Judgement Day!

Our legal judgement for Sebastian is complete! In good time, and just before our trip to San Andres, I headed into the city to the law courts to see notice of our judgement had been posted. Many thanks to judge #15 for making it happen so quickly! Not that this wasn’t totally random anyway! Just the luck of the draw really that it went so quickly. This is great news and took us somewhat by surprise, but it means that Sebastian is now legally ours, and we can move through the final few steps of the process and plan our trip home.

                        

Next on the list was a new birth certificate for Sebastian with the name we have given him; Sebastian Arthur Gwyn Harries, and then a Colombian passport for him so we can travel and he can get a Canadian visa to travel home. He sat nicely for his passport picture and we managed to get it one shot in under a minute! It took about 15 minutes, and numerous attempts for Charlotte when we did hers! The number and spelling of his names caused issues with almost every department we dealt with, the name convention used in Spanish speaking countries is quite different from elsewhere. For the benefit of the authorities here we also had to add Griffiths (Emma’s maiden name) to the mix, so you can imagine they were running out of space in the box on many of the forms! With the final paperwork complete, and a confirmation from the Colombian social services (ICBF) that everything is in order, all that remains is for us to visit the Canadian embassy, a short walk from where we are staying, to apply for Sebastian’s travel visa. This usually takes just 24 hours to complete, so by Tuesday of this week we will have everything we need to come home. 

         

And so the time has finally come for us to bring the big man, and our beautiful little girl back home to Canada. Our flights are booked (big thank you to Alison for all the help), and we will be back in Montreal on Sunday, September 6th, labour day weekend. At just over 7 weeks that will be a week shorter than we anticipated, but all in all not a bad thing since we are running out of shopping malls and kiddie parks to visit! We have a few more fun things planned for our last week here, including a trip back to CRAN to say goodbye to our friends there. There is another family just arrived in the house so there will be some more young folk to help entertain Charlotte as the clock ticks down on our return.

                      

Big P.S.
Many congratulations to both Myriam & Tim, and Shirley & Bill on their new arrivals, they both look gorgeous! Glad you are all happy & doing well.

Island Life!

Here are a few pictures from our time at the beach. Our first family holiday went very well, San Andres was very nice and very hot!

                    

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Off to the beach!

Today we are heading to the beach for 10 days, so subject to our access to the internet we won’t be updating the blog until we return to Bogota. In the meantime we hope everyone out there is enjoying the rest of the summer, wherever you are! Take care.

Charlotte in action!

This is my chance to tell you all that I have been up to during my stay here. After the other children left in the first week, I haven’t had much company my own age. Sebastian is fun to play with, but he is still a little small and he wants all my toys, boys eh!!

          

One of the best places I have been to so far is a place called Diversity. This place is designed entirely for children, not adults, everything is at the right height for me! Here I can try out any job I wish and get paid for it! I was able to be a nursemaid, a vet, a paramedic, a dentist, a chocolate maker and I also made my own yoghurt. I wanted to be a rock climber but my pants were too short!!  With all the money you earn you can spend it on other exciting activities. I was able to go to the spa (twice!) and have my nails done. I also travelled down the rapids (five times) and went on the bus (twice!). Poor mummy and daddy only get to watch as I have all the fun, mummy really wanted to go down the rapids and I think daddy wanted to be a firemen!

         

         

Sebastian had fun too, he had his own little area where he could roll around and practice his cruising. He is very good at pulling himself up on the sofa and is desperate to chase me round the room. He thinks my hair is great for pulling and I am definitely the best at making him laugh.

We have also been to some great parks, the best is Chico park because it has the horse carousel and bouncy animals. I also play pooh sticks with leaves and jump in the fountains.

           

Next week we are going to the beach and I will be showing Sebastian how to swim and eat sand, I think he will be very good at both. I miss my friends very much, particularly Boo Boo and of course my boys and Willow. But this has been a wonderful experience, I have seen so much and hopefully I will remember most of it.

One thing I have noticed, boys are very stinky!! I of course smell of roses all the time. See you all soon, love Charlotte xxx

         

Hold onto your hat!

In order for us to travel around this beautiful city, which we do as often as possible, you have to take a taxi. Now, the taxis here in Bogota are quite distinct, they are mostly yellow and usually quite small! The drivers seem to pride themselves on getting you to your destination quickly and this usually involves squeezing into the smallest gaps, honking their horns constantly and weaving in and out of traffic. The roads here are steep as we are basically on the side of a mountain, with lots of bends and the lanes not always clearly marked. However, we would not travel any other way and always wonder if our stomachs will arrive with us or shortly after we arrive at our destination. Charlotte loves the taxis ride and usually sleeps through the more hair raising journeys when she’s not on the lookout for VW Beetles or counting all the taxis, Sebastian takes great joy in batting Garath in the face or examining the ceiling.

            

Last weekend we decided to visit Simon Bolivar Park, this is a great expanse of green space for the people of Bogota to enjoy. The park is beautiful with trees, lakes, beaches and lots of kiddie play areas. People come and fly kites, play soccer, eat and enjoy, which is exactly what we did. Well, we basically moved from one kiddie area to another in order to keep madam amused, and of course we ate a packed lunch, my mum would be proud! We also revisited the presidential palace and square which is very beautiful and of course very heavily guarded. Charlotte enjoyed not the architecture but chasing the pigeons and eating popsicles, Sebastian ate bananas and slept a lot! We walked along one of the main streets and mingled with the people of Bogota. Like any major city you have to be careful and try not to look like a turista - no jewellery or flashing of the wallet and people only stare a little, well a lot, but we are quite a diverse looking family. You get used to it and it is even funny sometimes as some people are quite unconcerned about how obviously they are going to do it. We were a little out of our comfort zone but it was wonderful to get a feel of the city. Of course the drive home was quite memorable, with the driver going to the beat of the music which definitely gets you there faster!!!

          

Earlier this week we visited the hill of Monserrate, located at 3,152 meters above sea level and accessed by a very steep funicular. At its peak (a further 300m!) is the Santuario del Senor Caido, a favourite place of pilgrimage for both locals and tourists. We are not particularly religious but the church was beautiful, quiet and so very peaceful. The view of the city was incredible and being in such a tranquil place was very calming. Charlotte was very impressed by the funicular (the train) and was very serious about lighting candles in the church.