Peru ~ Aguas Calientes edition

 Oh man, Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu, was so fun and amazing. 

(Sidenote: Getting tickets to Machu Picchu in person, when they run out crazy early online, is something
 else. It's approximately a 42-step process that had us all laughing and waiting in several fun lines--
beginning extremely early in the morning, then in the late afternoon and finally the evening.
We're so grateful we not only got tickets for all of us to explore Machu Picchu, but bonus tickets
for Jacob, Annie, Matt and Ben to summit Huayna Picchu early the same morning.)

We had some great food, took multiple hikes to different waterfalls and explored the town. But our
favorite part of our time there, you'll see in that picture of Ben with one of his really good friends. 

So almost all of Ben's close friends, including Ben himself, will be going to HXP this summer
 (humanitarian trips for teenagers, run by our church, that give them the opportunity to travel
elsewhere, while focusing on loving others and loving God, even more than they already do).
And Ben's friend, Tate, was headed to Peru. We knew we would overlap with Tate a bit, but had
no idea what part of Peru he would be in when, as those going on the trips turn in their phones
on the first day, so they can focus on good and wonderful things for a couple of weeks
without any distractions. So Ben had no way to know where Tate was at any point.

And then the day after we arrived in Aguas Calientes, after a busy morning, we decided to go to lunch
and picked one of the restaurants. As we were sitting there, out of the blue, a large group of teenagers,
 wearing ponchos, started walking down the path outside the restaurant. Exactly as I realized what
was happening, Jacob said to me, "They look like an HXP group." I honestly couldn't believe it and
didn't say a word to Ben about what was happening, but told him to turn around. And within about
three seconds, and because I was sitting where I could see each of the kids in the group before Ben,
I saw Tate. And it took everything in me to keep my mouth shut until Ben saw him.

Now it may seem like a silly thing for this to be such a big deal to Ben and Tate (and to our families--
how I loved texting Tate's mom with pictures and videos after), but if you had seen Tate and Ben greet
each other, you would have loved it as much as we did. Honestly, it was one of my favorite memories of
the trip. And it wasn't just me and our family. Several of the kids in Tate's group, as well as the "parents"
of their group, told me it made them teary to watch it. I can't put it into words, but I won't ever forget it.

I got a video after the fact, of the two of them before Tate left, which is the sweetest ever.
But man, what a highlight that moment was of our entire trip. I was so happy for Ben.
And for Tate. And for all of us that shared in the excitement.

Aguas Calientes was a fun couple of days for our family and we loved experiencing it.
And boy were we excited to head up into the mountains to see Machu Picchu next.

Ecuador ~ Guayaquil edition

Well, the unexpected bonus of our time in Ecuador was a long layover that gave us a few hours to explore 
Guayaquil. It is a beautiful and unique city and after making it downtown, we first found a place to have lunch and
nearly everyone in the family agreed, it was the best restaurant of the entire trip. Hence the food pic by Annie.

Then we walked around to see more of the area, happened up on artist's studio that was the very coolest
(and where our art girl decided on an early birthday present because his work was absolutely gorgeous)
and walked the 444 steps up the Santa Ana staircase (somehow we missed a good picture with Nate in it,
but he was definitely there--as was I, which felt like a poor choice on more than one occasion) to see the
 gorgeous views. In addition, Campbell and Kelsey were randomly offered the chance to 
purchase an apartment up many of those four hundred plus steps, so that was exciting.

(Also, I'll never get over how much I love that picture of Ben with that statue guy. Never.)

It was a fun ending to our time in Ecuador and the first half of our trip. We sure felt
a whole lot of gratitude for a week in a beautiful country, with incredible people,
an amazing earth to enjoy and God's blessings following us everywhere we went.

Ecuador ~ Galápagos Islands edition

Where do I even start with our time in the Galápagos Islands? It was honestly unreal. If you ask
almost anyone in the family what is something we did on the trip, most will immediately answer,
“We snorkeled with sea lions, turtles and sharks. And at one point, all three at the same time.”

The Galápagos Islands are unlike any place any of us have ever been. Life is extremely calm and
slow and safe and they are very careful about who they allow to visit (at least entry isn't especially easy),
 never mention what it takes to live or own a business there. It was pretty awesome to see kids
 playing in the streets, in the parks, riding their bikes all over--whether day or night.

We spent several days there visiting the pier, taking multiple boat day trips with long periods of
 snorkeling, attending church, visiting the lava craters and the lava tunnels and the incredible tortoise
reserve, dancing on the beach (well, if your name is Grace), playing family games on the hotel rooftop
patio, spotting whales, being simultaneously fascinated and creeped out by both the land and marine
iguanas, playing soccer in the park with the kids there (well, if your name is Nate), being inches away
from sea lions that were everywhere, watching an Ecuador vs Peru game outside on the street with many
of the islanders (Campbell was especially a fan of this one), walking a whole heck of a lot and just being
overwhelmed with the incredible beauty of the earth and what God created for us to experience.

They were truly unforgettable days. I'm forever grateful for the memories.

(Oh, and for the record, the videos we took during our days on the island. Well, let's just say that
if you see any of us in person, you might want to ask to see a few of them. They really are amazing.)