Friday, February 09, 2007

Visitors from Springville

We love having visitors. We didn't have so many down in Small Town. I just can't imagine why what with the big shrimp and the monkeys...

Last week our friends that we had made while we were all living in Venezuela came down for a visit from Springville, Utah.

Highlights from their trip:

1. Seeing things we haven't seen before since we have lived in Big City.
Namely: Teotihuacan.






We all climbed the pyramids. I wasn't going to, being 8 months pregnant and all, but my competitive spirit got the best of me and I climbed the Pyramid of the Sun. I have to admit though, that all my kids, even little Juan Carlos (3 yrs old) beat me to the top.



Here's a cute one of my boys getting along for 30 seconds. I was pretty worried the whole time that one was going to push the other off, but much to my surprise, they both survived the close encounter.



Teotihuacan is teaming with vendors that approach you about every 5 seconds trying to sell all sorts of knick-knacks and "one-of-a-kind" artifacts. They really had a thing for our friend, whom they followed around like he was the only tourist there. Here's one following him even though our friend has NO interest in his merchandise:



I can't complain too much about the vendors as I did buy this new tablecloth that I love:



After our visit to the ruins, we had lunch in an honest to goodness cave.



Have you ever been to Casa Bonita in Denver? It reminded me a lot of it in that it was over priced and the food wasn't that great, but it was an authentic cave so I guess you've got to pay for that.

Oh, random side-note. Here's my new favorite Mexican road sign that we saw on the way to Teotihuacan:

Make sense? Good.

2. Eating out.

3. Playing Games. While we were living in Venezuela we would often get together and play games. Our game playing was severely limited due to a discovery that our friends became hooked on "24" last season, but have not yet seen the earlier seasons, most importantly, they have not seen season 1. They didn't even know who Nina was (gasp) !!! Or what a stand up guy President Palmer was, so of course we had to start watching it with them. So, #4 was:



4. Watching the first 9 episodes of season one of "24".

5. I almost forgot-eating homemade cream pies! Banana, chocolate and coconut. I really think think that our friends' visit was worse for my pregnancy weight gain than Christmas and New Year's combined-we'll see next week at my weigh in.

We had such a great time!

16 comments:

Super Happy Girl said...

YAY! I am first W00T!
I still don't know who Nina is! Arggh I can;r believe I missed the season premiere again, now I'll never know anyhting.

What a fun post, I love the pictures of the pyramids, your tablecloth, the overpriced cave restaurant and the road sign (classic)
How fun to have friends visit you, take care Gabs!

Janice said...

It is hard to imagine worse Mexican food than Casa Bonita. However, they did make a good sopapilla. Hmm. Maybe I will some tonight.

Gabriela said...

NCS: one word: BLOCKBUSTER. They will satisfy all of your 24 needs.

Janice: yes, I LOVE the sopapillas there. Of course sopapillas aren't really Mexican, but I doubt they care about that. And, I love the little flags you raise to get the waiters to come to your table.

Melissa said...

how fun!!

Super Happy Girl said...

Yeah you are right :D
DUH!
OK, I'll get to it.

Lana said...

love the table cloth!! it's so bright and fun.
We have seen all the seasons but one. I kind of figure by now it's old news but maybe not.

Kristen said...

Just looking at those boys sitting on the edge of that makes me nervous and my toes tingle!! Yeesh!

When my family and I were in Tijuana about ten years ago (we were vacationing in San Diego and just crossed over the border for the day) we were mercilessly stalked by street vendors trying to sell us stuff. Even kids. My mom bought a really beautiful gold chain for a few dollars that I think she still has, and I bought some chicklet type gum from a little kid for a quarter. ;-)

Ahhh...Casa Bonita. I love it. Not the food, but love the atmosphere. It's so fun. I have yet to take my kids there. I really need to. I loved it when I was a kid.

utmommy said...

That's quite the climb! I'm not pregnant and I'll bet all of your kids would've beaten me to the top too!

I live about 5 minutes from Springville.

Unknown said...

What a fun visit with your friends! I LOVE your new tablecloth! I hope nobody relies on that sign you showed us :-) Way to go on that climb! I could use a workout like that now to get rid of my pregnancy pounds!

Anonymous said...

Uh, I've eaten in that cave and I thought the food was delicious. It's cold down there but Mario seemed to enjoy it too.
That's a cute picture of your boys.

Nicole said...

WE LOVE LOVE LOVE 24. Tonight it is a 2 hour show and I can't wait!! I loved the pictures of the ruins and am VERY impressed that you climbed them. I probably would've done the same thing though. I am one of those people that don't like to be labeled as "pregnant, so she can't do this" THAT makes me want to do whatever it is they are telling me I can't. Ha.

BTW-I found you through another blog. I think itybityfrog.

Sketchy said...

Wow you rock climbing to the top!! My Parents and sister visited Teotihuacan a couple of years ago. My Mom was just to the point where she could still get around OK, but they took the wheelchair so she wouldn't get tired out. Both Dad and Steph wanted to climb the pyramid and Mom said they should, but when they got back they found my mom swarmed with vendors. She was trying to push them out of the way, lol. Didn't dampen her enthusiasm to see the ruins though!

Gabriela said...

txmommy: season 1 for me is the most stressful, you should watch it if you haven't.

Kristen: the picture makes it look worse than it really was; it was more of a slope than a drop-off. My kids LOVE Casa Bonita, you should get up the courage and do it sometime!

Hi Nicole: nice to meet you!

LOL about the vendors-guess some things never change, eh?
Utmommy: my kids were pretty quick!! The Sprinville area is so pretty!

Maine mom: good idea, I'll have to head back after the baby is born! Maybe the vendors will babysit for a few minutes while I run up the pyramids!

Anon: is that you Em?

I have a good life said...

Love the tablecloth!

Go Prego climber! We can do anything while pregnant, can't we! (By the way, you are so beautiful pregnant!)

My husband would be jealous of you living in Venezuela for awhile! (He served his mission there.)

And, I was at BYU at the same time as you, too (and Nikko-that's how I found you!)

Grammy said...

I LOVE your friends from Springville. I'm so glad they came and that you all had a good time. Some friendships never change, despite long times apart. Thank heavens. I also LOVE your tablecloth.

Gina said...

What a fun fun time! I love the cave restaurant, was it cold in there?

That road sign is so funny! Like anyone could read/decipher all that in a glance!

I love your stairway off of the dining area. So cool!