L. Swenson photos: January 2008

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Scrabble

This was kind of a fun shot that I took today for a photography class I'm going to be teaching.

Monday, January 28, 2008

One night Katie and Esau had plans, so Larry, Amy & I went to a really nice restaurant called El Sereno (The Night Watchman) that I had discovered while passing by one night. I can't believe I'd never seen it before - turns out, it's one of the finest in Antigua! We had a really good time, and great food, the soups especially were unforgettable. Amy felt special to be included in the "grown-up's night out!"

After we were all done eating, we discovered these stairs that led to a terrace with a beautiful view overlooking the city. Would be the perfect spot for a romantic night out!

View of the Central Park at dusk

A few random photos--Amy with a delicious carrot cake that we bought for a company meal. We absolutely love this bakery in Antigua called La Cinicienta (which means Cinderella in English.) Besides the carrot cake, they have the best cheesecakes!

Amy at Cafe Condesa, another favorite spot.

What is it about me and restroom shots?

Amy met this adorable little man near a church one day and visited with him. When we saw him on the street a few days later, he wanted to show us something--turns out he was a famous soccer player in his day, and they recently gave him an award. (He's now over 80.)

Hotel Antigua

We went swimming at the Hotel Antigua one day after Christmas. This is a really nice hotel in Antigua, and you can just go and pay to use the pool. Victor and Jonathan had a lot of fun swimming and Katie and Amy soaked up some sunshine. We enjoyed the poolside service, eating nachos with everything (the best!) and drinking smoothies.

There's also a playground area for when you get cold, and tired of swimming.

Looking at the parrots with Daddy. One of the birds actually talks - in Spanish, of course!

Victor's teasing the bird with a feather.

Throwing sand up the slide.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The Water Babies

Jonathan and Jessica shared a common bond - a love for all things aquatic. They would come into the house time after time to get more water - how much of it they actually drank, we don't know! They got into trouble on two occasions when they were both found sopping wet from head to toe: once, they were playing in an outdoor faucet (despite intense questioning, neither would admit to turning it on!); another time, they stopped the bathroom sink with a hand towel and flooded the bathroom. Needless to say, they were in big trouble for that one!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Christmas Day in Guatemala

Our Christmas Day in Guatemala was not spent in your typical way--in a park instead of at home, hiking instead of caroling, eating Domino's pizza instead of turkey, and playing soccer instead of sledding! And the gift giving...well, that was kept to a bare minimum, much to Santa's relief! Abraham's family invited us to go to a park near Antigua called Florencia. It was a beautiful place, almost like a reserve, and it was really neat to experience some of Guatemala's bountiful natural beauty. The first thing we did was hike down this trail into a ravine, in search of a spring of water. It was an arduous task, and our relief in reaching the bottom was quickly dispelled by the realization of having to climb to the top again. Oh well, it only increased our appetite for the four large Domino's pizzas that awaited us!

Larry and Jonathan along the trail. The sign says, "Take heart! Keep on going!" I love the dubious expression on Jonathan's face.