With Hadley's brand spanking new passport in hand, we set out for Miami last week to renew our expired visas. Because we were waiting for Hadley's passport, we had been in the country longer than 90 days. The decision whether or not and how much to fine violators of this law is entirely up to the immigration officer, but the lady we got wasn't even remotely concerned about why our visas were expired or that we had tried to get an extension. We were able to get "legaled up" with her just in the nick of time to make our plane.
Since our plane left early in the morning, we stayed overnight in La Ceiba the night before. This gave us a chance to have supper with our friends Henry, Sofia, and Henry Jr., who is 4 months old. We had fun meeing each other's respective babies.
Our travels included a layover in El Salvador. Being the super extrovert that she is, Guildy had a jolly good time charming the family sitting next to us. Although Guildy's Spanish skills are pretty limited, her interpersonal skills more than make up for it. So cross cultural interaction doesn't phase her in the least. She jabbers away in English at anyone who will listen! By the time we left, the oldest girl in the picture had given Guildy her pink hair bow, because she thought Guildy liked it:o)
After riding the Tri-Rail train (the railway equivalent of Central America's chicken buses) from Miami, we got to spend several days in Palm Beach Gardens enjoying a good visit with Josh's Grandma Milli and Aunties.
Aunt Terri enjoyed dancing with Guildy (above) and hostessing a tasty birthday dinner for Josh. Below are Grandma Milli, Aunt Susi, Uncle Stanley, Uncle JD, and us at Terri's house.
The weather was down right frigid a couple days we were there. It was 38 degrees one morning. Hadley had to get in bed with us to avoid hypothermia.
And it was so cold the kiddos had to wear clothes the entire time we were there. In this case, matching clothes:o)
Keeping Guildy from doing too much damage in some one else's house is always a challenge. So we went swimming one morning when the weather was warm enough. We hadn't been swimming in a few weeks, and in that time Guildy had mustered up the coordination to swim around by herself hanging on to a floatie. Pretty amazing. On one of the cold days (by cold, I mean 60 above:o), we went to the mall in Palm Beach Garndens. It was pretty swanky....no Orange Julius or Claire's, more like Sak's Fifth Avenue and Tiffany's gems. Instead of the having self explanatory maps of the building at key places, they had an information desk that looked like the front desk of a fancy hotel. And most important, they had a fun fountain to keep toddlers entertained for hours. 
Prior to Hadley's arrival, we had pretty well mastered the art of travelling light with one kid, but the second kid definitely adds a degree of difficulty. We got back home on Saturday, and aside from an acute, family-wide case of exhaustion, we were relatively unscathed. After a good night's sleep and a couple naps, Hadley was ready to charm us with her smiles again.
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