Sorry I haven’t updated my blog it’s just that I am having so much fun and nothing really super duper exciting has happened. 
 The first week since I have updated (the week of the 13th) was my first week of Spanish school which was very fun. The first day I went to Spanish school we walked in and there were two teachers just kinda hanging out and talking by the front, I knew at once that they were going to be the teachers for Kelsey and me. I was assigned to a teacher whose name is Soraya.  Soraya is the youngest teacher in the whole school and she is very energetic and fun. Kelsey’s teacher's name is Maria Jose who is very nice to even though I don’t know her as well as Soraya. The whole week was very fun we got to do all kinds of cool activities in the building and our teachers took us out for ice cream and carriage rides and just little outings to walk around and talk. School is four hours a day five days a week, after school usually we just have lunch, go home, do homework, and hang out for the rest of the day so not much happens other than school. 
 Last week was our second week of Spanish school. This was just like the first week except we did some other activities. Mom didn’t go to school this week but one day she really wanted to go and have lunch with all of our teachers including the one she had had the week before whose name is Sonya. We went to lunch at a restaurant called Tierra Madre where you order platters of food that feed 3-4 people. The platters have a combination of meat, rice, and potatoes. We got one platter that had chicken, ribs, corn, and potatoes on it, all of it was yummy except for the ribs that we amazingly good and probably some of the best ribs I have ever eaten! The other platter had 3 small pieces of beef that were thin, juicy and very yummy. Once lunch was over the teachers had to go back to the school for their afternoon students. The next day was very uneventful and the only outing Soraya and I did was to go and get some chocolate across the street. And all the sudden it was Friday. Mom and Kels went with Maria to her daughter’s graduation, which they said was very cute. Soraya and I didn’t go because she wasn’t feeling that great and she had some other things planned for us, which was to make a book of vegetables, animals, and other things. The day flew by and we finished the book which looks great. After school we walked to the store and went home. Friday night I had a terrible headache so we didn’t do much.
 Yesterday we went to the museum that had Pedro de Alvarado’s 500 year old sword which was pretty cool. After that we went to try to find a market, but we never found it and instead we found a cute little gym. On the way home we walked along a street that had lots of little art stores. We stopped into one and got some cute little toys and things. Then we walked all the way across town to the super market, and went back to the apartment. Once we got home I was exhausted. We rested and then Roberto’s (one of the employees at El Solar) daughters showed up and they wanted to practice their English with us. Their names are Katie and Sandra. We went and got tea and cookies and started to talk but they didn’t really talk at all and definitely did not speak English which was too bad. After they left we had dinner and just hung out. Today we got up and had some very yummy French toast then we went to the gym for about an hour. After that we came home, washed up and then went out again to lunch. We went to a place called the Bagel Barn and their little saying is “Home away from Home” so that was nice. Then we went to the store and came home and now I am blogging. I don’t have anything else to talk about so yeah! Hasta Luego!
  Larissa

Monday was a travel day. We got up super early and drove five hours to Salt Lake City. (I was very tired on Monday because I had not slept the night before because I was so excited.) Once we got to the airport, checked our bags, and went through security we had to wait for about an hour. The people at the gate called our name once or twice to confirm our seats. Turns out we got to go on first class to Dallas. First class is so nice, the seats are very comfortable and they serve great food. For a snack they gave us a little bowl of nuts, then they came around with hot towels to wash our hands with. For lunch I got an enchilada and a small salad, and then afterwards they gave us fresh baked cookies which were so yummy! We arrived in Dallas and had to wait for another two and a half hours. Turned out that on the flight from Dallas to Guatemala City Kels and I didn’t get first class but Mom and Ben did. That flight was fine they had a movie playing called Meet Dave which was really hilarious. Once we landed and got our bags we went in search of the car that El Solar had sent us, we found the guy in the parking lot which was hectic and everyone was shouting TAXI, TAXI! We arrived in Antigua very late and I went straight to bed. 

