Splendid

mariposa

A month or so before we moved from Mexico City we went up to Valle de Bravo which is about an hour and a half away in picturesque mountains, and there is something magical that happens once a year. Millions of monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles from Canada to Mexico and we were so excited to see it. Dave and I hiked the steep path up the mountain and the girls rode horses until we reached the crest of the mountain where suddenly clouds of yellow-orange wings fluttered about.  It truly was magical, butterflies landing all over your body, so many butterflies on branches of the trees overhead their weight actually made the branches bend. 

I'm glad I finally got around to scrapbookiong these, I had forgotten what a fun day this was. 

A wish and review...

Hi there new year! I'm glad to meet you...I hope you'll be good to me this next year.  I'm looking forward to being friends..And I'm wishing you all the most wonderful year to come!  Can you believe it's 2011?  Any special wishes for this new year?  Mine is smooth transition. We have a lot of big things happening, even in the first 3 months, and I wish, eyes tightly shut, for a smooth transition, free of hiccups and nervous feelings, my girls effortlessly making new friends in a new town in a new school...poor chicas...Dave's new position turns out to be the best ever...I get to shop at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods once again-whoop!....unpacking our little treasures that have been in storage for over 2 years now ( my milkglass, antique camera collection, half of my clothes, cooking gadgets), look for a new home, need to buy a new car, a new couch, find a school for the girls, find a new hairdresser, find new doctors, new acupuncturist, new driver's license, new phone number, pray the girls are happy, poor chicas.... well, you?  What's your wish?  I hope we both get ours.

Now onto a year in review with pictures...I made 2 mosaics.  I thought about doing more, I take a lot of pictures, so 2 was hard to cram in only the most important. Which is hard, because each day is important to me... There's quite a few trips and special times missing, but this gets the 2010 gist across.

 
 
Travel, birthdays, holidays, lost teeth, living abroad, meeting new friends, visiting with old friends, crafting, heartache over lost pets, lessons learned, all in all, it was a good year.

mariposa.

We had a mini-vaca in Valle de Bravo/Avandero this week. A couple nights and days spent sitting by a campfire, eating amazing Mexican food, jumping on a trampoline, playing with some puppies, listening to the waterfall outside our hotel window, as well as hiked up a mountain (literally, I'm exhausted) to see the millions of monarch butterflies that cover the trees and forest floor as they do each winter when they migrate here from Canada.  Just amazing to see.

  
 
This picture does nothing to show how many there were magically fluttering around.  There were thousands and thousands, dangling upside down in trees, so many the weight of them making branches bend. It looked like bright, orange leaves falling to the ground or blowing in the wind.  They covered the path and we had to be careful not step on them. They landed on our heads and shoulders, the girls were so excited.

 
The girls rode horses up the mountain because it's a STEEP 3 kilometer climb (roughly a little over a mile and a half).  Dave and I hiked it.

 
 
We stayed at a nice, little hotel called Refugio del Salto. Our cabana was next to a waterfall and it was so wonderful to sit out on our balcony or go to sleep at night with the pounding water relaxing us. We ate breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the waterfall and spent a afternoon and night sitting by a campfire with new and old friends.

 

 
 It was a good mini-vacation...

the days of xmas...

This week the girls are on vacation and we've been sleeping in, drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows I bought back from the States last week, watching movies (Polar Express 4x, It's a Wonderful Life 1x, Charlie Brown's Christmas 2x, Christmas Story 1x, you get the idea). Wrapping presents, doing our advent calendar treasure hunt each day, making cookies and peppermint bark, listening to holiday songs, doing arts-n-crafts for gifts and for fun, reading some of out favorite holiday books. It's been nice. Very nice.

   
  
 
 
 
 
We wish you all a very happy holiday and fantastic 2011!!!

la vida buena

Valle del Bravo is about an hour and a half from my house here in Mexico and I love it there.  It reminds me of the area I grew up in the States around Lake Tahoe or areas of Nevada City; clean mountain air, the refreshing pine smell, crickets off in the distance, BBQing in the night, the smell of wood smoldering is very comforting...

Golfing, massages at the spa, swimming, nature walks, horseback riding, delicious food, heaven...

 
 
  
  
  
  

 
  
  
  
 
I can't wait to go go back! That place is lovely and reminds me of where I grew up, it makes my heart smile...

prelude to halloween; la isla de las muñecas

There is a part of Mexico City called Xochimilco that is very famous for it's canals and boats rides.  One can hop upon a canal boat and take a slow, leisurely trip through miles and miles of canals.  This is where Mexico City actually started thousands of years ago. People lived on the canal banks and on the small islands tucked in the waterways.  They fished and grew vegetables, used canoes and made barges to cross the water.  Now there is a huge population of greenhouse growers surrounding the area.  The largest florist market in North America is down from the entrance of the canals. 

