Long Time No Blog

It's been a long time since our last blog entry, but for good reason: we've spent the past 10 days in Chile visiting Daddy's relatives (Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, and many family friends). We are happy to report that the trip went better than we could have imagined. Having space for Alex and Ari to play (in our beautiful apartment on the ocean in the city of Vina del Mar), many, many helping hands, and two very well-behaved babies (now practically toddlers!) made for a perfect equation.

While we didn't have the opportunity to post an entry to our blog each day of our vacation, we'll try to give a recap of the highlights:

Alex and Ari were wonderful travelers on our overnight flight to Santiago. We connected in Miami to the 7-hour flight and both kids fell asleep pretty quickly after take-off, not to wake up again until we landed in Santiago. We were met at the airport by Miri and Opa, who helped us get settled into our rental car before we headed out to Vina del Mar, a 1.25 hour drive (north) from the airport in Santiago.

The weather that greeted us was sunny and warm- a welcome change from the 20-degree weather we had left behind. Our first stop was Aunt Betty and Uncle Juan Carlos' apartment a bit north of Vina, in Costa Brava. Their apartment is less than 50 feet from the ocean, which means their windows and balconies look out into the sea. It felt like we were on a cruise ship! Since Aunt Debbie, Uncle Jason, and cousins Naomi and Jonathan were still staying at the apartment in Vina, we planned to stay at Betty and Juan Carlos' apartment for the first night until Debbie, Jason and the kids left to return to the States the following day (thus freeing up room for us in the apartment). We liked it so much we decided to stay an extra night in Costa Brava. Aside from getting to spend more time with Betty, Juan Carlos, and Gina (Daddy's nanny from when he was a baby, who is practically part of Daddy's family in Chile), Alex and Ari had their first chance to go in a pool at the apartment's indoor, heated pool. Ari amazed us with her seemingly innate swimming abilities when she paddled her arms and kicked her legs in the water. Alex was a little apprehensive at first, but warmed up to the idea once he figured out how to splash. Here are some pictures from our first days at Costa Brava:

Go Team Chile!

Ari likes the pool (don't laugh at Mommy- the rules required all adults to wear swim caps!)
Alex is a little more skeptical...until he learns how to splashA nice picture of Daddy and Ari:
Snuggling with Great Aunt Betty:

On Sunday, before we packed up to head down to the apartment in Vina, we drove 1.5 hours south to visit family friends in Algarrobo, also a coastal town. The apartment was in a breathtaking Morrocan-style complex. We enjoyed a traditional Chilean feast of empanadas, chorri-pan, chicken, and, for dessert, a chocolate and manjar (a sinfully sweet caramel-like product of sweetened condensed milk) cake. Needless to say, we were stuffed by the time we left!

During the week, we relaxed and enjoyed spending time with family in Vina. Alex and Ari attracted quite a bit of attention anywhere we went (partly because of their "gringo" looks, partly because they are twins, which is less common in Chile than in the US, and mostly because they are two little hams who love waving and smiling at perfect strangers).

A highlight of the trip was the opportunity for Alicia, Daddy's and Aunt Debbie's nanny of 30+ years (who has since returned from the US to Chile) to meet Alex and Ari for the first time. Alicia stayed with us at the apartment, so she had plenty of opportunity to spend quality time with the kids. Here are some pictures of us hanging out in and around the apartment:

Alicia with the next generation of Reichmann children:

Enjoying the apartment building's playground:

Riding the cars at the beach in front of the apartment:

Daddy and Ari relaxing in the apartment:

Wednesday we decided to take a family trip (just the four of us) to Zapallar, another city (coastal, of course) about 1.5 hours north of Vina. We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, El Chiringuito, where we sat outside along the water. Alex and Ari had a blast watching the birds (pelicans, seagulls) and the assorted stray animals (a very cute kitten and some doggies, much to Alex's delight). It was a foggy day, but we still enjoyed our outdoor lunch. Here are some pictures from El Chiringuito:

Thursday brought sunny weather again, which gave us the perfect opportunity to take Alex and Ari to the beach for the first time. They even stuck their toes in the Pacific Ocean, which Alex enjoyed but Ari decided was a little too cold for her liking (she promptly pulled her feet up parallel to the ground and refused to put them down again). Alex enjoyed playing in the sand while Ari preferred to hang out in Mommy's arms:

On our way to the beach (in front of our apartment building):

Alex enjoys the view:

The rest of our time in Chile we spent taking it easy with family and friends, with Alex and Ari thoroughly enjoying all of the extra attention. They even had a play date with new friends Fernando (2 weeks older than Alex and Ari) and Almendra (9 years old):The return trip home was even easier than the trip down, since we had the extra helping hands of Miri and Opa. And we're happy to report that everyone has now settled back into our "regular" routine back at home, where the temperatures are warming up...we're hoping that means the end of winter and the beginning of springtime!