Tuesday morning I woke up having had a very good night sleep. I woke up for a few minutes then got dressed and went downstairs. We waited for Kels to wake up and then walked down to the square for breakfast. We went to this cute little café called Café Condesa, I had cinnamon pancakes and some cantaloupe which was very good. After breakfast we walked to the store and got some food and other necessities. Then we came back to the apartment, on the way we stopped by the Christian Spanish Academy (CSA) which is a very old school which was originally built to train missionaries. Any way, we signed up for Spanish lessons where we should learn a lot because it is one on one tutoring four hours a day or more. (We have to take a test on Thursday to determine what level we are at and then next week we start lessons.) After we got back to the apartment we had some quiet time for doing some homework, then we had lunch and then some more quiet time. Around 5:00 o’clock we went down to the square and walked around there for about an hour. We would have stayed longer but I started to get cold so we came back to the apartment, got some warmer clothes on and walked to dinner. We ate dinner at a restaurant called Frida’s after Frida Kahlo. The food was very good and they had a very cute location. We walked back “home” and pretty much just went to sleep after that.

This morning I woke up to a terribly loud banging noise (which I found out later was the workers working on the house next to us). I wasn’t fully rested so I stayed in bed for another half an hour or so. Then I started to get really hungry so I went downstairs and had breakfast. At about 11:00 o’clock Sophia (the employee at El Solar) took us to go see another apartment. We got back and had plans to go down to the market and get some food but it started down pouring so we were stuck in the house doing homework. It finally cleared up enough to go down to the market. We walked down there and just looking at it made me know that I would not like it, there were swarms of people everywhere probably the most people I have seen together in Antigua. The market is by far the most crowded and dirty place here, We walked around and I was doing fine until we went “inside”, inside has two foot passage ways for you to walk in and it is filthy with stray dogs and all kinds of different smells (most of them not pleasant). I was starting to get a little bit claustrophobic even from that and then we walk into the meat department, there were smells of raw meet everywhere even more stray dogs and huge legs an other things I don’t want to think about of raw meet hanging every where. From that point on I decided that while our stay here I am going to be a chickaterian! After that we started to walk home, about one block into it, it started raining again so hard that we decided to take a tuk-tuk home. The ride was terribly bumpy and unfortunately I had gotten on first so I was the one with Kelsey sitting on my lap since it was not meant for four people. We got home and had some quiet time. We started dinner at about 6:00 and thought it would be ready at about 7:30, but instead the stove did not cooperate with us and we ended up eating at 9:00. (Oh yeah, at the market we saw some very yummy looking blackberries and got some to make a cobbler, we got a pound of them and the whole thing was on 60 cents.) After dinner we had some very good blackberry cobbler, and now we have just finished cleaning up. Well I don’t really have anything else to tell about. So…I GIVE YOU GOODNIGHT!
Larissa

The Colors of Fall

Blinding your eyes, with colors so bright 

Trees in the fall are a wonderful sight

Some leaves are the color of ripe apples in the sun

Others are orange and yellow, the colors of having fun

Whole hillsides are painted with crimson and gold

They truly are a sight to behold!

Sorry I haven't updated for awhile! Nothing really important and exciting was going on. Then last weekend I was in Glacier National Park and did not have any internet.

Saturday in Glacier.

We woke up early and had some very yummy breakfast burritos for breakfast. Then we went to the Apgar Transit Center to catch to shuttle that would take us up Logan Pass. The drive was very slow and there were tons of cars, so Kels and I got really bored and started taking pictures of the drive out the windows of the shuttle. We got up Logan Pass and walked to the beginning of a six mile hike called Hidden Lake. On the way to the lake we saw about five mountain goats just hanging out on the side of the trail. I was surprised because there were a lot of people. Most of the hike was on a ridge line and it wasn't very exciting but it was still pretty to look down at the lake. Hidden Lake is beautiful its water is so clear and blue, you just want to jump in. The lake was hidden in a huge valley and it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be! 

After the hike we went down the other side of the pass and saw St. Mary's Lake. Then we came back up the pass and went back to our campsite. We made a fire, had dinner, and went to bed.

Sunday in Glacier.

Sunday was not a pretty day, all day it was gray and the average temperature was 45 degrees. During the middle of the day was the only nice part so Kels and Mom went on a hike called Avalanch Lake. I did not go because I was tired so I stayed in the car and did some school work. When they got back from the hike we drove into Kalispell. When we got to Kalispell we decided to go see Mamma Mia. After Mamma Mia we got some dinner and went into target. Then we drove back to our campsite in Glacier and had another fire. We went into the tent and read for awhile and then finally fell asleep. 

Monday in Glacier.

Monday also wasn't very pretty, but again it sort of cleared up around lunch time, so Mom and Kels persuaded me to come on the same hike they had done on Sunday. Kels wanted to do it again because she had forgotten her camera the day before and said it was so pretty that she wanted to go back. 

