Hiking and Marching

Two weekends ago when Kara and Joshua were here, we went on a wonderful hike. We began in a park just outside of town (we took a taxi there), then hiked along the river, went up and over a mountain, through a village, and finally dropped into another little park. A few times we weren't completely sure where we were or should go, but as Wilhelmina pointed out, that made it more fun. (And this is a fairly densely populated area, so once we just followed the sounds to find some kids who were out cutting wood -- yes, wood-cutting children, as in a fairy tale -- for directions.)

(More scenes from a terrific bromance.)

Joshua and Oscar slept outside on the
upstairs patio.

The boys chilled at one of our favorite restaurants.

The boys slept inside one night. (Exhausted!)

 (And think: Oscar and Joshua have been friends since they were in the infant room at daycare. They're "golden friends" as Wilhelmina might say, after this:

Make new friends,
But keep the old,
One is silver,
But the other is gold.

It was a great visit.)

The week following that hike was filled with marching. Both kids participated in escolta competitions with their classmates. Escolta is like color guard (not that I know what that is, either, come to think of it) -- the idea is that the kids march in perfect formation  following the shouted orders of their comandantes.  One person holds the flag; everyone is very neatly dressed in matching outfits, military-lite. They do a series of complicated turns and formations; it's very impressive! Oscar tells us that in part, escolta is done to honor the Niños Heroes.

Practicing.

Posing.

W's escolta practicing...

...and about to start their competition. 

Before, nervous...!

After, relieved.

Here's Wilhelmina's escolta in action at the competition. Lore was the comandante (the person shouting the orders) and was perfect.

Hecho en Mexico

The other day at dinner Oscar offered that his school day had been great.
"What was so great about it?"
"We played hand dogs."

Hand dog with salad.

Hand dogs, it turns out, is more or less what is sounds like: you pretend that your hand is a dog; your friends do likewise. You walk your fingers around on the ground and talk about the incredible things your hand dog can do. (Hand dogs always have super powers, it seems.) I assume there's some dog fighting involved, possibly with dog teams?

One of the great things about being here is that the kids have come up with really interesting ways of amusing themselves. Hand dogs are just the start. Here are a few things the kids have made in Mexico.

Soaps! Cinnamon, apple, and orange.
Hecho por Wilhelmina.

Oscar blew some eggs and started making
people. This is the first one, Eggy. Eggy
has a recliner, a tv, and a bowl of popcorn
(a bottle cap filled with white paper confetti). 

Wilhelmina's terrarium, made from a
cake case.

The kids started these scarves at school
and finished them at home.

Wilhelmina's elaborate valentine.

The morning of the day my book was officially released, the kids surprised me with some wonderful things (besides coffee).

Not shown: Oscar's volcano and his army base; Wilhelmina's dress book and scrap book; Candle City (area in the back of the house where plastic soldiers and candles commingle in a messy, melty martial paradise); the Room of Requirement (a tiny room with a separate entrance, meant for a servant, that the kids have turned into an all-purpose secret clubhouse).

The kids watch a lot of TV, spend a lot of time on the computer (so do Sean and I)...and they also do some very cool things, here.