Holiday 'taint

It aint Christmas any longer and it aint New Year yet. That's why this week seems to be the taint of the holidays; a sort of in between if you will.

For the big night, we had par-tay at our place, deciding it was big enough for everyone and easiest for me to escape in case I become suddenly "out of charm" as the always charming Mathew Rosenberg has been known to say. Big shout out to Matty and Sally, I do miss those guys.
Anyway, it's easily debated whether I had the charm to begin with, but here it was held and there were no surprises.

Flopa was great and looked fab all while keeping things on a low boil. Keep up the good work.

 Luca has made peace with what passes for a Christmas Tree here. He was pleased with his gifts and talk of some days at the beach. Cross fingers and toes kids.

 Ama was holding up well. I shuttled her home after midnight (I saw dozens of people just like me doing the same), but for 90 not a bad night.

















Ceci and Matius. No fuss from this guy, he was enjoying the party or asking questions all night. Well, in his own way.

Ama (caught off guard but alert) with daughter Janine and grandaughter Florencia.

 Vincent was super excited about the whole thing. As soon as the fireworks were finished he was doing something else.

I loved Jani's groovy Christmas outfit. Hope to see more of that, rrrrahhhhr! 

Here, Ximena is also amazed

at something. Maybe those canapes are frightening her.

Merry Christmas everyone and to all a good fight.

Vacation - La Paloma

We wait all year for these weeks. Thoughts of languid days, rough furniture and very few showers help us to last out the frigid winds of winter in Uruguay. If not for Rocha I don't know that we'd have made it.

                            

We weren't disappointed.                                                        

 Amalia came for a few days.  She had a great time with the exception of that one arrest which was huge misunderstanding, charges she's likely to beat.

Jani, Mora, Clo

Gonzalo

  








Claudia Carambula swung by too. We entertained the idea of going to La Pedreda for a day, but in the end couldn't. We won't likely see Chero and family until they're back in town.



 Two asados the week I was there. I did ok at my turn, for the other a friend took over and showed me a few new tricks. Watch me next time.

Cacho worked the mussels.

Pass the er....

Me make fire.

The kids were drawn to the town fair; crafts, henna tattoos, crazy t-shirts. We had to go a few times and hang out, but it was easy.

It was an easy evening at the fair.

Vincent, Joaquin, Emilio check out the fair.

Afternoon break means WAR!

I introduced fly strips to La Paloma.

 It was nice to be out of doors, all the time. And better usually, the flies were pretty bad. I killed many, but there's still more work to be done.

I got crazy trying to capture the sunset with my digital camera.

Cacho and Janine get the fish night going.

 

A moment of peace.

A week spent very chummy.

We have news of the unrelenting snows in the Northeast. Of course, we miss the snow, but that sounds wrong when you have too much that just won't quit. So for now we are in glorious summer and that ain't bad.

Thanks for reading.

This New Year

2011 arrived with the usual noise that accompanies the holidays here in Uruguay; loads of fireworks. We fired off our share after a fairly smooth performance at the parrilla by yours truly. Standard operating procedure: chorizo, home made flat bread, melted provolone and pork ribs, yeah!

Our flat bread is like Pita, made on a pizza stone over the fire.

 The kids had two close friends over for the night. They are also brothers of around the same ages. They kept it lively until around 4:00 to the best of my recollection.

 Most of our group was away at the beach or in Punta del Este already, so it was just us, the kids and Amalia who held up nicely even at 88.

The real party crowd; Vincent, Santiago, Nicolas and Luca kept things interesting.

Our friend Virginia stopped over with her son later on, so there was yet another round of explosions. No one seemed to mind, the city was lit up and loud all night long.
Another year in the books. No complaints here.
Thanks for reading.

13 AGAIN

Luca's birthday (Sept. 18th) arrives each year just as does Spring vacation. We postponed the party to make sure too many friends were not away. Then the schedule for the Club was problematic and finally Janine's trip to the states. It finally took place on Oct. 24. It was loads of fun and a record number of kids showed up.
It was 3+ hours of sweating, soccer and horsing around.

 After our scheduled time, the local team needed the field to warm up for a game. The boys got front row seats. An unexpected bonus.

Coke break

Camilo "Que te pasa?" 

all eyes on the cake

Luca, Emilio and Vincent

Que lo cumple feliz.....

Will there be an explosion?

We had a nice turn out from family members, (Cecelia, Amalia, Ximena, Jose Luis and Paulina, Joaquin all made it) but I didn't end with many good shots. I found myself with no battery charge in the camera and had to make due with Emilio's cell phone. Thanks Emi!
My apologies for that.
All in all, it went just the way it should.

Vincent Party No. 11

Almost a month after the day proper, we had the party. A tough place to schedule apparently and now I can see why. The field was incredible. As usual the grown ups hung out and handled the asado. We made something like 60 hamburgers, buns fresh from a nearby bakery - they were fab. Janine's two cakes were incredible as always. Most of the family was there; Cecilia, Joaquin, Ama with Ximena and Jose Luis bringing extra special news. Let's just say Paulina is not going to be the littlest one for long, eh? Know what I mean?? You didn't read it here.
Enjoy the photos

Vincent turns 11

We had a little party for Vincent's birthday Friday.  He has an official party which will take place next month as per his chosen venue's availability, but this night was a little eats at one of the kid's favorite, Don Pepperoni. Just like a Friday's, it keeps the kids happy with an easy menu and video games.
The grown ups got a chance to catch up and have a few laughs.

After we came back to the house for cake. Janine made the requested chocolate cake with cream icing and filling and shaved chocolate on top. Vincent was happy as a clam and the cake was outstanding.

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This is just the best. Forever young, may I stay forever young.
Peace.

Luca's Party 4 Real

A little late, but worth the wait. Luca's 12th birthday party is now officially in books and the word on the street is all good. This was one of the best so far. Vincent has requested the same for his next. Everybody had a good time


































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The night field, full of friends and more or less 3 hrs. of futbol was just out of control. They ran in a pack for a hamburger break and dissappeared in a cloud of dust minutes later.
It was the same at cake time and they even managed a little play time after that as kids started going home.
The grown ups did well cooking and hanging out. Janine caught here eating. Amalia holding her own. That's Luca in the light blue shirt. Vincent is the matching shirt/shorts, long white sleeve under. Outfitted by Nike (of course).
Enjoy.