I imagine that the kids will have all kinds of questions about why they have to take their shoes off and what all the big machines are for. I know Logan will love the metal detecting wand when he sees it.
Airplane Security
By now I am sure everyone is aware of the recent bomb scare on the flight to Detroit. US Homeland Security has predictably tightened up the rules on what you can bring on planes destined for the United States again. This isn't an issue if you aren't landing in the United States but of course, we have to go through Miami to get to Santa Cruz so we are expecting some lengthy delays getting through security thanks to the new rules.
I imagine that the kids will have all kinds of questions about why they have to take their shoes off and what all the big machines are for. I know Logan will love the metal detecting wand when he sees it.
I imagine that the kids will have all kinds of questions about why they have to take their shoes off and what all the big machines are for. I know Logan will love the metal detecting wand when he sees it.
Christmas Visits & New Years Wishes
Christmas was a busy time for us as we had Melody's brother Aaron and his wife Orishia come and stay with us for a few days followed by Christmas Eve supper with Tony, Suki and his mother, and then my parents arrived on Christmas Day and stayed for a couple of days. Everyone wanted to be sure to see us before we leave at the start of February.
It was nice to see everyone since we don't get out to see Aaron often in Okotoks and the kids really like playing with him. We saw my parents a month or so ago in Regina when Lukas had a soccer tournament but its always good for the kids to see Grandma and Grandpa and Logan was sad to see them go. He really likes to have spend time with them and he especially enjoyed teaching Grandpa how to play chess.
I think all the kids liked their gifts even though they were a little more sparse than previous years as we tried to keep costs down so they can have a little more spending money in Bolivia if they want some souvenirs.
For the first time in a few years, we have nothing planned for New Years Eve and will probably just watch a movie together and relax a bit after the busy Christmas week.
It was nice to see everyone since we don't get out to see Aaron often in Okotoks and the kids really like playing with him. We saw my parents a month or so ago in Regina when Lukas had a soccer tournament but its always good for the kids to see Grandma and Grandpa and Logan was sad to see them go. He really likes to have spend time with them and he especially enjoyed teaching Grandpa how to play chess.
I think all the kids liked their gifts even though they were a little more sparse than previous years as we tried to keep costs down so they can have a little more spending money in Bolivia if they want some souvenirs.
For the first time in a few years, we have nothing planned for New Years Eve and will probably just watch a movie together and relax a bit after the busy Christmas week.
End of the Shots & Out of the Shop
This weekend will see the last of the shots we have needed before we leave and I for one can't wait for them to be over. I know the kids are looking forward to them being finished as well. Unfortunately, the last one is once again rabies which means another two days of feeling like a retired linebacker.
We have also all had our physicals, eye appointments and for most of us dental appointments and everyone has come out of the shop with a clean operating report, so we are all good to go.
Our duffle bags that we ordered have also arrived at Quinn the Eskimo in Saskatoon and will be picked up today (thanks Becky). We figured duffle bags were the best bet rather than luggage so we can fill them all on the way down with whatever we need, but if we don't fill 10 bags on the way back, we can roll the unused ones up and pack them in the other ones. Instead of the camo military style, we have plain black ones made of the same heavy canvas material that the military uses and we will be sewing our Canadian flags on them so we an identify them better in the airport.
Everybody is coming up to Prince Albert to visit us over Christmas before we fly out, so its going to be a little hectic around the house for the next week and a half. Melody's brother Aaron and his wife will be arriving tomorrow and staying until Christmas Eve, when Tony, Suki and Tony's mom will be coming over for Christmas supper. Its Suki's first Christmas in Canada and we figured they shouldn't be alone over Christmas. Then on Christmas Day, my parents will arrive for a few days. I will of course be taking no time off over the holidays because it will all be used in February, so its going to be a busy stretch.
I probably won't be posting until after Christmas, so I can talk about what the kids got that they might be able to use while we are gone. Two of them can read fairly well, and they know how to find the blog, so no hints will be given. Merry Christmas everyone.
We have also all had our physicals, eye appointments and for most of us dental appointments and everyone has come out of the shop with a clean operating report, so we are all good to go.
Our duffle bags that we ordered have also arrived at Quinn the Eskimo in Saskatoon and will be picked up today (thanks Becky). We figured duffle bags were the best bet rather than luggage so we can fill them all on the way down with whatever we need, but if we don't fill 10 bags on the way back, we can roll the unused ones up and pack them in the other ones. Instead of the camo military style, we have plain black ones made of the same heavy canvas material that the military uses and we will be sewing our Canadian flags on them so we an identify them better in the airport.
