Recharging Batteries, & Divercity (And no, it's not spelled wrong)

So today it rained. And rained. And it's still raining. Welcome to the rainy season in Bogota, Colombia. But we don't mind- you can't keep a bunch of Michiganders inside when there's things to be seen and done!

Today we went to one of the coolest kids' places we've ever been. It's called Divercity (click on the name to go to their website), and it's north of where we're staying in Bogota. Divercity is a great place where kids are paid money to "work". There are I believe 46 different things for kids to do there- you can go work at a store, you can be a doctor, firefighter, veterinarian, banker, etc. The way it works is that the kids go into the vet's office, for instance, where they learn about animals and what a vet does. Then after 10-15 minutes, they get "paid" for working there. (Sidenote: I just talked Juanita our cook into making lasagna for dinner tomorrow night. She makes a mean pan of lasagna- Hooray!!) After they are done for the day (i.e., Mom & Dad say it's time to leave), they can take their money and buy stuff like candy, stuffed animals, etc. It's great because there are so many things for the kids to do (we only hit about half of it, so beware Grammy, Mimi, and Bubba- you're going back when you come here) and they learn some great things while they're at it. Here is Ally learning about what vets do (and that Springer Spaniel on the table is live- it was the most docile dog I've ever seen):

About 5 minutes in to the 15 minute session of how vets work, the camera died. Why do batteries always go dead at the most inopportune time (outside of the neglectful owner forgetting to recharge the batteries before going on an important expedition)? That's actually the 2nd time that's happened while we've been here already. Note to self: remember to plug in the charger the night before something important so you can actually remember what you did.

Here are a couple more shots before the camera died.

At the entrance of the city:

A place for the smaller kids to play- Will loved playing with these plastic balls:

And of course, at the end of a hard day's work, what's a girl to do? Get a mani (that means manicure, guys) of course!!

Ally had to pay for that one, but she said it was worth it! Fortunately she worked on the farm (yes, they actually had cows you could milk. Not real ones, but fake ones that had fake udders that you could milk.) first so she didn't break a nail. Heaven forbid!

Will isn't walking yet, but is getting around pretty well. Beck's doing a great job working with him on the walking, and he's made a lot of progress the last 2 weeks. Here's a clip (sorry about Ally's close up for the first few seconds- she's always in there!):

I'll try to get more video tomorrow, now that the battery for the camera is charged. :)

Hope you all have a great night- it's been 2 weeks already, can you believe it?!? Please continue to pray for:

Will- that he continues to sleep well, and that he adjusts well to his new family.

Ally- that she continues to accept the fact that Will is staying with us for good (she truly is an amazing big sister) and for good sleep for her as well.

Beck and me- I'm heading home next week Wednesday (a huge thanks to Hoekstra for letting me stay this long) and so Beck will be here solo for a week until my mom, her mom, and my nephew Blaine get here on the 20th. Please pray for strength, good health, and good children (probably the last one is most important :)) while she is by herself.

Until tomorrow- God Bless!

Scott, Beck, Ally, and Will