I made a loose plan for the first week, packed the kids into the car, made sure I had the credit card and it was off to Wal-Mart! At least I was only purchasing supplies for 2 and not for 215. That should make Vaughan feel a little better, right? :)
We ended school with a fun trip to a park for Cole's birthday party.
Cole & Connor both take Tae Kwon Do through the same Prof and both of their sisters go to the same school. There was cake, swimming, pizza and fun! Here in Mexico after they sing Happy Birthday to you everyone around the table starts to chant "mordida!mordida!" which is them asking you to take a bite out of the side of the cake. Of course there is always someone behind you who shoves your face into the cake. Cole's big brother did the honors for him.The park is really well planned out. Someone took their property and plopped a water park/swimming area in the front. They have slides, baby pool areas, snack stands, bathrooms and bridges. It looks like there is a hotel on the back side of the property too. Michele, Cole's mom, was telling me that there is a cenote somewhere on the property. I think we may pay the day pass fee and go hang out one weekend.
Avery & Connor have both enjoyed helping me with chores around the house. Connor seems to like picking things up the most. Something you can easily make a game out of...hmmmm, he likes the competition? Wonder where he gets that from! Ha!
Avery loved helping me with washing the dishes. I just had to go into it knowing that the kitchen floor was going to be soaked. By the time we were done she was soaked from mid chest down to her toes. It was great!
Monday was Play-doh day! One day at City Club (just like Sam's) we found this great fold up pic-nick table with 2 benches that attach to the bottom of the table. It has been great for the kids! We set it up on the patio, covered it with a piece of plastic and got to making! We made pasta, a snake, some martian molds and creepy creatures. All the while our trusty watch dog, Jake, guarded us against any dust flying out of the house.
Tuesday we went to a local park, Parke la Ceiba. We have to drive to get there but it is worth it. They took down just enough trees to make paths and little play areas. Everything is made from recycled tires, trees and such. They just don't make parks like this in the US anymore. No licensing regulations to worry about in Mexico. The old Jeff Foxworthy (You Might Be a Redneck If...) bit where he talks about "child proofing" your house is exactly how it is done around here. "Oh, you want to put your finger in light socket? That'll hurt! Bet he won't do that again!"
The buildings, used as classrooms, have old bottles as design elements and windows. The bathrooms are a very cool palapa style with old tiles used along the walls. The faucets have recycled pipes and the sink is a slab of cement. We wandered through the paths and climbed on everything we could. We saw a woodpecker, a very cool yellow bird, a lizard that ran really fast up on his back 2 legs, and Connor found 1/2 of the jaw bone of some animal.
One of the fun things to climb on was the Monkey Bars (horizontal bars) like we used to have when I was a kid. Dad was in the ARMY and we were living in Hawaii at the time. I liked to climb everything and our neighbor came over to calmly tell my mom that I was walking across the top of the bars...at age 4. So mom & dad, this photo is for you! You can thank you grandson for taking the picture for you.
Wednesday was a crafty day. We used socks to make Bunny Rabbits! The kids had a great time decorating and stuffing the rabbits. I have to say I was a little surprised at how many "decorating" items I had in the house after a year 1/2.
Thursday we just hung around the house and played. Avery's friend Maghi came over
and we spent most of the day at the pool letting Connor break in his new boogie board. The kids like to try and surf them across to the other side of the pool. After Connor's head plant into the cement and 2 weeks of black eyes I was just happy he was playing IN the pool. Avery & Maghi played in the hammock before lunch and nap time. It was a nice relaxing day.Friday we had to do some running around and decided to stop for lunch while we were out. We went to La Herradura just on 10th Ave. Connor got hotdogs, 3 of them, and he ate it all. Avery got a ham & cheese sandwich which she had a great time playing with and then eating. I got the Huevos Rancheros (Ranchero style eggs) with beans, peppers, cheese, a great red sauce. I was stuffed!
We chilled out around the house before heading over to Ajua Maya http://www.ajuamaya.com/ for family dinner to celebrate Vaughan & I being married for 10 years. Chef Pedro had made a special steak with a Mayan sauce which Vaughan, Brenda & Jorge ate. I had a 1/2 & 1/2 of steak and fish. As usual Avery wanted to go do some dancing when the band started. I was still eating so she and Vaughan hit the dance floor. Connor was very excited about getting some cake but because we got there later than usual he was having a hard time staying awake and almost fell asleep in the middle of eating it. We had not really seen Jorge & Brenda since we got back from our weekend in Temozone so it was really nice to get everyone together for dinner.
Saturday was another crafty day! There are a few other kids around for Spring Break so we invited them over to Tie Dye shirts. Vaughan and a friend of ours, Aron, finished playing tennis and came over to the palapa to see the action. Both of the guys were baffled at my wealth of knowledge about the different designs you can make on a t-shirt with rubber bands and some dye. After making some very cool shirts and turning our hands a nice shade of purple we headed to the pool. I was hoping that the chlorine would clean us off a little. After the pool everyone stopped for a photo with their very cool shirts.
Later tonight there is a cookout here in our little housing complex. Most of the people that are in town are the owners of the houses and they like to get together when they are all here. Should be fun! The kids can all play together while the adults have a few cervezas and grill out.
One more week left of Spring Break and I have it all mapped out for us!
