My Mother’s Day started with a serenade from Guerita.
I woke at 6am to find her sitting in bed next to me singing “You are my Sunshine”, a song she’d learnt at school. It was so sweet and she was so heartfelt about it. It ranks right up there as one of the best ways to wake up. A little bit later than 6am would have been quite nice, but oh well. A sleep in was never going to be on the cards since Rocky was away for work and not due back till 9am this morning.
As well as the song, I received a number of beautiful pieces of artwork
and this one made at school
It says “Happy Mother’s Day! I give you this and much love. I love you.”
I had to laugh though because apparently they were told to cut out a picture from a magazine of something they would give us as a gift and stick the picture in the card. Guerita chose a jar of wrinkle cream to stick in my card! Do you think she’s trying to tell me something??
As well as the card, the school made a CD of the kids singing a few songs, including my morning’s serenade and a few songs in Spanish. It was pretty impressive! It reminded of when I was in primary school and our school choir made a recording (for a fundraiser, I think). From memory one of the songs we sang was Feeling Groovy and it was recorded on 45s!!
Perhaps I do need that wrinkle cream after all.
After we collected Rocky from the airport we went straight out for breakfast and then spent the rest of the day lazing round playing Junior Scrabble and splashing in the paddle pool.
Of course, we couldn’t forget the Grandma’s but had to call them the night before because of the time difference. I’ve never really gone for the purchased Mother’s Day present, either to give or receive. I’d rather I or the kids produce a craft or specially made card and given our distance from the Grandmas, we opted for a digital greeting. The obvious choice for me was a photo gift so I made these up in Photoshop for my Mum and Mother in Law. We’ll print them for them if they want, or they can just enjoy them on the computer. A new screensaver perhaps?
I hope all the Mothers out there had a great Mother’s Day too!
May Day (1st May) is a holiday in Mexico, as is Cinco de Mayo (5th May) so we decided to use the extra long weekend to take a short trip to Alamos, a colonial town a few hours south of us. We have been wanting to go for a while and since time was running out we seized the opportunity.
The drive down was a fairly straight and flat one, passing through a few small towns, but mostly the view was a lot of this:
which was quite nice and peaceful to look out at for a few hours, when the kids weren’t screeching or asking for food.
The traffic was fairly light, but there were a few trucks on the road. We followed this open truck for a while before I realised what was inside
So, after the obligatory ice-cream stop we made it Alamos.
Alamos, founded in the 1600s was once a bustling metropolis, fuelled by silver mines in the region and it used to be the capital of the large province (now 2 states) in the 19th century. It fell into disrepair in the early 1900s following the Mexican revolution but was revived in the late 20th century by American investors who restored many of the old colonial buildings and turned them into museums, hotels and restaurants. It has since become a popular tourist town and an American enclave, many of whom run the tourist industry establishments.
Its a small, quaint town with a large cathedral overlooking the main plaza, cobblestone streets and many, many beautiful haciendas. The houses sit right on the street with arched, full-length windows secured with wrought iron, and open up into gorgeous interior courtyards often with lovely gardens and little pools.
We stayed in a 150 old converted house now operating as a B & B, eclectically decorated and serving yummy breakfasts. (I’ve put some pictures of the food over at my kitchen blog)
We only stayed a few nights so we mostly wandered the cobblestone streets, gawked at the pretty houses and ate. We also spent a fair bit of time in the little pool at the B&B. The weather was milder than at home, but it was still over 35°C every day.
When you’ve been living in a place for a while, you get used to a lot of things that were so noticeable to begin with. Going on holidays in Mexico has often reminded me of some of these things and walking through the Main Plaza and market area of Alamos I noticed again how colourful and alive everything is here. Businesses and families and life in general spill out onto the streets and interact with passers-by, unlike at home where so much happens behind closed doors. People are friendly; they talk to you and smile, and for us in particular, comment on our blonde hair. It’s nice to soak a bit of that up before we leave.
Going to Alamos ticks off another one of the places we wanted to see before we left. Last year we managed to get to Veracruz, MexicoCity and Cancun, but I don’t think there’ll be any more holidays now. Of course, there’s loads more places we would have like to visit in Mexico; the train ride in Copper Canyon (said to rival the Grand Canyon) was one we missed out on, but you can’t do everything, I guess.
On the drive home we stopped at the beach for lunch and a dip in the Sea of Cortés. The scenery is always nice there, but after growing up on Perth beaches, we have pretty high coastal standards. A pebbly beach doesn’t rate that high, but the water was refreshing nonetheless. Being in the sheltered Gulf of California, there’s not much in the way of waves, which is great for the kids.
It may well be our last trip to the beach before we leave, so I took the opportunity to visit my favourite Mexican pottery shop to stock up on Talavera, the iconic colourful glazed ceramics that decorate so many houses here (and the house of every tourist who’s visited Mexico).
Apart from the obvious - a lie in, some quiet time, no cooking or dishes (this last one is probably the only one I will get), what I would love for Mother’s Day…
Is to win this competition from Upstart Blogger and Big Arena Records for a free iPhone. I have real gadget envy for these phones.
To enter you need to link to Big Arena Records which is a new independent record label set up by three musicians.
