Walk. Shop. Eat.

Sundays in Bogota mark two things - markets and Ciclovia.  Our favorite market is in a neighborhood called Usaquen, a charming colonial town that has since been engulfed by Bogota.  I have been quite mobile with my foot, so we decided to make the walk which is a little over a mile.  Granted, a single mile that is not in a straight line with sidewalks that can go from perfect to "iffy."

On Sundays and Holidays, the city of Bogota shuts down a network of major roads for Ciclovia to allow Bogotans (Bogotanos?) a little peace and quiet and the ability walk/run/ride without being run down by buses or crazy drivers.  It's also good for spotting the many dogs of Bogota, many breeds that are rarely seen in the US.

Market stalls filled with great Colombian goods that are on my must-buy list.  I lost one of my silver filigree earrings that I bought 4 years ago...  this time, I bought 3 pair.  I had to buy a Mola wall hanging for Josie's room to match the one that hangs in Lucy's room.  I found the same woman that I bought from 4 years ago, she remembered me (I think) because had a big hug (or she just likes to hug).  We met another couple from the Twin Cities who were adopting a little boy, but unfortunately they went home today.

This hot set of wheels was on display at the end of the row of stalls.  It seemed picture-worthy.

A fairly open stretch of Ciclovia.  Beats the sidewalks.

This restaurant, Amarti, was our actual destination.  Best Italian food anywhere.  It was as good as we remembered...  drool........

To say that Josie "likes food" is sort of like saying that I "like" coffee.  She clearly had plans for that grilled carrot, enough that she put her woo woo (dog) down.

Lucy taking a call during her lunch.  She must be closing a big deal.

Yes, pizza.

The antipasti bar - best flavors were marinated and grilled tomatoes and pineapples.  

One the way home we bought a few more grocery staples.  This is milk.  On a shelf with about 20 different varieties.  As a Wisconsinite, milk isn't supposed to confuse me.

Back at home, we watched a little TV and came across a bull fight.  This was a female bull fighter, she won we think.

Today we met up with a family from Iowa adopting a 15 year old girl.  They are adding their 10th child to the family!  I feel like a fool worrying about 2.  

The drama queen has taken her throne

Sorry it has been so long since my last update, but moving has taken a bit of effort.  As of Thursday we are now tucked into our apartment at Plenitud (La Fontana).  Getting setup took a few days - Josie didn't have a crib until today, we didn't have a kid's bathtub until last evening, and we're just generally getting the hang of things.

First, news on our process.  We have our first major step on Thursday with our appointment with the Defender of Minors.  This interview gets the process started in the courts.  It's a little late by normal standards, but because there is a glut of people here coming off of the strike and the normal holiday shut down, they're taking us all in the order we arrived.

On the Josie/Andy front, it seems that Josie has now approved of Andy's presence.  She's still a bit more comfortable with me, but she has opened up incredibly in the last few days which is great.  The trouble we now face is that she is definitely an almost 2 year old.  We have had some major standoffs on the topics of hitting, food, and the destruction of property (Lucy's book).

Not that we were stupid enough to think that both girls would be the same, we are SHOCKED at how different they are.  Lucy has always been a compliant kid with very little drama.  While we are still getting to know Josie, we already know that she will bring plenty of drama our way.

Josie seems to be getting more comfortable, given that she will fall asleep in the middle of the busiest mall we have ever been in.  

An early trip to Maku, the artisan superstore, yielded a pair of maracas.  Josie is a big fan!

A very large green space park that was carved off of the local country club has a pretty large play ground.  We love that  the lack of giant buildings gives you a good view of the mountains.

Josie learned the art of sliding and had a major melt down when some other kids wanted to use the equipment.  Sorry kid, we can't slide all of the time.

It's pretty great that all of the playground equipment that we grew up with is still available here.  Lucy seemed to be overwhelmed with this structure, at her age I would have been dangling off the top by my toes.

Now that we are on our own for food (El Refugio fed us all of our meals) we have been exploring some of the local spots.  This was a restaurant/bakery (Yanuba, complete with a windmill on the top for the Dutch husband) that we didn't visit last time and was pretty delicious. 

Our new apartment is part of a giant complex that seems to be overrun by dance troupes this week.  The girls loved watching this group bounce around.

And this happened on our terrace while the kids napped.  

