Experiencing Real Mexico

 One of the reasons I wanted to take the kids to Mexico, was to help them understand Mexican culture and give them opportunities to actually speak Spanish!  Whitney is great at conversational Spanish, Owen is decent at it and understands a lot, and Katelyn was just finishing HS Spanish 1 and eager to expand her vocabulary and pick out words she knew. So we tried at every opportunity to speak Spanish at the hotel, and on tourist excursions. But our best chances came when we were out with normal Mexican people.  So in taxis, in shops, and especially when we went to church!

It was great to have the town of Bucerias a one mile walk away.  We went there for a few hours one afternoon. The kids enjoyed trying random Mexican treats, snacks and drinks from a classic OXXO convenience store. Sponch was a hit!

We got a kick out of these labels on everything we bought- too many calories, sugar, sodium and fat!

Love these fun signs!

There were beautiful spring flowers blooming everywhere- I think these awesome yellow trees are literally named Primavera- because they bloom so brilliantly every spring! It was still cold in Utah in early March, so the weather- in the 80's- felt amazing!

a cute shot of Emma and Whit waiting while I bargained for a blanket, and Kate and the little girls by some flowers on the walk into town.

Going to church in Mexico was one of the best things we have ever done as a family!!! Eric was skeptical about our ability to get there/the cost of the taxis/if the kids would even get anything out of it. BUT he let me talk him into going. We first experienced a little miracle of sharing a taxi with a man from our hotel- an LDS guy from Idaho. He insisted on paying half even though he was only one man- he would have had to pay that much to hire a taxi for just himself he said. So that was nice- plus then we knew we were going to the right place haha.  

We walked in and it was so much like the church in Guadalajara where I attended school every day!  I loved it!  (the building where I attended church each week in Guadalajara was different.) We were greeted warmly, as were several other tourists.  Then we got to sing the hymns in Spanish, (Eric singing in Spanish was so fun!!) and taking the sacrament in Spanish was very nostalgic and beautiful for me!  I was happy with how much I could understand of the talks (I had been doing Duo Lingo almost daily for 2 months in preparation for the trip!) and I just soaked it all up.

Eric and I went to Primary with the kids, and Whitney and Katelyn went to Young Womens-- Whitney said she understood everything and made comments!  Katelyn caught bits and pieces once she figured out they were learning about Joseph in Egypt, and she even made one comment and had Whitney translate it to Spanish for the class!  

In Primary Owen understood pretty much everything (as did I) and answered one question, I was so proud!  The little girls were lost but behaved well during the lesson, and tried to sing along during singing time, it was adorable.  Even Eric sang along and found a new favorite song, Sigue al Profeta (follow the prophet haha). It was so wonderful......a dream come true to have my kids experience that!!

We snapped a quick picture and then it was the hard part- finding a taxi back to the hotel. A guy from the ward actually very kindly stopped to offer us a ride, but right then a taxi pulled up so we thanked him but took the taxi......with the friend from our hotel..... in a tiny car that appeared to only have 5 seats!  The driver ran around back and pulled out an extra 2 seats in the back, which these 3 shared:

The Idaho guy sat up front and we squished 4 in the middle for the 25 minute drive back to the resort haha!  It was so funny!! But cheaper than the van taxi we had taken that morning to church, so win-win! Mexico's safety standards are a little lacking but it makes for good memories!

And back to the rest of the Bucerias pictures- here are our kids, just blending in at the market!

One more picture of my yellow-loving girls by a Primavera tree, and "Oxxo- at the corner of your life"

The long walk back to the hotel from Bucerias....for some of us!  Others got to be carried and fell asleep!

By mom and dad taking turns!  Whitney Owen and Maris went up ahead and got back first- got strawberry daiquiris first too haha. Overall our Spanish language experience in Mexico was a success!