"We're at Uruguay!"

We took a ferry from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Montevideo, Uruguay. We were pretty tired when we finally got to Montevideo, but we found a place to stay pretty quickly, had some dinner and went to bed. Blair was sick in the night, but I think traveling and no sleep had just taken a toll on her little body. She was fine when we woke up Tuesday morning.

Tuesday, we left Montevideo and took a bus to Piriapolis. We're planning to find somewhere to stay longer term here. Right now, we are just in a hotel, but today we're planning to go look at monthly rentals. We're all feeling good and happy with a shower and a couple nights of sleep under our belts.

Spence and the kids headed to board the ferry
This was how Davis spent the ferry ride. It turns out if you're awake from midnight until noon the next day, you're pretty tired. The ferry was nice because it had so much space. We weren't cramped in like the airplane; Davis had the whole row to himself to stretch out. Spence and I also took turns naping on another row.
Blair liked the ferry, but I think it was becuase she had the iPad to herself with Davis sleeping.
Blair crashed the second we made it to the hostel in Montevideo. Too bad we had to wake her up to go get some dinner. Later that night, we remembered how nice it is to have the conveniences of home when kids are sick. Blair threw up in the night all over her bed and blanket and we had to rinse her hair out in the bathroom sink before putting all resources together to make somewhat of a bed for the rest of the night. We also used her Halloween bucket from her McDonald's Happy Meal to catch more throw up later in the night. We still have a gross blanket and pair of PJs in a grocery bag in the suitcase- we need to find a laundry mat today.

Davis loved all the bunk beds in the hostel.

We all enjoyed some food that felt to us like it should have been breakfast, but it turns out it was 12:30pm in Uruguay. The kids and I had somethign familiar and Spence went with something from his mission days. I don't think they'll have any McDonalds where we'll be staying for the remainder of the month.

The kids had a blast chasing the Pigeons in the plaza outside of the mall where we had lunch.

Waiting for the bus from Montevideo to Piriapolis. Davis and Blair got some random toys in the bus terminal they thought were pretty fun.

The LeapPads from Grandma and Grandpa Davis have been lifesavers throughout our traveling. The kids played them on the whole two hour bus ride.

Davis having a blast when we stopped for a break on our walk from the bus terminal in Piriapolis to a hotel for the night. At the bus terminal, the people told Spence it was just a short walk so we wouldn't need a taxi, but I'm not sure they knew we had a bunch of luggage and two three year olds to take along. We had to stop twice on the way. Luckily, we found a hotel pretty fast once we made it to the la rambla.

We found a great hotel on the beach with two bedrooms and a bathroom and Blair thought it was "fancy". I guess she was comparing it to the hostel we stayed in the night before with a bunch of bunk beds and a bathroom we shared with other people.

Hamburguesa Completa. That says it all. I picked the best when it came to dinner in Piriapolis.

This beach is just steps from our hotel. When we walked over and saw it Davis happily exclaimed, "Dad, we're at Uruguay!" He has been telling everyone we were going to Uruguay to got to the beach, so I guess the day and a half we've been here didn't feel like it to Davis. He was waiting to see the beach.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

We left for the airport yesterday morning at 11 and we got to Argentina this morning at 9 Argentine time. The kids did pretty good on the plane and were happy the whole time, but they didn't sleep much. I think the kids and I are running on just a few hours of sleep max and Spence maybe about one hour. We're all looking awesome as were still wearing the clothes we had on yesterday, but we're waiting for the ferry and we'll be in Uruguay tonight at around 6:30 Uruguay time (it's 4 hours later here than home). After we find a hotel for the night, I'm sure none of us will have trouble sleeping.

Getting ready for the first flight
The kids were great following right behind Spence. Blair even followed when Spence started weaving back and forth.

Two pretty happy kids waiting for the ferry in Buenos Aires after some long miserable flights.

This picture of Spence shows perfectly how we were all feeling after the flight and all the travel.

4th Birthday Party

Because we'll be in Uruguay on the kids birthday, we decided to have a little party with our family before we went. The weather has been so nice this fall that we ended up having most of the party outside. We got pizza and let the kids play. Because I have so much to do to get ready for our trip, I didn't want to worry about doing cakes for the kids, so we ordered them from the grocery store. It was awesome. The kids were thrilled and I didn't have to do anything. I don't know if I'll be motivated to make them fancy cakes again...

We gave the kids ski clothes so we can teach them to ski this winter. They didn't really seem that excited about them, but they'll have fun skiing. The next favorite gifts were the Leap Pads that Grandpa and Grandma Davis gave them. They kids couldn't have been more excited.

It's a BOY!

We had our ultrasound today and were thrilled to find out we're having a boy. Everything looks good at this point. We took Davis and Blair with us and they were totally pumped to see the baby on the screen. When we get back from Uruguay, we'll start getting things ready for our little guy.

