Carmen, Mike, Dakota, Sierra and
Hunter joined us in Ajijic for ten days to celebrate Christmas, our 51st
wedding anniversary and to ring in 2020 together. Here, Lakeside friends joined us
in a Jingle, Jingle--Let's Mingle brunch to meet the Barnhardts at the
Nueva Posada, which is the first place we stayed when we came to Ajijic in
2007.
We met Roberto and Joanna, from Quebec last winter when they rented a home
next to us. With rentals being at a premium here at Lakeside, they had
to shorten their stay this year, so they invited us over for a farewell
party until next year.
Brian invited Larry to spend a day on
the links at the Chapala Country Club, which is one of two golf courses in the
area. This was Larry's first outing in two years so he was quite surprised
how well he did considering.
Glorine's dream-child "Conexiones Entre Amigos" (Connections among Friends)
featured the Jalisco State Tourism Director. Steve, the Director at
Lake Chapala Society kicked off the event.
Larry is a volunteer driver for
the monthly Behind the Walls Home Tour and December featured some stunning homes all
decked out for the holiday season. This one was a playboy mansion, without
the bunnies.
Friends Chuck and Jean hosted an early holiday party following the Home
Tour, with friends who also volunteer as drivers. This fireplace warmed our
bodies, but the kinship warmed our hearts.
The
San Juan Cosala Children's Choir continues to dazzle us with their music.
They come from one of the poorest communities in the area, but that does not
stop them from singing their hearts out.
The cabinet makers who did such a great job on our entertainment center
built a coffee table and two end tables for our living room. We copied the
design from a catalog, which turned out better than those featured.
The
quality of the craftsmanship here in Mexico continues to amaze us. These
tables could compete with any high end furniture manufacturing company, yet the
prices were unbelievably inexpensive.
Glorine took golf lessons at the Chula Vista Country Club down the road from
our home to determine if that is something she would like to do. The jury is
still out!
The
kids arrived on Christmas Eve and that evening Dakota, Sierra and Hunter
experienced a true Mexican Christmas whacking Piñata filled with candy.
While the vacation to Ajijic was supposed to be the kids' Christmas present,
the day began with opening gifts. Dakota & Sierra got
wireless earbuds for their iPhones.
Hunter, a master at building LEGOs,
got an electric train set, including an electric engine, two passenger cars and
tracks.
Before the day was over, the LEGO train was up and running. That
evening, Glorine hosted a Murder Mystery party, which happened took place on a train.
The kids on their first adventure was
shopping at the Tiangus, a weekly market, that has nearly everything you don't
need, but get bought anyway!
We toured the Plaza, which is the center of every Mexican community and located next
to the Catholic Church. With ice cream in hand, they posed by this
mural of roosters.
Maureen and Wayne joined us for
Christmas dinner, which we had on our roof top patio. Later that night
everyone had a role in the murder mystery "A First Class Murder".
On to the Guadalajara Zoo, billed as the best zoo in all of Latin America,
and the kids would agree. The weather was awesome.
One of the most memorable moments was
when we drive through a safari, where emus, zebras, and other wild animals
roam freely.
Here the giraffes came to the bus and the kids got to feed and pet them.
We bought extra carrots, so the kids got some extra time with them.
The
zoo was filled with monkeys, lions, snakes, birds, bears, elephants,
hippopotamus, and about every creature that resides in the wild.
The aquarium included these penguins enclosed in this pen filled with water,
snow and ice for them to show off their swimming skills.
The zoo did an awesome job at
displaying beautiful tropical fish, jelly fish and coral that resides on the
Great Mayan Reef along the Yucatan Peninsula.
Walking through this huge glass tunnel with tropical fish, including sharks
and sting rays was a bit eerie but exciting at the same time.
While our cameras were focused on
taking pictures of the animals, we stopped to take this last picture of the
family as we exited the Zoo for the ride home.
That evening the kids were treated to a Beatles tribute band at a nightclub
in Ajijic. With Carmen and Mike being big Beatles fans, the kid knew
all their songs.
The
Balnearios and Spa is in a geothermal hot springs with five pools at different
temps to meet the needs of all ages. The kids loved this water park.
While we retreated to this adult's only section, where we spent the
afternoon relaxing in the mineral bath designed to cure nearly every
illness.
We spent about 20 minutes in each of
five Jacuzzi's filled with wine, bougainvillea flowers, milk, and here, Mike's
favorite--COFFEE.
Our last bath was that of medicinal clay which is said to cleanse the
impurities from the pores. Along the way, Glorine
befriended Olga. a lady from Mexico City,
The
next day we took a bus tour to a goat farm east of Ajijic. Thank goodness
we did not have to drive this road, which was filled with pot holes.
We drove past Mezcala, a tiny Mexican village that consists of indigenous
people. Our tour driver said that he is viewed as a foreigner here.
Juan and Laura own and operate this
three-acre farm that overlooks Lake Chapala. The milk they get is used to
produce a long line of cheeses, milk and yogurt.
We are all given leaves of a Maringa tree to feed the goats. These little
guys had a big appetite and ready to eat everything we gave them.
We all lined up to take our turn at
experiencing what feels like to milk a goat. You start by squeezing your
index finger and thumb, then the rest of your fingers.
The tour included a breakfast with granola, yogurt and milk and ended with a
sampling of goat cheese and wine. Another fun day in paradise.
We hosted a brunch so our kids could
meet some of our Ajijic friends. Here is Carmen and Mike with Chuck and Jean,
friends since we first came to Lakeside.
Our friends include a mix of Canadian, Americans and a few from other
countries. Here Jean from California is mingling with Ron from Maine
and Jim from Ontario.
Wayne was enthralled with Hunter's
skills in navigating a software call Mind Craft and introduced him to Tinker
Cad, a drafting program.
We met Ross and Carol on a bus tour to Zacatecas eight years ago, spent time
with them at their cottage in Canada and are always fun to hang with.
Jean who is mingling with Barbara and
Chris are all from the northeastern part of the USA--Maine and Maryland. We also
visited them at their summer homes.
Maureen from Ontario is full time here in Ajijic and Brian and Marilyn are
from Saskatchewan, all friends since we started coming to Mexico.
The
kids enjoyed playing on the exercise equipment that line the shoreline of Lake
Chapala.
Carmen created this master piece using the different cheeses we bought at
the goat farm, along with various bread and veggies she found in the fridge.
We took the kids on a hike to the
chapel on the mountains overlooking Ajijic. The kids wanted a better view,
so they climbed to the top of the chapel.
We actually live on the outskirts of Ajijic in a community called San
Antonio Tlayacapan (taw-lah-ca-pawn) where we dined and danced at Adelita's.
Sierra is 12 years old and has
acquired a taste for coffee and Adelita's knows how to make an outstanding
latte.
We rung in New Year's Eve at the Spotlight, where we were entertained by
this young band with a singer who had a beautiful voice. Watch us
celebrate 2020!!
While the live music ended at 10:30,
we kept dancing until midnight, New York time and watched the ball drop in Times
Square.
While we were dancing, Hunter was self-teaching himself on how to use Tinker
Cad. He designed a kitchen and living room.
From the nightclub, we drove to the
Chapala pier to watch the awesome fireworks display starting at the stroke
of midnight.
One of the local New Year's Day tradition that goes on here at Lakeside is
for two rivaling neighborhoods to host two separate parades that lead to a
local field where they compete in the game of soccer.
On their last full day in Ajijic, we
treated the kids to a true Mexican meal at a restaurant named after famed
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. We had a fun-filled time celebrating the
holidays with family. Just Awesome!!
December's web page includes December 1 through December 31.
