Adventures with Niko and Kaia: Alternative Route to South America

After several years of gutting and renovating a house in St. Paul, Minnesota, and with major help from family and friends, we decided to rent out the house and move to Ecuador for a year. A family sabbatical of sorts, hoping to learn some Spanish with Niko (9) and Kaia (6), who are at a great stage for an adventure and haven't quite figured out yet how completely uncool their parents really are.

Packed the minivan and left the 45th parallel in early August (we figured out our house is halfway between the north pole and the Equator -- OK, only 3/4 mile south of the halfway point). Made our way to Avalon, NJ via Gettysburg for a reunion with Yvonne's Dad's clan including beach time, steamed crab and lots of Yuengling. From there we followed the coast down to show horse-crazy Kaia a few wild ponies on Assateague Island before meeting up with Rolf, Renata, Greg, Lisa, and kids in Boris' amazing house in Nags Head, Outerbanks, NC. More beach, surf, crab, clams, plus more adult beverages and karaoke at the local fishing pier. Crabbing, turtle catching with Rolf, climbing dunes at Jockey Ridge, Cape Hattaras light house, and a few longer ferry rides including one to Black Beards haven of Ocracoke were a few of the highlights. Stopped in Savannah to visit friend Angela, before high tailing it to Orlando to avoid Hurricane Irene who was making the same trip in reverse. Spent a good two weeks at Yvonne's brother's house, visiting with Erik, Kim, and girls, spending many days at Wet and Wild (14 day pass for the price of one if you're ever there), celebrating Niko's 9th birthday when he decided to cut off his longer hair, plenty of lizard catching, and packing, sorting, and selling the car in prep for Ecuador.

GETTYSBURG