El castillo de Chapultepec

Tia Mary and the kids went to "El Castillo de Chapultepec" by themselves since Jose and I had somewhere to be that day.
From the pictures and the stories we heard, the three of them had a blast. Here is a "Milita style" picture.

I think Santiago took both this pictures...not bad!!

This one was taken by Daniel. A little dark, but you can kind of tell who that little guy next to Tia Mary is right?

They had a nice view of the city from the top of the castle!!

Basilica de La Virgen de Guadalupe

We took tia Mary to visit "La Virgen de Guadalupe". The drive there was not bad since it was Holly week and there was not as much traffic as on any other day.

The gardens were beautiful now that the weather is warmer and it's been rainning in the afternoons.

The main church where the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe used to be, is slowly sinking and for these reason, a new, more modern church was built next to it, which is where we went to see her.

Every time I go there, I am amazed again and again by the story, the amazing love message behind it, the miracle and the peace that is almost palpable everywhere around there! Mexico is indeed a very blessed country and the faith of most mexican people is truly admirable.

Kidzania

Ever since we got here we had been hearing about "kidzania" and finally, since tia was here and the kids were on vacation, we decided it was a good time for the kids to finally get to experience this city where they can do lots of things us adults do. Like going to the bank, being a veterinarian, a chef, a police, a painter, a firefighter, etc...

Here Santiago is taking money out of the bank....fun!!

Then they went to work for a very healthy snack company...hahaha....they had to choose a filling of chocolate or strawberry jam. No preservatives or artifical colors here, of course!! ;)

To top it all off....let's cover it with chocolate!!! yes!!

Next, they wanted to work at the vet's office...you can probably guess who persuaded his brother to go there next. Yes, my animal lover son, Santiago loved to be there in the company of two big labradors playing with them and listening to all they had to say about them.

Then Santiago climbed a building all the way to the top!!!

Meanwhile, Daniel wanted to go and paint a building!! He put on a very used painters jumper and when Santi got tired of climbing came and joined him to make the job easier on him!!

After so much work, we were all tired. Kids and adults and decided it was time to go!

Then we took tia to our favorite restaurant "Teppanyaki" and here's the kids favorite part: "the volcano". Delicious!!

VISITA DE LA TIA MARY

Our beloved tia Mary came to spend "Holly week" with us and we were all delighted.

The kids were counting down the days to her arrival and when she finally came they could not stop smilling!! She is a blessing in our lives.

We wanted to show her around the city and did "intense tourism" which was great for all of us. There were still so many places in this big city that we still had not had the chance to visit.

On the first day, we started off with going to a show "El Ballet FolKlorico de Mexico".
An amazing show and as usual, Daniel and Santiago were fascinated with the music, the dances and of course, at the end the mariachis.

Ater the show, we went walking around downtown to see "El zocalo".

It was Palm Sunday, and we saw a lot of beautiful hand woven decorations.

We went to see "el templo Mayor". Fascinating story...all of this was discovered while digging to build the city subway.

Then, of course,we visited the street vendors.

Then since it looked like it was going to rain and we had lots to walk back to the car, we decided to take a bike taxi. It was a lot of fun!!

For dessert that night we had chocolate fondue....mmmm guess who looooved it!!

HA LLEGADO LA PRIMAVERA

Here in Mexico Spring came a little earlier than what we are used to...but we never complained!! Not at all, we all love warm weather, flowers and sunshine!!

We had the wonderful surprise of having our Jacaranda tree in full bloom for about a month!!
We would wake up in the morning and walk out the door thru a soft violet carpet that smelled glorious and to add that..the humming of the bees!!! Heavenly!!

The kids are coming home this days singing their spring songs and some of them even talk about the Jacarnada trees. The whole city is decorated with these flowers and the drive down Reforma, the street we are on is filled with colorful trees and flowers everywhere!!

Here are some of our favorite springtime books we all enjoy reading this time of the year!

Daniel loves fairies and just recently he found a couple of "real" fairy houses in our backyard and he tends to them, makes little pathways and decorations for them...so sweet to see him playing for a long time totally immerse in this wonderful world!

Paseo de tercer grado del colegio de Santi

Santiago's third grade class went for a visit to a farm as a celebration of spring and to have an experience of farm life since they are in the agriculture block right now.
I felt honored to be asked by the teacher to come as a chaperone since normally only teachers go with the class. I had the best time!! Being in a beautiful setting with a group of great kids who love to sing, play, tell jokes and just enjoy life was very refreshing!

We came in the morning and they were preparing the earth to plant the "maiz". A couple of mules were used to make the rows for planting. The kids very enthusiastically helped the farmers and as some of them said several times: This was the best day of their lives!

There were so many varieties and colors of corn...very fun for all of us! We also saw the importance of rain collection...all this fields are watered by rain water collected in barrels and also the time of planting is now, because rains are soon to come and of course, the influence of the stars and the moon phase are greatly taken into account.

There were many plants of nopal...which we have learned to use and cook in many delicious salads and soups.

After we helped with planting, we took a looong walk down to the side where more help was needed.
The kids collected sticks, rocks, seeds, and many more treasures along the way.... they climbed trees, hiked and enjoyed being outdoors...which city kids never take for granted.

Along the way we saw a lot of animals and the kids especially liked the baby lambs which looked really tiny and some of them were nursing!!

Here's Santiago's classmates one by one...I had to do close up pictures... I know Santiago will forever love them and treasure their time spent together.

His classroom has 9 girls, Ashia, Valeria, Jazibe, Sara Luna, Fatima, Sara Abigail, Luciana, Isabel and Pamela.
And 4 boys: Alonso, Ian Luca, Eduardo and Diego.
How lucky he is to have such fine friends, they are so special. Very innocent, they remind me a lot of the friends I used to have when I was that age, very innocent still, open and in love with life.

After our long walk, we came to the house where lunch was being prepared. We were welcomed with a very refreshing "agua de tamarindo" and then we were put to work right away because help was needed to make the "blue" tortillas by hand. The kids all took turns and did a wonderful job.

When the tortillas were done, we all ate a delicious meal prepared by "tia", a wonderful cook indeed. Chicken, beans and rice and of course home made blue tortillas...yummmy!


Then it was time for a well deserved break. The kids played in different games for a long time until the boys found a soccer ball and that was it!! They immediately convinced the girls to play a game and it was very complex...they took turns, some players were sitting on the bench for a while, happily cheering their team, the players took their role seriously and maestra marcela was the referee. Some of the girls who were sitting and waiting for their turn, went in look for some refreshments to sell...clever girls!!

Then, when it was Santiago's turn to sit on the bench. He took a stick and started narrating the game...very funny!!
You could tell he spent a lot of time watching the world cup last summer with colombian slang and all!!
Soon, he found another friend to help him and make it all even more interesting...now a colombian and a mexican commentator....hillarious!!

When the game was done, it was "milking time". We all went to the cow shed and the kids took turns milking the cows. They behaved really well for the children and the kids were ecstatic to finally be able to milk a cow...it was an unexpected surprise for them!

What a day!! It couldn't have gone better. Teacher, chaperone, helpers and kids had the best time!!
I feel so blessed to be able to experience this precious moments in life, to savor them and enjoy them.