The Beach

Last night we swam in the warm pool. The kids were very proud ot show off their newfound skills. Tonito can swim the width of the pool by himself, can jump in the deep end and swim to the edge, just learned how to do a cannonball, and can open his eyes underwater! (he's our fish) Vivi can blow bubbles, can plug her nose and put her face in the water and *sometimes* go underwater all the way, and can jump in the shallow end while holding our hands. She is more cautious, but has greatly reduced her fear of water this summer! Maya tell us she's going to do "bubbles," but then just drinks the water:). She likes to be held and pretend to jump in holding your hands, or else rides around in her little "barco." The best invention yet has been our "floatie vests," which aren't officially PFDs, but keep the kids afloat and help them work on their swimming so I don't have to hold all 3.

On Sunday, we went to the beach. It was a hot and windy day, but there was barely anyone swimming or playing in the sand where we were- so Boo and Mingo could go off leash the whole time! They loved it! Only 2 undesireable things happened- my dad jumped in the waves with his cell phone in his pocket, and forgot to put sunscreen on the tops of his feet which burned and blistered later on. Oh, and we forgot the towels:) oops. But otherwise we had a blast building sand castles, jumping in the waves, and eating a picnic in the sand.

Tonito could play in the sand all day and not get bored:

See the oil platform in the background!?

We said this sculpture was in honor of Boo's tapeworm.

A minute later Maya sat on the turtle and smashed it-

On the way to the beach we rode the ferry (with our car!) and got to see a ton of dolphins jumping the waves- mamas and babies, and whole groups of them in front of the ferry.

A very fun day!

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma and Grandpa came for a fun-filled, hot and humid week! The kids had no idea until we drove up to the airport and they opened the door- they were SO excited and the only thing holding them back from running around wild were the seatbelts. Yes, I hate the mouse-sized cockroaches. I'm annoyed that we are not living in a more "walkable" city.. that there is no public transportation... I miss our extraordinary schools.. But what is the most difficult and painful is being away from our friends and family!!!! At the top of that list is Grandma and Grandpa, aka Mom #2, flexible babysitters, aka support line when Tonio is travelling, etc. The kids really, really miss G & G and constantly ask if we can go to their house to play or if they are coming over to eat dinner. In fact, if there were just one thing I would change, it would be that we would be surrounded by our family again. At least for a week we were:

Summer days

How do we spend our days in the hot hot hot summer?
We take out a million books from the library and read a lot!

We dance in the rain and jump in the puddles!

We read a lot of books:)-

We do yoga and pilates with mommy-

We cook yummy desserts with all of the amazing fresh fruit that is available.

Every day the kids ask when they can go to school, when they can make friends, when they can have playdates. SOON you guys!!! We're almost there!:) Hang in there with mommy for a little bit longer!

Vivi Van Gogh

Vivi loves animals, and loves drawing. Here are her recent masterpieces:

The first one is an emperor penguin; the second has 2 dolphins. The one on the top has an "owie" and so the people put a "button" on him to see where he swims (like a radio monitoring device)

The first drawings is of Elmo dressing up like a mouse; the second one is a garden scene.

The boy from Baby Einstein; King Julian in Madagascar (the lemur who wears the crown).

A penguin and a lion with mice

Fa-fas are her favorite (fafa from "jirafa" which means giraffe).

We have pages and notebooks filled with Vivi drawings so I started to take pictures of them to show her when she is older:).

Rocky

So we can drive 19 hours from Mexico safely, but put 3 kids in a room unsupervised the next day and Maya somehow gets hit by princess thrown by an unidentified little boy, and comes out with a bloody eye and has to go to the ER to get it superglued closed. When they finally stopped the bleeding and cleaned her up you could see it was the tiniest little cut on her eyelid- too thin to stitch up, hence the medical sueprglue. The trauma of being rolled up in a sheet like a little taquito and having her eyelashes taped down was horrifying enough that 2 days later when Maya went for her annual check-up at the new pediatrician, the flashbacks brought on her crocodile tears again, accompanied by her pitiful trembling and wailing. Poor baby:(. For some reason Maya always gets the owies- even though she is the most cautious, the baby glues to her mommy's legs, the least active and curious...

