We spent a couple of hours walking along the city boardwalk eating popsicles and taking a peek at the flea market. The boardwalk was lined with some pretty impressive sand sculptures. I was hoping to find some good souvenirs but we failed. Right before leaving we found our traditional cityscape portrait. The highlight was the Shake Shake Bridge.

Eden has a Thomas the Tank Engine book that has a ‘wibbly wobbly shake shake bridge’ in it. When my dad told me about the one in the city it must have registered as the same thing. So I wanted to go and experience the shake shake bridge myself. Eden loved it!

It is curious how something so little can seem so exciting and fun, to me! We all expect that from toddlers. Eden reminded me of lots of mysteries that are fun for kids, and I had totally forgotten. She explored the little tunnels on the side of the swimming pool. She wanted to summon the elevator and push the buttons. She will do anything for a sticker.

Our first night in Puerto Vallarta was the last night of a festival celebrating the Virgin Guadalupe. We got to go out and roam the pedestrian packed streets way past the kids’ bedtimes with Dad and Daniel. Yummy food and great costumes on the few groups we saw who were beginning the procession. Eden was dancing and literally running circles around us until Chad finally just grabbed her and held her. She has an unlimited supply of energy. She was an airplane, then she chased bubbles, then she shopped. She never cared how close she was to us. The crowd was thick so I kept chasing after her. She mostly had tired energy and needed to have less stimulation. Then she was out like a light. I was exhausted too. Most nights I felt like we were going to bed at 11 pm or midnight, but the clock said 9 pm.

The best part of the festivities were the attendees. It seemed like the kids outnumbered the adults. Families were everywhere. You could tell the festival was local and not put on for tourists like ourselves. It was so family-oriented.

We had so many people telling us what beautiful kids we have. Many would come over and coo to them or lovingly pat them on the head as they passed. It was so nurturing and inviting. What a wonderful attitude I wish we could all adopt. Daniel and I talked about how natural it felt to just smile and be friendly with people there. I mentioned how in our culture I would be afraid that my behaving that way would make others feel like I was making a pass at them.

Eden is, well, absolutely wonderful. She was so cute this week as she spoke like ‘Dora’. She practiced saying ‘hola’ and ‘gracias’. We also discovered that she can count in Spanish nearly as well as she can in English. We didn’t teach her that.

On the last day of our trip we went to a little activity they had for the kids with a Fred Flintstone character. Eden mostly just wanted to watch the other kids interact with him but she didn’t want to leave. They did a little dancing session. She was one of the youngest kids there but she was holding her own. We had fun doing a special rendition of Head Shoulders Knees and Toes to kid’s rock music.

When we left she asked to give hugs to Fred (aka Pablo at the resort). I guess a trip to Disneyland does not need to be too far off.