Mexico City 2013

On June 1st, Valentina and I said good-bye to our men as they embarked on a month long trip to Mexico to see the family.  When school let out, she and I followed and rounded out the month trip, returning just in time to greet my own mother for her vacation here.

Valentina and I filled our time alone wisely, and enjoyed our girl days and nights, but we missed them dearly. Being reunited was the best moment.  

We had another amazing time in Mexico.  Excellent time with family, soccer practice and games, traveling, fantastic food, and a trip back to Acapulco.  

There is SO much that I could tell you about this country....

 This is Salvatore's indoor soccer school.  It was amazing. Dedicated coaches and tons of organized drills and games for the boys and girls.  All indoors, so the rain didn't keep us away. He played 4 nights a week, all four weeks.  

 Little picture of Maura, David's sister, when she was maybe 4 or 5.  Looks just like Valentina.  

 A view of our pool and countryside in Acapulco.  We rented a little three story condo, right across the street from the Acapulco Princess Hotel, in Puerto Marquez.  Kids swam day and night here.

 Our first day at the beach in Puerto Marquez. This was the beach that we enjoyed when I visited back in 2005.

 Things are so different here. When you exit your car, you are bombarded by young men who want to help you carry your things and find a place for you to sit. All for a small fee, of course.  There are cabanas everywhere, and you have to rent one, you can't just plop down like you do here.  About a thousand people pass you and try to sell you clothes, jewelry, food, trinkets, and such.  Annoying at first, but eventually they pass you by.  

 Armando and Lourdes enjoying the warm sun and seeing their family run around and play. 

 We bought the kids a pony ride on the beach and David and I followed them for almost a mile up and down the beach. They loved it, especially when the pony kept stopping to poop or pee right on the sand.  David and Sal also struck up a soccer game with another father/son duo and soon, about 12 other  guys joined in. They played for hours.

 Turtles in the lagoon of our second day at the beach, a different beach this time. More private. Had an awesome pool, tons of hammocks, a full service restaurant, big screen TVs for every soccer match, and the cleanest restrooms we saw in the whole state.

 My favorite part, after an incredible meal of fresh fish, french fries, salad, and Coke.

 The waves were stronger here, so Salvatore either spent his time with us in the pool or with Tio Balam playing soccer in the sand.

 A view of one of the bays in Acapulco, from a lookout on the side of the road.

 Us.

 With his sisters, Maura on the left, and Mayda on the right.

 Maura and her husband Balam with the kids.

 The girls.

 Valentina spotting a little butterfly...

 Valentina catching that little butterfly...

 Valentina showing off her little yellow butterfly...no butterflies were harmed by her tiny fingers, she eventually let it go and off it went.

 Us.

 I took a pic of this sign because the country is obsessed with Coke. I saw more advertisements for Coke than I did for anything else.  It was in everyone's hand if they were walking around or at a table.  

 This place, Recorcholis (an old expression of excitment in Spanish) is the equivalent of a Chuck E. Cheese.  Full of games, rides, food and even bowling, Sal was in heaven here. Valentina was a bit upset that it wasn't Chuck E.Cheese, and she even went on to recognize the building in other parts of the city and would shout to us angrily that it was NOT Chuck E. Cheese.  Sigh...

 Valentina and her sweet cousin at Salvatore's practice.  Valentina gave us all a run for our money there.  She potty trained herself in about two days right when David left, so I just went with it. Seemed too easy, until she regressed big time in Mexico and drove me to brink of insanity with her fussiness of the whole thing.  If I had a dollar, a PESO, for every time she told me that she had to go potty and didn't...

 We took Salvatore ice skating one day after his game.  Same place we went with Lula 8 years ago.  I got very emotional as I whipped him around and around that rink, remembering how I did the same for her such a long time ago.  

 He did very well.  He was fascinated by watching the others with such skill.  And of course he made a friend. Some cute little 6 or 7 year old boy who had finished his lesson, but wanted to talk to and hang out with us while we circled around. 

 Sal with two of his many soccer coaches. They were sad to see him go.  He did so well, and the other kids loved him and he fit right in.

 This bull statue was outside in front of a taco restaurant next to his practice.  We took a picture with it almost everyday.  Funny thing was, I assumed it would be so heavy, but when I rested my hand on it to help myself up, it almost tipped over!  I bet it weighed 30 pounds total. 

 When Armando took David and I into downtown Mexico City, we went into some museums and shops.  I loved the history, art and decor of everything we saw.  

 The streets in the heart of downtown. 

 Old church.

 The kids sleeping together each night.

 We went to this incredible restaurant called Juan Saldado to watch the final soccer game.  Amazing food. Amazing decor.  Great service. Huge TVs everywhere.  And a kids section with painting, puzzles and games.

David worked with and helped his dad with his many jobs, and learned some new techniques.  The girls and I cooked, played with the kids and traveled all over the city for fun times, movies, dog parks for Duke and Hanito, and restaurants.

I will post some of the videos and other pictures later.  We miss our family there so much and we thank you for a wonderful time.  Los queremos mucho!