Dogs playing soccer

Yesterday was a holiday and we did so very little, that it wasn't even worthy of an update.  Today was only slightly more exciting.

We took one step in the adoption process and took a trip to the Notary's office to sign our Power of Attorney.  In case that one of us has to leave, this gives us the other the signing rights to finalize the adoption.

These signs were hanging over the window where authenticated the documents.  You first have to give fingerprints, then get your picture taken, then sign.  The sign to the left is think is sign language for a couple of the steps, but I couldn't contain my laughter.

After nap, we headed out for some snack shopping and a stop at the ATM.  That gave us a chance to head to a park with the kids.  We just happened to be there during the doggie hour, everyone was there with their pure bread dogs.

I adore golden retrievers and loved seeing this pair play soccer.  Seriously, does everyone play soccer here?

I think all of our oohing and ahhing (and picture taking) paid off when the group came over to see the kids.  We found out that the goldens were mother and daughter with the younger one being only 6 months old.  Lucy loved it, Josie was terrorized when the younger one licked her face.

There were swings, too, so Lucy was in heaven.

On the bonding front, Josie has really come out of her shell with me, but there is little progress with Andy.  Our outlook is to continue both being her caretakers and it will come.

Beer Woman goes apartment shopping

I sit here with door open to the back yard with the breeze blowing into the living room.  Someone is blasting Air Supply's All Out of Love in the building next door.  Seemed important, so I thought I'd share.

Last night after dinner, we headed to Mimo's a local ice cream spot with another family from El Refugio.  Both girls had bright pink and purple ice cream, the flavor didn't seem important and they didn't seem to care.  It also has a very popular kid's play zone on the 2nd floor complete with a wobbly bridge and slide into a ball pit.  It also has a see-through tube where kids can crawl suspended 2 stories high below the folks getting ice cream below.  Basically, the coolest place to take a 4 year old.

I have pink and purple ice cream with a cookie on top.  I don't want to smile for your picture...

Doing out best to bolster Lucy's immune system.

Lucy's little friend liked it so much that he didn't want to leave, we went home while his parents patiently waited for him to come out.  

I woke up today early since Josie seems to be an early riser.  She doesn't make a peep and just sits silently in her crib, enough to break your heart.  I grabbed her out of her crib and crawled into bed next to Lucy and just let her lay on me for about 45 minutes.  Once Lucy was up, Josie was ready to play, too.  She was all smiles for me today and is starting to test me a bit (very good news).  After about an hour, she was almost as interactive with Andy and she is with me (very VERY good news).

I gave Josie her first bath today and it was a complete success!  Thankfully I did my homework on black hair and had a load of products to use, all of which were just right.  My skills are terrible and I will be actively looking for advice when we get home.

We headed out for Cyclovia and ended up not walking any of the routes so it didn't do us any good.  We went to a hotel/apartment complex called La Fontana to see some of the available apartments.  We ended up walking in to one of the offices and getting with a woman who run Suites Studio Plenitud Apartments and looked at a couple of her apartments and liked them all.  We decided to take the largest one she has starting next week.  It is a large 2 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment with very reasonable rates.

Here's the master bedroom that opens out onto the terrace. 

Two things that we really liked were the separate dining room and a nice sized desk with an actual office chair for the work that we know we will be doing.

Our favorite thing is the terrace that runs the length of the apartment.  Excellent air movement and sun!

We went to a restaurant called BEER for lunch, it was fabulous.  We were the only ones there which was fine with us.  I joined the frequent diner's club, so there will be more BEER in our future!

Home made chips and a delicious grilled chicken sandwich. 

A shot of the menu translated by Google translate, "is a beer developed for Female palates.  Based on a golden ale with a twist of cocoa in it's preparation, mixed with lime which gives a fruity and very light twist."  I just saw the words BEER WOMAN and said, "I have to have that."

And it was delicious.  They weren't kidding with they said a twist of lime.  You can sort of see the kid's area in the back with mats and gigantic colorful pillows on the floor for kids to watch cartoons.  Lucy just sprawled out when we waited for our food.

This was just too cute to leave out.  We noticed that the girls were holding hands through the canopy of the stroller when we were shopping.

Meet my best friend, Juan.

Boy, 2 kids are a lot of work.  That explains the nap-time posting, although those of you with more than 1 child probably figured that out already.  Josie is doing well and inching out of her shell.  She is much more reserved when Andy's around (still getting used to the "big fella" as Lucy would call him), but she is still loosening up.

