South Beach and Little Havana from a "locals" perspective!

Today Hans and Gena took us on an incredible "locals" tour of beautiful Miami. Hans grew up in Miami and took us to the house in Little Havana where he grew up, as well as famous landmarks such as Calle Ocho, South Beach, Miami Beach, Star Island and the Miami Holocaust Memorial, among others. What a tour! Not only did he and Gena point out the famous places such as the Domino Plaza in Little Havana (where the locals, mostly older men, play Dominoes), but they also gave us personal accounts of different areas, such as where Hans went to school or learnt how to drive, or where Gena used to work and a famous case that she investigated at one of the hotels in South Beach. It was really neat to see the beautiful Art Deco buildings mixed in with the modern architecture. Zachary was such a well behaved baby, even when we walked around in the heat. Mum and I have had such a memorable time here in Florida and it is thanks to Tia Nena and Hans and Gena for making it so special for us. Zachary and I have spoken with daddy every night and we are excited to see him again tomorrow night. Good bye Florida. Hasta la proxima!

Miami!

We are in Miami at the moment with our dear friends Hans and Gena. Mum and Hans spoke Spanish all the way from Orlando to Miami, while Gena and I caught up (ie: talked non stop!) in the back seat! Little man watched us gabbing away and finally fell asleep as we arrived at their beautiful Florida home (it's everything I imagined a Florida house to look like!)

Hans and Gena took us on an airboat ride through the Everglades yesterday (so cool!) while Libby watched Zachary at home (he loves all the new toys that Gena had for him). The airboat tour was so fun and we even got to watch a presentation about alligators and see real alligators. Gena cooked up a scrumptious traditional Cuban meal called ropa vieja last night (I am going to get the recipe to make some for Zev) and after dinner, we went out on a paddle boat tour of the lake. So much fun!

We have spoken with daddy every night. We miss you, Papa and can't wait to see you soon!

Besos xo

Tia Nena's place in Florida!

Mum, Zachary and I are currently in Florida! The first half of the week, we visited Tia (auntie) Nena, who lives in Gainesville (right next to the University of Florida). The weather is gorgeous and Nena took us to beautiful Saint Augustine, where we explored the historic downtown and admired the Spanish architecture. Zachary has been such a well behaved baby this trip. He is a little parrot at the moment, repeating everything we say in Spanish (which can be a good thing such as "Nena" and "agua" (water) or "guapo" (good looking boy) but can also be a bad thing ("caca") :-))) It's amazing to hear him repeat words and quite clearly too! I'm glad that he is learning some Spanish and that's all he's hearing during this trip! I'll have to make sure I speak more Spanish to him after mum leaves.

Gracias Tia Nena!

Little man

Little man surprised us today when he hopped up on to the coffee table. I think he knew he wasn't meant to, because he looked back at us as we were watching TV: he knew he wasn't meant to be up there. The funny thing was watching him try to figure out how to get down (daddy needed to help him). What a treasure. 

Today was a good day. Thank you Lord, for good days.