why am i always too cool for sunscreen?

after we sent off our first group it was time to spend a few fun days down at the beach before our next group comes this weekend. we also took our second set of house parents and their three awesome daughters down for their vacation time. we got to hang out in the water, play with the babes and just laugh a lot. those girls are so much fun and we're glad they got some time away. 

of course, yesterday morning before hitting the beach i was asked if i had any sunscreen. i replied with

 pfff no! {like i don't need it or something}. well, that decision still continues to haunt me after 23 years of life 

and some good sunscreen advocates at home. oh well. maybe next time i won't leave the beach so crispy.

ps, erin, if you're reading this, thanks for your sunglasses. we found them at the bottom of the pool the morning after you left and took turns wearing them. i'd be happy to send them back to you when i get back to the states later this month, just let me know. 

cheers!

the {how did i get out of this alive} weekend

so happy to have spent the weekend with some give hope 2 kids friends and go on a little hiking adventure. further down the road from us there's a great place to do some bouldering {that's what the professional outdoorsy club calls it, of which i am clearly not a member...}. it was an awesome time to get to know another beautiful spot of this valley and let the sun add to my always-increasing freckle collection.

some of the guys doing all that fun well-digging work spent the day out there too. the only reason i'm able to type this thing up right now is because my non-bouldering self was hauled up a few large rocks by these guys as we yelled in unison to the trinity {en el nombre del padre, del hijo, y del espiritu santo...} for some life preservation. why the most entertaining things never make it on video, i'll never know.

they spent the day cliff jumping and catching fish with their handmade harpoon. professionals!! p.s...these are the same men who catch fish with their bare hands at night with a flashlight in the rapids. no. big. deal.

on our way back we did some repelling off the main bridge {i am too easily convinced.} for some of the guys it had to be explained why one would need a harness to jump off a bridge instead of just launching  over with one hand on the rope. my unofficial nickname for the day was super mujer, being the only lady who took the plunge.

photo credit for picture #1, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 goes to the wonderful visitors. 

{visitors, please let me know if you'd like your names posted on here.} 

it was wonderful to meet you all! thanks for being such a fun, encouraging bunch of people 

and great photographers.

a day of margin

yesterday we got to listen to a talk on "creating margins" in our life -- to not run on full capacity. to take breaks. and spend time in relationship. to clear our brain and rest. 

so today we created margin. went to the creek. read. talked to family and friends. no cooking allowed. and {almost} no dish-doing...which is real easy when there's no water coming out of your sink. 

                                                                                                                 {more on that to come soon}

call it a sabbath

call it a margin day

call it doing nothing

but it happened. 

oh, happy day!

hope you've had a restful weekend, too!

wade in the water

yesterday was another trip down to david's property to swim -- this time with twice the number of kids and lots of extended family. remember the last trip? the hike to get there is a little crazy, especially with all the little ones but it is totally worth it. the kiddos spent the whole day collecting snails and the rest of us just enjoyed the day off in the sun with all of our friends, new and old. 

kelly trying to form an opinion about her new bathing suit....cute!!

 jose and fernando adding to their rock collection.

what a beautiful place to spend the day.

 cousins.

 a good snap of the house moms hanging out in the water.

a very wet version of me our good friends who happen to be the daughters of our new house parents.

kelly finishing off her slice of the watermelon.

 the spectators who could swim no more.

eugenio, one of the kids that came last week, just had a birthday so we made him an extra big chocolate chip cookie and told him how old he was now {he had no idea it was his birthday!}

hope ya'll had a lovely weekend as well.

a walk in the jungle

the other sunday we were invited down to david's property in another village to spend the day. david has been working with jason and sarah from the time they started down here and works on most everything agricultural. it's a huge property with places to swim and hike so we were pretty excited to go. all the kids on the property came along with the house parents, will and sinndya, david and his wife olga, another family from the village with their three girls and us volunteers {minus brayden}.wow. did we have a party! 

this is the point at which javier spotted an iguana...

at which time the guys went charging after it into the river...and caught it.

...and then we ate it. doesn't get any fresher than that!

baby kelly just waking up from her waterside nap!

the kids {and adults} had an absolute blast. it was great to spend time just playing and hanging out with some favorite people all day. i have a feeling we'll be doing that again!