A Trip To Cali, Colombia

In September, We flew to Cali, Colombia.

Ya, all 8 of us.

It was an amazing trip!

Ready for take off!

We drove to LA and flew from LA-Colombia.  

Caleb got to be one of the guys with his Colombian "brothers" Santiago and Joseph.

We may have broken a few North American seatbelt laws....

Caity and Hannah hit it off right away.  

They couldn't understand each other but that didn't seem to matter!

The girls were thrilled with the warm weather!

We rode in some teeny taxis!

We were able to rent a house from the Baptist seminary.  

The house is typically used for missionary families or groups.

We were thankful for this cool opportunity.

I loved the tile floors.

One of the rooms had two sets of bunk beds.

I think we figured the house could have slept 10 comfortably.

Windows have bars and screens and no glass.

This house (and many of the ones we visited) did not have A/C so the screens are essential.

Cool 70's tile:)

Cool money.

Here Caity was posing like the mannequin.

We visited a lot of historic sites.

This is at an old church named San Antonio that is used as a convent today.

The view of the city at night and me and my sweet friend Deicy.

I almost fell over when I saw this craft store in the mall!

Look at all that ribbon!

We loved all the cool carts selling different food and other items.

The tropical plants were breathtaking.

We couldn't stop staring out the windows.

Lots of cool character everywhere we looked.

This was a home with a roadside store out front.  

Many of those plants are orchids.  Colombia has the most species of orchids in the world.

Another roadside store...meat.

Mike was happy when these tough guys agreed to be photographed.

There were armed police everywhere, and many of them looked really young.

Little friends chatting and singing in the backseat together.

Seriously, the foliage.

So amazing.

Loved the historic photos of Cali all over the walls in the house we stayed in.

Mailee and the lady on the wall:)

Watching giant ants carrying little leaves across the sidewalk.

Shopping for souvenirs with our friend Rosio.

She spoke great english and helped us communicate in the little shops.

Keeping flexible while on vacation was a priority for this girl.

These girlies spent a few hours collecting mangoes from the trees and piling them up.  

This is the yard of the house we stayed in.

This is Caleb running in a thunderstorm.

It rained almost every day for a short period of time.

When I say rain I mean DOWNPOUR.

Plying futbol (soccer) in the rain.

Tuckered out little baby doll world traveller.

My eyes were on stimulation overdrive, all the colors and cool buildings, so many tropical plants and neat people.  I couldn't help but wonder their stories were.

We spent a day at a really cool resort about 45 minutes out of town.  This was the beautiful pool.

Check out that amazing bird!

The resort had a zoo.

More cool birds:)

Fun teeter-totter.

More Futbol.

First horseback riding experience for all 4 of the oldest kids.

This is the group of friends that enjoyed the day at the resort.

We were so thankful to enjoy so many interesting places with locals that grew to be treasured friends.

Mike had the privilege of speaking at the church on Sunday morning.

Pastor Ruth Ruibal translated.

Sunday Stairs in Cali, Colombia!

It is so humid in Cali.  Caleb was able to so this with his hair without any product.

Cheers to sweet Colombians who pass out lollipops at church.

We went to a cool restaurant that provided horse rides for kids while they wait for their food.

Very cool!

This was especially fun for Cambira and Caity who did not get to do the horseback ride through the mountains the day before.

The same restaurant also had pottery painting for kids.

The little girls loved this!

Looks at Breezy's concentrating face!

Caity! So proud!

Super awesome washroom!

(And super cute baby girl)

Caleb and Santiago enjoying corn on a stick, wearing their Colombian team jerseys.

We saw some really old buildings and other things.

These stones were 100's of years old.

Sightseeing with Colombian friends from the church.

I loved being able to enjoy this experience with all our kids!

This guy, Sebastian de Belacazar, founded the city of Cali.

He's pointing toward the sea.

And his view of the city from this hill is breathtaking.

There are bread stores inside the grocery stores, on the side of the road, on every corner....

Sarah showed us the ropes and had us try all kinds of different breads.

In September, these were the decorations at the grocery store.

Friendship and love day was upon them.

Peeking through the keyhole into the oldest church in the city.

After almost two weeks, the long plane ride home.

Cute little plane rider!

What a memorable trip!

Colombia is a great country with so many kind, fun and loving people.

I hope we can go back again.