- IMG 4302
Abuelita in her outdoor kitchen - IMG 4304
Street performer on the way to Ibarra - IMG 4313
Exercise equipment at Parque de La Familia Yacucalle, Ibarra - IMG 4314
Exercise equipment at Parque de La Familia Yacucalle, Ibarra - IMG 4327
Exercise equipment at Parque de La Familia Yacucalle, Ibarra - IMG 4334
Skate / BMX park, Exercise equipment at Parque de La Familia Yacucalle, Ibarra - IMG 4362
Yupanqui on the concrete slide at Parque de La Familia Yacucalle, Ibarra - IMG 4365crop
Parque de La Familia Yacucalle, Ibarra The park had a lot of fun things to do, including exercise equipment and playgrounds. There were some concrete slides that were a lot faster than we expected. The kids loved them and I took a turn as well. Shina was afraid to go down one of the steeper ones, so she held on to Sisa and they went down together. Together, they weighed enough to give them more momentum than they expected, and they flew about 4 feet off the end of the slide, landing on their bottoms, and dissolving into hysterics. - 40694713 541606802963855 5816999823328411648 n
Steph tries the slide - 40862193 136704740601629 7692334036848476160 n
Craig, Sisa, Aida, Yupanqui, Shina, Rosa Parque Ciudad Blanca - IMG 4379
Street art in Ibarra - IMG 4397
Craig with Jess and her parents Norma and Diego at Parque Ciudad Blanca - IMG 4398
We then drove to the Parque Ciudad Blanca. It is a long flat park that was the former site of a small regional airport, where Jess's father Diego worked for 20 years. The park has many paid activities for children: renting Powel Wheels cars, renting bikes, art activities . It reminded us very much of parks we had visited in China. We hadn't seen it before in Ecuador and wondered if it was influenced by Ecuador's recent diplomatic and economic relationship with China. Neither country requires a visa for its residents to visit the other, and there has been an influx of Chinese industry in Ecuador. One activitiy that we had not seen before consisted of "walking water balls." These are clear plastic spheres which children can enter which flost on a shallow pool of water. Kids try to stand up and run in what is essentially a soft plastic hamster ball, and much fun ensues. Sisa and Shina wanted to try, so for $2 each they got 7 minutes inside. (Craig and I wondered if 7 minutes was the max you could stay inside due to oxygen levels...did they start out with 10 minutes and have to change it due to kids passing out? Inquiring minds want to know! ) Each kid got into a deflated plastic bubble, and a guy inflated it with a leaf blower. The kids then tried to run like they were in a hamster ball, inevitably collapsing in giggles. It was a great time and they really enjoyed it (though they were hot and tired when their 7 minutes expired). - IMG 4403
Shina blocks her ears as a leaf blower is used to inflate her "walking water ball" - IMG 4418
Shina and Sisa in the "walking water balls" with Mount Imbabura in the background