If Punxsutawney Phil see's his shadow does that mean we have a longer summer?

We said goodbye to the first month of the year this week and hello to February which for us means more hot weather.  Rain threatened almost everyday this week but that just made the daytime hours that much hotter and that sucked out the chlorine from our pool. Yup it gets that hot here.

It was a busy week. Our nanny/housekeeper Alicia is working out very well. It took Mackenzie a few days to warm up to her but is now excited when the doorbell rings in the morning and we go out to get her. The house is sparkling and Kiersten finds herself with a lot more time on her hands which is wonderful. Perhaps teaching a group exercise class or two for the Embassy community will help fill that time (still in the contemplation stages for this). 

We went to the park on Tuesday.

And we brought a friend.

The girls loved playing on everything!

On Friday Scott and Kiersten took full advantage of having Alicia at home with Mackenzie so after work and Spanish class they went out for a lunch date to La Vienesa and it was wonderful! We are looking forward to doing this more often. When we got back and Alicia went home, we all jumped in the pool to swim which is always a fun way to spend an afternoon.

We found a health food store this week that had mostly
American brands. It was great!

We also took some "glamour" shots of our girl.

About to jump!

Her favorite spot in the pool

Saturday morning was busy with chores. Mackenzie helped mom and dad in the yard by "pulling weeds". She really just picked up rocks and examined them but she was content to do just that. Later that afternoon we went to the Embassy for a pool party which was lots of fun. We have a good group of people here. Mackenzie had a ball swimming in the big pool as did mom and dad.

Pulling weeds with Mom in the morning...

...and floating with Dad in the afternoon.

Sunday was another busy day. Church in the morning then in the afternoon we went to a BBQ at Scott's boss's house with his co-workers. Mackenzie made quick friends with the two other girls there and they ran around the hot backyard while the adults sat in the slightly cooler shade and conversed. The food was delicious! Love that Paraguayan asado!

They go all out! So much food!

She loved this giant ball and chased it all over the yard.

It was really hot and we forgot her hat so we drenched this
cloth in water and made her wear it like an old lady.

These girls became fast friends.

After that party we drove to the church Hostel to tag along to another party with some member friends. Mackenzie was exhausted before we arrived but still played her hardest. When we got home and put her to bed, Scott and Kiersten watched the Super Bowl. Yes all of it making it a very late night for us with the time difference.

And today was a pretty regular day. Spanish lessons, naps, errands, chores and work. What would we be without our routines?

She really enjoyed her stake and potatoes dinner with tomatoes.

Misadventures in Baking:

• Kiersten made homemade mayo this week. It was a lot easier than she originally thought (at least this recipe was) but had a very strong olive oil taste. It will need some tweaking if she is to make it again.
• We made ratatouille this week and it was SO GOOD! It is worth mentioning because almost all the ingredients in that dish was purchased from Agro Shopping and it was incredible! Support Farmers! 

Quirks of Paraguay:

• Shade. I feel like we have mentioned this before but Paraguayans are so good at finding and utilizing the shade. Whether they are walking, waiting for a bus or even driving in their car, they use the shade. We are starting to get better at it as well because its hot.

  

  Finding the shade on a very hot day.

• Traffic. We've definitely mentioned this before. The traffic here can be terrible because of a few reasons; the lanes aren't clearly marked if at all, people not using signals, motorcycles and boats. Yes, boats. We came into some traffic this week because there was a small motor boat stranded in part of a lane. No clue how that got there!

  

  That silver car just created a lane and everyone goes with it.

And here's the boat!

The Mackenzie Update: 

• We forgot to mention this a few weeks back but she now has 12 teeth! Four on top, four on bottom and two molars each on the top and bottom. We can see some more coming in so we know we are in for a rough couple of weeks.

  

  She was being a pill one day. I suspect the beginnings of
  the teething.

• All the floors in the house are tiled but we've added rugs. In Mackenzie's room there is an area rug in front of her crib but not underneath. We preface with this statement because she has started to push her crib away from the wall with her legs. We'll come get her in the morning and part of the crib is not where it had been the night before. Strong little legs.

  

  And we clearly need to move the crib down one more level.

• She is starting to become a more active participant in brushing her teeth. She'll take the handle and act like she's brushing but really is just bitting down and sucking the toothpaste off the brush. At least she's trying.

That's it for us this week. Thanks for reading along. Have a great week! And Happy February!