October Things

October was busy with our weeklong trip to Argentina, Homecoming, sports and dance. The change in the weather could be felt by the end of the month. 

Glow: 

Cora attended Glow Dance Convention with some friends from her studio and had a great time. 

Driving:

Rowan drives us all over the place these days and even fills up the car with gas. He does a really great job driving- he's been easy to teach and only given me a few moments of panic! :) 

 

Sophomore Homecoming: 

Row went to the homecoming dance with a group of friends this year. They had pictures at the New College, dinner at Kona Grill, a fun time at the dance and then the after party at a friends house. 

 

My handsome boy! 

Coco Bean: 

While Row was at Homecoming, Cruz was at Busch Gardens with a friend so we got a special night with our girl. She chose Mexican food for dinner and then we went to the mall for some shopping/returns and finished off the night with frozen yogurt. 

 

Flag Football: 

Cruz finished up his last season of flag football this fall. He really loved playing. He is known on the team for playing well on both offense and defense and for his speed. The last game provided a beautiful sunset. I knew Cruz wouldn't let me take a picture unless I asked a friend to take one with him. Middle Schoolers have a harder time saying no to someone else's mom. ;) I wanted to include Cruz's team photo but we haven't gotten them back yet. 

 

Cheer Camp: 

Cora participated in her last Elementary School cheer camp. She and her bestie Haven had fun practicing and performing at a Friday night football game. I don't even want to talk about how grown she looks. 

 

Trick or Treat: 

Trick or Treating was different this year. Rowan didn't trick or treat but instead went over to a friend's house and hung out with a group. They had a bonfire, watched a movie and played Manhunt in the dark. Cruz threw on a Cub's jersey and went on a hayride to trick or treat with his friend Will. Coco, Roger and I went out with some of Coco's friends and had a fun night of food and fellowship. This was the first night of Trick or Treating that we all went our different ways.

Coco couldn't decide what to be and her friend Haven was dressing up as Taylor Swift so Cora decided to do that as well. 

Argentina: Part II

Traveling South: October 16 

Once again we headed to the airport, this time on our way to Trelew, Argentina in the Patagonia region. 

The only available rental cars were manual transmission. Before booking, I asked Roger if he remembered how to drive one and he said, "sure, we'll be good." And sure enough, we were. I am SO SO glad he was driving and not me. :) 

The largest dinosaur fossil ever to be discovered was found near Trelew. The dinosaur was estimated to be 130 feet long! 

We made a quick stop for hamburgers and fries and continued our trek to Peninsula Valdes. 

We entered the National Park and drove to our hotel for the night. Our main goal on the peninsula was to find Southern Right Whales.

 

There are only two small hotels on the water in the National Park. 

We played some football, hiked the rocks and enjoyed the beautiful views. 

Most restaurants don't open for dinner until 7:30 or 8:00. We had a fun dinner at a small seafood restaurant. They had Uno cards and other games available that we enjoyed while waiting for our food. 

Whale Watching: October 17

 

It was crazy how high the tide came in overnight. The area where the kids were running around and playing football was completely covered. 

 

I did not have a zoom lens to take these photos. The whales were so close to our boat. We even saw one jump out of the water although I missed getting a photograph of that. 

We continued our drive around the National Park in the afternoon. We saw sea elephants and otters and tons of these guanacos (relatives of the llama) 

Punto Tombo Penguin Reserve: October 18

We took a drive to the Punto Tombo penguin reserve with a tour guide. Every year, these Magellanic penguins return to build their nests and have their babies. They are a warm weather species of penguins. 

Again, no zoom lens, they were actually that close to us! 

You can see the egg in the nest with the mom. The dad is waiting and watching outside the nest. These Magellanic penguins are monogamous. 

Kids shadows with a penguin

The penguins build their nests near the water for easy access to food. 

This stop was absolutely amazing! We loved being so close to penguins in their natural habitat. 

Afterwards we stopped in a tiny Welsh town. There are several Welsh towns in the Patagonia region due to Welsh immigrants trying to preserve their language and culture. 

We had a delicious afternoon tea. 

and found a super fun playground! :) 

 

  

 

 

Springtime! 

 

Cruz was a fan of dulce de leche ice cream

Chess tournament

Finishing up Buenos Aires: October 19

Our flight didn't leave until 11:00 at night so we flew out of Trelew early in the morning and spent the day finishing up in Buenos Aires. We ate a La Cabrera, another famous steakhouse, did some souvenir shopping and visited Recoleta Cemetery. This cemetery was unique, ornate and very cool.

We arrived at the airport three hours early only to find that our flight was cancelled. After much stress and a stern chat, Roger had us on a flight from BA to Cancun with free first class upgrades. Once we arrived in Cancun, we got a short flight back to Miami only landed about 5 hours after we were initially supposed to. 

First class was incredible. 

Cruz slept the entire 9 hours. :) 

That's a wrap on a fun and unique trip! So thankful for the time away together. Having our family of five all together with no distractions for a week was a huge blessing and I cherished almost every moment.