We took a day to visit the canals and go for a boast ride. I nice man named Lupe steered the boast using a long stick. We asked him to take us to the isla de las muñecas (island of the dolls), famous on many travel chanel shows for the strange, eccentric man who lives there.  Many years before he started decorating his very tiny island with dolls; small, big, Barbie, peek-a-boo, with heads, without, all different types...He believed the dolls would ward off evil spirits and protect him. It was the perfect outing to get us into the mood of October's spoooooookiness...(insert a maniacal laugh here)...

 

  
   
 
Then we headed back down the canal and saw boats with singing mariachis, boats with ladies frying tortillas for sale, a large pig I'm sure on his way to be slaughtered, and a man coming by our boat with a assortment of plants for sale. We bought an ceramic elephant with a plant and a small ceramic pot with some sort of greenery.

  
We're having a kids Halloween costume and cupcake decorating party the week before Halloween.  We have our costumes picked out; big sis is a Grecian Goddess and little sis is a geisha. Dave and I are also having an adults only Halloween party. I was thinking of being Sookie and Dave could be a tall, bloody Eric . I have a vampire lady costume, we'll see about Dave. If you're celebrating Halloween, hope you're getting excited for it!  Any special plans or costumes?

Mexican Independencia

Here in Mexico it's the 200 year bicentennial.  The streets are filled with people dancing, there are parades, fireworks, canons bellowing and parties all over.  We stayed inside today because it's TOO crazy with drunk driving and some crowds of craziness.  We had some friends over to have veggie enchiladas, carne asada and ensalada...and lots of margaritas... this year all the stores and such are decorated with the red, white and green and colorful flags and bigotes (mustaches) all over the place.  We agree, bigotes are que bueno!

 
Te espero tienes una dia fabulosa, tambien!

week in the life. (sunday)

going on....Sunday.

7:00 wake up for 54 seconds to let dogs out, return to bed...

9:00 wake up after a late night before, feed dogs, start pancakes and eggs for breakfast

10:00 after breakfast, a little run through the sprinklers is always fun

11:00 after a shower, more karoake singing

12:00 dad and littles take Lilly the puppy to the vet for her set of shots, I edit photos

12:30 big sis forgot to show me her 100% on her Spanish math test, super proud of her!!

1:00 lunch of left-over BBQ and sweep the floors

2:00 big sis wants to watch Indiana Jones #4, I'm tired so I lay next to her on the couch and watch, dad and little sis come join us

4:00 take dogs to the park

5:00 start dinner, big sis reads (rather she was FORCED to read)

6:30 eat dinner, do dishes, make lunches for tomorrow, more laundry (seriously now? does it ever end???)

8:00 put girls to bed, paint my toes, read my online Frankie mag, watched District 9 with Dave in bed on the laptop (didn't like it...lame.)

11:15 go to sleep... 

a week in the life. (saturday)

so, I'm finding this project super fun, and at the same time, difficult to keep up with.  Doing a post with pictures everyday is hard!

So, Saturday, same routine in the a.m. as usual...

8:00 slept in a bit, let dogs out to use the lu, started a load of laundry (does it EVER end??)

8:15 make coffee, clean up scrapbook room with little sis, (discuss world affairs, art, politics)

here's what I finished up

Xmas at the beach (last year's Xmas we spent it in sunny Acapulco)

Mr. Bunny,  this Easter with the EB at the mall (Stroneridge Mall in Pleasanton, CA), one for each of the girls albums, now I wish I would have made one for my album...

8:30 feed dogs (one dog missing in this photo-op), clean up yard, jump in the shower

9:00 little sis makes herself a little pb and j for breakfast (another FAB-U-LOUS little sis original fashion)

10:00 bug Dave to get up ALREADY! (poor sleepy baby...)

12:00 run by Starbucks (because I forgot to drink my coffee...)(I got an iced chai)(big sis takes a sip)

12:15 go to Dave's office to fax back paperwork on the Philadelphia house

(a view from Dave's office window down to Avenida de la Reforma)

12:30 feel sad, really sad about selling PA house

12:45 remind myself to feel grateful, really grateful that in this housing market we broke even, even came out ahead a bit

1:00 grab some tacos at a taco stand in Polanco, delicioso tacos=siesta...

stopped by a French bakery, chocolate-cafe eclair for little sis, big chocolate chip cookie for big sis (well, dad shared both...)

1:30 saw rad Budda head in store window, decided to look inside for Budda head in crazy-packed store. Decide to buy Budda head (here he is, he's about 2 1/2 feet tall, I'm putting him in the terrarium garden I'm making in front of this window)

4:00 finish up at grocery store

6:30 start BBQ

6:31 friends arrive, our friend Fausto and his girlfriend Ornella gave the girls a new Karaoke game for the XBox, singing and more singing, cocktails are poured...

8:00 eat too much, vow to exercise better next week...

9:00 watch new DVD, Avatar, with little sis, big sis and friends play cards in the dining room

12:00 little sis is asleep on me, big sis is forced to go to bed after winning quite a few hands at cards, man I'm tired...

1:00 nighty-night for me...