Quito with the Family

So, this past week has been up and down.  Last weekend, there was much time spent in parks, including a paddle-boat ride in the Parque Carolina (the closest park to our house):

On Monday and Tuesday, I did due diligence in the archives...and the kids played a lot of poker, apparently.

Anya also drew me many pictures, including this one of Toonces on a volcano:

On a clear day, the kids discovered that they could see a "real," snow-capped mountain from their bedroom window (which I am pretty sure is Cotopaxi.  Hopefully none of my fellow Ecuadorianists will laugh at me and tell me otherwise).

And today, we all took the TeleferiQo (gondola) ride up the mountainside and took a walk with beautiful views of the city below us and the mountains above us. 

At around 12,000 feet (4100 meters), it was both figuratively and literally breathtaking.  I would have loved to hike further, but the kids didn't have it in them.

But then, there was the everyday and familiar, in the midst of the other beauty:

What else but the dandelion, of course?

What adventures have you had lately?