México and Monarchs

Here are just a few January (the month of only soccer) photos before we went off to Mexico (the city of.)

 Can you find the pinata in the midst of Paul's friends?

 Micah's friend Manuel had his birthday celebration after soccer practice, too.

The boys were so extremely excited to go on our week-long trip to Mexico City; you would think that we never take them anywhere! I guess I allowed the excitement to build extra, since we left 2 days late so that I could go to the doctor and have labwork to diagnose and treat my three infections. Thank God, I'm great now. 

How did Anthony watch the Super Bowl? 

a) in Queretaro, Mexico

b) in an Argentinian restaurant (where they run laps around the table to bring the unlimited buffet of grilled meat to your plate)

c) with a friend who didn't know which two teams were playing

d) while the kids played in a huge playground

e) Yes, all of the above.

Darla, our friend from Tennessee who is volunteering at Hogar Amor to care for needy kids, came on our cross-country road trip with us.

 Querétaro is pretty

and quaint.

 Please don't judge us for traveling Mexican style since we don't have a minivan here. Most people thought Darla was one of our kids.

 I never thought about the possibility of seeing Joshua trees here.

 Here is a typical town

with a purple church.

We finally found this Hogar Amor home that is nearly on the other coast of Mexico! We adults had a wonderful visit with the house parents while their 28 children played with our 3. 

This "home for the protection of children" (which is more P.C. than orphanage, since most of the kids' parents are living) is spectacular in every way. Have I mentioned that you can find information about Hogar Amor here?  http://www.hogaramor.com

Our boys loved our sky-scraper hotel in Puebla. It is amazing what Anthony can do on priceline. 

If we tipped our tourguide a peso everytime Samuel said, "This is cool!" while we went through tunnels inside of the largest pyramid in the world, he would be rich. The Great Pyramid of Cholula's  base is 450 meters by 450 meters and its volume is almost twice that of the Great Pyramid in Giza.

 Being inside a pyramid that was begun in the 3rd century B.C. really was cool.

 That "hill" the church is sitting on is actually the pyramid.

Mostly due to funding, the excavation of this treasure stopped 30 years ago.

This pyramid is tiny in comparison, but it was enough to give me sore quads (at least after having been sick for a month.)

We are continually amazed at how much fun the kids can have anywhere, which we think this video demonstrates.

One of the things I remember that the tourguide said was that there are 365 Catholic churches in Puebla and more than 400 festivals per year there. Are you starting to believe me that Mexicans party a lot?

Anthony and I both think that Puebla and Mexico City were nice to visit, but we are so glad that God sent us to the smaller town of Colima instead.

 Anyone want tacos al pastor?

 Anyone want a helium balloon?

 Anyone want a hug?

Since Colima doesn't have much Colonial architecture remaining after all of its earthquakes, I really enjoyed the buildings of Puebla.

Micah decided that this Catholic Church could feed all of the hungry people in Mexico with the cost of the gold in this chapel. I love how that kid thinks.

 Sam decided to try and catch pigeons.

 Paul decided to have a mo-hawk until his hair dried.

 Paul likes the pedestrian walkways over highways. Can you tell that he helped me pick the photos for this post?

Mexico City has many beautiful statues, with this one being the most famous.

 Darla can put our boys into such a fun mood!

México's castle was the first one I've seen where I could imagine enjoying living there.

Instead of cold and drafty castles in northern Europe, the stone floors seemed refreshingly cool. Instead of ancient and empty, the banquet halls continue to be used by the president and the military for hosting events.

 I also liked the grounds of the castle, overlooking the second largest city in the world.

 My friend Angélica and her son Diego came into the city to spend time with us!!

 These boys continue to love pandas.

 I was amazed to see how clean they keep the beautiful buildings of México City!

Angélica and Diego came back into the city a second day to escort us,

teach the boys Spanish tongue-twisters,

 play hand-games,

 get Sam's blonde hair out of the reach of continual petting,

 and help hold hands in the occasionally-crowded city.

 But most of all, it was great to spend time with Angélica

 and Deigo.

Anthony had the awesome idea of going to a butterfly sanctuary, an idea I had given up on since Michoacán is not considered a safe place for travelers. He found a place near Valle de Bravo in the state of México instead. When we arrived, we couldn't believe how many monarch butterflies were swarming around.

 We rode horses up a steep, dusty trail surrounded by monarchs.

There were just so many (millions.) I just read Flight Behavior, and Barbara Kingsolver did not exaggerate about how very magnificent the monarch gathering looks and feels.

Do you understand that the big blobs/balls are clumps of monarchs huddled together? When the wind blows ever so slightly, thousands cascade into flight.

Above is a video that does a better job of showing how amazing it was to see so many butterflies, even though it doesn't do it justice.

Of course Pablo loved helping the hurt ones on the ground find the strength to fly again.

Understandable fascination.

What did the horse guide do to Micah?  

Darla was as happy as can be in the saddle of a horse.

Of course Paul wants to own a horse now. Yes, his guide was 12 years old.

We have a happy memory of a spectacular experience.

We also went to see the 3-D monarch butterfly documentary last week. I highly recommend Flight of the Butterflies (we saw it in Spanish = El Vuelo de las Monarcas); I think it is shown in various I-Max theaters, like the National Museum of Natural History.