Gingerbread men are so much fun to make because the decorating possibilities are endless. Sure, you could always make a traditional gingerbread man, who is rather cute and irresistible with his plain sweet smile and buttons. But why not add a little personality with a range of facial expressions – curious, mischievous, deadpan, dour or dreamy.  Or, you could even go further …

I was thinking of how I wanted to decorate these sweet little things this year, when it hit me to make them into luchadores. My bicultural train of thought went something like this: gingerbread = marranitos = panadería = Mexico = lucha libre. Of course, who doesn’t love lucha libre?! I’m a HUGE fan of the masked Mexican wrestlers, especially those vintage folk heroes like Mil Máscaras, Blue Demon and El Santo. I like classic lucha and kitschy lucha, and the idea of two identities and two sides to everyone. And I knew my daughter would just love them, because she could, in her words, “Fight them!” Yeah, too much My Little Pony Equestria Girls for her.

Disclaimer here: I am no cookie artist, so that means anyone can make these. I’m not even that good at baking cookies. As a mom, you work at the things you want to be great or just good at. And you’re okay with being mediocre or even bad at some things. I’m okay with being an okay cookie-maker. I make up for it by being an absolute pro at cookie-eating.

This holiday season, I did use a little help in the kitchen from my old friend Betty. Yup, I bought a box of gingerbread cookie mix (take your pick, from Betty Crocker to King Arthur to Williams Sonoma mixes) and called it a day. We’re in the thick of the holidays, I’ve got a fussy, teething one-year-old who wakes up at all hours of the night, blah, blah. Best decision ever, and they turned out pretty delish. Still, there are plenty of great gingerbread cookie recipes online, and this soft gingerbread cookie recipe by Inspired by Familia looks yummylicious.

If you’re new to decorating with royal icing, it’s awesome (until your hand starts cramping and you have to clean up!). It’s the type that hardens after you decorate, so it’s perfect for using on plain cookies like gingerbread or sugar cookies. One of my favorite cookie decorating blogs is Sweetopia. Who knew cookies could look sooooo pretty? I especially love her 10 tips on how to decorate cookies with royal icing.  In the past, I’ve actually followed her tips closely and come out with Pinterest-worthy cookies. Below is her recipe for royal icing.

For ideas on how to decorate the luchador masks, go to Flickr or Google and just search for lucha libre mask and you’ll get an array of photos showing various masks and designs. Pick a few and practice freehanding the design on wax or parchment paper before actually piping onto the cookie.

My luchadores didn’t turn out perfect looking, but in our house, they were just the thing we needed to give our holidays a bit of Mexican flavor. Here are the two recipes you need to follow. Have fun!

Ingredients:

Soft Gingerbread Cookies (via Inspired by Familia)

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 2.5 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Royal Icing (via Sweetopia)

• ¾ cup of warm water
• 5 Tablespoons meringue powder
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2.25 lbs./1kg powdered sugar
• **Add one teaspoon of clear vanilla to this recipe if using a meringue powder with no vanilla flavor.

**You will also need several decorating piping bags and tips, available online or in most craft stores. You can also add candy or sprinkles to your gingerbread.

Directions:

Soft Gingerbread Cookies

-Preheat over to 375F

-Cream softened butter and add brown sugar, and beat until fluffy.

-Add egg and molasses.

-Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, clover and salt.

-Refrigerate the dough for an hour. Roll it out on a floured surface, and cut out into gingerbread men using a cookie cutter. Bake for 10 minutes, and then let cool before icing.

Royal Icing

-In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand for 30 seconds. Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds. Add the powdered sugar, and using the paddle attachment mix on the lowest speed for a full 10 minutes, until icing turns thick and creamy.

-Cover the bowl with a dampened kitchen towel to prevent crusting and drying.

-Now you can tint smaller batches of the icing with food coloring, or thin it by adding small amounts of warm water until you reach the desired consistency.

Never, ever did I plan to have children, but even more far-fetched in my envisioned future was to confront pregnancy in a foreign country. Nonetheless, I fell in love and life surprised me with an extended stay along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, in my husband’s hometown. Included during this “stay” I experienced a blissful courtship, marriage, becoming a legal Mexican resident (phew, that’s finally out of the way!), and then… a positive pregnancy stick. Wait, what?

