Christmas Day Fun!

Since the big day here is the 24th, lots of people go out on the 25th for brunch or to the movies. We decided to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie and ride the carousel at the local mall. And, since January 6th (Three Kings Day) is the really big gift-giving day here (kids write letters to the three wise men and ask for toys, the equivalent of letters to Santa in the U.S.), Alex and Santi got to sit on the 'Three Kings' laps. It was an unofficial photo, but they still asked our kiddos what they wanted for the Dia de Reyes. Alex is a little confused by it all. But we got the picture, crazy fake beards and getup included.

Christmas Day!

Who knew that the dirty dogs would be the Christmas Fave??? Thanks Aunt S and Uncle M! They also LOVE the alphabet thingy and the leappad G'ma and G'pa.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Eve

Sparklers and fireworks are also a big deal on Christmas Eve. Alex got to try out a sparkler for the first time this year.

Christmas Eve Piñata

In Mexico piñatas are a big Christmas tradition. Children usually break piñatas at "posadas" and on Christmas Eve. They are filled with little "piñata" jicamas, candy and sometimes toys as well. Linda invited Alex and Santi to her house to break a piñata with Uzziel and Camila and their cousin Suri. Since all the children are three and under, Linda and I had to step in and break the piñata after they'd all had their turns trying.

Christmas Concert

Alex arrived back to Mexico just in time for the Christmas Concert at his preschool. He didn't really know the songs but he joined in anyway! He had a good time rolling around on stage. Unfortunately I didn't get a video of that. It was hard to get anything on video since we were right behind the man directing the music.

Alex's new Christmas, mixed up vocabulary:

Frossy the Snowman
Cookie Putters
Christmas Wreasts

Santi's new words:
Lights (as in on the tree)
Star
Abuela
Bubble

Tios, Tios, Everywhere! We love our TIOS!

Santi Claus!

Agradecidos!

Yellow River Game Ranch

My boys get down!

Fall Festival

We made it!

Everybody in our household has been sick at some time the past three weeks and thankfully today we are ALL BETTER!
Alex is still enjoying preschool and comes home singing new songs in Spanish and English every day.
Santi has a few new words in his vocabulary...wow, more, milk, to add to the others: hola, byebye, mama, papa, ball, baby.
I'm not sure if he has a word for Alex yet...he seems to just yell in Alex's general direction to get his attention.
They are playing well together these days...They both pretend to be doggies together and crawl around, or they bang on drums or instruments together. Alex is less rough with Santi and Santi is claiming his rights more often. Overall they do well together and laugh alot.

Mañana Mexicana

Today we went downtown to see what was going on in the zocalo (the downtown square) for independence weekend. We heard an orchestra, saw beautiful traditional dancers in colorful costumes, ate churros, blew bubbles and the boys climbed up onto a firetruck and met real firemen who even let them try on their helmets. We had a great time! Tonight is the "grito de independencia" and tomorrow is the actual independence day.