Ecuador Day 25

Today marks our halfway point of our journey here in Ecuador (that is if we get out of here on time!) It seems crazy that we have come this far, yet nothing has really happened. We haven't heard from MJ yet today despite my calling her a few times. I doubt we will. So hopefully we hear tomorrow more about court...I definitely do not want to go the whole weekend without having something arranged.

Instead of writing about our day, I am just going to post a bunch of pictures and tell you about them as we go. Devin indicated that I don't need to describe the day first and then describe it again with captions on the pictures. He is a man of few details and so my many, many, many details are overload for him. 

Our first stop of the morning was the Carolina Park again, though on the other end. This park is huge, taking up blocks and blocks in the middle of Quito. We pass this bird display all the time while walking and driving, but haven't been to see them yet. I don't remember them from my time here before, and today we found out why-- the display was put up in 2011. Sad that all the bases are all graffiti-ed already. Please be sure to notice the pregnant lady in the front of the bird in the right of the picture. 

There are probably a couple hundred birds and we let each child choose one to take their picture with. Okay, Halie was the only one who really chose-- Dev and I helped the other two. :)

This lady does not love the camera. We are lucky her head is up here. She usually tries to immediately hide her face when the camera comes out. Unfortunate, I know.

There are a few splash pads here too, though we won't be playing in those as we are swimsuit-less and I am positive that the people here would be REALLY concerned if we did try to find swimsuits because to them the weather is freezing (though it really is hot!)

Devin and Jace found two birds that they liked-- but I guess that works since there are two of them. Handsome boys, right?

We just really liked this one (the base at least). Look at all that amazing detail.

Just a view of a plane going over our heads while at the Park. It never gets old, watching them come in and land.

We ventured further into the park to find some toys for the kids to play on. More proof here that the Ecuadorians really love concrete. Concrete slides? Yes, please. We only let Hallie go on it once as we were afraid if she went more it would burn a hole through her pants. It was speedy--I'll give it that.

This huge sign was adorning a fence near where we played...clearly indicating that this man's method is not preferable to finding a bathroom.

We also saw this large plane in the middle of the park. Totally random...but how fun! It was not open for tours, though I am pretty sure it must sometimes be...the doors were open leading into the plane, plus why have a huge slide if not to use?

Jacer saying hi in the rear-view mirror on one of our drives. I know, I know, don't freak out-- we know this is not the safest method ever-- but it's how things are done here.

We then headed to the "Plaza de las Americas" for some McDonald's for lunch. Mmmm mmm food we recognize!...we especially loved the dulce de leche ice cream. So GOOD. I don't think we have this in the US?

These blue hearts can be found on the road here throughout the city. I finally took a picture of this one on our road today. They indicate that someone died there in an auto accident of some type. Comforting, I know.

This afternoon, we went on another walk to check out the neighborhood above our house. We pass this road, Portugal, quite often, but stopped to take a picture for Dev (he served his mission in Portugal, for those that may not know.)

Another view of the city. We just love it. So pretty.

What a ham. She wanted to pose with some plants we came across on the walk.

Another (somewhat) unique thing about Ecuador: though most roads are two way, most end up being one-way since there are so many cars parked on both sides. Driving down the middle and hoping you don't encounter anyone going the other way is the norm.

We found another little bakery on our walk-- this one with chocolate donuts and donut-hole type things. This is a great find as it is near our house, cheap, and has chocolate! Good (and cheap) chocolate is really rare here (A small bag of fun-size Snickers is $7 at the Mega).

How's that for a shorter (sort of) re-cap of the day? Devin is proud.