Happy Reunions

One of the reasons we chose to spend a month in Leon, aside from visiting family, was to visit with Valeria and her family.  The girls were very excited to see her and they fully enjoyed the attention from Val, her sister and parents.

Val's parents were extremely generous and warm and we're grateful for their hospitality.  The girls spent a lot of quality time with them and even spent a couple of nights with them to allow Joe and I to visit Guanajuato and San Miguel del Allende.

We were also very happy to see Fernanda who came to visit the girls for a weekend, all the way from Sonora, which required a plane, a bus and a ride from Val from the bus station.  The girls didn't quite remember Fer (or "Nanda" as Fiona called her), but they quickly warmed up and had a great time with her.  Val and Fer talked about coming to visit on their winter break...we hope they do!

Karina, Val and Fer's friend, also came to visit and they had a chance to hang out.  Val's sister, Itzel, sits between Karina and Val.

Our trusty, albeit weak horse-powered, rental Aveo which I drove quite successfully for a month in Leon, a city of 1 million folks, and in Mexico City (10 million+) and on 5 hour road trips!

Not much sitting room in San Miguel de Allende

 

Our hotel courtyard, right outside our room.  A very lovely, two-story suite.

The San Miguel Allende Cathedral on the Zocalo

Teatro Juarez in Guanajuato

Scenic overlook of Guanajuato from El Pipila

Random Photos of Cuteness

 Fiona at the Leon Zoo sporting the hat that Fernanda bought her.

All dressed up for Juan P's (Val's brother) communion party.

Their carriage arrived without a prince!

Next posting will include photos from our trip to Mexico City and visit with my aunt Diana and Great-grandmom.

Fun with the Cousins and Exploring Mexico

"Mi Pequeno Sol"

We spent lots of time with my nieces and cousins and they had a great time playing and getting to know each other.  School was a wonderful experience for the girls and their Spanish improved tremendously.  Just the fact that Fiona says "Si" is a major improvement.  She is definitely speaking more Spanish than ever and Sofia's Spanish is fantastico! 

Walking with my cousin Rossy,on the way to an after-school treat

Mini treat

Sofi, Sofia and Majo at the park

The girls' English teacher

The girls were able to participate in an End of Year Festival and spent a few weeks practicing.  Sofia danced to two Brazilian songs, along with cousin Majo, and Fiona danced to two songs from "Grease", along with cousin Sofi.   

Wonderful performances

I'll upload some videos of their dances soon.

Here are some cute pics of the girls throughout the rest of the trip.

                                                                  Fiona ziplining

We watched "Ice Age 3" (I think) and this was an advert for having a birthday party at the movies

"When in Rome..." the girls were happy not to travel in car seats when they could.  Here they share a backseat in my uncle's 9-passenger van.

And here Sofia and Majo enjoy Rossy's VW bug sans car seats

The girls' last group pic on the morning we left.  Hopefully we'll see them again very soon.

Fiona was pretty sad about leaving.

We did spend a little time exploring Leon and Guanajuato, which is a beautiful medieval city. Joe and I spent a few days in San Miguel de Allende and in Guanajuato, but here are a few pics of the girls.

Fiona poses en el Zocalo de Leon (downtown)

Sofia of course

Wonder how the trees get so pretty?

The girls watched his handiwork for a few minutes

Our first few minutes in Guanajuato

They were getting a little tired

To be continued....