I've been having major technical difficulties using Blogger. We kept a journal while on our recent trip to Mexico and I thought it would be easy to upload it to Blogger the pictures don't work after I upload them. I'm ready to scrap this whole blogging thing but I guess I'll just continue to write and like to web albums until I can start a new blog.
So here are our pictures from the trip (double click to see the album) and our long account of our wonderful vacation.
May 1st, 2008 (Thursday)
The girls have been so excited about the trip. They mostly talk about the Mayans, Aztecs and seeing the beautiful dresses that spin around. We went to get the girls hair cuts and Ellie ran up to the lady and exploded with enthusiasm saying “We’re Mexico city girls!”.
I struggled getting everything ready to go. Of course, I had a ton of last minute demands for Room mom and PTA stuff but I was able to accomplish the bare minimum so I could get packed.. Jo picked up Mathew on Tuesday and although at first I was really disappointed to have him go early, later I realized it really helped me get ready. Poor kid had no idea what was happening. He thought we were saying goodbye to Grandma, and then he looked so confused when I started waving goodbye to him. It broke my heart.
That night Jo said Sam put him on a horse as soon as he got there. I’m sure he’s in heaven up there but I’m going to miss him. I know he’s going to be a handful for Jo too.
Thursday
Thursday morning came early. Everything went smoothly getting on the flight. The girls were so excited. Every one was smiling at us because the girls were so giddy and cute. When we were going through security, Ellie asked why we had to do this and I told her they were looking for Weapons. Ellie said “ oh ya, we have one.” I insisted we didn’t, and she insisted we did—“a bull frog”. I was even more confused. Finally, I figured out that she thought they were looking for “Webkinz” no weapons.
The girls listed to a book on tape (magic tree house) on the plane and colored. In the airports, I was trying to get the girls to find where we needed to go by following the signs. When we landed in Mexico city, there were a series of signs. One had a picture of a passport, one had a picture of a child getting a shot and one had a picture of luggage. It really made it look like our next steps included getting a shot and the girls did not want to go down the hall way.
Matt met us at the airport and we got in a cab for the hotel (20 min). In the car the girls tried out their Spanish. I was so proud. Sophie and Ellie even asked the driver in Spanish where Popocatepetl was (the name of the volcano that the girls had just learned on the plane). The W hotel was super modern and super cool. Definitely not a place for kids but the kids thought it was soo fancy. There was a cool fish pond in the lobby and a hammock and big round bathtub in the room.
Matt had a meeting to call into that night so I took the girls to the museum. We stopped at the cafeteria first because Ellie was having a meltdown and was so hungry. Of course, by the time her Quesadillas had come, she wasn’t hungry anymore because she’d eaten all the bread at the table.
The museum was awesome. The girls were so excited and were taking pictures every second. Ellie also wanted to take notes so we’d sit down and she’d say—“how do you spell carved stone?” We’d spend 5 minutes as I spelled it for her and she would write the letters. I was impressed that she could write all of her letters without help—thank you leapster.
I think the coolest thing was the huge Aztec calendar although there was a lot we enjoyed. However, I do think we spent most of the time looking at the turtles in the pond. When the museum closed I called a cab using my cell phone and caught it outside. I was so tense about getting on the right cab because there were tons of cabs stopping and asking if I needed a ride. I was relieved when one called me by name and the number matched what they’d told me on the phone.
When we got to the hotel we all walked a few blocks to a restaurant. On the way there there was a local playground so we stopped and let the kids run around. The playground was totally enclosed and there was a guard to I felt comfortable. I could see the girls adjusting to hearing the other kids speaking Spanish. We finally went on to the restaurant. The tacos were so good. The girls were freaking out about the pasta soup the got. We had to force the girls to eat. The funny thing is that by the end, Ellie was drinking the soup straight from the bowl…she liked it.
I collapsed when we got to the hotel.—I heard Ellie mischievously whispering..”where should we put momma when she wakes up?” That night we took a bath in the big tub, played in the hammock and went to sleep.
