Cast Away - DIY

Jane got her cast about a month ago, so it was time for it to come off. The pediatrician in Utah said it could come off after 3 weeks and that we wouldn't need another set of x-rays down here, so I thought I'd do it myself.

[maybe later, problems with video]

Above is video of Jane pouting and walking around like a peg-leg pirate.

Here's Jane in her last days with her cast.

Close up.

Over the course of 3 days I used my multi-function tool to get it off. Here is Jane on the operating table.

First, I used the mini-saw. I could get off the part by her foot alright, but struggle down the length of her leg.

Next, I used the knife to score a line down the leg. Then I cut that line at an angle to get a little chunk of cast off. With a little more help from the can opener attachment and the needle nose pliers, we made it all the way.

Here's the final product. A lot of old, scaly skin and some worn off skin from the cast.

It's now been about 3 days since removal and she's still walking a bit as though she still had it on. A few more days and she'll be back to 100%.

Fiesta

Our nice front door neighbors invited us to the mom's birthday party this past Tuesday. We thought it would be interesting to see how they do it. They were all very nice. We arrived at 8:30 and we're about to leave at 9. They said we should stick around a little longer until mariachi singers came, who were supposed to show at 9. We left at 10:30 with no sign of the singers so we could put the kids to bed. Five minutes after leaving we heard the mariachis singing, so we hurried through bedtime to return. We caught their last number. Stace even got in a little dancing with them.

Here we are with some of the relatives of the birthday girl.

"Yes, in our country it is customary to take your kids to parties in their pajamas."

Stace, with the birthday girl, Faviola.

Stace, with some other party guests. All were very welcoming.

LarcoMar - Oceanside Mall

Yesterday we made our deepest excursion into town. We went to LarcoMar, a shopping/tourist area that is built into the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in the Miraflores district.

Here we are at one of the lookout areas.

A little better shot of the view to the south.

Here's a shot of the beach and cliffs below the mall.

A lot of people go paragliding in the area. They take off from the cliffs above and go back and forth in front of the mall before either landing below on the beach or somewhere off to the south. This is Stace sailing past us.

We ate at a place that overlooked the ocean and was recommended by the Lonely Planet Guide to Peru, Vista del Mar. They served this really good cooked, salted, but unpopped, corn.

The sunset was awesome but the glass kept us from taking a decent shot of it. 

Pedro wanted his new favorite dish, antecuchos de corazon (skewered cow heart). Eva had fetuchini. Jane had the ham from Eva's futichini. Stace and I both had milanesa a la napolitana, a favorite of mine from Argentina. 

Neighborhood Park

Last Saturday we visited a park that's a few blocks from our place. Immediately this little girl, Nicole, comes up and starts talking to us. Pete & Eva didn't understand a word she said but that didn't phase her: she took their hands and took them to the swings.

Swinging.

Nicole liked Jane. She also invited us all to her birthday party in November.

Ingrid & Ingrid, here, wanted to practice their English with us, a lot.

Hola, Lima!

First sights of Lima on the ride from the airport to La Molina

Lights of Lima

An absolute angel stocked our apartment to make our first days here more comfortable.
Our lovely land lady was there in the wee hours of the morning to greet us.
We have great new friends here who have made this possible.


Mark and Stacey in our new apartment in La Molina, Peru.

We're on Our Way

Attempting to pack our lives into 10 bags at the Spencer's (our wonderful home for six weeks).

It's probably a good thing we don't have pictures of the flight. From SLC to ATL I was attacked by a screaming Jane who screamed for 2.5 hours straight (see those claw marks on my neck?). From ATL to Lima, we were assigned seat D in 5 different rows. We begged people to trade us seats (with no help from the flight attendants) and didn't get much response, so we gave them the option of taking care of our kids if they didn't trade, and we finally were seated together. Peter and Eva did really well. All I can say about Jane is it's a good thing we got the hot pink cast! After another long flight, we were grateful to land safely in Peru! Very kind people picked us up at the airport and took us safely to our home in La Molina.

Busted...Leg

So, we're getting ready for our move to Peru and the Sunday before our Wednesday departure, Jane has a rough landing off the slide. She cries and whimpers for a long while, so we call the nurse hotline, Uncle Kirk (everyone should have a doctor in the family), and then head to the ER. Nice nurses and doctor. Jane screams through x-rays. Results: no break, but check with your pediatrician on Tuesday. In 6 years and 3 kids, this is our first ER visit.

We find a pediatrician and visit Tuesday a.m., more x-rays, again no break, but they'll send to radiologists to confirm.

Tuesday 5 p.m., phone call from doctor says leg has small fracture. So we rush to the office and get hot pink cast (maximize sympathy on the airplane).




Here Jane is with her cast, in our new apartment in Lima.

Jane is back to her old self, carefully balancing on chairs, sounding like a peg-leg pirate walking around the wood floors, and wanting to eat only cheese.