Fire maze

Birthday boy had a fire maze waiting for him when he got home from soccer practice. The genius creator created herself into a corner, failing to remember that a big belly is difficult to maneuver through beams of shooting flames.

Elijah = 9 (tomorrow)

It has taken me 9 years to allow one of my kids to have a birthday party with school friends: it's a personal defect of mine. In the name of love for my kids, I have finally relented. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but one thing made it a lot worse. The day before, another party started setting up in the common area of our apartment buildings. First they brought in 2 tents filled with beautifully decorated tables and chairs, then an electronic carrousel, jumping castle, fair booths, a theater stage with actors, catering and men in suits to serve the food, huge balloon banners....Slightly ridiculous, but nothing quite like that party next to us to make me feel like an underachiever. And then there's me...that morning I had been pulling stuff out of our trashcan to create games--the coke bottle was quite a few layers down. I washed it, promise. Ok, maybe it was more like a rinse.
We picked up 7 of Elijah's friends from school (all boys--the one girl he invited declined) and headed to the video arcade at the mall across the street. Then home to play soccer and more soccer. Some of those boys didn't eat anything, they were so focused on soccer: that's Elijah's crowd. We were only able to squeeze in 1 non-soccer game:

 The cake was definitely not the star of the show. I decorated it with 2 gummy-bear soccer teams.

Most of the other games I prepared were played the next day with my 3 and one with a few kids who spent the night (our long-time friends from church). This one is "find the gummy bear in whipped cream."

Interview with Elijah:
Favorite Song: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams
When I grow up I will be a: soccer coach
Favorite color: don't care
How many kids I will have when I grow up: 0
Favorite thing to do: play soccer
Best friends: Rodrigo and Eugenio
What I like best about church: learning and meeting other people
Favorite thing about school: recess
Favorite book: Percy Jackson
Favorite movie: Percy Jackson
Favorite chore: dishes
Where I will live when I grow up: In a mansion. Mansion will be in USA, hopefully not with a wife.
Tell me more about your future: I'll live and then I'll die
Pets: dog, cat, hamster, fish, bear, elephant, horse, tiger, shark, bird
What I'm good at: Fastest runner in my class and the only one who has run a race. Also really good at swimming, skating, ice skating, biking, skate boarding.

Magnolia Bakery

A taste of New York City in Mexico City.
We went to Magnolia Bakery in NYC a few times when we lived there and waited in long, long lines. First of all, I usually don't do well with anything that has a hype surrounding it because expectations are just too high. And then, I was told that the bread pudding was to die for. Telling that to a Southern girl just isn't a good idea.
A new branch has just opened in Mexico--it was good. I'm just glad we didn't wait in a line to get in. No hype = no anticipation.

Welcoming Lent with Engorging

HELLO ZAPPS!!!!

Never thought I'd run into these bad boys so far from home.
It was a splendid breakfast.
A 34-week pregnant woman shares with nobody unless the food makes her sick.
The kids nibbled on crumbs.

Michoacán

Dag Nabbit! I've been working (i.e. not working) on this post for forever. It's time to post no matter the bad writing and lack of details...

 

Ever since I learned that all of the Monarch butterflies in Canada and the US fly to a few concentrated areas in Mexico, I have been itching to go. The problem is that these few areas are mostly located in Michoacán: "the most dangerous state in Mexico due to drug-fueled violence" (from wiki-travel, the source of all knowledge).  It's where an American was abducted right before we moved and his remains were found several months later in a ravine. Nevertheless, we packed our bags, all in the name of adventure and butterflies, and traveled to the largest Monarch butterfly preserve in the Americas. About 150 million butterflies arrive each year. Unfortunately, we got there when it was still cold enough that they had to cluster on branches. You will see the weighted branches in the middle of the photo below. 

Resting

We weren't allowed to get too close to the actual site, but the ground underneath was carpeted with the fallen comrades.

On the road out of the reserve, we looked into the countryside and saw what we thought were brightly colored balloons floating over a graveyard, but after a few dirty, rocky paths, found this:

We saw these types of cemeteries all over the state of Michoacán.