May 2nd, 2008 (Friday)
We got a private car to go to the pyramids. It was worth the extra $20 to not have to go with the group and make all the stops where they try to get you to buy stuff. As we approached, the girls were so surprised to see that what they thought was a big mountain was actually a pyramid. The girls were so pumped to climb. As soon as we came to a small pyramid, Ellie said she would start by climbing the “Bunny Pyramid”…I think from her experience skiing earlier this year.
After climbing the moon pyramid and seeing how steep and tall they were Sophie got scared and said she would not climb the Sun pyramid. She was terrified. When we finally got to the base though she took off going up at full speed—I could hardly keep up. She had gotten her confidence so suddenly and just acted on it. Later she told me that she’d gotten the idea to only look at the steps instead of down at the ground. We all made it to the top and the girls were so proud of themselves. After that Ellie lost all of her energy and needed to be carried. She was such a ball of energy at the beginning, climbing everything in sight., but then she crashed. Sophie is more slow and steady.
Actually, what kept the girls going now was that they wanted to buy something at the shops. We gave each of the girls 20 pesos (2 dollars) and told them they could buy something. Ellie went to the first vendor showed him her money and then pointed to a little flute that she wanted and bought it. Sophie held back and started to shop around and found similar flutes were really only 10 pesos not 20 pesos. Then she could buy 2 things. That of course did not sit well with Ellie. Sophie is such a shopper, she really loves it.
Kidnapping descriptions--The taxi driver was telling us that there are hardly any tourists these days (especially US tourists) because the media is exaggerating the security situation. But then he went on to explain that there are 2 main forms of kidnappings that have been happening in Mexico City recently. Here’s how he described them:
“Express kidnapping” will basically take 2-3 hours of your time. If consists of the taxi driver pulling over and taking away any credit cards, cash or anything of value. Of course they will ask you for your pin numbers and ask that you pull out any money that is available. Once they have everything they want, they let you go. It usually just takes 2-3 hours of your time, although that time might seem like an eternity to you because you don’t know what is going to happen to your life.
The other common form of kidnapping is more complex. There are 3 main groups that are responsible. The first group is responsible for watching you and taking notes on everything you do. They know what time you leave for work, who your lovers are, exactly everything you do and when you do it. The second group is responsible for the actual kidnapping. The third group is responsible for negotiating the ransom. I asked him whether they kill the people and he said no, they just hold them until they get what they want.
Another funny thing the driver said was that families in Mexico used to be big but now people don’t have more than one of 2 kids. He said “Before, if people had less than 4 kids everyone would think the Dad was gay”.
For dinner we caught a cab out to a restaurant that was about 30 minutes away—it had been recommended to us. There was a show going on with mariachis, dancers etc. We again struggled finding something on the menu for the girls but then enjoyed the show. Ellie was happy to find out they had that same noodle soup she’d gotten to like the night before. Sophie especially was fascinated by the singing and dancing. There was a really cool kids area in the back of the restaurant and the ladies there did crafts with the kids—it was really well done.
That night we asked the hotel if they could send us up some fruit for the kids and they charged us $9 for 2 apples (the kind they were giving out earlier for free) and one banana.
May 3rd, 2008 (Saturday)
That morning, Matt and the girls bought Cereal in hotel (zucaritas were$2 a bowl!). We spent the morning with the concierge looking for what time church would start the next morning but never really got an answer. Finally we walked about 10 minutes to a stadium where we could catch a bus that runs to all of the main tourist attractions of the city. That way we could get on and off as we pleased. The girls were so excited to be sitting on the top level of a double-decker bus. And it was nice to see the sites in the fresh air. By the time we got to the Zocalo, the kids were already tired and there were tons of people so we decided to have lunch while we got our bearings. We went to the restaurant on the roof of a hotel in the Zocalo where we had a cool view of the whole square. There was a guy there doing a little show with a bird—making it dance and sing so we had him do it for the girls. Then we realized that there was some kind of parade going on so for the next hour we just sat and watched the bands go by—the girls were so into it and Matt and I took turns holding onto Ellie so she wouldn’t fall over the roof.
