La Ciudadela y el Restaurante Arroyo

Next on our agenda was a little shopping of course and for that, we went to "La Ciudadela", a very nice and big handcrafts market. After Santiago's horseback riding class, we headed to the market!

There were many things to choose from and Tia found some souvenirs to bring home.
We all had fun trying on hats.

Then we went to "El Arroyo", a very typical Mexican Restaurant with a show, mariachis and a huge indoor playground for the kids to play.

I love the food there and this time, I tried "Huazontle" a Mexican herb cooked in a tomato sauce....mmmmm...delicious! The restaurant is one of the oldest reataurants in the city and it is beautifully decorated.

Here Tia Mary is grinding the corn to make tortillas!! jejeje

Eating hot chilies!! jejeje

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!