Parque Jaime Duque

March 31, 2009

This place is really cool and huge! The first time we went, yes we've been more than once, we went first to the zoo, then a very cool playground, and finally to a battleship museum. Diverse, I know! The crazy part is there is sooooo much more and after 2 visits we haven't seen it all! When my family comes for Easter we will definitely go back. Suprisingly it's pretty cheap too. We picked the all inclusive package for a grand total of $19,000 CP which is about $8 a person.

This is the entrance... a big palace. Inside is beautiful and looks like you may be able to rent it for functions.

Just inside the park. Which way to go first!

Lion's butt. This photo cracked me up! That was all you could see of the guy, oh wait, is that a gal? Ha ha ha!

Tiger cage looks really safe huh! Chain link and barbed wire.

Monkey island.



Scary bridge. Max loved it and Maggie was terrified! I understand her fears the thing was kinda rickety

A very cool park. Unfortunately it was raining. That, however, did not stop my kids from playing! It was a light sprinkle though not big rain.

Ball house, gee what could be inside there? They had a bunch of other houses too. Maggie and Max liked this one the best. It had a slide off the side and they could roll balls down or bomb us through the windows!

Zip line!!! Easily the kids favorite.

The ship museum.

On the second visit we found a carnival/fair type area with great rides for little ones. Max loved these paddle boats.

Tea cups are my favorite. Max had zero interest in riding. Thank goodness my girl wanted to go. See that big smile on her blurry face!

Mardi Gras Party

March 30, 2009

A few weeks back, you know around Mardi Gras time, we had a party. We invited about 30 Colombians and only 2 showed! No matter, our friends came and we had a great time! And many thanks to Mrs. Liz Fischer for the coffee table mardi gras book. I really wanted to keep the book it was so cool but really, it was a prize for the best costume so it had to go...

This is me getting punchy after cooking all day. That wad of dough is to be a King Cake in it's future life.

And ta da... King Cake. Thanks to Emeril it came out perfect in appearance and taste :o)

We ordered some decorations from Oriental Trading - gotta love them! And some friends some us some stuff too. Aren't these cups fun!



Beth in front of the great paper we got in a HUGE roll from O.T. Isn't she cute in that hat?

Masks awaiting faces ;o)

Yeah faces!

Our little king and queen stole our outfits for a while. Too cute.

The REAL King and Queen of the house.

MMMMM, gumbo!

And a whole smorgasbord of great Cajun cookin'. We had etouffee, jambalaya, grits casserole, jalapeno corn bread, and barbeque shrimp. Oh and let's not forget the HUGE batch of hurricanes hubby made. Those were AMAZING! The key is fresh fruit juice and not a mix. Hmmm, can you tell I love to eat?

Italian Feast

March 29, 2009

This is how bad I am at posting... back in January we had an Italian themed party at the house. We participate in a cooking club with a couple other families from the Embassy. Each month one person picks a theme and makes dinner for the rest. Soooo much fun and some really yummy food. I picked an Italian theme. Since Italians do 7 courses I thought we should too. OYE! That's ALOT of food and I think we all gained 10 pounds that night! I didn't get photo's of everything but here's a sampling...

Tomatoes, Mozzerella with Proscuitto and a basil and olive oil dressing.

Eggplant sandwiches (stuffed with provolone, dipped in batter and baked).

Crepes filled with ricotta, mozzerella and spinach.

Cheese and Thyme biscotti

After slicing and plating...

Spinach and cheese soup. This was to.die.for!

There was also a mushroom risotto, shrimp in a garlic wine sauce, green beans with clams (interesting combo huh, they were REALLY good though), and for dessert we had a pound cake with fresh strawberry sauce. I think that covers all the food. So fun, you all should try this with your friends. Well, if you like cooking that is :o)

Great ad

March 29, 2009

Hey all, been out of sorts lately. I'll post some photos and updates soon. In the meantime I found this cute video. It's a good reminder of what's important. Oh, and if anyone would like to share with me how you post videos on a blog as opposed to just links that would be great :o)