Everybody is coming up to Prince Albert to visit us over Christmas before we fly out, so its going to be a little hectic around the house for the next week and a half. Melody's brother Aaron and his wife will be arriving tomorrow and staying until Christmas Eve, when Tony, Suki and Tony's mom will be coming over for Christmas supper. Its Suki's first Christmas in Canada and we figured they shouldn't be alone over Christmas. Then on Christmas Day, my parents will arrive for a few days. I will of course be taking no time off over the holidays because it will all be used in February, so its going to be a busy stretch.
I probably won't be posting until after Christmas, so I can talk about what the kids got that they might be able to use while we are gone. Two of them can read fairly well, and they know how to find the blog, so no hints will be given. Merry Christmas everyone.
Logan the Author
Logan's Kindergarten teacher asked him to prepare a small project on Bolivia including a little information about the country, what we will be doing while we are down there and what types of animals live there. Logan took the time (with a little help from Melody for spelling purposes) to hand write the project as best he could. Over the course of a couple weeks, he picked his top 10 Bolivian animal list and got some pictures from the Internet. He wrote short sentences describing what we will be doing and a little bit about the country including the population and location along with a map of our flight route down.
Logan of course decided that this has made him an author and was kind enough to provide his autograph to several of his classmates after presenting his project. He has decided that his next book will be called "Babies With Hair" and that it will be a book of different animals, showing the ones that have hair and the ones that don't have hair. Keep your eyes open for it next Christmas season.
Logan of course decided that this has made him an author and was kind enough to provide his autograph to several of his classmates after presenting his project. He has decided that his next book will be called "Babies With Hair" and that it will be a book of different animals, showing the ones that have hair and the ones that don't have hair. Keep your eyes open for it next Christmas season.
Election Results
Bolivia just held their Presidential election and as predicted by the polls, Evo Morales won again with just over 50% of the vote. President Morales is a very socialist leader who was at one point a coca farmer himself. Many of his policies are not popular in the Santa Cruz area that we will be going to because many of the industries that he is planning to share the wealth from are housed in the Santa Cruz area.
Bolivia as a whole has many untapped natural resources which should produce a great deal of income over the next few years. They have the 2nd largest natural gas deposits in South America and have half of the world's known lithium reserves in the Bolivia salt flats that has been hardly touched. With the emergence of all the lithium battery use in the world, it would be a great boost to their economy if the lithium mining industry really took off.
Click here to read a little more about the Bolivian election results.
Bolivia as a whole has many untapped natural resources which should produce a great deal of income over the next few years. They have the 2nd largest natural gas deposits in South America and have half of the world's known lithium reserves in the Bolivia salt flats that has been hardly touched. With the emergence of all the lithium battery use in the world, it would be a great boost to their economy if the lithium mining industry really took off.
Click here to read a little more about the Bolivian election results.
News at Noon
Tina Mudry from CTV News at Noon was nice enough to invite us on the show today to talk about our efforts in Bolivia. I don't know if we are made for television or not, but I certainly found it interesting.
Vampires and Rabies
Bolivia is a country where bats can be common. Of course, with bats comes the opportunity for rabies. Bolivia has two kinds of bats that can carry rabies. The first is the insectivorous (Artibeus planirostris) bats and the second is the blood-sucking (Desmodus rotundus) bat. Since none of us are insects, I am not generally concerned about the insect eating bat, but we all have blood in us and occasionally these bats are known to nibble on people taking a nap, but most commonly they feed on cattle. Either way, the rabies vaccine is a must.
For those who are not familiar with vaccinations, apparently there are a few side effects that go along with them. Up until now, we had all been lucky enough to not have any of the side effects that can be related to the various shots. That was until we started our rabies vaccinations. A day or so after receiving the shot, Melody and I both had a fair bit of joint pain and of course when we looked it up, its a common side effect of the rabies vaccine. Good thing that we only have 1 more dose of rabies vaccination left to take.
I can't wait to feel like an retired NFL football player again.
For those who are not familiar with vaccinations, apparently there are a few side effects that go along with them. Up until now, we had all been lucky enough to not have any of the side effects that can be related to the various shots. That was until we started our rabies vaccinations. A day or so after receiving the shot, Melody and I both had a fair bit of joint pain and of course when we looked it up, its a common side effect of the rabies vaccine. Good thing that we only have 1 more dose of rabies vaccination left to take.
I can't wait to feel like an retired NFL football player again.
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