El Charco de Ingenio aka the Botanical Gardens

Today was another beautiful day...ok, we haven't had any bad weather days, but it still astonishes us that the sun shines here everyday. There are some weeks in Burlington when we never see the full sun! We had a lazy Sunday morning with a nice, big breakfast and then decided to go to the Botanical Gardens called El Charco de Ingenio in Spanish. Besides some interesting hiking trails, there is also a temporary exhibit featuring reptiles that we all wanted to catch.

The gardens really encompass 167 acres of nature reserve and are located within just a few minutes from San Miguel de Allende. The name, El Charco del Ingenio, comes from a spring-fed pool nestled in an impressive canyon, which popular legend has interwoven with spirits and myths dating from the Spanish conquest. We hiked all around the canyon and the reservoir and the kids enjoyed being able to run (as Alex put it...I haven't been able to run since we came to Mexico). Ah the downfalls of living in a city! This place has so many interesting cacti and birds. I know the Audubon society is quite active here and it would be interesting to go back and take one of their birding tours.

We think the cacti are on steroids here. Just when you think you have seen the biggest cactus you have ever seen, one bigger appears. We took a few pictures so you can get an idea of the size since they are far larger than some trees back home.

The reptile exhibit was also extremely interesting. The rattlesnakes all shook their tails and raised their heads in menacing ways when we passed by their cages. It was a bit eerie, but now we all know what sound to listen for when we are out hiking! It is rattlesnake country so one best be prepared. They also had a crocodile, turtles, iguanas, many different kinds of snakes, and some reptiles that we couldn't identify. Hannah was proud that she touched a boa constrictor although we noticed she washed her hands as soon as possible afterwards! 


On the way home, the taxi driver gave us a small tour of some very wealthy neighborhoods that we had never seen. Unbelievable wealth that some expats have! Alex and I then were dropped off at the jardin as he had his heart set on a real Mexican sombrero. You'll see what we purchased in the picture.

The kids enjoyed the day and so did we. We cooked spaghetti for dinner and everyone relaxed on the rooftop deck for a while. Then it was time to pack school lunches and backpacks to head back to school tomorrow. No one wants to go, but hopefully they will get back in the school routine soon. Charles heads back to VT on Tuesday and will be gone for 8 days...we will all miss him!



 Ouch...do you see these thorns? These were on a bush!!

The maguay cactus will grow out of anything!
















I had to put this picture in the blog as it is so funny. Bathrooms in Mexico aren't usually this....well, what is the word? Sparse? Decrepit? However, the one on the walk near the canyon was. Basically it is a mud hut with a hole in the floor. Owen is carefully aiming into the hole! The woman's room was exactly the same except it had a handle to hold onto while squatting! Ha!















Here is Alex's new hat. Isn't he just the coolest cat in town???

The home of the sub $4.00 haircut

Some things in Mexico have surprised us a bit by their cost...peanut butter, alcohol, coffee, cheddar cheese...but Charles did strike the bargain of the century today. He got his haircut for $40 pesos that included a tip (about $3.75 in USD)! He found this place right near where we used to live, poked his head in, and asked if he could get a haircut. The woman was nursing her baby, called her husband down to get the child, and gave him a pretty decent haircut.

Here's what he looks like...I don't think you'd guess at the cost of the haircut!

Owen's Birthday in Mexico

Happy 5th Birthday to Owen!!

We just finished a family party for Owen. He requested cheese pizza so I floundered my way through ordering pizza on the phone in Spanish (Dominos is here even in Mexico) and we had them delivered to our door in about 20 minutes. Both pizzas came as ordered so I guess I didn't screw up the language too badly! We then had the cake that Owen and I had baked the day before. It actually tasted good...I was wondering since we had no mixer and the directions were all in Spanish! I guess anything you cover with dark chocolate frosting can't taste all that bad! We also covered it with Star Wars figures that we had brought from VT. For his presents, we were a bit desperate since there isn't a lot of kids stuff that we have found. I did find a dinosaur excavation kit, so he had fun digging all the bones out with Hannah and putting it together. He also got scissors, a bouncy ball, and a placemat. The joys of only being 5! He also got a nice check from grandma and grandma and grandly announced we should all go back to the water park with his birthday money! So all in all, a good birthday.

