Hangin' with the Boys

No matter where we live in Paraguay, there are always young kids close by.  In Carapegua, we lived on the corner of two dirt roads, and our front stoop served as the meeting place for anyone under 10 years old.

Here, the sidewalk in front of our house is nice and flat, inviting any toys with wheels--little cars, bicycles, skateboards.  Our girls find themselves too mature to play with these little folks, but we big kids like to get out there and horse around whenever we can.

Thiago tipped his hand to his skills once, so now every time he stays with us, the kids want the "juggling clown" to come out to play!  Here they are learning to juggle hollow bowling pins and lemons.

Ken's pig hat is always a hit!

The great thing is that the kids are always up for a story and love to let me practice my Guarani, even if they don't know how to correct me when I say something wrong.  They do, however, know how to laugh and point out that it's wrong.  ;)  Recently, we met the extended family of one of the boys when they invited us to celebrate his birthday.

Several of the smallest boys have a strange relationship with Ken.  They think he's quite cool from afar, with his much taller than average height, larger than normal build, and superhero beard.  But all these things can be quite intimidating up close.  One little guy in particular loves to throw a thumbs-up and scream at the top of his lungs, "Mr. Beard!!  There's my friend, Mr. Beard!" in Spanish whenever he sees Ken, but runs for shelter if Ken makes a move toward greeting him up close.  "Señor la Barba!  Señor la Barba!"

Nope, never a dull moment at Casa Hagerman.