I am always amazed by some of the incredible giveaways on some blogs out there. The cynic in me wonders if they are all legit, but you know, it’s not costing me anything to link to the blog and actually, I’ve discovered some interesting new blogs this way.
Of course, I am one of those people who never wins anything. Not a chook raffle or lotto or the door prize. But, you never know - maybe this time??!
Who would have thought there could be so many posts with the word piñata in it? This should be the last one…
So, Guerita’s birthday yesterday was an action packed day. She woke predictably early for special 5 year old cuddles and immediately wanted to know where the presents were. She was thrilled with her loot from us (remote control doll on a bike, pyjamas, activity books and a pop-up soccer goal) and excited that there were even pressies from family back home (books, stickers, another Princess dress and Princess shoes from Grandma & Grandpa!).
After a bit of time to play with the new stuff she happily went off to school to be fussed over by the teachers and her friends (the whole school sang Happy Birthday to her at “assembly”). I raced home to prepare for the party.
Apart from a minor panic when I realised I had to make sandwiches, fairy bread and fruit kebabs for 25 kids in one hour, we returned to school, laden with food, cake, piñata and lolly bags. I soon realised that having the party at school was a stroke of genius! I hadn’t expected it but the teachers took control of the whole thing and kept the kids moving through food, the game (pass the parcel), piñata and cake. They even popped in a energy-burning dance session in the middle (Very cute - all the kids jumping and square-dancing round the classroom to Cotton-eye Joe). We were able to sit back like spectators and enjoy the whole thing!
Guerita had a great time and for the most part enjoyed being the centre of attention. She is a bit of a prima donna, our girl, so she does like the spotlight, but there were times when everyone crowding round wanting a piece of her was a bit overwhelming for her.
The day seemed to be dominated by cakes. First there was the cake for the school party - Sleeping Beauty and her castle -
I didn’t make this one! And it was way bigger and more elaborate than I was expecting!!
Then there were the cupcakes to take to along to ballet class in the afternoon
Didn’t make them either!
And finally the cake I did make - to take out to dinner at our favourite place with some friends who have a son the same age as Guerita - her “best friend” she tells me.
(The photo frame cake from Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake book)
Of course, the presents were a highlight of the day for Guerita. I had fantasies of her telling me the best thing about the day was being surrounded by family and friends and then I had a reality check and realised she’s 4 5!! She did score a lot of Princess related items from the kids at school, which is to be expected since it was a Princess party and I knew there would be a few Barbies amongst the schoolkids’ gifts. Last year she got 4 for her birthday - the only ones she owns since I refuse to buy them.
This year’s Barbie haul
I accept this (grudgingly). I understand why she gets given so many. For a start there’re more of these in the shop than anything else and they only cost about $8 in Wal-mart. I never realised how cheap they were till we came here. I don’t like the fact that there’s so many in the house, but in actual fact, the novelty of them wears off for Guerita pretty quickly. Barbies are not even close to her most played with toys. These ones are relatively OK - mostly fairy/princess/ballerina styles and a couple of casual-wear versions. You know what bugs me most about Barbie - that their toes are permanently pointed to put into sky-high heels! I don’t know why that annoys me so much, maybe it just seems like such a cliche that she’ll totter around on stilettos or platforms! (Could have something to do with me not having worn heels for a very long time…)
The little doll on the end is not a Barbie, but a smaller one called La Fea which means “The Ugly One”! That’s almost as bad as the fake beauty of Barbie!
What’s that all about? I can only guess its related to the original version of the Ugly Betty show - Betty La Fea - which is a huge Colombian telenovela (soap opera) hit.
I drew the line at one of the Barbies she was given though:
This one (Kennedy My Scene Barbie) has been spirited away to be hidden in the back of the closet, because she’s disgusting! She is dressed like a tramp, has freakishly puffed up lips, make-up and “my bling bling” jewellery. I don’t ever want Guerita to look like this or dress like this, so I definitely don’t want her to play with this doll. (This one is getting dangerously close to a Bratz doll, which I really despise - that will be the next stage I think) She got one glance at it before I surreptiously stole it and she has asked about it a few times, but I’m hoping she forgets about it soon. If not, I’ll have to explain to her why I don’t want her to play with it, but I know if I do that she’ll probably tell the girl who gave it to her that her Mum won’t let her play with it.
She also got some lovely presents from her friends including a few Spanish language books that will be great for when we are back home trying to keep her Spanish up. All in all it was a great day for her and even though these things tend to be over the top (even our low-key version ) she really was made to feel very special by everyone at school. I am often touched by how thoughtful and affectionate and loving the teachers at her school are. They really do care a lot for the kids and they do a great job of looking after and teaching them.
Oh, and Chiq had a great time too following round after Guerita and her friends and watching all the 5 year old fun. She even got a new dress from Grandma and Grandpa so she didn’t feel too left out.
So, fun for all…and I’m glad we don’t have to worry about kids parties for another 8 months!
May 11, 2008 
Posted in Family, Fiestas 
12 Comments » 
) she really was made to feel very special by everyone at school. I am often touched by how thoughtful and affectionate and loving the teachers at her school are. They really do care a lot for the kids and they do a great job of looking after and teaching them.
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