Monterrey, Mexico!

We just got back from a whirlwind 5 day trip to Monterrey, Mexico. We decided to go since I'll be leaving for Missouri soon and we wanted to spend some fun time together as a family...oh, and Claudia was wanting some authentic Mexican food. :) We drove down on Saturday, made good time, and we just skipped over the border (though we did get stopped twice they took one look in the van and let us go; I guess kids watching DVDs isn't very suspicious, is it?). If you haven't driven across before, you won't appreciate this, but border Mexican towns are intimidating and don't look very nice, i.e. they're "ghetto." We had been telling Nicky about our trip to Mexico for a few days, and as we crossed through Nuevo Laredo (border town), Nicky asked us, with a quivering voice, "I-i-is th-th-this Me-me-xico?" We told her it was the border, but to not be afraid or think that this was like the rest of Mexico (which it's not). Claudia promptly took over the driving duties from the border on, and did great manuevering around traffic in the city. We were a bit tired when we arrived, but were able to visit some with family and a few of Claudia's friends. Of course, we had to eat some delicious food, and got some tacos from our favorite taco restaurant in Monterrey, "El Rey del Taco" (the king of taco). They tasted great, but Claudia was disappointed in the spiciness of the salsa. Oh, well, we can't have everything.
On Sunday we met up with our old friend Tono, and later that night got to meet his fiance, Graciela. They are a cute couple, but Tono got a little too lovey-dovey a few times...reminded me of us when we were engaged...of course, we weren't 30. :) We're happy they've found each other and know they'll be happy together. We also got to visit some with our good friends Fernando and Gloria, who have a little 2 year old boy, Fernandito, with another one on the way.
On Monday, Claudia ran some errands with her mom to help her uncle with some purchases. Claudia took advantage of the time out to stock up on some of her favorite mexican candies. At night, we had a great get together with all of Claudia's friends from law school and their spouses. We introduced and played Clue for a few rounds, which they hadn't played before. It was a hit, but by the time it was midnight, everybody was a bit tired to keep thinking. Claudia and the two Glorias brought some yummy hamburgers and tacos, and a few gringas (which is the name for a taco with carne asada and pork al pastor, two different meats, with oaxaca cheese...mmmm). We had a blast visiting everyone: Milton & Gloria, Yovana & Yeraldo, and Fernando and Gloria.
On Tuesday, we ran a few more errands, and visited Claudia's Aunt Gloria (who helped out so much during Claudia's pregnancy with Ian) and Claudia's brother Dan. The kids loved Dan's place, as he has 3 kids and lots of toys at their house. The most popular thing was Dan's eldest son's electrical car, which Nicky kept driving around their front patio (not very well, but she had a great time until we told her it was time to go). Ian was a surprisingly calm passenger. We were running all over the place on Tuesday, because we wanted to be packed and ready to go by Wednesday morning. We did get one last night in of visiting with Claudia's law friends, as we all ate at "El Torito," a fancy Mexican restaurant in Monterrey. The food was great, we ordered a parrillada for 3, and Claudia ordered an appetizer of Mojella, which is something I tried but left to Claudia to enjoy (something from chicken, but Claudia doesn't want to know what it is because she likes the taste and doesn't want to be grossed out). We were sad to say our goodbyes because everyone is so busy with work and kids or pregnancies. We sure hope they come and visit sometime this year while we're still close. We spent the night at Aunt Gloria's house, and left the next morning. Aunt Gloria and my mother-in-law were nice enough to take care of the kids once we put them to sleep. We made the trip in good time, and dropped off my mother-in-law at Claudia's sister's house, as she's 40 weeks pregnant and set to deliver any day now. Aunt Gloria came with us back to Temple. We had a great time, and though Claudia brought a lot of great food, we still miss our friends and the fun times (and great food, again!). We're glad that we got to spend some time there and that everything went smoothly. Viva Mexico!