Uxmal, Part 2

The Uxmal expedition divides nicely between pre-ice cream/shopping and post-ice cream/shopping. Can you tell we've been shopping by now?

At the beginning of the trip, we told the kids they each had $10 to spend however they wanted. In reality, they spent WAY more than that (did I mention how expensive Mexico was?), but it was a good way to get them thinking about what they *really* wanted, instead of asking for everything in sight.

Lutece and I were anxious to check out the gift shop at Uxmal. Me, because it was a state-run "Casa de las artesanias," which means that the merchandise was fairly priced and of high quality, Lutece, because, oh my gosh!, there was tons of stuff to buy! (Ok, that's also why I wanted to shop there :). The "sombrero" finally tempted her enough to spend part of her $10. I bought the fan for her because, well, how perfect is this ensemble?

When Phoenix saw that Lutece had a cool Mexican sombrero, he decided he needed one too, so I sent Stayc and Phoenix back to the gift shop to buy one. When they returned, Phoenix was wearing this HUGE hat.

Me to Stayc: Why did you buy him the large one?
Stayc: I thought that was the small one. It's the smallest one I could find. Why does it matter?
Me: Because Lutece will . . .
Lutece: Moooooommm, why is Phoenix's hat bigger than mine?!?
Me: (Sigh.) That's why.

Luckily, after a few minutes, no one cared about the size of their hat and we set off on round two of exploring the rest of the ruins. (By the way, the above photo is one of my other favorite pictures of the trip. Phoenix felt the need to pose for me in a way that befitted the sombrero. Classic Phoenix.)

Alas, despite the newly acquired hats (and the stomachs full of ice cream) it was still tremendously hot. (Just look at those ruins though! Aren't they beautiful?

We finished up our expedition and headed to lunch and . . . the POOOOOOOL. Of course.

Uxmal, Part 1

We left Mérida early the next morning and drove south about 45 minutes to our last set of ruins of the trip. Uxmal is one of my favorite sites in the Yucatán peninsula. It is both impressive and beautiful. Nearly everything is made out of this lovely off-white stone with red undertones. And the stonework! Simply beautiful.

As you know by now, we'd learned some things from our previous experiences at the ruins, and even though it was still hot enough to fry an egg on said ancient stonework, we had a much better experience this time around.

We'd gotten there as early as we could.

We drank lots of water.

We tried to stay in the shade when possible.

We didn't try to see everything, just enjoy the things we did see.

We counted iguanas. (I think Lutece won with 25 . . . you could only count it if you were the first one to see it).

When the interior rooms were too stinky with bird and iguana dung, we got out as fast as we could.

We took lots of pictures. (Even when kids were hot, hot, hot.)

We climbed on everything we could. (You could climb things!!!).

We enjoyed the views (well, Stayc and I did . . . the kids were ready to climb down as soon as they were up).

And last, but certainly not least, we took our only family photo of the trip. You bet this is going on our Christmas card this year!

Then we went to the gift shop and got ice cream . . . lots of it . . . and browsed the gift shop before heading back for round two. Let me know if you need any pointers for your own family trip to ancient archeological sites. We have just about perfected the art of visiting ruins with children.

Mérida Market

After spending the morning at the ruins of Chichén Itzá (and then swimming in the hotel pool until the absolute moment that we had to check out), we drove about an hour to the capital city of the Yucatán . . . Mérida. Mérida is a great city, with a lovely historic downtown, numerous parks/plazas, and a thriving marketplace.

After a late lunch, we hit the streets of Mérida and roved a true Mexican market. The market area of Mérida is quite large, encompassing several squared city blocks, with many smaller areas in between. However, Stayc remembered a certain part of the market from our last trip to Mérida, ten years earlier, and he was determined to take the kids there.

We didn't have to look long or very hard, since it took up a whole block and it was hard to miss. Yes, it was an entire block of shops devoted to piñatas and the candy needed to fill them. The kids (and Stayc) were in candy heaven.

The kids (and Stayc) each bought a bag of candy (both Lutece and Phoenix chose Mexican chiclet-style gum), which reminds me . . . this is another thing we learned about how to enjoy the ruins. Buy each of your children their very own bag of candy, and then let them eat the entire thing while they walk around the ruins. I guarantee there will be much less complaining and whining.

It's so hard to predict what the kids will or will not enjoy. Ruins, not so much. Walking around a Mexican market . . . definitely. Chasing pigeons around the plaza near your hotel . . . awesome!