View of Napo River from our room at La Casa del Suizo
Max enjoying the hammock on the back porch
Emily & David playing “dolphin” in the baby pool
Wallace being attacked by the kids!
Papa Dave & Max on the Jungle Excursion
Dorian, Charlie, Alex & Aunt Claudia
Although the Napo River had pirhanas, these were not pirhanas!
Max saying “hello” to a tortoise at an animal sanctuary
These were all injured & rescued animals of the jungle
Toucan
Aunt Claudia getting ready for white water rafting in the pirhana infested Napo River. According to the guide, the pirhanas are well fed so they don’t tend to bite people! Max went white water rafting in Wallace’s lap just to be safe! 
Sean
We went to a Butterfly Garden in the nearby jungle town of Ahuano (about a 15 minute walk from the hotel)
We sat down for a minute before our guide came to take us into the butterfly garden & in seconds Miss Em was asleep on Papa Dave’s lap
Gorgeous butterflies!
The butterfly was attracted to the cardinal on Charlie’s shirt
Alex hot, tired & trying to remain still so a butterfly would land on him too
Browsing Posts tagged Charlie
Norma in the hot baths at Termas de Papallacta
David in paradise
Norma & John enjoying some alone time with me & my camera
Mary, Emma & Sean (hiding)
Max & Emily’s front yard: thermal hot baths!
Max & Emily enjoying their private hot bath in their room before heading off to the Jungle
On the road again
Goin’ places that I’ve never been
First stop was a lovely lunch spot featuring hummingbirds
Alex, Emily & Charlie hanging out on the couch before lunch was served
Lunch menu. Surprisingly enough black pepper ice cream with basil sauce is pretty darn good!
Vicky (our tour guide), Normita & Fernando (our driver)
Wallace embracing his mama
Emily walking down a path to the hummingbird feeding stations
Charlie, Emily, Alex, Max & Nick watching the hummingbirds
We arrived at the bank of the Napo River in the evening to take our canoe ride to Casa del Suizo Hotel
Great Uncle Dorian (aka “GUD”) deeted up in an attempt to repel the mosquitos
David ready to go! He probably needed to deet up a little more than he did ’cause he was eaten alive by the mosquitos
Part of the group heading over in the canoe
Our luggage took an entire canoe!!
The beautiful La Casa del Suizo hotel as we arrived via canoe
We stayed here in the jungle at La Casa del Suizo for 3 nights
The next day we jumped on the tour bus again and headed to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World)
Check it out! 0 degrees-0′-0″
The Krasnoff Family straddling the equator
David, Norma, Wallace & Max straddling the equator
Mary & Sean straddling the equator
Wallace & Sarah straddling the equator
Emily thrilled to be holding a rhinoceros beetle
Max a little freaked out about it which is kind of funny because he is having a reptile/bug/beetle party for his 6th Birthday next month!
Happy Emily
She wasn’t phased at all
She even touched & petted the beetles.
David was the first to attempt the “beetle thing”.
Emily wanted to do this too, but her face was smaller than the beetle
John & Dorian — a quick stop at a scenic view after Mitad del Mundo
Max at the scenic view
Solar Museum
Here we are as a group on the equator at the Solar Museum
Mark successfully balances an egg on it’s small end on the equator. Yeah Mark!
Then we headed to Maria Elena’s house for what they refer to as “lunch” at 4pm’ish.
Max & Emily had fun on the teeter totter
Alex, Nick, Sean & Max all on the teeter totter!
And, there was a rope swing here too!
Emily loved it!
Max did too!
Charlie too!
Sean too!
They even had a white pet rabbit which was a big hit with Max & Emily
Emily fell in love with the bunny rabbit!!
We stayed in downtown Quito the first four nights,
at the Lugano Suites Hotel
The cousins were happy to see each other!
Emily was quite popular with Charlie & Alex.
We started our trip with a tour of Quito. Here is a beautiful cathedral. Wish I could remember it’s name.
The handsome gentlemen hanging out on the wall outside the cathedral (Dorian de Wind, Dale Colyer, John Williams & Dave Glick)
We even got to see the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa! He made an appearance for us! LOL! He was elected in late 2006 and took office in January 2007.
