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.

I wasn’t totally satisfied with our all-inclusive because they did not always have Mexican food available. (I didn’t go to Mexico because of their Italian cuisine). However we still ate well and ate plenty.

Yummy, lets start the day with fresh pineapple, papaya and fresh orange-papaya juice. Add on a made to order omelet of chorizo, cheese, pico, and green peppers with a mexican red enchilada like sauce on top. Delicious. Then we can have french toast sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and hotcakes both drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. Oh my! How have I never had SCM on pancakes before?!

Lunch was usually pretty lame, but when we were lucky we had some fresh fillings to put into soft corn tortillas. Mostly I just filled up on nachos from the snack bar and virgin Tamarindo margaritas. Can’t go wrong.

Dinner was excellent so long as I passed by the quesadilla and sopa grill–cheese, beans, tasty meats, and lots of fresh pico and guacamole on top. My only problem was when I mistook the habanero salsa for a medium green salsa. It tasted absolutely wonderful until my face caught on fire. I made the same mistake that night so we could commiserate. You only make that mistake once though.

We also got some great creme-filled donuts and dulce de leche, flan, vanilla nog (a hot creamy spiced drink) and some yummy Pasta Para Duros with hot sauce and lime. I love food.