From the beginning of the hike I was just amazed! It was gorgeous! One of my favorite photos from the trip was on that hike, even Mom said that it would be a perfect postcard photo. When the hike was over we went into Apgar village and bought some more wood for a fire. Then we went back to the campground and started the fire (this is at 3:00pm). We kept the fire going all night and had grilled cheese and chile for dinner. Then we went to bed.

In the middle of the night Mom woke Kels and I upclaiming that she had heard a growl, so she moved all of us into the car for the night. Kels and I were not happy and we did not sleep good. But oh well.

Hello Again.

I am sitting and typing with Zindzi on the ground at my feet and Kelly on the couch next to me. This is big because I probably haven't had Kelly curl up next to me in a really long time.

But I am spending this much time one the computer so I can finish telling you about what I have been doing...sooo...Today started with the same sunshine flood that I have told you about. Then we had breakfast pretty early and packed up. We started down and saw quite a few people considering it was the middle of the week. There was one man with his two dogs that passed us when he was going up and then passed us again when both of us where going down. 

We got down to the car, changed out of our stinky clothes and then went to Goodtimes for lunch. I got an old-fashioned cheeseburger, wild fries, and lemonade. Then we drove back to Boulder, had 30 min at home to clean up, then turned around and went to Dr. Colletti's for a check up. That took us ten minutes and then we went to pick up Zindzi. She was so happy she started whimpering in the car! We dropped Kels off at Abos to see Andy and then went to the store to get some food for dinner. We had dinner and now we are doing some school work (or in Dads case work work). 

Later this evening we might watch some Olympics but I am not sure and then we will go to bed and get a good nights sleep.

Larissa

August 16

Hello Everyone. 
This morning I woke up and was very, very drowsy from the play last night. Loves Labors Lost was hilarious! It rained steadily until intermission for the play but other than being a bit cold I enjoyed every bit of it. Oh, guess who we saw…Birthday Buddy (Rick)! The play went great and we got home very late so that might explain the drowsiness. 

I woke up and almost immediately had to leave to pick up Raye. She was so excited to see me, when we got to her house I saw her waiting outside ready to leave! For about four hours we just hung out and talked. At about noon we had a wonderful lunch, jumped on the tramp, baked an apple crisp, and made Ooblusk (a mixture of corn starch, water, and food coloring). After that we went down to Bear Creek and swung for awhile (we also went down the wet slides and afterwards it looked like we had wet our pants). Later Dad took us to REI where I got a new rain coat, new zip off pants, and we picked up my sleeping bag. Then we stopped by the store and got food for dinner. Raye’s parents picked her up at 7:15, I took Zindzi on a nice long, rainy, walk and the poor puppy got stung by a bee (or wasp) right above her left eye. When I got home we had apple crisp for dessert and ran down to the grocery store for food for back packing. I have been up way to late tonight trying to get some last minute packing in and getting this done. 
 
My eyes are getting very, very heavy so I should go get a good night sleep. 
Larissa

August 17

I woke up at 7:30 this morning to Zindzi whimpering. I got up and fed her and then went back to sleep, the second time I woke up at 8:15. I had already gotten dressed so I went with Dad and Zindzi to the kennel. Zindzi was not happy to be going to the kennel and when we got there she had her tail between her legs. But we still had to drop her off so finally she obeyed. We went back home, had breakfast, and packed the car. Then we drove the hour or so drive to Dumont to pick up Erica. 
 
We got to Winter Park, and Kels and Erica went and did there own thing. The first thing Dad and I did was ride the chairlift up to the Alpine Slide, we zoomed down the slide because there wasn’t anyone on it yet and it was so fun! We did the alpine slide about 2 more times then took a break to play some Mini Golf. Then we did 2 more runs on the slide and had lunch. After lunch we did the maze, which took us 10 minutes to complete, so we went and did more Alpine Sliding! Who knows how many slides we did and in the end we played three rounds of Mini Golf. We finished at about 4:00 and came to Peter and Sandra’s. Dad and Kels went and met Erica’s mom down at the stop light then came home and we had dinner at about 7:00. Later we watched some Olympics, and now I am working on school work and about to get ready for bed.
 
Goodnight! Larissa


August 18

Hola Amigos! 
I woke up early and did some math. Then we got dressed and had lunch. We went and rented bikes then went up to the Mountain Bike trail head. We biked for awhile and I was doing great until we went down a pretty easy hill, but my bike slipped and I ran into a tree. My whole right leg almost went numb and I have about 10 bruises from that fall. The rest of the biking went wonderful and I had so much fun!

