Note: Time to put the 3-6 month clothes away because these are some SHORT shorts now.)

(Look Dad - Canaan doesn't always look so serious and worried!)

Edie & Canaan

A smile in between attempts to chew on the pumpkin stem

Ava, Eleanor, Canaan, Edie, Liam

In all of the major events that happened in August (the addition of my first nephew, flying to Oklahoma with Canaan to meet this nephew, moving! from our apartment to Keystone) I forgot to write about the first fun event of September.  Two of my best girlfriends from college came for a short visit.

Amanda (2nd from the right), known as Commander by us, was visiting her home in Canada during a summer break from classes in Cambridge and decided to "swing by" Chicago. Jeanine (2nd from leftO, who currently lives in Columbus, was urged to join us to make the reunion complete. She was especially motivated to make the trip up because she had a new "person" for us to meet along with her! Lydia (far left) lives in Chicago with her husband Adam. They live in a different community and go to a different church than us but we get to see them a little more frequently. Lydia is currently pregnant with their second child and has been a good resource for me since Canaan was born.

The time together was good as always. It was a little chaotic with Amanda leaving just less than 12 hours after Jeanine arrived but we made it work and had one big brunch altogether. Adam and Lydia are great hosts who are way more mellow and go with the flow than I could ever be. For that I greatly admire them because it makes us all feel really comfortable. I got to spend a day with Jeanine and thru that got to know her boyfriend, Matt. We went to Trader Joe's (I love anyone who comes to town and is excited to check out TJ's!), tried out cupcakes at The Cupcake Gallery (I don't recommend a visit as there are far better cupcakes elsewhere) and went to the Grape Stomp Festival on Wells Street. At night a lovely friend from church babysat so that Jeanine, Matt, Nate, and I could go out to an adult dinner and then over to chocolate fondue with Adam and Lydia once their daughter was asleep. I always appreciate time with Jeanine. One thing I loved about my day with her was just how open both Matt and her were to questions. I feel comfortable throwing any question at her without feeling like things are "off limits" and knowing she'll really think about her response. Both she and Matt seem to have this quality and endured questions about how the dynamics present with their siblings might play out in their relationship, how they've dealt with conflict and where they might foresee the "age gap issue" coming to play. You know, the normal sort of questions one asks over a slice of pizza at Lou Malnati's ...

Any day I spend with these friends is great and I have always appreciated how Amanda and Jeanine have made great efforts to visit Lydia and I regularly.

I've long been a cupcake fanatic.  I know it's uber-trendy, but I just don't care.  I've loved vanilla on vanilla since I was a little girl.  Something that comes in that flavor combination and is perfectly portioned and decadently decorated was made for me.  While nothing will ever beat a vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream, I'm game to try almost any combination (after all, you can always eat two, right?).  My friend Em shares my love of cupcakes (she goes for chocolate) but we have long debated the best cupcake in the city.  Turns out she was having this same never-ending conversation with a few other friends as well and thus an idea was born.

(Sweet Mandy B's cupcakes)

The mission? To decide once and for all where the best cupcake in this city can be found when the craving hits. The idea was to spend a night trolling the town for cupcakes. But let's get real. We each have kiddos at home, finding a date that worked for everyone was hard enough, and finding parking all over the city seemed anti-climatic. So this crawl turned into a cupcake war where each lady was assigned a cupcake shop and asked to pick-out some basics and some specialty cupcakes.

(MORE cupcakes)

6 Ladies. 6 cupcake lovers.  5 cupcake shops.  4 bottles of wine.  32 cupcakes. Let me say it again: 6 ladies, 32 cupcakes. The final conclusion? We fought a war on the cupcakes but the cupcakes won. What were we thinking?? We were thinking we were a lot more pro at heavy-sugar-ingestion than we were.

(Swirlz Cupcakes)

Despite stomach aches for several and the fact that 12 cupcakes went home without even being tasted I'd say any night is a success where that many cupcakes are consumed.

So here were the final conclusions:

the Salted Caramel Cupcake from Southport Grocery and Cafe (not even a cupcake specialty shop) took top honors. Many also felt it had the best vanilla on chocolate and vanilla on vanilla, though the appearance was slightly underwhelming in comparison.

the lemon cupcake with lemon cream cheese frosting from Sweet Mandy B's was the surprise of the night, convincing several who would never have picked a citrus cupcake.

Sweet Mandy B's will always be my top-rated shop for their buttercream frosting, but Molly's Cupcakes chocolate cake blew Sweet Mandy B's chalky comparison out of the water.

Swirlz is better known than most, but is definitely outrated and outranked in flavor by many others.

And More, a downtown hotspot that demonstrated far more friendliness than anticipated, pulls out some astonishingly artistic cakes.  Unfortunately the beauty of the cupcakes far outreach the flavor.