Rice Face

He's just so darned cute...

A Chilly Weekend???

Last weekend it was off to Patzcuaro again for a chilly yet refreshing get-away from Zihuatanejo. We have come to love this little town that has so much to offer and were not disappointed in this third trip.

Our first night found us arriving a little on the late side. One of the quaint things about Patzcuaro to us is some of the mystery enshrouding it; one of which was that we couldn't find any reasonably-priced hotels to book on-line. We decided to gamble and just arrive and find a place to stay. After touring several hotels, we settled on the best option...brrrrrrrrr... I'm not sure sure what we were thinking. The double bed was definitively not big enough for three, and it could not have been any colder to our poor tropically-acclimatized bodies. I think Lucas slept ok, but Rob and I surely did not. I can't tell you how happy we were to get out in the morning and warm up in the sun with a mug of coffee and a plate of hot cakes. Lucas was in heaven feeding and chasing the pigeons (emphasis on the chasing since I don't really think that running after them with large cracker chunks counts as feeding.) We did several wanders through the market and oohed and awed at all the knock-offs. We didn't buy much because we mostly just saw clothes that would only work in winter and heaven knows we're already out of style I can only imagine what we'd look like if we showed up back in Vancouver in a couple of years in those... tee hee. Lucas of course cashed in on DVD's and socks.

This extended visit allowed us the time to visit some of the churches around the town, always a treat. We were a little awed to be able to see the tomb of Don Vasco de Quiroga, the beloved founder of the region.

For our second night's stay we found a gorgeous plant-filled, terraced hotel with a mega bed. Ahhhh... After a some hysterical antics from an over-tired and over-excited Lucas, we fell into deep and blissful sleep that didn't have us reminiscing of camping at Strawberry Point on the May 24.

Sunday began with another fabulous breakfast before we headed out to Isla Janitzio, as seen in the photo above. Although our Lonely Planet guide said it wasn't highly recommended except for during the day of the dead festivities, we really enjoyed our morning. The boat ride was quite beautiful and the island itself very interesting in its own unique way.

Lucas hams it up an on the boat ride.

Fishermen "performing" in the lake for the tourists.

This is a picture of the little graveyard on Janitzio. I can imagine that it really would be something else to see this island during the day of the dead, as places like this, which to me seem so picturesque already, would jump out at you with even more colour, history and emotion. We walked all the way to the top of the island, winding our way through homes, shops, a basketball court and this cemetery.

We really could have spent more time here exploring and enjoying the people, but a toddler's needs are a toddler's needs, and we left without climbing yet another set of stairs (something we always seems to do a lot of when traveling, anyone else?!)

Thus we headed home on Sunday afternoon pleasantly pooped and missing our pooches.

It was a great trip for Rob, Lucas and I, all in all (except for the food poisoning I brought home. Blech...but that's another story.)

The final photo here is of Lucas showing off his break-dancing moves in his slick new Adidas track suit and DVS sneaks courtesy of his homies Uncle Fred and Uncle Lanny...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our own 'lil Cupid wishes you all a day of friendship and love!

I know, I've got too much time on my hands...

This is Lucas saying, "Come on Mom, you can't be serious..." After which he ripped the wings off in seconds flat. I think they stayed on all of about twenty seconds in total after numerous attempts on my part. Ah well, you all get the point. And yes, I know...Rob's going to kill me!