Our loooooooooong drive home

We left Mexico at 4am (because remember the driving restrictions for out-of-state plates!) - it was cold, damp, dark, and the kids were asking for Little Mermaid. Tonio started driving, since I preferred not to drive in Mexico, and continued to drive the whole day almost! We made it to Monterrey by 1:30 and decided to just keep going. We did stop by the rattlesnake stand and get a couple of skins (that is the meat that is hanging, you had to specially ask for the skins). I'm not really sure why we bought them, except that it seemed interesting and we thought the kids might get a kick out of it. They are just salted and sitting in the fridge now until we have time to google "Drying Out Your Rattlesnake Skin." Notice the squirrel carcass:


That is too funny. Anyway, the views were beautiful and the highway was almost eerily void of traffic, not counting the huge semis of chickens and horses.

The view was similar to our trip south, with deserts and mountains peppered by "spikey" plants and short grasses.

Once we passed Monterrey we started to play with the idea of making it home in one day. I think the more Tonio thought about it, the more he was convinced. From Monterrey to the border, it took us around 2 hours. The border was less chaotic, because we didn't have to go inside to wait in lines- instead we sat in the long snake of cars and waited about 1 Disney movie to get to the front. Fortunately they did not chose our car for the "special" customs check and we said thank you under our breath as we passed the unfortunate souls whose cars and suitcases were being emptied and spread out on tables bending under the weight of the mountains of clothes, medicine, toys, furniture, books, and personal items of one SUV's 9 passengers. After finally crossing the border, changing our pesos into dollars, and getting the kids McD's ice cream, we headed on towards San Antonio and finally home. It was an exhausting trip and poor Tonio drove the brunt of it. The last couple of hours it felt like torture to keep my eyes open and I asked Tonio to take over again. What a relief to make it home safely!! I was so excited to sink into my bed (well, my rented bed).

Last Family Party!

We had much to celebrate: Tonio's 30 something birthday:), Tonito's turning 5, Maya's turning 2, and Juan Enrique also had a birthday! Also it was our last day in Mexico, and we're leaving at 4am tonight/tomorrow morning. Tonio brought egg substitute with him (I'm really glad no one stopped him at the airport to question the unidentified white powder in a tupperware!) and I made a tres leches cake to celebrate the cumpleanos.

Fortunately, I married into a family of delicious cooks! My favorite souvenir of Mexico (on all trips, but especially this one!) is my notebook of recipes. I tend to carry it around to all family gatherings, and pester Tonio's mom, aunts, friends, and Grandma for descriptions of the delicious plates they made. This party was one of "taquitos," so everyone brought a filling, we bought dozens of tortillas, and stuffed ourselves with all types of savory tacos: chicharrones, chicken with poblano rajas, mole verde, a couple too spicy for me to try, chilquiles verdes, arroz rojo, etc, etc.

Here are some snapshots of the cousins enjoying each other one last time:

Tonio with his godfather (Tio Mayo) and Tia Tere.

Tonio and I with his parents:

Cousins Mario Enrique and Daniel:

Tonio with cousins Nathalia and Juan Enrique:

Tonio with his Grandma and other Aunt Tere:

The inflatable pool that kept the kids occupied for HOURS:

With our appetites completely satisfied, everyone watching the kids splash around:

Group picture of the growing family:

Most of the cousins with Grandma Tete:

The past month we have enjoyed exquisite dinners, loving company, lively conversations, amazing excursions, colorful markets, and numerous fun, family gatherings- thank you so much familia querida!!! Nos encanto convivir con Uds durante este verano- gracias por cuidarnos y consentirnos con tu amor!!! Ojala que nos podamos ver muy pronto!!!! Los mandamos mil abraozs y besos y siempre estamos pensando en Uds!!!