Today we had a nice walk around the neighborhood and visited a couple of parks.  First we hit the ultra posh kid's store, Baby Ganga, for some sunglasses for Lucy and a sun hat for Josie.  Struck out on the hat because Josie, let's face it, has a gigantic head.  More shopping to come.  Then we headed to one of our happy places, Juan Valdez, for some coffee that just can't be replicated.  

Tomorrow we are heading out to our first market.  Sundays and holidays around here are Cyclovia, days where they close many of the streets for cyclists and walkers.  It's great for longer treks, especially with strollers.  

Hasta mañana!

All ready for our morning out!

All set in their new stroller!  They did well facing each other with only one break to encourage less kicking, even if it was by accident.  We picked this stroller because we have the option to change the direction of both of the seats.  We had hoped this face-to-face position would help the girls bond.  So far, so good.

Andy was tossing Josie into the air and got the only belly laugh out of her so far. 

Lucy's new friend from El Refugio, Camilo, who is being adopted by French family.   Camilo and Lucy are only days apart in age!

Ahhhh, sweet nectar of the gods (I guess I mean the coffee and apple sauce gods). 

Juan Valdez Coffe and the Green Bay Packers.  Muy bien!

Here Lucy is showing off her Baby Ganga purchase of Carter's sunglasses - very exotic.  Yes, she picked them out.  Notice the coffee drinks with Bailey's?  Take that Caribou!

I always find McDonald's menus in other countries fascinating.  Outside they are advertising a collaboration with the Rausch brothers, local restauranteurs.

The park path - super fun with a boot.

Our Josie

The day started with 3 and now we are 4!  After breakfast Andy, Lucy and I headed to our favorite grocery store for some essentials.  We returned home to news that we were being picked up in an hour to head to FANA.

After a little of Josie's medical history and a little paperwork jockeying in the Green Room at FANA, it was time for us to meet our little Josie.  To flashes, oohs and ahhs, we could hear she was walking down the hall.  When she came around the corner and saw us she was a little shy, but no crying.  We were left along with her to allow her time to warm up.  She snuggled with me and watched Lucy and Andy.  She was clutching the book of pictures that we sent and the toy flashlight.

The official Green Room photo!  I guess both girls liked what was outside of the window better than what was going on in the room.

She really started to loosen up in the car back to the residence by giving us some giggles and wearing my sunglasses.

Gimme those monstrous glasses!

Finally wiped out.  The roads do a good job of bouncing you to sleep.

Back at the residence we briefly played together - each moment Josie became more and more comfortable.  Then it was time for lunch.  We were told she had already eaten, but you'd never know based on how much food she took down!  She fed herself with a spoon and fork and used a sippy cup.  

Lucy "Big Sis" DeMaster enjoying her sopa.  She is so happy to finally have Josie! 

Now we're all smiles!  She took down the entire plate and much of her soup.  

A delicious lunch, I may never eat again.  This is Annette, our "driver" who acts much like a paralegal for us through our process.  She became a good friend during Lucy's adoption and it was a delight to see her this morning.  It feels so much like an extended family.

Now the girls are both having their naps - I've been in the room with Josie.  She spent a lot of time smiling at me and watching me before falling asleep.  Lucy was able to spend some time with Dad playing in the back yard before her nap which is just starting.  Sorry there are no good pictures of Josie and Andy together.  It has taken her a little bit longer since there are few men at FANA.  But, I suspect we will have plenty tomorrow, given that before nap there was a rousing game of cars between them.  She happily got a hug and kiss from Dad before her nap.

We hope to wake from nap and start to settle into a more relaxed tone around here.  Lot of playing, silliness and fun to be had.  We love you all and couldn't imagine this process without your support.  

Safe and sound

We have arrived safely in Bogota and are doing just the minimum to roll into bed. Patricia greeted us at the airport and we were able to catch up while we drove to El Refugio, the house where we will stay for at least a week, maybe longer.

Lucy did great on the plane and finally fell asleep about 30 minutes before getting off of the plane. She is doing such a great job, we are so proud of her.

My foot was a slight inconvenience, but did get us entrance into every early boarding, expedited line, pity scenario. This might prove a net benefit in the end!

Tomorrow is a big day, so it's time to pass out. Good night.