The Great Fundraising Act

Hi beautifuls ;)  I interrupt my lazy non-blogging spree with a reminder to please go visit the live auction on Meals and Moves to raise money for Susan.  I am humbled by the generosity of our community and how we can all pull together to help.

While I'm not auctioning anything off, I'm keeping my bidding going on some great items.  Go check it out- there is some awesome swag.

If you don't believe me, just look at this face- he wants you to bid!

Weekend In Numbers

I'm always just about a couple of days behind so it's perfectly appropriate that I post about my weekend on Monday night at 10:00 PM, when most of my readers will get to it on Tuesday morning.  I'm smart like that.

Anyways, I hope you had a nice weekend!  Mine was not really relaxing, but we got shiz done and for that I am thankful.  Here is my weekend in numbers:

2: Number of waffles consumed this weekend for breakfast

6: Number of home improvement stores visited this weekend.  If anyone knows me, this is a big deal.  I get the cold sweats and feel sick to my stomach in these places, but it had to be done and I'm so excited for the renovations coming to our house!

I got a little bit of cabin fever in the car if you can't tell ;)

4: Number of walks taken with my furball.

11: Number of miles walked this weekend

3: Number of favorite creatures in this picture taken at the farmer's market

Countdown till next weekend: 4 more days!

Mexico Part 2

When I left off on my last recap, we finished a beautiful hike up to the pyramids.  Later on in our trip, we were invite to Father's Day brunch to celebrate all the dads.  

Anyhoo, our gracious host Benny showed us around the house and then we sat down to eat a delicious lunch with the most amazing cake I ever had in my life.  I wish I knew what was in it, but I'll just have to go back and visit to eat it again.

 Our lovely lunch crowd

 We went to explore the backyard garden and patio and took a few lollipop breaks for a photo.

Our tour guides took us to the university in Mexico City to explore the campus and the boys climbed the snake maze.

I wasn't dressed for a hike, but we spent some time exploring the campus

Benny loved playing with his uncles that day and we loved the structures.  Each corner made taking pictures so much fun.

 Nuestra familia :)

We ended our trip that day walking through cobblestone streets and sat in this awesome square.  Again, loving the squares and people walking out and about.  We took our practice family photo too.

The streets were so charming- cobblestone, beautiful details, mature vegetation, and families walking around.

This part of our trip was so much fun and gave us a really good look at another part of Mexico City.  I knew it was an older city with a lot of history but I didn't expect the charm and unique buildings and streets.  I got to see much more of the city on a city tour, to be discussed on my next post.

Side note- I think I remember why I have been ducking out of working out with my husband.  I just lifted legs and shoulders with me and I can now finally lift my arms over my head, 2 days later.  However, I am still working on sitting, standing, and walking up the stairs.  Walking is still good, so Chino is in luck.  I'm coming back for more though- my muscles hurt so good!

Scenes From a Weekend

Thanks again for hanging in there and coming back to see my blog and to read my trip recaps.  Before I bombard you with another posting of gratuitous photography, I'm going back and doing a regular post.  This weekend was so good, SO good!  I spent time outdoors with a hike each morning, took 3 yoga classes (even one with my mother-in-law!) and worked out with the husband. We ate delicious food, got help on remodeling, and got to see both of our families.  My heart was so happy ;)

These boys- they are obsessed with Angry Birds and ended up playing together for much of the evening.

This boy found a new friend at his grandparents' house and snuggled with him while looking out the window.  I'm just happy he didn't follow his typical dog park behavior on this little stuffed friend.

We took home leftovers and made delicious grilled wraps and I may have hit a new veggie consumption high.  I may have also hit a new popsicle high this weekend too.

My favorite breakfast this weekend was a slice of quiche from Costco with salad.  It worked and I was powered up for the day.  Veggies for breakfast is the new black.

Anything you are looking forward to this weekend?

Mexico Part 1

As promised (and I'm sure you are all sitting on the edge of your seat), here is the first in the set of recaps from our Mexico trip. We went to Mexico City and to the Mayan Riviera and had a blast.

Mexico has always had a special place in my heart.  My brother got me a job at a student travel company when I was 15 and I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico every summer for 6 years.  Another reason I love it is that my sister-in-law is from Mexico and it's been really cool to share her culture, especially now that we have a little nephew who is growing up with a Mexican, Russian/Ukrainian/American cultural mix.   Oh, and the last reason?  I love tequila and Mexican food.

Without any more delays I present some of the highlights of the first part of our trip - Mexico City.  Mexico City is huge and has a lot to offer and we were lucky enough to have an apartment and gracious hosts for our trip.

We got picked up from the airport and even had a birthday cake ready for the husband.

The next day we set off for Tepoztlan, a town 2 hours away from Mexico City in the state of Morelos.   The main destination was Tepozteco mountain, a 1.3 mile hike up to see a pyramid built over 1,000 years ago.  Oh, and the hike was all uphill at elevation, but we did it! We live at sea level and I didn't know how much the elevation would really affect us, but it was all worth the hike.

Me and my brother (right), and sister-in-law's brother (left)

 This tree was out of control and I had to get my clumsy self up it to go take a picture.

We took plenty of breaks to rehydrate and take pictures of the views.  Our gracious host humored us with some photos.

Not sure what was going on here...the heat was getting to me.

 Sweaty, and halfway there.

 We did it!  The views looked down onto the town below.

We explored the town of Tepoztlan.  I love how there are large parks around each church.

 We stopped in a local restaurant for lunch.  The food was fresh and delicious and extremely affordable.

 

Finally, we followed it up with some ice cream- the town's specialty is different flavored ices, kind of a mix between sorbet and ice cream.  I admired both of my views before we left to head back to the city.

We are back to hide from the heat here- just finishing the rest of a blissful long weekend and celebrating by hiding the puppy from the fireworks.  See ya'll later for more recaps and normal shenanigans!