One day, we made marmalade from carrots and beets and naranjillas. And sugar, lots of sugar. It was really delicious! 

Bonus, we accidentally found out that Holly and Greta are no longer allergic to gluten (or they never were?). And life here has been much more convenient since! It has also been so incredibly amusing to watch them discover all things gluten. 

This past weekend we were in 4 different apartments in 4 days! Not ideal, but that's just how it worked out! Focusing on gratitude for spending half of our time here in the best apartment of them all. And I'm grateful we packed really light all things considered. Here's a photo of everything we were moving. The two red bags are groceries, a pot and laundry we were too lazy to fit into our backpacks. 

Another day at the beach! Everyone rents big umbrellas at the beach, which was a relief because the sun is strong and hot! Another thing about the beach is there are constantly people walking along the beach selling all sorts of goods - plantain chips, ice cream, beer, hair braiding, water, a hot meal, empanadas... the list goes on! When we go back, I totally want to fulfill my childhood dream of getting my hair braided on the beach in Mexico like so many of my friends, but through Holly and Greta. They may hate it. We didn't buy much from the walking vendors, but I did buy sliced green mango with salt and lime juice and that was so good, so refreshing! The only thing that would've made it better was if it was cold. Definitely buying that again when I get the chance!

Holly and Greta loved playing in the water, in the sand, and looking for shells (lots and lots of shells!). Maeve was very, very happy in the water and playing on the beach. On this day, she fell asleep almost immediately once I put her in the ergo to go! 

I'm excited to return to the beach and a little nervous too about logistics. Conor will still be working for a week and a half at the beach (didn't take that sabbatical after all, saving it for later). I'm not sure how I'll protect our belongings from being stolen, and swim in the water with my children, and have money to buy green mangoes, and have keys to return to our apartment. Never mind taking photos. It may be time to buy a fanny pack that can come in the ocean with me! Or we may have Conor do an alternate work schedule where he comes with us to the beach for a little while during the day. Our white skin can handle only so much of the Ecuadorian sun anyways. We will figure it out, I hope!

And just to tug at the heart strings, here's Greta in the same swimming suit Maeve is wearing at a pool in California and at Bonavista Lake in Calgary! 

We loved Salinas and look forward to going back early in April. What a treat it was to swim in a warm ocean with just the right amount of waves. Salinas is so hot and humid and there were many moments when the heat was too much for me. I'm still Canadian after all. But, once we made it to the water it was perfect! Refreshing but not cold. All three of my daughters loved the water. Maeve was so happy to be kicking her little feet and moving her hands through the water. It was adorable and brought me so much joy! 

While in Salinas, we ate at the same restaurant for all our meals. This was one of the most interesting weekends of my life! It was a total release of any and all control and planning. We do our best to communicate but our Spanish is only so good. I like to have a plan and I like control, however this was a good learning experience of everything turning out great without either. Honestly, this weekend was a wild ride in so many ways! Traveling there and back, stuffing 7 adults and 5 children into a hot, hot vehicle... The company was perfection and we just love the people we got to spend the weekend with! We continually find ourselves feeling immensely blessed. 

Here are some pictures of Maeve at the one restaurant we ate at. The server introduced Maeve to all the other employees and held her for a good chunk of time and gave Maeve her own little bowl of popcorn. Maeve is living the pampered life here in Ecuador. She is adored by everyone!

And ya, that's soda my baby is cuddling up to. I've never seen anyone give their children warm coca cola until coming here to Ecuador!