Scott's Amazing Birthday Weekend Getaway!

Happy Labor Day Weekend to everyone! We had a wonderful three-day weekend here in Paraguay and we hope everyone back home did too. Not only was it Labor Day this weekend but also the first of September which is Scott's birthday! Happy Birthday Scott! 

This week was your typical week. Kiersten had another ultrasound to check on baby and the placenta. Baby is looking good but the placenta hasn't moved so plans for a C-section are still set. And her doctors here essentially put her on bed rest... which she is kind of doing but it's hard! Mackenzie got sick (again!) and had a rough time with naps. It wasn't until Wednesday that she took a really decent nap. With this sickness, Kiersten also caught the bug and steadily got worse over the weekend but feels to be in recovery now. Scott's work days finally settled back to normal by Wednesday and he was able to arrange a fun weekend itinerary for his birthday.

One of our LDS friends here offered earlier in the week to watch Mackenzie for a weekend if we wanted to get away. This was our last opportunity to get away just the two of us before the baby was born so we jumped on the chance! We took her up on her offer and for the first time since living here and really the first time since Mackenzie was born, took a long weekend away. We dropped her off Friday afternoon and then made the 5.5 hour drive down south to Encarnacion, the Pearl of the South. We got to our hotel around 6pm and relaxed until about 7 then drove around the city looking for a place for dinner. We decided on Hiroshima's which was a sushi place. Neither of us eat sushi or even like fish but they had other yummy Japanese dishes and we were quite satisfied.

Hanging out with all her LDS friends!

Peas for dinner! Her favorite!

 

Our dinner at Hiroshima's. Very yummy.

The morning was overcast and threatened rain so we went for a quick walk around the city before the rain started. We checked out of our first hotel and checked into our second hotel because, why not stay at two different places. The first hotel was very nice, Western, modern. The second was smaller, cute and more like an inn or bed and breakfast style while still being modern and wonderful.

The main cathedral in Encarnacion.

We loved this image of the Last Supper inside.

A quaint and beautiful Japanese garden!

Just a cool mural.

Our adorable room at the Milord Hotel Boutique.

Around 2pm we were picked up for our guided tour of Encarnacion and it's neighboring Jesuit Missions. By now the clouds had opened and it was steadily raining and continued to rain the duration of our vacation. But that didn't stop us! We first drove to Trinidad, about 45 minutes outside of Encarnacion to tour one of the only completed Jesuit missions in South America. There were about 30 missions built in South America, 8 in Paraguay and only 4 or 5 were ever completely finished before the Jesuit priests were taken out. The idea behind the missions were to provide protection and religious education for the native Guarani people living in this region of South America. It was such a fascinating and beautiful scene. There were homes for the Guarani, a bell tower, church, living quarters for the priests, workshops, school rooms, community garden/orchard, large meeting square and a crypt. The rain kept other visitors away so we had the ruins all to ourselves. Scott took lots of terrific pictures.

This structure was home to some of the 600 Guarani families at Trinidad.

The main square which held large parties, festivals, weddings and more.

Inside the church with it's original floor.

The baptismal fount.

The Jesuit's taught the Guarani how to carve. These angel faces once adorned the church. You can tell which years were prosperous and which weren't by looking at the faces.

This bell tour housed a 1.6m tall by 1m wide bell and could be heard for 160km!

Our next stop was the mission in Jesus de Tavarangue, 12 kilometers from Trinidad. This mission was only in operation for 10 years before the Priests were taken away and therefore never completed. It was smaller than Trinidad but similarly structured. The rain was harder here and colder so we did this tour as fast as we could. (Kiersten attributes the worsening of her cold to this part of the vacation.) It was still incredibly beautiful and we are so happy we finally visited some of Paraguay's famously known tourist attractions.

Scott standing in front of the church.

This room was the kitchen. It's appropriate because Kiersten has a bun in the oven...

Those rooms were the living quarters for the Priests, school room and kitchen and dinning. The stone floor here would have been where the workshops had stood had they been completed.

On the way back to Encarnacion, our tour guide who had lived in California for 18 years and spoke wonderful English, wanted to stop at a little road side store to buy Scott a birthday present. It was very sweet. Then we did a tour of Encarnacion and learned it is very different from Asuncion. This city is much cleaner, the river water is swimmable, the roads are better paved, the sidewalks are more passable and it is richer in terms of money and culture. Many immigrants have settled in and around Encarnacion including Japanese, Polish, German, Ukrainian and Brazilian. Encarnacion also has a costanera but it's longer (32 km) and better structured than the one in Asuncion. It is a beautiful city and we loved being there.

The bridge to Posadas, Argentina. If we come back we'll remember our passports.

The Encarnacion cathedral lit up at night.

That night, we ate dinner at the Milord restaurant which was where were stayed that night, the Milord Hotel Boutique. It was a French-Italian restaurant and the food did not disappoint. For dessert we shared a molten chocolate cake as Scott's birthday cake and we went back to our room full and happy.

Capresse appetizer. Loved these plates!

Entrees.

Volcan de chocolate!

Sunday morning the rain was still coming down. We enjoyed a quiet breakfast alone in the hotel dinning room then packed up and made the 5.5 hour drive back to Asuncion and our awaiting daughter. She was so happy and relieved to see us and we had missed her too. We relaxed at home and got settled before bed time and the Monday holiday.

We bought another Paraguayan treasure on the way home!

In the morning we took Mackenzie to school then relaxed at home in the quiet. We picked her up around 12:30 and she slept close to 3 hours. We'd missed chatting with family the day before so called Scott's parents then did a grocery run. That evening we enjoyed his official birthday cake, Strawberry with cream cheese frosting and watched Avengers: Infinity War.

This is actually a mini two layer cake.

Today Kiersten has been feeling better but is really taking it easy and resting as much as possible. Scott took Mackenzie to school and left work during lunch time to bring her home to help Kiersten accomplish this needed rest. Being sick and pregnant is not fun at all.

Quirks of Paraguay:

• Police. The police here are present but they don't seem to enforce anything. During our drive we came across some police vehicles on the side of the road with not a care in the world of the passing and in many cases speeding cars.
• Along the roads we passed many little tributes to Saints. They usually had a little structure with a statue and flowers or candles honoring a Saint.
• Paraguay has some interesting trees.

  

  We have no idea what is growing on this tree.

  
  

  

  It looks like a Dr. Seuss tree!

The Mackenzie Update:

• More than a week ago, Mackenzie did a little drop of pee in the potty! It was very exciting. Nothing since then but that's the first step, right?

  

  She's been a handful this week.

• She can now officially open the fridge. Time for a child lock.
• She says, "see you later" when someone is leaving or if she puts a toy away. But it only comes out as, "later". It's funny and cute coming from someone so small.

  

  Trying out a friend's scooter for the first time.

It was a wonderfully fun week and now that we are in September we only have one month before the girls come back to Virginia for the remainder of the year and to meet the new baby! Time is flying by! So much to accomplish before then. Wish us luck!