After the immediate shock wore off, I realized I was excited, inspired to be a mother. Nervous, clueless—yes, yes. Fearful… I feared not so much the pregnancy details (ignorance was bliss), but rather what was to become of my new familia. The U.S. residency process for my husband was certain to be a time-consuming challenge. What’s more, to race our baby’s birth date seemed highly unachievable. After much back-and-forth with the U.S. Consulate, we slowly began to accept that I had to do what I initially considered the impossible. And so it became that I was to have my baby in Mexico.

Throughout my pregnancy and early motherhood, I experienced many cultural differences…

Swapping Spit

I finally started showing at 8 months (bragging point).  My husband and I were out for tacos one night when we were asked to share our table with another (pregnant) couple.  “¡Claro!”  After some light conversation, the woman asked politely if we could exchange saliva.  If I’ve learned anything in my travels, it’s to be as adaptable as possible and to consider the unknown as a learning adventure.  I was happy to! I admitted I was unfamiliar with the tradition, asked if she could ‘go first’, and followed her lead by licking my thumb and touching the back of her earlobe.  She explained that this way our children would be born healthy and happy.

El ojo de venado

Neighbors, friends, family, anyone who knows you’re pregnant will give you advice. I was given a Deer’s Eye. Well, not a real one, and it wasn’t really for me; it was for our soon-to-be newborn. Our neighbor took this special seed, made it into a tiny bracelet with red beads, and told me that as long as my baby wore it, all negative vibes would be warded off.  (Phew, because I was worried!)

El hilo rojo

As with all tiny babies, hiccups are a common, adorable occurrence. The first time my sister-in-law held our hiccupping baby, she immediately ripped a piece of red string off her shirt, licked it (again with the spit) and stuck it to my infant’s forehead. “Para el hipo” she said shortly.

Qué hacer cuando le hacen ojo

After a day at the market, my husband’s family told me what I needed to do to remedy all the negative vibes that my baby absorbed that day (caused by so many people looking at him). This tradition includes a specific way to use an egg to absorb and get rid these negative vibes. In case you’d like to try it, here’s the recipe:

• 1 huevo/ 1 egg
• Albaca/ Basil
• Alcohol/ alcohol
• 1 glass cup

Instructions: Soak the egg in alcohol and basil. Massage your baby’s head and shoulders using the egg. You may dip the egg in the mix a few times, if necessary. Some say a prayer during this massage. Then, crack the egg into the cup, and the absorbed vibes will be gone. (You should see one or two “spots” within the egg—these are sure signs that it worked!)

Remedio para la mollera

Imagine your newborn being held upside down, grasped by the ankles while someone is slapping at his feet as if they were the bottom of a ketchup bottle, all the while dipping his head in water. (!?) I was with my mother-in-law, and she’d taken it upon herself to remedy our baby’s fontanel (the soft spot on his head). She was dipping his head in a jícara (a carved coconut used like a bowl). As you can imagine, my reaction as a new mamá was not calm. I was quite frightened! I addressed my concerns as kindly as possible and asked her just what she was doing to my poor baby. Evidently, this is the fix when an adult feels that a baby’s fontanel is too indented.

I’m so grateful for these encounters and I must say that in the end I’m left with so much; insight to my husband’s childhood, a better understanding of this aspect of our son’s culture, openness to alternative remedies, and humorous stories to share with my son and the world. Have you experienced a pleasant or not-so pleasant foreign cultural tradition?

Lori Jena Freise and her family live in both Mexico and the USA. You can read more blogs from her and her colleagues about translating, bilingualism, the growing language industry, and working at the Translationz office here.  You may also connect with her directly on LinkedIn.

{Photo courtesy of Lori Jena Freise}

I’m still in awe of all the natural wonders Mexico holds. When I was invited to visit La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur, and was told that we’d be visiting la Isla Espíritu Santos y was definitely excited, but had no idea the beauty that awaited me.

I, along with the group of travel writers I was traveling with, was taken aboard a motor boat run by Fun Baja to explore the Sea of Cortez. Our guide was Juan Beltrán and we were extremely lucky to have him. He embodies the happy and free spirit of the area and his pride for the place he calls home is palpable.

