Noche de Brujas Halloween!

Halloween was great! Jake dressed as a Jedi, Grace as Jasmine, Sarah as a vampire, and Rachel as a cute witch. I was a party pooper this year, with no costume. I hope to make up for it next year. I actually wanted to make a whoopee cushion costume, and I thought I had enough pink felt, but I didn't. I thought it would be funny if I was the whoopee cushion and Andy was an old fart. Anyhoo...

I was so surprised by how many kids(and moms and nannies) came to the house. More trick or treaters than we had last year on base! We ran out of candy at 7:15 ish, and we had purchased a few of those big bags of good candybars at Costco! While we were walking around, there were many people out, but not many houses handing out candy. I guess it's more than other places, though, because people come park their cars outside the neighborhood and walk around here. The kids walk around chanting "noche de brujas Halloween!" which means night of the witches, halloween. If you're handing out candy, you just keep your door open or wait at your gate to give out the candy. We received more candy with chili powder in it than we would have liked, but we got rid of it quickly. The chili candy really is an acquired taste, but the kids here love it!

It was a fun week, but I'm glad it's over...there were so many parties and activities for the kids to attend. Now, for the Mexicans, the next big holiday is Christmas, so we see the trees and decor going up at the malls. I love Thanksgiving, and I'm glad we get to look forward to that next!

Feeding the Ducks

After finding several forgotten bags of stale bread in our pantry, Rachel and I decided to take a trip to the duck pond park. Rach did a great job feeding the ducks, and was really enjoying herself until she realized that every duck in the park was headed directly toward her. She stood by me and watched me feed the ducks(which I have to admit was really fun), then we headed for the playground. We had a friendly and hungry duck follow us all the way to the playground, so Rachel got a chance to feed it(how do you tell boy/girl on the white ones?) without being surrounded. She liked that much better, and I think it gave her courage as we had to go back to the pond again before we left. Cute girl!

Grutas de Garcia

A couple of weekends ago, some friends took us to the caves in Garcia. They are about 30 minutes from us, but that town feels further away than that! We arrived, bought our tickets and boarded the tram to take us up the mountain to the entrance of the cave. Wow, they packed a lot of people into that tram. The arial tram is a fairly recent addition. In the past, there was a hinged train that ran on tracks up the steep slope of the mountain. I heard that you would be sitting almost horizontal once you reached the top. I think I prefer the arial tram. We could have also walked/hiked up to the entrance. I think it cost the same, though.

The view from the caves was pretty interesting. It is on the wall of a big round basin, that totally looks like it was full of water at one time. Oh, and there are some structures in the cave with tons of shells embedded into them. Some of the mountains have the sediments that are very visible, but the layers aren't horizontal, they are very steeply sloped. There must have been a lot of plate shifting there at one time long ago. Neat to think about.

We entered the cave into a big open chamber and we could see the staircases leading everywhere throughout the cave. Our friends told us that concerts are held there occasionally, which I think would be really cool to hear. I'd have thought the loud noise would possibly damage some of the cave structures, but I guess nobody's worried about that.

The guide led us around the caves for a little over an hour. The kids enjoyed themselves. Jake hung out with his buddies, Grace and Sarah enjoyed listening to one of Jake's friends tell stories about the scary creatures that were hiding down the dark small caves and how to defeat them in battle, and Rachel just enjoyed climbing around by herself. She didn't want to hold my hand or stay close to me. I think most of us were "kissed" by the cave (we felt drips) which is good luck. And lucky for us, some vendors were selling fresh churros at the bottom of the mountain. After our picnic lunch and some fun on the playground, we called it a day. Fun trip.

Name That Tune!

Exploring Downtown Monterrey

We finally took a little visit to the Macroplaza in downtown Monterrey. It's the "central park" of Monterrey, home to the government palace, lots of museums, fountains and statues. There's a lot to see...we only visited the northern end near the government building.

We were lucky to catch the final day of an art exhibit. Artists from all over(we met one from Italy) came to reproduce artworks in chalk on the ground. We all enjoyed walking around looking at the finished products. Some were very beautiful and some were really weird. There were many pieces from Mexican artists, many with a strong religious theme.

The Paseo Santa Lucia is a newly constructed man-made river that begins at the northern end of the Macroplaza. It reminds me of the riverwalk in San Antonio. There are only a few restaurants and candy stores now, but the plan is to build many more. The river ends in Parque Fundidora, an old iron or steel factory that is now a museum with beautiful walking paths and playgrounds, etc. The boat ride was a bit long, so the novelty of being in a boat wore off pretty quickly with the kids (and me). When we did finally return we had our 3pm lunch at a Chinese buffet called Barrio Chino...it was yummy and really tasted like chinese food.

Making Pancakes

Last night, Andy and I were both up with Sarah, because she kept throwing up. So, we didn't go to church this morning, and Andy got up with the kids. I finally dragged myself out of bed at 11am...I can't remember the last time I slept that late. When I came downstairs my sweet Jake and his helper Grace were making a pancake breakfast for everyone. Andy wasn't feeling well this morning and they thought they would help out. What little sweethearts. I love them so much.

Las Lechugitas

This restaurant is frequented by Andy on his lunch breaks! I think he goes everyday, but he'll only admit to 3 times a week. He says the salsa there is his favorite thing about Mexico. I had eaten there with him once before and liked it, so we thought we'd bring the kids there too. We like pretty much everything on the menu. Also, it has more of an authentic Mexican feel(soda in bottles, brightly painted walls, folding chairs and tables), which I think worried Jake a little. We've mostly been to restaurants we have in the US or that feel the same, so this was a little change. He got over it quickly and loved the food though! I'd actually like to eat there right now. I've been craving some good tacos for like a week now. I've never in my life craved tacos, so I guess I'm becoming accustomed to eating habits here. (No, mom, I'm not pregnant.)

Swimming

Jake started swimming with a friend who has been doing it for awhile. Basically, he swims laps for an hour, with the coach telling him which stroke to use on each lap. He's pretty worn out afterwards, but I think he really likes it. Look at my studly kid!

Volleyball

Grace is playing volleyball this semester, and she is doing really well. None of the girls on her team have played before, so it's nice that they all started at the same level. In their first game, Grace was first to serve. She got it over the net and scored the first point! It was great!

At the opening exercises of the league, one of the Mexican beach volleyball Olympians was there(I think her name is Bibiana Candelas), and Grace and her friend got her autograph and this picture!

Gymnastics

Here's our little gymnast Sarah on the bars and the beam. She loves going to class! I love seeing her cute little muscle-y body doing cartwheels. She's pretty good too!