Tiny Tot Soccer

We just finished up Tiny Tot Soccer with Davis and Blair. Clearfield has so many fun recreation programs. Last spring, we signed both kids up for Smart Start Soccer and they loved it. Smart Start Soccer is where they go just to learn the basics of the sport. They had a fabulous coach and loved every minute of it- until the game. Blair hated the game and thought that everyone was being mean because they weren't sharing the ball. Davis loved plowing through people to steal the ball away, but Blair vowed soccer was off her list of things she liked to do.

I saw a flyer for 3 on 3 soccer for 3 and 4 year olds, so I signed up Davis, but Blair said she wanted nothing to do with it. Davis was so pumped he couldn't stand himself. Every day he asked how much longer it was until soccer started and when we were going to get shin guards and cleats. We got him all the gear he needed and waited to hear from the city, but nothing came. Finally, they sent out an email saying they didn't have enough coaches and they needed more volunteers. I asked Spence, but he was going to be out of town for a few games, so he said he couldn't do it. A week or so later, I got a call from the lady in charge of soccer saying they were going to have to cancel it if they didn't get more coaches. I couldn't tell Davis there was no soccer, so I said I'd do it. Yes people, I was the soccer coach. I can just picture my friend Suzy laughing her guts out at the thought of me being the soccer coach even for 3 and 4 year olds.

I didn't really know what to do, but they gave me a book and I did some of the same things the kids learned in Smart Start Soccer. We weren't that awesome of a team, but it turns out only two of the six kids on my team even cared to follow the ball or try to kick it. The others didn't even run half of the time- Davis and Blair included. (Blair singed up when she found out I was going to be the coach and there was an open spot on my team.) It was one of the most frustrating things I've ever done, but the kids seemed to have a good time and now I've done my duty as a coach. It's not my turn next time...

Pajama Day

Today was pajama day at preschool. The kids were thrilled, but Davis wasn't sure why I made him take a bath and put on clean jammies if he already had pajamas on.

The Big 30!

Spence wasn't really looking forward to his 30th birthday this year. He feels like 30 means he's old. I think he's pretty funny about it and he makes me laugh all the time complaining about it.

The kids and I planned a party and in true Davis and Blair fashion, we had birthday hats, blowers, a sign, and some super tall candles. We had all of our family over, minus Jared and Mandy who were home with sick kids. We had a party outside and roasted hot dogs and enjoyed the awesome weather.

The kids and I gave Spence an iPad and I think he was pretty excited. If the truth be known, it was a little bit of a selfish gift because I thought it would be so nice to let the kids play on it on the airplane on the was to Uruguay.

The kids also decided that it should be Sully's birthday party too. They wanted to know when his birthday was. We didn't check, but judging from when we got Sully and how old he was, it must have been close to Sully's 1st birthday.

Morgan got onto fiver.com (a carzy website Spence showed him) and paid this magician to make a birthday video for him. It was pretty stinkin' funny. The guy kept saying "Happy Birthday Spencer Erickson" in a pretty creepy voice. It was awesome.

2+1=3

We are excited to announce that we're having another baby! I'm pretty lucky because I've already gotten over being sick and throwing up non-stop. Thank Heavens that only goes through the first few months for me. Baby #3 is due March 6th and we'll find out gender on October 19th. We couldn't be more thrilled.

I am reminded on a daily basis of all the things we need to do to take care of a baby. For some reason, Blair is sure she knows how to do this, but I don't. It's pretty funny. Here's a list of some of the things she's told me:

• Don't feed the baby the same food Davis and Blair eat.


• Babies can't just ride on the seat of the car- they need to be buckled in a car seat.


• Everyone will have to be quiet while the baby sleeps.


• Babies like to be cuddled.


• We're going to need some smaller clothes for the baby.


• Babies need to take naps.


• You must hold up a baby's head when you're holding it.

There are more that I just can't recall right now. It's lucky for our baby that Blair is here or the baby might not make it with me in charge...

Missions

Last night the kids and I were talking and the following conversation took place:

Blair: "When I'm older I can decide if I want to go on a mission or not because girls get to choose. Davis has to go because the prophet wants ALL boys to go."

Davis: "Yep, I'm going to be a missionary like Dad."

Me: "Did you know people can also go on missions when they're old? Dad and I want to go on a mission together when we're older."

Blair: "Whoa, that's going to be a long time for us to have a babysitter."

Preschool

Davis and Blair started their first year of Preschool at Treasured Times Preschool taught by our fabulous neighbor Kate Hill. They got a letter in the mail about the open house and they counted down the days until they could go. They told everyone they knew about it and how big they were going to be.

The open house was so fun. Kate did a safari and had the kids find animals around the house. Each animal told about a rule of preschool. Davis was in heaven with the binoculars. They were, however, disappointed when I stayed with them the whole time and they weren't there very long. They didn't really understand the whole open house thing.

The kids absolutely loved the first day of preschool. They couldn't stop talking about it and they were so excited to show me everything they had done. I think this is going to be a great year for them.