Instead of telling you about our magical day at Isla Espíritu Santos and swimming with the sea lions, I’ll let you watch this video that I took where you will see for yourself how breathtaking this place is and also get to meet Juan Beltrán, Fun Baja tour guide.

And now you know why I’m planning on going back during whale watching season with my daughter and my husband. I felt so guilty they didn’t experience this with me!

Special thanks to La Paz tourism board and Fun Baja Adventures for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

This post is sponsored by Disney Story. To find out more about this brand-new story-creation app - and how it puts the power of storytelling in your hands - click here.

It’s no secret to those that know me either online or “in real life” that I have a true passion for all things México. The five years I spent living in that country solidified my adoration for it. While there I traveled the country as much as I could, but there’s just so much more to explore.

One of the regions I have been aching to visit for years now is Baja California Sur. Living in Los Angeles, it’s almost a given that you’ve at least made it down to Cabo once, but not me! So when I got an invitation from the La Paz, Baja California Sur fideicomiso to join a small group of travel writers and journalists to board Aeroméxico’s very first direct flight from L.A. to La Paz and explore the area for a few days, I pretty much jumped up and down in front of my laptop for a few minutes before I replied.

Not knowing much about La Paz and really only being aware that the Sea of Cortez was the place to be during whale-watching season (October-March), I embarked on this journey with no expectations other than to discover another piece of my México lindo y querido.

What I quickly learned once we landed in La Paz is that this is a quiet, family-oriented, relaxed, up-and-coming beach town. Time really seems to have stopped in this beautiful city that’s also home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world as it faces the Sea of Cortez, coined by Jacques Cousteau as the “world’s aquarium.”

There’s so much detail that I want to share with you about what I discovered in La Paz, the Isla Espíritu Santo and the surf town Todos Santos and why this is such an ideal destination to visit with kids. But a picture tells a thousand words, so for now here are a few pictures with highlights from my trip. Caution: the sea’s turquoise color is mesmerizing and like nothing I had seen before!

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It was a Monday afternoon, my husband and I were in the kitchen watching an episode of House Hunters International, we turned to look at each other and our eyes said it all, at that moment we decided to grab our children and go on an adventure.

From the moment we knew we were going to be parents, my husband and I knew that our children would be bilingual. But at that time we did not imagine how challenging it would be to live and nurture our children in a multicultural and bilingual environment.

The language that my children learned first was Spanish, obviously, as they were with me all the time, little by little we started using the  OPOL method by chance, everything was fine until my oldest son started school and decided he did not want to speak Spanish anymore. When my second child made his appearance, the favorite language to communicate between them was English.

I didn’t stop reading to them in Spanish, putting music in Spanish and introducing Spanish to them as it presented in our lives, however, despite my efforts, English was winning.

When my husband and I decided to launch into the adventure of living in another country for a few months, we did not hesitate, we decided to go to Mexico. I left my country in 2001 and had gone back to visit only for short periods of time, the idea of living with family, enjoy the food and immerse my children in Spanish was very tempting, so we opened our arms to the world and sent out our desire…

After nearly eight months in Mexico these are three things I have learned from this experience:

Every child is different: a relative of ours and bilingual educator as well said “in five months your kids will level with other children their age and in their grade.” Yes and no, my oldest son started speaking Spanish in only five weeks! It took my younger son 5 months.

You have to be patient and then more patient: My kids were happy the first week, when they saw family, enjoyed the delicious food (and pastries) and immersed in their new surroundings. The second week was more difficult, let alone the third, when they realized they would not return to California for a while, their reaction made me doubt our decision for a moment. Listening to Spanish all day long was tiring and they felt pushed aside, not understanding what was happening around them. But nothing lasts forever, and our patience paid off.

If opportunity knocks at your door, take it: I remember that when we shared our plans with my mom she told us, “Silvia, have you thought this through?” To which I replied “Of course not, Mom! If we think it through, we’d never do it. “And this is what I like to share the most. Sometimes you have to be courageous and take a leap of faith. If not, how would you know what will happen?

