Today we went to La Valvanera - a small mountain in Chia (a small town to the north of Bogota). Mateo has been talking about how he wants to climb a mountain, so that's just what we did today. It was great fun and good exercise!
Bajando la Valvanera
Hermanos
Mateo was thrilled to mount this horse at the bottom of the mountain
Francesca was not so sure about getting on this horse (she now signs "horse," of course!)
Francesca practices her walk near the boarding school Maria Auxiliadora where abuelita studied
Fernando and Mateo spin el trompo in a plaza in Chia
In front of Centro Chia
Hermanos
Mateo was thrilled to mount this horse at the bottom of the mountain
Francesca was not so sure about getting on this horse (she now signs "horse," of course!)
Francesca practices her walk near the boarding school Maria Auxiliadora where abuelita studied 
Fernando and Mateo spin el trompo in a plaza in Chia
In front of Centro Chia At the kids park inside Centro Chia
Who doesn't love a carousel?
Francesca giving abuelita "5" each time the carousel passed by
Francesca giving abuelita "5" each time the carousel passed by
After riding the carousel, Fernando spotted a little girl with Down syndrome. I immediately looked for her parents and struck up a conversation with them. Paula Natalia is 5 years old and full of energy! It was so fun to see her interacting with all the games and imagining Francesca doing the same soon. After just a short time chatting, we discovered that Paula's uncle is Javier Piñeros, a good friend of ours who studied English in Omaha and was one of the groomsmen in our wedding! "El mundo es un pañuelo" ... It's a small world. (We took a picture with Paula, but Francesca does not look so cute - I couldn't justify posting such a goofy pic of my darling Ces).