That evening we went to Denise & her husband’s lovely home in Tumbaco for dinner.
This is their beautiful view from their back patio!
Claudia, Denise & Bernardo
Norma & David
Wallace & Marta
The kids had a great time on the rope swing! Ooops! That’s not a kid! That’s my DAD!!!
Truth be told, all of the adults took a turn or two on the rope swing: me, Mark, Claudia, & Evan! It was too dark and the evidence isn’t clear.
Charlie upside down on the rope swing!
Max on the rope swing!
Emily enjoyed using Papa Dave’s binoculars. Better get use to this red Christmas dress! You’ll be seeing it a lot!!!
We traveled through Ecuador for 16 days with 15 of our closest friends & family members to include a total of 19 travelers in our group. Here are the individuals in no particular order:
Cousin Nick
Cousin Alex
Cousin Charlie
Aunt Claudia
Uncle Mark
Brave Cousin David
Great Uncle Dorian (aka “GUD”)
Grandpa Dale
The Oma
John
Papa Dave
Friend Mary
Friend Evan
Friend Emma Jane
Friend Sean
Emily
Max
Wallace
And, here begins the tale …
Aunt Claudia went a little overboard with gifts for Emily this year!
The box was mailed on December 13, 2010 and didn’t arrive until January 18, 2011. WOW! 4+ weeks for the Post Office to deliver!
Emily was thrilled with the box of presents that arrived for her! She even let her big bro, Max, open a few!
Here she is modeling her new adorable lavender Fancy Nancy dress!
Posing with her new Fancy Nancy doll in a matching “cow” outfit. Emily refers to it as the “cow dress”. Then she makes appropriate cow noises. Mooooooooooooooo!!!
Also in the box were 3 Disney princess ornaments which were a HUGE HIT!! Snow White, Belle & Cinderella!!!
Thank you Aunt Claudia, Uncle Mark, Nick, Alex & Charlie!!!!!!!!!! She is thrilled with her Fancy Nancy Doll, two dress up outfits, 3 cool Fancy Nancy books, a fancy purse & the three princess ornaments!
Halloween card from Cousin Charlie
To Max and Emily Love, Charlie
Emily was so excited when the Disney parcel of gifts arrived for her, under the name of Princess Emily, this afternoon from her cousins Nick, Alex & Charlie!
This particular gift was from Alex and the card said, “Happy Birthday to my favorite Emily”
OH PLEEEEEEEEASE let me open it!
A beautiful light blue glitter Cinderella crown!!!!!!
Emily said, “I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE MY CROWN! I LOVE MY SNOW WHITE CROWN!” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was a Cinderella crown.
Emily asked Big Brother, Max, to help her open the next gift from Cousin Charlie! The gift tag read, “I love you Emily. I hope you had a happy birthday”
WOW! This was the most beautiful Wedding Cinderella Nightgown I have ever seen. Very soft & fluffy!
Here she is jumping up and down with joy because she loved it soooooooooooooooooo much!!!
The last and final gift was from Cousin Nick. I was hoping that she would wait until the morning to open it ’cause it was past their bedtime so I didn’t document the opening of this gift, but it was a Swirling Ariel Nightgown and she was equally as thrilled with this as she was with the Cinderella nightgown! She insisted I take the Cinderella nightgown off immediately and replace it with the Ariel nightgown.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL AND THOUGHTFUL GIFTS! Our Princess Emily is 3 now and boy does she LOVE PRINCESSES! I have absolutely no idea where this came from?!?!
Introducing …
Elise on vocals
Elise & Emily’s duet
Introducing …
Max on guitar
Katie on guitar too
Charlie on drums
The band all together
Wallace, Norma & I took Elise, Max, Emily, Alex & Charlie to The Magic House (Children’s Discovery Museum of Saint Louis). The kids had a great time!
Wallace, Elise, Charlie, Emily, Alex & Max walking in
Elise & Max in the construction area
Elise was a great help with the kids
Alex
Charlie
Max operating the Caterpillar
Elise wrote, “I love Emily” on the chalkboard and then Alex wrote “Me too!” Ahhhhhh!!!! Emily was quite a hit with the cousins!
Alex & Max in the water area
Charlie & Alex in the water play area
