June Visitors: My Sister and 3 Kids

Last summer my sister visited us in Mexico with two of her kids: Edmund and Miriam. This summer, she brought her other two daughters: Aidah and Clara, and Edmund once again (so that Josh could have a playmate). I am eternally grateful for my sister and her husband making the financial and time sacrifices to visit us here, not once, but twice. It meant the world to me and we made such sweet memories!

We picked everyone up at the airport the evening of the twins' last day of school. What a way to celebrate school ending! The next morning the twins, unfortunately, had a rehearsal for the end of the year ceremony; but, that gave Katie's family time to sleep in and settle in for the trip. Then we headed to our favorite restaurant: Frida Chilaquiles for lunch.

It's harder than you would think to get 4 somberos into a picture frame.

Sisters so happy to be with each other!

We went to Planetario Alfa for the afternoon.

As always, the peacocks did not disappoint

I think that they are one of the most beautiful animals.

The main goal of the visit was to collect peacock feathers; we got a bunch and we were so excited!

All the cousins. Josh got the picture memo a bit late.

Josh and Edmund: buddies.

The kids asked if they could walk through this arched walkway of water. We said "sure" assuming that they would get a little wet. Little did we know that once we walked through, the arches would get smaller and totally drench all of us. We couldn't stop laughing about the mishap, threw in the towel and just let the kids keep playing and get soaked. 

They had a blast! 

I love this picture!

Day 2 we took them to one of our favorite parks: Parque Olivos. 

The kids loved the cement slide

And the cool trees

That afternoon we visited the Grutas de Garcia. It has been on our families "to do" list for a long time now and it was fun to visit a new place with our visitors! 

We took a funicular up to the top of a mountain to the entrance of the caves.

Aidah

I don't exactly know what we were expecting, but definitely not a cavern this grand! 

We took a guided tour that was about an hour long.

There were so many cool formations!

We really enjoyed the different lights that they used to magnify the stalagmite and stalagtites.

The was called "La mano de muerto" or the "Hand of Death." It was a bit creepy.

The cave was so extensive! 

Katie's kids did great during the tour even though it was all in Spanish.

Our guide was super nice and enjoyed the kids. 

Well done Josh, thanks for ruining the cousin picture.

Family picture in low lighting. Boo. 

The view from the outside of the grutas.

That evening we had hamburgers with our Mexican friends and celebrated the oldest son, Martin's, birthday together. It was a little different having two families at our house together that couldn't communicate with one another, but I was happy to introduce people I love to one another. 

The kids all love night swimming.

Those two! 

We found an enormous water beetle in the pool, which Aidah wanted to bring home with her for her bug collection. Later on that night, my sister later found a water beetle in her clothes. If only I could have gotten a video of her reaction! 

Celebrating Martin! 

Day 3 was a big outing day as we took everyone to Bioparque. It's about an hour an a half from our house. The big kids filled every minute with singing rounds and camp songs. I got the privilege of the middle seat with Josh and Edmund who could not keep their paws off one another. 

Buddies

How does Josh already have chocolate on his face?

The lorakeet cage never disappoints

Josh's face is so sweet in this one! 

We were so proud of Edmund for his courage with the birds! 

Again: look at Josh's delight.

Katie and my hands

Great picture of Seth and his three birds

Look at Ben's sock! 

Party place

Next we all went on the safari to feed to animals. Unfortunately the giraffes, who are usually the stars of the show, weren't hungry that afternoon. But the kids still got to feed zebras, gazelles, camels, ostriches, and water buffalo. 

I feel like Seth looks so grown up in this picture! 

It was so fun to share this experience with Katie! 

Mr. Zebra

You have to watch out for the ostriches...they'll steal your whole food box! 

Katie and Edmund

The Plato fam

We spent some extra time feeding the giraffes after the safari.

I love giraffes!

Go Clara!

Everyone has to pet the giraffe at least once! 

Aidah

Edmund wasn't too sure about the giraffe and would only get close to them with Ben.

I love this picture.

We relegated the littles to the trunk for their picnic lunch; they didn't seem upset about it. After lunch, we re-entered the park to check out the water slides. I don't have any pictures of the big water slide, but it one of the coolest slides we've been on: down the mountain side with beautiful views. All the kids also went on this smaller one.

Edmund and Sam

Clara and Josh

Seth (I guess I didn't get a picture of Aidah)

We ended this epic day with street tacos at Taqueria Orinoco and then onto one of our favorite ice cream shops, Lacreme

Chocolate faces

I love this one! 

For our final full day together, we decided to just chill at home and swim. It was a delightful and relaxing day of quality family time.

All the kiddos in the pool

Ben is the best. He played and played and played "monster" with the kiddos.

They all love him so much. (Note: Katie and I were unwilling to be the monster.)

Aidah has a cool underwater camera that we had fun trying out. This is Sam (I think)

Aidah

Sam again

Seth

Nice pose Clara

The big kids

This one is super cool with the water perspective

The littles were a bit harder to get an underwater picture of! 

We topped that day off with, of course, more ice cream. This time Caramela's. 

Final moments swimming (Edmund airborne in this one)

And there goes Josh

Lined up for a swimming race.

Last morning together. Edmund loves his uncle Ben and it has been so precious to watch them bond over these trips to Mexico. In fact, it has brought all of us so much closer together.

Other favorite memories from their trip:
-Letting the kids have sleepovers together and them asking, "Can we start talking now?" when we put them together.
-Playing Catan in the evening with me, Ben and Katie.
-Sam's quote of, "I wish girls didn't have privates so that we could swim together."
-Me driving to the airport for the first time.