Group 2 Arrives in Pucon and the Mini Club

So Group 1: Corey, Joe, Hyrum, and Wes all left Thursday night for the south so they could arrive in Concepcion for Corey's two presentations there on the Start Up Chile speaking tour. The other kids who stayed with me could have gone to school, but since we'd told their teachers were were going to be gone and since they had told all their friends they were not going to be there Friday, they didn't want to go and have to explain their presence, so we just sat at home all day playing legos and cleaning/packing/being bored as we waited for our TurBus departure time. Our friend Rodrigo picked us up and took us to the stop. We thought we are at 11 like Corey, luckily he called me around 5 and told me to double check our tickets, and we were actually at 9:30! That was welcome news - it meant less time that the kids would be asking me how much more time until we go. So Rodrigo came to get us at 8:30.

Waiting for Rodrigo

There was quite a bit of traffic on the way there and I was nervous we were gonna miss it, but we arrived in time. When the bus came, Mel, Ethan and Abi shared two seats and I shared my seat with Lily. Group 2 on our way! Not my best nights sleep, but I had expected as much. The chair did recline a lot and I had plenty of foot room, so it was better than an airplane. A good warm up for whenever we decide to face that long flight back to the US.

Mel couldn't figure out how to recline her chair, so this is how she and Abi spent the night. Looks like Eth got his own chair (he was in the bathroom for the pic). They were all so quiet and I didn't hear them at all the whole time. I was a few rows up with Lily next to some guy who's snoring woke me up at 1:30 and kept me up for a half hour, then again at 4 woke me up and I was tired and cranky and debated if I should pretend I was asleep and flop my arm on him/hit him til he woke up, or if I should make Lily cry to wake him up to stop the snoring! Aagh, I wanted to punch something. So I was feeling so fed up with this guy, but then when he woke up to get off at his stop around 6 and asked me "Ronco?" I don't know that word... again "Ronco?" as he pointed to his face/nose and I figured he probably meant "I snore?" I said "Si" but didn't want him to feel bad, so when he asked me if it was mucho, I said "hmm, poco" which maybe wasn't lying cause I didn't recall hearing him between 2 and 4, so just depends on one's definition of mucho. But it was past and I was just glad he was leaving so I could ditch Lily and use his chair for the last hour of our ride.

We arrived in Pucon around 7 (Lily mad - probably about being woken up)

We took a cab to the "Gran Hotel Pucon" which was easy, it's a small town. We checked our bags in and went to explore a little bit. It was pretty cold - too bad we only have the summer clothes we packed for Costa Rica! Poor Lily only has short sleeve shirts and flip flops. ...
Mel shared her blanket and Eth shared his dog - isn't that just the cutest little face you've ever seen?! She's coming into her own and becoming quite a little character lately. So we kicked it in the hotel lobby for a while while we waited for Corey, who called every hour or so for 4 hours to tell me once again that he was guessing he was still about 2 hours away.


So after enduring 3 hours of unsuccessfully trying to get the kids to just sit on a couch and be still (Abi did a very good job keeping herself busy by quietly drawing. Thank you Abbers! Lily... not so good.) Finally since it seemed Corey wasn't just around the corner about to rescue me, I went to ask at the front desk if we could go to the kids room, which we did, and we hung out there until 1:00 when Corey, Joe, Hyrum and Wes arrived. So here at the "Mini Club" is where we spent a good chunk of our time. Nothing in nature can compete with dress ups and paper crafts I guess. Most of these pictures are of the first day - Saturday April 2nd - before we checked into our room.


Abi got her big hat on ready for the Kentucky Derby. Actually watching TV!!! Pathetic. Gotta keep that thing off - they are drawn to it like hornets to a BBQ.

Ethan dressed up, I believe, as a moose mermaid. They had a few of those masks, we all thought they were quite strange, so of course they had to try them on.

Abi and Melodie drawing and coloring. Mel is in her element here, she's such an artist.

Lily puckering up for a kiss before she climbs on top of the tables to dance again.

She got into the game a little with Ethan in the sports court - stole Ethan's basket ball so she could play soccer - that's my girl!

Abi played b-ball with Eth.

Ethan's got a pretty good 3-point shot, especially for how low the ceiling was and with the Little Tikes hoop. He wanted me to tell you he scored 32 points.

Girls playing house and making dinner

Joe, Hyrum, and Wes arrive and join in the fun. Wesley cracked me up. Put on the costume right away then went to work on crafts. "Hello, everything is totally normal here, and yes, I am the Blue Power Ranger. Do you like my picture?" I love kids, totally in his own world and it's all good.

Hyrum is a studious little student too. Good worker.

Last of the costume shots, the kids are chickens. So that is all of the Mini Club! We went there most every day, I was able to read The Real George Washington and the kids played. It was open from 10 to 1, then from 2 - 6. We'd go either in the mornings or in the afternoons, depending on what I was up for and when Lily was resting.

So that was the start of my first day of vacation and that's the Mini Club! Fun fun! More tomorrow.