We also felt fear, doubt and uncertainty, and now that we’re only a few weeks from going back to California, all these feelings seem unfounded. This experience has given our children unbelievable memories, allowed them to experience first-hand their Latino heritage, their culture, their roots. They’ve eatenpan dulce, ice cream, tacos, tostadas, fresh orange juice, quesadillas with salsa verde to the max. This experience has made them feel they are part of a Mexican family, has exposed them to a lifestyle very different from the United States, but most of all, it has made them 100% bilingual. Every time I hear their beautiful voices speak to me in Spanish, my heart swells with pride.

¡Lo logramos!

{Photo by schlaeger}

Silvia Martinez is founder of award-winning Mamalatinatips.com, a Spanish-English bilingual blog, where she writes about kids, health, fashion, beauty, Disney and yummy Mexican food. She is also Editor-in-Chief of Disneylandiaaldia.com, the first Spanish-language blog in the United States covering the Disneyland Resort. Mom to two rambunctious, bilingual boys, Silvia’s recent adventures include taking close-ups of piñata smashing, photographing tostadas before they go soggy, celebrating Dia de Muertos in Mexico, and riding Toy Story Mania at Disney’s California Adventure…nine times in-a-row!

Editor’s note: We present you another informative post full of helpful tips on things to keep in mind if you’re thinking about immersion travel. Today’s post was written by Becky Morales, one of our regular contributors, who spends summers in Mexico with her four children and who participated in our SpanglishBaby Google+ Hangout on immersion travel earlier this week. 

Have you ever thought about taking your kids abroad for the summer, as an intensive language experience? Not only would they be immersed in day-to-day language, but also they would have the incredible opportunity to learn about the culture firsthand. Planning a summer abroad and preparing to travel with young children may seem like a daunting task to undertake; while it does take a lot of work, an organized plan can help make it less overwhelming.

The first step in planning a summer abroad is to determine the location. While some of us will automatically stay with family members or friends, others might choose a completely a new location. Through word of mouth and research, narrow your choices down to a country, region, or city. We normally go to Mexico City to stay with relatives, but this year we chose the Yucatán peninsula, because there are so many places nearby we would like to experience with our children.

Next, decide if you’ll stay with friends or relatives, pay to have a homestay (living with a local family), rent an apartment, or hop from hotel to pension around the region. Think creatively about lodging:

• Would you ever consider house-swapping? There are web sites (such as HomeLink, HomeExchange, or Intervac Home Exchange) for families who would like to swap their house with someone in another country for a set amount of time.
• Check expat forums on-line, or yahoo groups dedicated to specific locations for house-sitting opportunities, especially during holidays and summer when expats frequently come back home. We found an amazing opportunity to housesit a mini-farm near Alajuela, Costa Rica. Our children were too young at the time, though I would love to do so in the future!
• Look up a local real estate agent for monthly rentals. Though uncommon in the US and some areas abroad, there are some areas where families can rent apartments by the month.

Whatever you decide, consider your transportation, and factor in public transportation into the budget. For special, longer trips we have rented a car for the day — but mostly we use taxis and local buses while abroad.

Before going abroad, decide if your or your children will be taking classes, volunteering, or just doing some slow-travel. During the summer — but remember that summer in the US is not always summer break in other countries — there are many day camps and summer schools that might interest your children.

Many of these cursos de verano are not on-line and must be found once in country. Fortunately, it isn’t always necessary to register the kids months in advance as is customary in the US. When you get to your destination, look at health clubs, park districts, community centers, dance studios, art studios, martial arts gyms, soccer camps- the possibilities are endless.

If volunteering is your goal, check out nonprofits in the area. We have visited orphanages, brought donations to schools, and this summer we’re excited to go on sea turtle patrol and participate in beach clean-ups. Volunteering gives your kids another perspective, develops empathy, and helps kids feel they are a part of something bigger.

Finally, in the months before we travel, we take out tons of guidebooks from our library to research what we want to see and do when we get there. Over dinner, our family discusses exciting day trips or cool places we want to visit while we’re there. We want to balance the different types of “field trips” because- frankly- kids get bored if you pack in all ruinas or all museos. Variety is the key: ecological/natural sights like bio-parks, river tours; places to see wildlife like reservas or snorkeling; cultural sights like a visit to a Mayan village; historical tours of an haciendas for example; pueblos, beaches, or ruins.

