El desierto de los leones

We started a new tradition in our house. Sunday is "Walking Day"
Now that we are here in Mexico, we want to explore as much as we can while we are here.
We found this amazing place almost by mistake....the kids and I were by ourselves, since daddy who is better at finding directions than I am, was not around.
I decided we would go to a place I already knew...but as it turned out, when we got there, looking for a place to walk among some pretty trees, a guy told us to keep on going up the road because it was a much better place and longer hike.
I took on the challenge an kept on driving...asking for directions along the way and finally we got to this amazing place. The kids kept saying..."mommy, it feels as though we are going back home in Los Gatos Mountains" and it did feel and smell the same. The smell of pine trees filled the air and we all had big smiles on!!

It was a long hike, the kids and I loved it and we also got to see an old convent and its amazing building and beautiful gardens. Definitely a good find!!

There were many places to hide and the walls really impressed Santiago, especially the fact that all the materials used to build were natural and everything was done by man power.

At the end of our walk, we rented a horse and a donkey for the kids to ride on the trail.
Unfortunately, the donkey was very stubborn and decided to stop in the middle of our way.
Daniel got tired of waiting for him to move and got down. Since the donkey was determined to stay there, I tied him to a nearby tree and went to tell his owner where he was.....
That sweet and stubborn burrito reminded me of Mary's little donkey!
We had a good laugh and kept on going on our adventure!

On the walk, we found many trees that we could climb on and Daniel showed us his new tricks that he's been learning at school....he is quite a tree climber!! When I got a little nervous, I just looked the other way...he looked pretty confident and I know my fear of heights is not something I want to pass along.

We also discovered that there are lots of gnome homes in the forest and the kids spent a long time gathering sticks and decorating the entrance to some of the homes...a brand new carpet (leaf) for one, a new chair made out of sticks, etc...It's very sweet to watch them work together!