The inside of the cathedral was interesting. We saw a mass taking place and some people in confession. Out of the cathedral, we ran into the missionaries who were able to ctell us the time church would start. Then we went to “Templo Mayor” which is the newer excavated ruins of the old Aztec temples that were destroyed and buried by the Spaniards. The kids were getting tired at this point. They did enjoy seeing the Aztec dancers outside—they also had incense and were performing some kind of blessing for people (hands on head and everything). That’s one thing I don’t remember from my childhood. I think there is a much stronger pride in there Indian heritage than there used to be.
From there, we took bus to bellas artes. The building is beautiful and we went to a bookstore to get some kids books and went to Sanbornes for a snack and to reminisce old times. I told Ellie the story that my Mom bought me a stuffed giraffe at Sanbornes when I stopped sucking my thumb. She was so excited about that, she was convinced they would still sell the giraffe today. My legs were really bothering me by this point. My veins were really starting to act up so we spent some time looking for a Pharmacy that sold compression hose. I hate wearing them but I have no choice in the matter anymore.
By the time we found the pharmacy, we’d walked almost all the way back to the Zocalo, so we had to wait about 45 minutes to catch another bus. Next stop was the famous angel statue. This place brought back a ton of memories because my Dad’s old Ford office used to be there and we lived in the Sheraton right there for 9 months when our furniture got lost in moving there. Ironically, that is now where the American Express building is that Matt was visiting. We went inside the Sheraton to use the bathroom and to ask him if he knew where a restaurant was and to my surprise, he knew exactly which one I was talking about and it was still there. This is a little taco stand that makes the best tacos. We used to go there all the time when I was a kid and the sights and smells totally brought me back. We used to call it “Tacos al carbon” but it’s actually called “El Caminero” and it’s 2 blocks from the Sheraton. We got the Beef/bacon/cheese tacos and ordered the Chicken/bacon/cheese tacos for the girls (Matt and I thought the Chicken was better). Sophie was leery about them because she noticed the onions but Ellie couldn’t stop talking about how it was her favorite food in the world—she couldn’t stop the “mmmm-mmm”s. Unfortunately, I know she was doing it to be nice because she only ate one bite.
We had to wait a while for the next bus to come but were entertained by trying to figure out how the traffic worked on the crazy round-about and watching the brides and quincenieras risk their lives crossing the road to get their pictures taken by the statue.
Finally, we made it back to the hotel, had the nightly bubble bath routine and went to bed.
May 4th, 2008 (Sunday)
Sunday morning Matt and kids ate cereal at hotel then we caught a cab to church. It was fun to ride down streets that I recognized and especially the church building brought back so many memories. The English-speaking ward still met in an old house. Of course it looked a lot smaller and it looked like they’d taken away a little of it’s original charm when they renovated it a few years ago. I bore my testimony there- focused on how people and places may change but the memories from sharing the gospel with friends and family don’t. One man recognized me that had lived there when my family was there (Bro Vinas). It was cool to see the girls in my same old primary room. Afterwards all the kids were outside collecting worms together. The parent’s commented that they’d never done that before and I had to laugh because I’m sure that was an addition from my girls.
After church, we called a cab and I asked him to drive by the street I used to live on—monte Libano. He did but I didn’t think I’d find the house because he was driving to fast. Surprisingly, close to the end of the street, I did recognize the house. It looked empty, but eventually, someone opened up and let me take a picture from the outside. He looked like he was just looking after the empty house.
We went back to hotel to change and then went to El Caminero again for lunch. This time, Sophie let Ellie in on the secret of the onions and they decided that they both hated the tacos. We walked a few blocks to a market area. I bought a necklace but the girls didn’t really find anything they wanted. After that, we went to a park and let the girls play. Then we walked around looking for an old French bread store I used to love (La Baguette) but it had closed down. We ended up walking all the way to the zoo and then caught a cab for the Palacio de Bellas Artes to watch the Folkloric dancing show. Unfortunately it didn’t start until 8:30 so I was worried the girls wouldn’t make it. We waited in line for 45 minutes for tickets while the girls had meltdowns about multiple things. Then we hung out in Sanborns until it started. The show was pricy but really good. The theatre itself was incredible and surprisingly, the girls didn’t fall asleep but loved every bit of it. I was nervous about standing outside waiting for our cab at 10pm but everything went ok.
