Mexico Part 12: Guadalajara Zoo, Bikes and New Car

This weeks marks the beginning of Semana Santa (Holy Week) and spring break for Matthew and Eva.  I remember spring break back home when I taught and it was only one week, quite the tease.  But here it is two weeks.  There are some positives to this but also some downsides.  Okay well really just one downside.  And that is, if we had a shorter spring break than Matthew would have one extra week during  summer.  But, nonetheless, we are very excited to have him home for the next two weeks.  Today, we went to the Guadalajara Zoo.  It was great.  We got there early in the morning, right after it opened and spent a good chunk of the day there.  I couldn't believe how empty the zoo was in the morning.  It was awesome.  We were able to see the animals quickly without having to elbow anyone to see the animals.  And the animals were super lively.  They were jumping all over the place, wrestling each other, "jumping" each other...it was crazy.  It seems like the animals in the Oregon Zoo are way more lathargic compared to these ones.  Maybe they feed them tacos with salsa or something.  Elijah LOVED it.  Matthew and I couldn't believe how much he walked.  This was really the first time I think that he was old enough to really enjoy a zoo.  He was climbing all over the place trying to get as close as he could to the animals.  Eva, on the other hand, spent the whole time avoiding her family because her little friend was there and she wanted to hang out with her the entire time.  In fact, the only time we were able to get her to be with us was when she got a blister from her plastic sandals that she had to wear instead of her Nike ones that would have been nicer to her feet.  Even though she wasn't with us a whole lot, she also had a blast at this zoo.  Poor girl thought that there was no zoo here in Guad because we hadn't taken her yet but today we proved her wrong.  We paid for the general admission and the safari that they have here.  They have a great collection of animals.  Bengal tigers, lions, black bears, a polar bear, elephants, monkeys, reptiles, birds, everything you would want a zoo to have.  The safari was neat because these giraffes come right up to the jeep that you are on to eat carrots from your hands.  I didn't actually get to touch it but Matthew said they have a scratchy tongue.  It was pretty cool!  After much walking, and sun we went home, but I know that I will be taking the kids back there again.

In other news, on a more regular basis, life is much more calm.  We spend a lot of days outside.  Eva and Eli love riding their bikes on the tile that we park on.  They do circles on the thing and it makes their day.  Often Elijah will pick up the hose and soak himself as well, or fall on the tile because it is deadly slippery when wet, but I suppose those things are what makes things a little bit more exciting around this place.

And, last but not least, we finally bought Matthew his own car.  It was cute when we were bringing it home because Eva said, "oh mama, now papa can drive himself to school."  Oh how right she is.  That is what is most exciting about the entire thing.  We joke that getting a second car saved our marriage, but really I don't think it is a joke.  First semester I drove Matthew everywhere and picked him up, but by second, I was only dropping him off and not picking him up anymore.  Poor guy would walk home, bum rides, or even take the bus.  But now, he can be an adult and take himself wherever he needs to go.  It is great news for us.  Things are good.  We can't believe how fast time is going by and that soon summer will be here and we will be back in Oregon for a little break.  Yeah!