Monterrey 2017

Ten days in Monterrey.  It was a great time.  The boys cried themselves to sleep for two nights after we got back, and they are still asking when they can go back to see their cousins and Abuelitos.  We had many adventures.

The day after we arrived, Isa had her 8th birthday party.  It was a pool party, and the boys had fun jumping in the pool over and over again for 4 hours with their cousins.

We went to a quinta (ranch) out in the countryside--behind Presa de la Boca (a reservoir) in an area I never even knew existed.  We went past a bat cave--literally--it's filled with millions of bats that come in and out at dusk.  I hate bats so luckily we did not drive by at dusk!  The boys had fun jumping on a trampoline and swimming while the adults cooked.  Somehow I did not get pictures of the quinta.

We spent two days in Parras, Coahuila, a small town in a neighboring state.  It was about a 2.45 hour drive away.  A very cute little town with pecan orchards and vineyards.  We went to the center and did some shopping for artesanía.  We stumbled across these two twenty-something guys that had converted this VW into a portable cafe.  It was cute.  Thank God they had coffee because I had a caffeine headache! ;-)

 The boys rode a pony and were in their glory!

We had lunch and breakfast at two different hacienda-style hotel/restaurants.  The outdoor patios were so lovely for eating.

We went to a really cool vineyard--Casa Madero--and took a tour.  This was the chapel out front.  It is obviously undergoing renovations, but it had these super cool streamers.

 I don't even know where this was taken...

We stayed at a little tiny hotel that was crowded when we arrived on a Sunday afternoon.  However, by the time we came back for the night, we were the only ones there!  All the rooms had a grill and a table outside so that you could make carne asada.

They have this crazy church on a hill.  You have to *walk* up!

We saw our friends Carlos and Yolanda at a mall and saw Despicable Me 3 with them--in Spanish.  The "Junior" theater had a play area.  You could play before the movie and for about 10 minutes during a mid-movie intermission.  Interesting concept!

We checked out Paseo Santa Lucía and Parque Fundidora with the cousins one cloudy afternoon.  The weather was perfect because otherwise it would have been too hot to explore the parks before dark.  We took a half hour boat ride down the river and then went into the museum so that we could go to the top of Oven #3 that used to be part of the iron factory.

 In the car on the way to the top of the oven.  It's pretty much a straight ride up in an open-freight-style elevator.  Not for the faint of heart!

View from the top.

We spent a day at the pool and tennis club that Beba and Carla belong to.  We had a cook out and swam in the pool.  The big hit, though, was the water slide.  They let all of the kids go down together, which the boys thought was the best thing ever.  Carla and I even joined in the fun and did the water slide about 10 times in a row.

We went to Kidzania the next day, which is basically like a children's museum.  The kids earn "money" for "working" at different jobs around a pretend city.  It's actually a great concept, and many national and international companies sponsor posts around the city.

The boys delivered packages for DHL...

 
running around this whole city...

fought fires...

 built a brick wall...

Stocked the shelves and shopped at Walmart...

They were so disappointed when after five hours of "work" their money was enough to buy only a fist-sized soccer ball and some lego crayons that broke immediately.  It was a great life lesson! ;-)

The day before we left we had a goodbye breakfast in Villa de Santiago, another small little town about a half hour outside Monterrey.  

Then we packed and headed to the hotel at the airport.  Since our flight left the next day at 6am, we decided it was worth it to stay the night close to the airport.  We met Carlos's uncle and cousin for dinner.

Saying goodbye to the cousins and aunts wasn't easy...

See you next summer, Monterrey!

Adirondack Chairs and Bike Riding

For my birthday, I signed up for a woodworking class in Easton.  There is a guy with a little workshop, and he does all sorts of classes.  So, I built this Adirondack chair in about 10 hours (3 weeks of class).  It came out lovely!  Now, I just need to paint it.  And, it was fun!

The boys love to make "creations" with chalk on the driveway.

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Mini's house to help her open the pool.  She had drawn pictures of the boys on the driveway.  Notice Seb's Superman swirl and Adi's dimples...

One day this stupid US Weekly magazine arrived for me.  I have no idea how I ended up with a subscription because I have no interest in it whatsoever.  Adi snapped up the magazine though and read it from cover to cover over and over again.  He insisted I take his picture, and, without prompting, yelled "GIRLS!" instead of "cheese" when I snapped the pic.  Yikes.

Seb got a tick so I took him to the doctor.  It's a wait and see situation.  It appeared to have JUST latched, so I'm not too worried.  But, man!  Lyme disease is scary!  Seb was so good at the urgent care clinic, entertaining himself by coloring pictures while he waited to be seen.  He takes his coloring so seriously--look at that face!

We went to Auntie Mimi's to see nana.  The boys had lots of energy so I took them for a short walk.  We stopped in the gazebo and the boys did some dancing.

We went to Grumpy's beach this past weekend and had a blast.  The cousins played together nicely.  We were at the beach for almost 3 hours.  Then Grumpy fed us well.  There was some of this Hingham beer in his fridge...so funny that it's called Entitled! ;-)

The boys learned to ride their bikes without training wheels this weekend, too!!!!!!!!!  They still need to practice a lot more, but they were doing it.  They could go from our house to Miss Sarah's without my helping them.  So happy because now we can practice and hopefully have bike adventures by the end of the summer!  Carlos and I went mountain biking for the first time in like 9 years.  We went to the trail behind Oliver Ames.  Was so much fun!  I got a minor wound on my leg--not fun--but that boo boo actually helped me get the boys to get on their bikes.  They are always afraid that they will get hurt.  I showed them my boo boo and told them that I rode my bike after anyway.  They asked why we didn't take them biking with us and we told them we can't until they get rid of the training wheels.  So they went out and rode.  Simple as that!  haha

Thumbs up for the bike riding!