It took about a day to recover from the flight and get adjusted to our new apartment and living situation. Steph and I took turns napping and the kids slept a lot on day 1 as well. We met Juan from Buenos Aires Cultural Concierge and he was able to change some money for us just to get by for a day or two until we were able to change more. This was so helpful! Typically, Steph and I love to figure everything out out on our own, isn't that one of the most thrilling things about traveling? But because this was last minute trip, we decided to hire a concierge service to help us. I cannot tell you how incredible this has been for us thus far. It's also been so helpful to have Madi, our Concierge, interpret some of the websites I've found for kids camps and things that are entirely in Spanish. She has arranged a ferry ride for us, offered suggestions on everything from yoga, the best parillas, estancias (farms), kid/mom cafes...seriously, she has covered all of our interests. She has made this trip such a breeze! Thank you, Madi and Juan from BsAs Cultural Concierge!!! I really did not even open my Lonely Planet guide book until I arrived here. Here are a few pics from our first few days/week in the city we are calling home for the next two months! Pictured below is orientation day (pesos in the top right corner, medialunas in the top left corner, some notes on how Steph gets to work on the bus, how to call a taxi, etc)...so helpful to have someone come directly to you and welcome you to the city in this fashion.

We walked around our new neighborhood in Recoleta. I can only compare this to Upper East Side in NYC, maybe? It's the fancy part of town, very classic, very french, manicured parks and sidewalks...and lots and lots of beautiful people! Here is Graham at a corner flower market.

Lulu napping on day 1 after her horrible flight! Side note - this was her first time in a big girl bed! If you are a parent and you are looking for a great way to break habits or to move on to the next stage of toddlerhood, I think travel is a great way to do so! I did not arrange for a crib for baby because I thought it was a good time to move on...so we are making it work! The only "baby" things I brought for them are their blankets...I left all of their snack packs and small cutlery at home...they need to learn how to eat, drink, sleep like big people!

We found our FAVORITE park in the city, Plaza Vincente Lopez, about 2 blocks away from our apartment. We have been here every single day since we found it! The kids love it! I cannot say enough great things about this park. There is free wi-fi (YAH!) and each playground (there are two) are completely gated in for safety. The ground is all sand so if you close your eyes, it almost feels like you are at the beach! There are a zillion kids and it feels really safe. All of the kids are very nice, as are the parents, and my kids seemed to blend in instantly! I have so many pics from this park and so many wonderful observations, I'll have to do another post.

We of course met our new nanny, Juli! We LOVE Juli! She is so fantastic and we are so grateful she came all the way from Tucumon to come spend time with our family. We found a nanny through a friend of a friend in the US and it just felt like something we should do so that Steph and I would have more flexibility to see the city. It is so helpful to have her with us, her english is great and she is already in love with the kids and the kids love her! We can get around town much easier with Juli. Usually I spend the morning with the kids and Juli and then as soon as I get one baby down for nap, I am out the door to go shopping, go to a museum or go to my Spanish tutor. Here are the kids with Juli at her favorite childhood attraction, Museo de los Niños. It's basically a giant Children's Museum in a shopping mall. It was closed when we went to visit (note to self, always check hours before you go!) but luckily, there were some cool games and things down the hall that occupied the kids. We will have to go back and check it out.

DULCHE DE LECHE! Ummmm......I have no words, this stuff is insanely good! I asked Juli to help me prepare typical Argentine snacks for the kids and of course she said "Dulce de Leche with bread or bananas or strawberries or really, anything"! She also said the one thing she cannot understand about the USA is the lack of Dulce de Leche. I agree, Juli! I need to post a pic of the choices in the store, there are a zillion! It's so awesome. Here is Lulu trying her first Dulce de Leche sandwich, this was an afternoon snack, she is of course hooked and will open the fridge and reach for it now.

Love at first bite.....

Lulu and I woke up one morning before the boys and went out for a little spin around the hood...

We went to Tutte Panne down the street for a few medialunas (sweet croissants). This place is seriously dangerous for me, I love everything there. Luckily, the gym is right down the street and we joined the gym so I was able to balance out my medialuna consumption with a few spin classes.

Here is Lulu right outside of our apartment building. She wanted to carry the bag of goodies home to the boys. I find myself looking at her wondering if any of this trip will sink in or have any impact on her, I hope it does. Maybe she will come back to this wonderful place one day and we can visit her when she is studying spanish or architecture or something cool!

Of course priority number uno on Steph's list is to find the best meat and cheese shop in town. I'm not kidding, he will walk around the whole neighborhood three times until he finds his top choices. Lucky for us, our Airbnb hostess left a little guide for us that listed her top delicatessens.

Oh, and I've been drinking Malbec every night since I moved out our our house in January! So great to be in Malbec central at last!!! We've been drinking yummy $4-$8 Malbec from Mendoza and it is crazy good!

And of course, I will end with this image because I feel like the instant we got to Bs As, Lulu aged a year...or 10! All grown up, I can see her here in 17 years in this same spot...