May 5th, 2008 (Monday)—fly to villa Hermosa/drive to palenque
Woke up at 7:30, ate cereal in hotel room and caught a 10:20 flight to Villa Hermosa. We could feel the heat and humidity as soon as we stepped off of the plane. We picked up a rental car there (stick shift) and went straight to a park called La Venta. This is where they keep the famous big Olmec heads. We did the loop around the park and were impressed with how they had laid it out. There were also monkey, crocodile, jaguar and turtle exhibits that we enjoyed.
Then we headed to our next stop—Palenque. Poor Matt had to navigate the stick through traffic, construction, lots of topes, slow trucks and lack of signs on the way to Palenque (a little less than 2 hour drive).
When we go to the hotel, we went swimming and they had a water slide made out of concrete and a little faster than seemed safe.
That night we went to dinner at Don Muchos. This was cool because it was right in the middle of a thick jungle—awesome vegetation and lots of jungle sounds. When it got darker, it was all candle lit and we had a light show from the massive fireflies. We were worried that the girls were going to start a fire with all the candles around and not stable tables. The kids got hot chocolate for dessert. Something made Sophie laugh when she was drinking and she sprayed hot chocolate all over Matt and Ellie. We called it a chocolate explosion and we called her Popocate-chocolate (after the volcano).
May 6th (Tuesday)-Palenque/aguas azules/fly to Merida
Next morning we went to Palenque—got a tour guide. “sleeping grass”, ellie found/caught a leaf bug that got us through the tour.
Very hot. Got tour of jungle too—saw ruins under jungle, heard howler monkeys, went to natural spring.
After that we rushed to agues azules was 1.5 hours away. Low in gas, but couldn’t trust gage. Rough road, kids pulling ropes in front of the road. Had to turn off AC. Zapatista territory. We made it there and there was a weird guy crowding us wanting to watch our car for money. Didn’t have enough $ for gas. He asked for Ellie’s spaghetti.
Water was incredible but it looked more dangerous than havasupai. Sophie made a friend to look for rocks. Stayed 1/5 hours. Barely made it back with gas. Went to town to get money from ATM. Went swimming to cool off for 10 minutes. Then got in the car to go to Villa Hermosa, trying to beat the sun. We made it and had sandwiches at the airport. Plane left at 9:30 (only direct flight—avoiding a 5 hour trip through Mexico city). Ellie was wide awake and very talkative. She said she wasn’t going to sleep for the whole flight and she didn’t. I fell asleep but she kept on waking me up to look at the stars.
Got into Merida at 10:30. I ended up arguing with the car guys about the price of the insurance (triple upgrade to a dodge avenger). Drove to Intercontinental Hotel—very nice room overlooking the pool. Took a wrong turn down a one way street and passed a fierce police car in the process. Ellie fell asleep in the car—we carried her to the room
May 7th (Wednesday) dr
The next morning she woke up looked around the room confused. Then she said—“Mom, you moved that table” Then I finally figured out she thought we were back at the old hotel. When I told her we were in a new hotel she said “how did we get here”. We slept in and then went to Walmart to buy some food and we ate breakfast on some tables there. I bought avocado and fruit. The kids and matt had cereal.
Then we got in the car and drove to Chichinitza—took 1 1/5 hours. Very hot. Hard on girls. Ellie was interested in buying a stone Dolphin. Matt kept her moving along by saying we needed to look for more dolphins. The site was impressive and the cenote was cool. Lots of pillars and carvings.
Started to take road to Cancun but decided to get off to go to another cenote. Stopped at Valla/?? Realized we would have been taking the long route so it’s good that we got off. Ate lunch in an old colonial home. Realized it was too late to see the cenote we wanted to but opted to see a local one (two blocks walking distance from the restaurant). Very cool inside of a cave.
Got on the road again and got to Tulum. Had a run in with the hotel people about our room. They didn’t have our reservation and gave us a noisy room right by the generator. Finally got an awesome room. The beach was beautiful. The room was rustic and cool.
Played in water a little then went to a restaurant. This beach area seemed perfect for honeymooners—not sure it was meant for kids. Ate on beach by candle light. Queso fundido was perfect for the girls—they could make their own Quesadillas. Joked about “Popocate—chocolate” (sophie’s chocolate explosion).
