One thing I want to do more with my girls is sew, but it's not really my favorite thing because it takes time to learn the basics of sewing and the girls want to make everything really fast and then I just get overwhelmed. I've had this little zippered purse project on my mind for a while and having Cathy here for a visit seemed like the perfect opportunity to tackle it! It was the best having an extra set of hands and Cathy has experience teaching children to sew and she has the wonderful patience of a grandmother. It was perfect! Holly and Greta are so proud of their creations!

It was so fun to have Conor's parents here for a visit! Maeve started off pretty shy and uninterested with them, but by the end of the visit she was giving kisses and couldn't get enough cinco's (high fives). It was pretty cute. Poor Maeve has not been healthy since we came home. She's had diarrhea (still has it!), she had an allergic reactions (or a virus, who knows!) to the antibiotics she was on for her ear infection. The reaction started as big, angry welts all over her body on Friday and on Sunday, the swelling moved to her face so she looks rough in some of these photos and not super cute. I'm really happy that the welts are gone now, but it's been a wild ride! 

It was super fun to have grandparents for a visit. We love being back in North America and close to family again!

While Conor's parents were in town this past week, we hiked the Mineral Ridge Trail. It's a great little loop (3.3 miles) that overlooks CDA lake. We had a picnic lunch before we began our trek. After the hike, we went to McEuen park in CDA. It's such a great park, the kids love it! I've really enjoyed watching Maeve fall in love with slides (but everything that baby does is gold to me so...). It was a great day!

My daughters and I did this hike last August. Here's a little flashback!

Maeve is so sweet in these cute little short overalls that her Nana, Cathy, bought for her! 

We spent a good chunk of our last day in Ecuador packing. We did bring home some souvenirs for sure. It was a little stressful making sure everything could fit because we didn't want to purchase a duffle bag or another piece of luggage. We ended up just using our feed sack market bags. I'm really proud of us! 

After we packed up, we went out to lunch. Maeve ate so many french fries in Ecuador! For dessert, I ordered something traditional - sweet figs and cheese. It was good!

After lunch, we went to one of our favorite parks, but unfortunately the zipline was out of use. It was kind of disappointing. 

We went to some new friends' home for dinner. The kids got to help make empanadas. It was super fun. And then we went home. And now we are home. And Ecuador feels like a beautiful dream.