It was kind of crazy to have my parents visit us for a second time! This visit felt much different than the first one. To begin with, we weren't so stressed about how Mom and Dad would feel here (whether they felt comfortable/safe, etc.). We also already knew that they liked it here and we all had things to anticipate doing again. Finally, my parents seemed much more relaxed about the actual trip here...they'll soon be pros at this international traveling thing!
Because it was their second time here, I didn't feel the need to document every moment like I did last time, so I ended up with considerably less pictures than their previous visit. However, I think that is also reflective of the more restful posture we had during the week. Also, the weather wasn't great while they were here, so we really did spend a fair amount of time in our apartment, hanging out, watching basketball, coloring, reading, and playing ping-pong.
It's always good to have Grandma here to read with the kids!
We all played A LOT of ping-pong. Dad and Mom even spent time playing against each other.
One real treat we had while they were here was that my maid's daughter, who is a trained chef, offered to make some dinners for us. Elba, my maid, was very excited and proud to show off her daughter's skills and they really blessed us with not only cooking, but serving us three spectacular dinners. It definitely was a highlight of my parents' visit. Here's a few food pictures from the meals that Elbita made us:
This is shrimp in a chile lime sauce. It was amazing, but also VERY spicy.
How about the presentation in this appetizer?
Even her salads were beautifully presented.
Mom and Dad's first full day here, we ate Frida Chilaquiles for lunch and then headed to Planterio Alfa in the afternoon. I was SO excited to show mom the peacocks. We saw them only briefly at the beginning of our visit, because we needed to hurry to get to the Omimax film on Pandas (which was awesome!). Unfortunately, though, we didn't get to see them again because a massive thunderstorm moved in while we were inside and continued dumping rain for the rest of the afternoon.
Thankfully we did get one peacock picture.
The next day we took my parents to Saltillo to the Desierto Museo. We knew that they would really like and appreciate the dinosaur fossils found here in Mexico. It was a great outing.
In front of the musuem.
This is a great picture!
We all really enjoyed seeing the fossils.
The boys (Ben included) enjoyed diverting water in this really cool labyrinth fountain (I love the mural in the background).
Sunday we went to church (which is always fun to share with our friends and family...we LOVE our church here) and then we took Mom and Dad down to the Barrio Antiguo (old town). I don't have many pictures from that outing, but highlights included more chilequiles, macaroons for desert, finding an awesome antique frame, and some tequila tasting.
We ate a lot of great food! Beyond just Mexican food, we had to share with them our two favorite ice cream places and our favorite GF macaroons.
Monday was a Mexican holiday, so Ben was home from work as well. It was a cold and rainy day and we just chilled at the house until evening when we went to a Fuerza Regia game. They are the semi-professional basketball team here in Monterrey and it was the season semi-final. Now that was a Mexican experience for my parents! Loud and packed with people, smoke blowing out after each score, mascots, cheerleaders, a band...it was super fun!
Note the mascot...it looked like a cross between some sort of super hero and an Ent (LOTR reference)...and it was on stilts, because that's what they do in Mexico. Not pictured was the gorilla mascot and his partner, a midget gorilla mascot (you can't make this stuff up).
Having fun at the game.
Our final day with Mom and Dad, the twins had a birthday party to go to, so we dropped them off, headed out for last tacos, and then souvenir shopping. We then grabbed ice cream bars and headed back home to play final games of ping pong and finish the dragon drawing that my mom had been working on with the boys.
Everyone contributed to the dragon drawing. Sam and Seth drew the head, Josh all the spikes on the back, and mom the body and wings. Every body helped to color it as well. What a great final result!
I'm so thankful for my parents willingness to travel to a foreign country to visit us and invest time in my kids! I'm glad that we can share part of our life down here with them.