That night, the AC dripped water on our faces and a baby was crying next door but we slept well.
May 8th (Thursday)
The next morning –cereal in room then went to the beach. Sand was perfect for sand castles. Waves were fun to play in. Lots of sea weed and horse flies. We needed to check out by noon—barely made it. Went to a local grocery store and ate lunch. Went to Tulum ruins. Started to count iguanas –got up to 28. Ruins were cool, but it was the most beautiful beach we’d ever been to. Sophie got really into body surfing (with us at first and then by herself), Ellie dug cenotes (went into the waves too). Played until the park closed at 5:30. Drove straight to Akumal hotel, condo was cool, a lot like Puerto Penasco houses —beach is known for snorkeling and turtles. Ate at restaurant next to hotel—expensive but yummy. The girls mostly looked for shells on beach.
May 9th (Friday)
(Matt's entry) Went to Xelha-one of 1st people there. This is a natural bay that is beautiful. Although it has become pretty touristy, it is truly amazing. We swam with the dolphins (with some Polish tourists). The innertube ride-started in a cool mangrove, ended up swimming at the end. Sophie was a champ. Next time should use just the snorkeling equipment without the life vests. Ellie had "lost her action" (run out of energy) and was just chilling and counting iguanas.
Ropes course (Lara 1st to make it across), Matt jumped from the cliff (ended up going back and diving several times looking for the lost locker key that actually was found somehow and returned to us later).
Lots of fish.
Turquoise water
Food included
Rented stroller (hard to use in the back part of the park)
That night Ellie got really sick. Sophie and Matt went to the beach. Ellie got a fever
May 10th(Saturday)
Ellie sick all morning. Watched iceage-got children’s aspirin and Gatorade. just wanted to stay in bed.
Matt and Sophie tried to snorkel with just pool goggles. The ocean floor was rough and hard to enjoy without shoes on. Lara and Sophie went to Playa del Carmen – beaches were beautiful but with lots of people, shopping unremarkable. We watched Apacolypto after the girls went to bed – made us grateful for the relative peace we enjoy today. Sophie and Matt met some folks from Oregon in the pool that had a little 6 year old girl that let Sophie practice snorkeling. She took right to it. We saw 4 osprey hovering over the beach. End of April/early May definitely the best time to visit – later in the fall it can be leftover muggy with mosquitos.
May 11th (Sunday)
Ellie had nightmares about snorkeling and woke up with a bad stomach ache and threw up twice – she recovered for the flight though and is doing fine now. Sophie and Matt had fruit loops and trix for breakfast and then drove a few minutes over to Yal Ku (a dive park area). Sophie was on my shoulder or back at the start but then warmed up and would go out on her own when she would see schools of fish. It was a nice inlet and people didn’t start coming in until about 9:30am – we were there a little after 8am. I put a deposit on the snorkeling equipment (Sophia was done but maybe could have been coerced to stay longer if I had caught a crab for her) and went to go snorkeling back at the hotel. Great choice as it was much better at the hotel with the equipment (vs. going in barefoot with normal goggles the first time w/ Sophie – both of us sunburned…). You can go way out into the bay and on my first swim I saw nice corral reefs (massive brain corrals) and lots of fish. Lara went in next while Ellie slept the healing sleep and Sophie played with her snail named “razie boy” (b/c she was going to raise him). I went back out one more time (a bit reluctantly as my foot had been worn down from the flippers) and lucked out to spy a turtle (he was about 5 shell segments long) that let me trail him for what seemed 15 minutes or so. I finally pulled away as the waves were getting a bit much and I swallowed some seawater. We then packed up and drove over to the “Buena vita” for lunch (we had gotten take out there the night before and Sophie loved the beach and swing seats). Lunch was good and we then left around 1 for Cancun. The drive took ~ 1 hour and we made it back to the car rental (hertz) with no incident to the car. Check in was smooth (nice airport) and the flight will be back around 45 minutes early b/c of no headwinds – although the girls and feeling every minute back this time – the flight seemed longer going back for sure.
