Quito! 6th continent in the books

 I asked at the park if any of neighbors would want to go anywhere in South America with me.  Su asked me where and I said anywhere.  So after talking to her family we decided to give Quito in Ecuador a try.  It was so amazing we loved almost every minute of it!!  Right before Christmas break we sat down and bought our tickets knowing that our guys had a four day in January and could man the house while we went on a trip of a lifetime.  While in Quito we got up and out early each morning and toured the city and each night we spent a few hours just sitting in a coffee shop (or McDonald's) talking and laughing over the day we had.  Quito is on the equator and we got to do a few tours on the equator and it was so cool it see how creative our creator is!!  The water draining opposite on each hemisphere is true - I saw it go straight down on the equator and clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere.  We got to balance an egg on the head of a nail and see some very interesting science.  Our second day we did a hop on hop off bus and got to see some amazing cathedrals, old city life, fun interesting places around.  The third day we did a tour to the top of a volcano where we could have hiked but with snow and not good gear we decided to hang out in the bus instead of be miserable for a few hours.  I am so thankful that Su said yes and I can't wait to go on more last minute adventures with her and her family!!

Quito is in the Andes Mountains and is constant views of volcanos and mountains!

Guinea Pig - a delicacy there that we chose not to partake

Climb to the top of a cathedral - why not?

Can't believe how small these streets where but that the buses managed them well

Powerful coffee comes in super small cups! We made them last a few hours

Combating altitude sickness with coca leaves

Bad traffic up a mountain - oh boy

Hiking in this weather was not what we singed up for!

Dec Strong Bonds Retreat

Jon got to hold one final retreat for his unit before he transitioned to a new unit.  We joined him and a bunch of families and got to learn from him again.  During some of our off time we took the girls to the American Girl store and let them either get their dolls hair done or buy one little thing for the dolls they play with all the time. While I love that Jon gets to do these retreats I was so glad when block leave hit and we could actually enjoy weekends as a family with no one working!

Hotel critics in the making

Why buy when you can play with the toys at the store?

Watching them work magic on her dolls hair

Officially paid more for the dolls hair than her own

Fire pit at the hotel

Came home to Christmas traditions - Jesse Tree and Advent

Took the girls to see the movie Star