He–y everyone…Jim filling in for Gina (I know, I am NOT as good of a Blogger as her . so bear with me). We started our day with breakfast at the hotel restaurant next to the pool. The staff was again very gracious and welcoming to the kids.

We then met Miss Vicky and her husband, and then headed to the zoo. As some may recall, Vicky is blingual and has a calling for working with kids and adopting families. We are indeed blessed to have her assisting us.

The zoo was much less commercialized than US zoos. It did feature many animals ranging from an elephant to jaguars, tigers, and lions. Unlike US zoos, one could get within about six feet of the jaguars. NOT a thing we would recommend for the faint hearted. Although caged, the black jag made it clear he would attack a human and powerfully. The kids were in awe most of the time. The sun was quite hot, though the temp was mild relative to Houston.

After the zoo, we had lunch at another Crepes and Waffles. We definitely recommend this restaurant. Their prices, service, and food are excellent. We also went to an ATM to make our first set of withdrawals to cover our last set of necessary documents. Those will cost 1,755,000 pesos or about 900 dollars. We knew there would be an additional cost, though not quite this high.

We returned to the hotel and the kids were tired. However, despite our best efforts, they would not take a nap. We then gave them their showers, did Yamile’s hair (it is getting better), and then had din-din from room service. As Gina may have mentioned, the menu is very good and one can even order pastas and omelettes, as well as traditional Colombian cuisine.

Jorge fought sleep the whole time (hence the challenging part of the evening). My sense is that he does not want to miss out on anything. And of course, he can be somewhat stubborn. He lost out on being able to play on the outdoor gym tomorrow since he would not listen to mami. I finally had to place him in bed and indicate that was the evening. I did not like to do that, but it was necessary. He cried and then finally gave in to sleep.

Notwithstanding these challenges, there is NO question we are very lucky and blessed. The kids are very well trained overall and very caring. They also have excellent sense of humors and love to play games with us. They also like to draw and give us pics telling us they love us. One cannot put a dollar value on those kind of expressions.

Tomorrow is my birthday. We may go to a Italian restaurant. Okay, I will sign off for now. Thanks to everyone, again, SOO much for ALL your support and encouragement during this process. It means more than we can adequately describe in words alone. Muy Buenas!

Jim & Gina