Are you planning an immersion travel trip this summer? What other planning tips do you have for families?

{Photo courtesy of Becky Morales}

Spanish is Second Most Used Language in Twitter from Fox News Latino — Amazing news considering that “60 percent of Latin Americans are still not on the Web.” Do you use Spanish in Twitter? I do!

Mexican Teachers Adapt to their American Raised Students from PRI’s The World — A look at what’s happening on the other side of the border. As some Mexicans are going back home with their American-raised children who aren’t fluent in Spanish, Mexican teachers are struggling to communicate with them while the kids are having a hard time fitting in. Sound familiar?

Bilingual and Happy from Psychology Today — A collection of articles related to bilingualism, including many by one of the biggest supporters of speaking more than one language, Prof. François Grosjean. I’d already read many of the articles included, but some I discovered for the first time.

CNN Moves Beyond Cable with CNN Latino fromThe Hollywood Reporter — Another network looking to tap into the bilingual/bicultural Latino market.  I love that host Elizabeth Espinosa — whose mother is from El Salvador and father from Mexico — says the job interested her because it will give her the opportunity to “be someone who can operate in both languages, both worlds.”

Also, last week I started writing a bilingual weekly column on MamasLatinas.com — where I work as a staff writer — all about raising bilingual kids. I love being able to take our message that bilingual truly is better to even more people — especially because I’m also writing my columns in Spanish. Check out my first two columns here: Bilingual Bebés on Board.

Ana’s note: One of the things I love most about embracing different Latin American holidays is the abundance and creativity of the variety of foods associated with the celebrations. Bread seems to be a common theme in Mexican traditions and it’s never lacking symbolism.

On January 6th — the official last day of the holiday festivities — we celebrate el Día de los Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day) across Latin America and Spain. In Mexico the tradition includes family and friends gathering to eat a Rosca de Reyes and seeing who will get the piece with the Niño Jesus inside and get the honor to host them all to a feast of tamales on February 2nd for el Día de la Candelaria.

The rosca is always circular because to the Catholics it represents God’s infinite love. The candied fruit and other decorations on the rosca symbolize the earthly distractions that distract us from God and the muñequito buried in the bread is meant to represent the 3 Kings search for the baby Jesus.

To join in the celebration, we asked our The Culture of Food main contributor and food blogger extraordinaire, Ericka Sanchez, to share with us her family’s Rosca de Reyes recipe using ingredients she found at Walmart. 

Recipe for a Traditional Rosca de Reyes

(Serves 6)

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1 package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon

¼ cup milk, room temperature

3 ½ tablespoons (or ½ stick) butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup candied cherries, chopped

¼ candied pineapple, chopped

¼ cup dried figs, chopped

¼ pecans, chopped

¼ cup dark rum

For garnish

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

dried cherries

candied orange peel*

candied lime peel*

*If you have a hard time finding candied citrus peel, check out this recipe  on Ericka’s blog to make it yourself.

Instructions

In a small bowl place candied cherries, pineapple, figs and rum.  Soak for 20 minutes. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl place flour, yeast, salt, sugar and cinnamon and whisk until all dry ingredients have been combined.

Add egg, butter, vanilla extract, milk, chopped cherries, pineapple, figs and the rum they were soaking in.  Mix well with a wooden spoon then knead by hand and form a large dough ball.

Cover the bowl containing dough with plastic wrap, set it in a warm place and let the dough rise for approximately 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit

In a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a large tube shape and connect ends.  Forming a ring.

Insert plastic baby figurine anywhere in the underside of the dough ring.

In a small bowl mix 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of water to make egg wash. Cover a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Carefully place dough ring on tray and brush egg wash all over dough.

Decorate with candied cherries and citrus peels.

Bake for 45 minutes or until dough is golden.

If you’re looking for more Rosca de Reyes recipes, you can visit Walmart on Facebook and check out the one they shared.

Disclosure: We are thankful to Walmart for their sponsorship of SpanglishBaby.

Passing on cultural traditions (both Mexican and US) to our children is extremely important to my husband and I: language, food, celebrations and religion are four significant areas that we try to integrate into our lives. Not only does it help them identify with both the English and Spanish communities, but these daily and special occasions strengthen the bond we have within our family, instill pride in their heritage and increase their language competence.

