First few days...

We're finally settled in a little bit, and I have a chance to post photos from the last few days. La Corona is as beautiful as ever, and the sun and warm weather has been such a welcome change from the wet, dark days we left in the Northwest. 

We got the "presidential" suite this time - apparently all you need to do is bring an adorable baby with you. :)

And speaking of adorable babies, Ben even arrived to find a bed all for him. 

The large suite is great, and we were so excited to have it, since we have a lot of luggage and supplies to store while we are here. We managed to squeeze most of our things into the armoires and cabinets available, so it doesn't look too bad in our room.

When we met up with Cat in Miami, Ben even got a new toy, who has been christened Mr. Lobster (as the new best friend to his other favorite toy, Mr. Crab). His nickname is Boston, of course.

It's been harder for me to take as many photos of Ben as usual, because now I am the parent working more hours, and John is the primary caregiver. The boys have kept themselves busy while we're working out in the field.

It seems that each day, more baby stuff arrives at the house. Ben's biggest fan has turned out to be Sonia (which was no surprise to us). When I get back from the field, I compete for time with Ben. :) Although it's been great to have someone so eager to hold him, walk him around, and talk to him while we eat lunch. He's learning more Spanish than we are, I think.

Ben even got a new Uruguayan toy - a purple maraca!

He's having so much fun, in fact, that he sometimes tires himself right out.

 In other news, there's been a couple changes at the house. There are some more dogs, a few more kittens, and some sheep that now call La Corona home.

And, as always, there has been fantastic food. So far we've had milanesa (like chicken fried steak) with mashed potatoes and salad; beef roast with sweet potatoes, squash onion rings, and fried mashed potatoes; spaghetti with three sauces (tuna cream, marinara, and pesto); fried fish with cheesy scalloped potatoes, and for today's lunch we had "Uruguayan chow mein," which was noodles, beef, and vegetables, in a yummy asian (mainly soy sauce) sauce.

So far, desserts have included gelado (vanilla with dulce de leche and little chocolate pieces), flan with dulce de leche, and an apple and ricotta upside down cake.

So, yeah, life is pretty rough at La Corona, as usual.