Nothing to special about this…except that Kai looks pretty cute and I was pretty proud of my pancake making skills:)

As if living in the jungle avoiding sickness, critters and who knows what isn’t dangerous enough…our son has taken up flying (into the arms of his Daddy, of course).

Bike!

Here is Kai enjoying his Christmas present from my parents. He loves his bike but is still working on figuring it out. He is loves to push it around but is struggling to figure out the pedals. I give him a couple more weeks and he'll have it down and be headed down the road with dust (or mud) flying behind:)

Helping Daddy

And looking cute doing it.

Kai decided to try to wear Tyson's rubber boots around one afternoon...I was thoroughly entertained watching him try to maneuver.

I love this pic of him with his little diaper hanging out...but seriously he needs to get out of those diapers...but that's a whole other post...

Family

We had a wonderful time with Tyson´s family in the middle of December. It was so special to have time with family and it was especially wonderful for Kai to have his grandparents and auntie here! It has been a while since he had seen them but you would never know it: He snuck right past the security at the airport and ran into his Pa's arms--welcoming them all with huge hugs and kisses. It was a very sweet and special moment. Our time with everyone was precious and we treasured every minute of it. While they were here we went on a trip into the jungle and spent a few days in Cusco (see below). Thank you Boppa, Pa and Auntie T for coming to visit, for the gifts and goodies, the adventures and encouragement. We love you all and look forward to our next time together!

Canopy Walk

On our jungle trip we went on a canopy walk. It sounded fun but I ddint' really know what to expect. Something off the ground, yes. But I also expected to be clipped in or something. But, I forgot we are in Peru, where safety is never on the forefront of anyones mind. The pictures don't really reveal the full height of this bridge but believe me, it was high. At the end of it we were in a little tree house/platform type area at the top of an enormous tree--more than 150 feet off the ground. The crazy thing is that Kai did this with us--just happy as could be in the backpack on Tyson's back. We asked our guide how many kids had done this--the only one other than Kai was his daughter! It was fun and beautiful and a great memory!

Family picture at the top

Lake Sandoval

Lake Sandoval was our next stop. It is an oxbow lake that was once a part of the river but got cut off. The walk on the way was beautiful and we saw lots of butterflies. Once on the lake we saw even more wildlife. My favorite was the howler monkeys. The were high up in a tree and hard to see but the amazing part is the sound they make. It sounded like a t-rex was about to come out of the jungle, it was so loud!

Insects

Here are some of the insects we saw on our walk to Lake Sandoval.

This beautiful butterfly just seemed to pose for me...how nice.

This butterfly's wings mimic an owl--and the inside of the wings is an amazing iridescent blue.

This tarantula was on the side of our path...yikes!

This beetle was actually in our yard...

Bug Catcher

My mom sent a cool bug catcher along with Tyson's parents as a gift to Kai. I broke it out early this cool beetle was on our porch.



A few nights later this gianormous bug was on our porch and I bravely (I thought) caught it to show Kai. I measured it when we released it and it was over 4 inches long...yuck!