When my husband was growing up in Mexico City, his family and friends would celebrate Las Posadas every December. “Las Posadas” (which means “lodging”) is a lovely tradition celebrated the 9 days preceding Christmas (the number representing the nine months of pregnancy that Mary carried Jesus). Though before getting married I had never been invited to a posadas party, once we had children we began to incorporate this custom into our family, with some adaptations (usually only having one posada instead of the traditional 9!). We celebrate this with friends and family to teach our children about the birth of Jesus and to incorporate an important Mexican cultural tradition into our Christmas.

Las Posadas try to represent or relive the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem (Belén) while they’re trying to find a place to stay — with a celebration at the end when they finally find their lodging and Jesus is born.

In Mexico, it starts with a song, as a statue of Mary and Joseph parade through the neighborhood. In some cases, the procession is very elaborate with musicians, instruments or even live animals. We went to a huge posada in Chicago one year with a donkey, cows, sheep, and goats — the kids were so interested in the animals they didn’t want the procession to end! The children carrying the statues knock on (predetermined) doors, asking if they have any room in the inn in a simple, but eloquent song called “Pidiendo Posadas.” My kids love when I break down the Spanish lyrics and explain each line:

People (“innkeepers”) keep denying them a place to stay until finally the family who is hosting the posada allow the Holy Family to stay at with them. They open their house and offer food (tamales, mole, tacos) to all of the procession. The hosts also always serve the typical warm drink of ponche: a homemade punch of cinnamon, piloncillo (raw sugar), boiled with lots of fruit: tejocotes, guayabas, ciruela pasas (prunes), pasas (raisins), and tamarindo, using caña (sugar cane) to stir it. Sometimes adults add rum or brandy!

The mood of the party is vibrant and exciting, and guests’ senses are stimulated by the smells of the delicious feast, the sounds of music, and all of the lights. While parents socialize, the children play with luces de bengala (sparklers) and other types of fireworks and then get to break the piñata that is filled with fruit like mandarinas, mini-jicamas, tejocotes, peanuts, and more sugar cane. Finally, the kids get a little basket with confitones (candied almonds), chocolate and other candy.

The kids LOVE it!!! Everyone is speaking Spanish, playing with each other, marveling at the rarity of the sparklers. Something we love about parties in Mexico is that families celebrate together: it’s not an adult party nor is it a kids party, it’s a family party. Las posadas begin with a religious reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s journey, and end in a fiesta with great food, lots of joking and talking, and families having fun together.  This is what we hope to replicate when we make our own posada here in the US: learning about the story of Christmas, modeling warm hospitality, and spending time as a family while celebrating with our dearest friends.

But today I did more than dream and enjoyed one of the things we crave Mexico for: food! In this area there’s a lot of restaurants that serve fish and seafood in so many varieties. We headed with some friends and Camila’s adored cousins to a place called Los Aguachiles in Cancún. The first thing I ordered was my chelada Ambar XX bien fría and then two lettuce tacos with fish ceviche and shrimp aguachile. The aguachile is a succulent dish from Sinaloa that’s similar to a ceviche, but with more chiles – mostly serrano.

Still wanting and craving more and not wanting the mouth-exploding experience to end, my husband and I ordered a cayo de hacha aguachile.

Y para terminar, why not a dessert of red apples covered in tamarindo con chile and dipped in chamoy?  I thought it would be a bomb for me, but I actually loved the combination of sweet, tangy and spicy.

The place also had a lot of funk and a fun, Mexican kitschy vibe to it.

Oh, and when we arrived last night my in-laws had ordered a spread of tacos al pastor and gringas to get us started on quenching the cravings! Now that’s familia!

We haven’t hit the beach yet, but are heading straight to Playa del Carmen tomorrow and plan to really get on vacation mode.

Camila has been doing so well with her Spanish and is actually in a completely different attitude about speaking it here than she was the last time we visited her cousins 4 months ago. She’s definitely trying harder to have Spanish come out first and doesn’t seem intimidated by it at all. That just gives me even more of a yearning to have our little place here to escape to enjoy what we love the most in Mexico: family, food, beach and español!