Mexico Summer visit Part 1

We spent a little under three weeks in Mexico early this Summer visiting family and friends.  I was a bit hesitant about being in Merida during one of the hottest months of the year with three children five and under, but it truly turned out to be a memorable time that made our return back home a little hard.

I uploaded my thoughts and a few quotes by the kids every night while we were there through Instagram, but I'll do my best to record it on the blog as well.

Here we are at my mom's house on the afternoon we arrived.  Of all days to arrive, the power went out in the entire Yucatan Peninsula, which meant that on top of it blazing hot, my mom had no electricity (aka -- no AC!!!), and no running water (!!!).  That first night was rough.  I laid in my hammock at night thinking to myself:  "I don't think I'll be able to make it thru the entire trip.  I think I'm going back home with Byron next week."

However, here are the kids outside with my mom, giving them the tour of her backyard.  Emma was the most excited about picking fruit off of my mom's trees.  Son Byron's quote of the day was:  "I love Oma's home more that our home."

One day we drove the 30 minutes from my mom's house to Progreso to enjoy the ocean.  The kids had a blast, of course.  And I kept Naamen on my back the entire time so he wouldn't get all sandy and wet.

As a side note, this was the beach where Byron sent me scavenger hunting during on the night we got engaged ELEVEN years ago!!!

One of my main goals while being in Mexico was to spend time with my aunt Miriam.  Her health has declined significantly since I last saw her, and she doesn't even remember who I am, but that didn't take away the joy of being in her home and in her presence almost every day.  The kids were a little scared of her, but I'm glad they got to spend some time with her regardless of.

It was fun to run into one of my cousins one day at my aunt's house.

We took the kids to the mall one day to have lunch and have fun.  We introduced them to some crepes, food both Byron and I enjoyed together often during our Mexico years.  They loved them!

And of course, some fresh OJ for the family!

And our little Miss Mango got to have some mango ice cream at one of our favorite ice cream joints.

And then one of my cousins invited us to her daughter's birthday part.  Speak about giving the kids an experience of a lifetime!  Now the kids want their own pinata at their party this summer.

They even had a "live show" for the kids.

And kids juice...

We have a really funny video of the kids catching the candy as it was falling from the pinata.  Son Byron was literally laughing as the candy was "falling from the sky."