Empathy Study: Day 5

This morning was beautiful. We awoke to clear blue skies and got up and headed to McDonalds for breakfast. Then, to Econo Super to refill our water and snack supply and get sun screen. We have gotten into somewhat of a routine now and know what the kids want. It makes ordering at restaurants and picking out snacks much easier. Since the weather was nice we decided to give IRTRA a try. We got to IRTRA around 10am and told the driver to pick us up at 3pm. We went in and rode the carousel and the Dragon, which is a mini roller coaster. Luis loved both of them and even said the Dragon was his favorite part of the day. Then we went to the Valle de Dinosaurios, a dino-themed play area with lots of slides and swings. After playing for a while, we decided to go check out the animal portion of the park. The first exhibit was Peacocks and Ostriches. Christopher was delighted to find a couple of peacock feathers, not the super long tail feathers, but irridescent none the less. Luis thought it was hilarious when one of the ostriches peed about five feet from us. It also did not go unnoticed by the kids that it was a male ostrich and he was quite well endowed. We were about half way through the animal exhibits when it started to rain. We continued through the next couple of animals before taking refuge at a nearby restaurant. After waiting about ten minutes I got the bright idea that if we could just get back to the play area we would be under the trees and would be covered most of the way to the spot we wanted to eat. By the time we got to Pollo Campero (yes, we ate there, again) we were all drenched. We had lunch, used the hand dryers to help dry our clothes and hung out there for about an hour and a half before the rain lessened and we decided to tough it out and go see the rest of the animals. It was well worth it. The two jaguars, the lioness and the puma were very active - the puma was even growling (I think it was almost feeding time). We finished up at IRTRA by riding the carousel a couple more times and getting a Choco Banano (a frozen chocolate covered banana).

When we got back to the hotel you will never guess what the kids wanted to do. That's right, they looked out the window and saw people at the pool and wanted to go. We hung out there for about an hour and a half and played in both the main pool and the hot tub. Luis continues to get more daring and trusting and is working on his swimming technique. Christopher and Caroline just want to battle Dad and get thrown over my shoulder. After cleaning up, we went to the Galleria Mira Flores which is a beautiful new mall that has the only Chili's in Guatemala. We ate there and then found a book store. Luis picked out a Baby Einstein book (in Spanish) that has a cat puppet built into it. Christopher got two Captain Underpants books (both in English), while Caroline picked out two Tiara Club books. We immediately put the books to use when we got back to the room by having reading time prior to getting to bed. Overall, another great day, the only problems we are facing are the lack of clean clothes and eating at Pollo Campero every day.