We got back to the car at about 4:00pm, returned the bikes and came back to the house. All of us started getting busy packing right away and we are finally done. I did about one hour of math once we finished packing and then helped Dad make dinner. Much later we made one of the best smoothies I have ever tasted! Now we are hanging doing some last minute stuff and watching the Olympics.

Adios!
Larissa

August 19

Aaah the peacefulness and beauty of Eagles Nest Meadow is great!
Today has been just spectacular. It started out with a big and yummy breakfast at the Sunshine Café. Then we drove to the parking lot of Eagles Nest Wilderness. There we packed up and made the long ascent to where we would camp. The whole four mile hike (with huge backpacks) only took us about three hours, not to mention that ¾ of it was uphill. 

Once we had set up camp and gotten everything organized we set off again (this time without heavy backpacks) to explore (and get away from the mosquitoes). We did a big loop and it was gorgeous! We were out for about one and a half hours (Kels and I are refusing to keep track of time up here so I don’t know what time we got back) and it was just reaching dusk. 

Now we are having some quiet time before dinner. Oh did I mention that we are having dehydrated stroganoff for dinner? Yum! (No seriously it actually tastes pretty good, and considering we are backpacking and that everything always tastes better backpacking it’s actually a pretty good deal). After dinner and clean up we shall retire to tent to play some farkle. Then we will snuggle up and sleep the sweet sleep of backpacking.

Goodbye for now!
Larissa



August 20

Another most enjoyable day to look back on!
We got up early because it is hard to sleep late when there is sunshine flooding your tent at 7:00am. We had breakfast and got off to a very early start so we would have time to get in a nice long hike. 

The first pass we had to hike over is called Eccles Pass, that was a good long grunt and finally we got to the top. We took a short break there and then went down into the meadow on the other side. All of us got hungry pretty quickly, so we stopped at a tarn for our first lunch. After lunch we moseyed through the valley, and hiked up the second pass that is called Red Buffalo Pass. We sat down and had a snack, while we were sitting some marmots got curious and came over to watch us. One of the marmots got about a yard away from dad and looked like it was going to jump on him. After the marmots lost interest, we hiked up to a peak, from the peak we could see miles in all directions we could even see Vail. We cam down and saw the same marmots still hanging out where we were before. Dad told me to sit down and see if one of the marmots would come up to me. I sat down and the same marmot that went up to Dad came over to me, it got a foot away from me and was just about to jump on me, when I jumped up and said, “Eww, its ugly!” 

After the marmot incident, we walked back to our first lunch spot and had a second lunch. We had a good lunch but right after we finished it looked like it was going to rain and we wanted to get over Eccles Pass before it did. So, we walked fast and steadily (except for one stop to boot ski) and made it through the valley, up the pass, and all the way back to our camp site before it rained. Right now it is raining, we are hanging out in the tent playing hearts and resting. Later once it clears up we will go outside and have dinner, then probably sit and drink hot drinks and watch the sunset. Then we will go into the tent and play some farkle, hopefully I will actually win tonight.

That’s it for now!
Larissa

Hello from Drizzly Boulder!!

Once again I am sitting and listening to the rain pound on the roof. It has been raining for 12 or more straight hours. 

I woke up at 7:45am this morning and I had such a hard time getting out of bed, you know the feeling you get when it's gray and drizzling out that you just can't motivate yourself to get up? Well that's exactly how I felt this morning.

At about 9:00am I went over to Justine's house, Justine was so so happy to see me. She sprinted down the stairs and almost ran me over, we hung out for about an hour and then decided to walk down to King Soopers. We skipped, danced and sang all the way to K.S. (every single car that past us had a smiling driver that was smiling at us). When we got to K.S. we met Justine's mom helped her do the groceries, bought some cookie dough (our little tradition), and walked back to Justine's house. There we backed some cookies, made some mac 'n cheese, and watched Finding Nemo. When Nemo was done we had this great idea to go and see Mrs. Chartrand, and so we walked down to Mesa. Mrs. Chartrand wasn't there but we wrote about 15 notes all around her classroom! Aleta met us there and she drove me home. 

When I got home I immediately started working on some work for home schooling. I worked for about 2 hours and then Dad and I had dinner. Now we are hanging around waiting to go to Loves Labours Lost, and hoping that they won't cancel the show. So far we haven't heard anything about a cancelation. 

Time to Go!

xoxo Larissa