Charles and I are taking a Spanish class this week at the same place where the kids are in camp for a half day. We are slowly learning more Spanish although we have a long way to go! It is fun to realize that each day we are learning more and more words and can get by just a little bit better.

Charles and Alex have found a great place to take Tae Kwan Do so they have now started going several times a week. The dojang (gym) is located right across from our old house, so it is lucky we lived there first as apparently this is the top rated dojang in the area. Hannah and I tried Zumba last night and had a fun time trying to follow all the latin dance steps. We will try to go twice a week as it is great exercise, fun, and located just a few doors down from our house! The family is on the move!







Alex reads Owen's transformer birthday card from grandma and grandma. We also enjoyed fruit smoothies in Margarita glasses.

Owen and Hannah digging for dinosaur bones.













Owen finds the head of the dinosaur!











A goofy face to finish off a good birthday!

Easter Sunday

The Easter bunny found the children in Mexico! That bunny sure does travel. The kids all got little baskets with jelly beans (carried from VT), a chocolate egg with a surprise in it (kinderchocolate from Germany), and a little gift. Mexicans do not do Easter baskets as Easter is strictly a religious, solemn holiday. As my Spanish teacher said...."no Easter baskets. This is a day of sorrow since Christ suffered so much and he suffered for us." We decided to take a different approach to Easter and enjoy the day, eat sweets, and do more sight seeing!

In the afternoon, I took Hannah and Alex to the jardin (main square) where there were huge paper mache figures (about twice the size of a man) hung in the square. Each figure was grotesque in some way...big ears, horns of the devil, large features, etc. The figures were supposed to represent Judas and his betrayal of Jesus. The figures are then blown up with firecrackers one at a time (do you see the theme of loud firecrackers in Mexico??) to represent the blowing apart of the bad so that only goodness remains. Anyway, each of the figures had a circle of fireworks around them which made the figures spin quickly and then after about a minute the figure would explode with a very loud bang and the pieces of the figure would be scattered everywhere. What was quite grotesque was that the bodies exploded into small pieces (well sometimes there would be an arm or leg left) but the heads always remained. At the end, there was just a pile of heads which you can see in my picture...then they sell them to people in the crowd! Quite bizarre!

Here are pictures of these figures, then nothing, then the pile of heads!

Settling into Casa Christina: A Visual Tour of the House

We'd like to show you around our new home. Here are some pictures with a short description...

Our entrance to our new home. #4 Tinajitas.

















The courtyard in the entrance complete with fountain and lime tree.












The dining room.











The second dining room!












The living room complete with lounging family members. Also the place where the tv and movies are!










The bright, spacious kitchen. We love it...although the kids bemoan not having a dishwasher since that means more dishes for them to wash at night!









The upstairs master bedroom.

















The sitting area/office in the upstairs master bedroom.












The upstairs small patio. This is located between the master bedroom and the second bedroom.










The roof top deck.












The view of the San Antonio church from the roof top deck.











The downstairs guest suite bathroom and hallway.












The downstairs guest room.












The outside patio which is located right through the doors of the downstairs master bedroom.

Sickness!!!

Argh, the dreaded flu bug has hit our house. Our first night in the house and Alex gets up at 1:30 am telling us his belly hurts. He then proceeds to throw up 9 times that night!!! Then, I got it, then Charles. We are hoping that Hannah and Owen hold strong! Flu be gone!

Update: Hannah is down...only Owen survives...so far!

Our New Home...Casa Christina

We are delighted to be at lovely Casa Christina where we will be until we leave for VT in July. This is a beautiful house with lots of space and a big kitchen. The house is right down the street from an old church called San Antonio and it has a lovely plaza all around it where the kids can run around. While we think the roof top view was better at Casa Guadalupe (you could see downtown) this house is so much more suited to a family. Even when we have guests everyone will feel like they have their own space. So...we are excited to see all of our visitors at our beautiful new home.

I also took my first trip to Mega which is the huge grocery store located right near town. We could walk to it if we wanted a really long walk or there is a bus or a taxi (25 pesos or about $2.00). I tried to stock up on essentials as much as possible so it will be good to finally have some food around the house. We had been trying not to buy too much as we knew we were moving, so the kids were always complaining that we had no food in the house...and, in this case, they were right!

Apparently, there is a bakery right down the street from us but we haven't had a chance to check it out since it has been closed for the Easter holidays. Mmm....can't wait to try it!