Fiestas Patrias

The 18 of Septiembre is a huge deal here.  And by huge deal I mean it is bigger than Christmas and Thanksgiving combined.  I believe it is the celebration of Chile's independence.  It is marked by a TON of drinking, bbq-ing, and dancing.  Or, in our neighbor's case, a HUGE party last night that lasted from about 9pm until 5am.  They had a band, lots of karaoke and what sounded like a killer game of beer pong.  And yes, it was the loudest party I have heard since college.  When I woke up to feed Isaac during the night I kept thinking I was living next to a frat house!

The holiday is so important to Chile that the schools get at least 1 week off, and all stores are closed for two days.  What is notable here is I mean ALL stores, including the grocery stores.  Yes, Jumbo was closed for two full days!!

To celebrate, we all went over to our friend's house for a bbq of chicken and burgers, and most importantly in my opinion, homemade strawberry margaritas!  The day was gorgeous - sunny and around 70.  Steve even got half a day off work!

 I only have pictures of the afternoon (before the bbq) when we were playing in our yard.  But, very pretty day!  The first is of Sadie eating lunch outside and the second is after dada came home for some play time.