Don't you find David's shirt in this setting slightly ironic? I've tried to persuade him to get rid of the shirt bc although I completely abide by the YOLO guidelines and adhere to the deeper and meaningful life patterns set forth by the slogan and the rappers who so eloquently sing about and follow YOLO precepts, it's just too trendy. I am my own trendsetter.

"And wear titanium suits

In case pianos fall on ya.

And never go in saunas

Cause they're crawlin' with piranhas."

The kids enjoyed exploring. They found a half-drunk bottle of coke buried into the mound of one of the graves. Then we talked about what food we wanted people to leave on our graves when we die.

In Morelia, we stayed in a beautiful hotel that was the former estate of some people who may have been famous and lived centuries ago, but I couldn't tell you the exact details bc the historical summary they gave us was translated into form of English I hope to never encounter again.
Saturday night fireworks display, viewed from our private balcony:

The next day, we went to church and then headed to the volcano of Paricutin (which appears on several versions of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World). We picked up our guide after he waved us down from the side of the road, something probably not recommended in that part of this country, but the man was almost 90 and had been a teenager when the volcano erupted close to his home. This volcano was created, formed, and destroyed 2 villages during a period of about 9 years in the 40s and 50s. It rose more than 1000 feet over the cornfield where it was born, but moved so slowly that people had time to disassemble their houses and move all of their belongings before it reached them.

Our guide and the man leading the horses the kids rode on (below) spoke an ancient, dying language and their Spanish was so thickly accented, that I couldn't catch all of the details.

The miracle of the volcano is the church that still stands in the center of the destroyed city. As you can see, the lava reached 20-30 feet in height in some places, but the steeples of this church can been seen standing among this vast lava field.

As you can see below, the church was built in 1618.

Here, the kids are descending into what is now a cave, but what used to be the wing of the church where baptisms were performed.

I'm sure this used to be a beautiful window filled with stained glass in the top of the church.

Climbing over the lava mountains was tedious and slightly treacherous. I must admit, I probably was a little too cautious; at one point, Claire started to cry, saying I wouldn't let her have any fun. I conceded and sent David after her. That child has no fear. She told David she would jump off a 10-foot cliff that had a cushion of sharp lava rocks below if he would give her 5 pesos.

And the biggest miracle was this altar to Jesus. The lava filled and surrounded the whole church, but stopped just short of the altar. Notice the steep decline of lava rocks to the base of the altar.

We dropped our guide off at his home in the nearby village where the married women wore the most brilliantly lustrous skirts with a million pleats and intricately embroidered aprons.

 

On Monday morning we walked around Morelia. This is the government building that houses large murals of Mexican history. The kids were able to pick out the main figures. I think they know more about Mexican history than that of their natal country.

Birth place of one of the great Mexican revolutionaries: Jose Maria Morelos. He is on the 50 peso bill and Iris loves this guy because he shares the first name with a few of her classmates. The great thing about the name Jose Maria is that if you switch the order of the names (Maria Jose), it becomes a girl's name. Why don't we do this in English?

More of downtown. sightseeing with cotton candy is always better

Morelia is a colonial city with an ancient, and very tall aqueduct and beautiful churches on practically every corner.

 

The artwork was particularly interesting in this church. It had the theme of "convert the savages."

PS. The big news this week is that David was contacted by a talent agency to try out for a part in a Mexican movie. They needed someone with a legit gringo accent (his only qualification). Before the tryout, David told me that if there was a romance scene, it was all in the name of art and after the tryout, he told me he had to kill a dog with a blunt object. I would say his acting skills are pretty keen, but I also have a feeling we will be waiting for a call-back for at least a few decades.

The nurturer

Claire is my little nurturer. She's the first to help those in need. I wasn't feeling well today and she brought me this plate of food, a cup of milk, and a "love" card.

The food plate has a PB&Honey sandwich with yogurt spread on top and cashews decorating a mountain of refried beans. I must say, the sight of it didn't work wonders on my stomach, but it's the thought that counts.
Iris on the other hand, chimed in, complaining of stomach pain and then asked for dinner.