Guadalajara!

We rolled into town a little over a week ago and man, is this place great!

Why aren't more baby clothes made in black? Thanks Drew and Piper!

Before heading out of town, we took care of Ivan's first set of vaccinations and another well-baby visit, both of which went very well. Ivan is a trooper and while he screamed like a banshee during the shots, he bounced back pretty quickly (his mom is another story). So with medical errands completed, we loaded up the wagon and headed for the hills.

Full-family vehicle:roof rack, cargo box, pet barrier -- and infant seat!

The trip from Mexico City took about 6 hours---great roads all the way, and plenty of nice scenery, especially in Michoacan. We intend to make it back to that state and check it out more closely.

Our stay in Guadalajara happened to sync up with what would have been the 110th birthday of Sergio's grandfather, Roque, who hails from here in Jalisco. We've noticed lots of folks around town with the relatively uncommon family surname, Duenas, which is pretty cool. We hope to return to the area later this year to see his hometown of Navidad, a town on the coast and very beautiful from what we hear. Sergio's mom told us some stories about her dad and we think Ivan might take after him---apparently he was fair, handsome and musical, with big feet. That's our baby to a tee! Have we mentioned Ivan is a song and dance man? Okay, it is more just bouncing and cooing, but he really gets after it regardless.

El Jalisciense!

Here in Guadalajara we're staying in the very stylish pad of Sergio's training classmate Kevin and his family. The house far exceeded our expectations. Casa Kevin has four floors, a zillion bathrooms, a Euro-style kitchen complete with mysterious but very pretty Italian appliances and two spacious decks. The whole place is filled with gorgeous Tapatio sunshine thanks to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows and also has an amazing collection of paintings by Kevin himself. Just hanging out in this house is a great escape!

Even fussy time is fun with a huge porch off the bedroom.

Ivan likes to kick back with a good book.

Just after standing around the living room with our mouths agape, Sergio's folks arrived from Houston. They met Ivan and we think it is safe to say that everyone hit it off! Ivan entertained the grandparents like a pro, and it was great to see Dali and Gonzalo again here in Mexico.


Dali was a bit of a baby whisperer, convincing Ivan of the charms of the pacifier and keeping him spellbound with her singing.

She's actually singing Rod Stewart, inexplicably.

Both grandparents were such a help with Ivan, and their visit afforded us the chance to even go out for a dinner sin bebe one night! Sasha was a little nervous without her constant companion but in the end really enjoyed herself.

But adult-only dining just isn't how the Morenos roll and Ivan has officially been welcomed into the Diner's Club himself!

At the neighborhood steakhouse.

Ivan went to his first restaurant ever right here in Guadalajara (carne asada, natch) and it was such a success we've trotted him out to two more. He got an especially grand welcome in Tlaquepaque:

Ivan couldn't get enough...

Sergio's working all week here, but we managed to pack in a bunch of sight-seeing over the weekend including the above-mentioned Tlaquepaque where we saw lots of great galleries and shops and had a nice time strolling through the very pedestrian-friendly streets.

Parakeet-chosen fortunes for sale.

We also took a cruise through the centro and checked out Guadalajara's main plazas, cathedrals and government buildings. We were in shock that we could drive right into downtown, a task we avoid like the plague in Mexico City.

Main cathedral and plaza downtown.

Huge Orozco mural in the National Palace.

Ivan loves sightseeing...his mother.

We also hopped over to Tonala for more shopping on Market Day where we exhausted ourselves trying to find shops that apparently no longer exist. (Thank you very little, New York Times travel section). The town is a madhouse and is known as THE place for handicraft shopping; in fact it is where wholesalers load up shipping containers to mail back to the US which means great prices but overwhelming crowds. The city also has all of these factory stores where you can see the artisans blowing glass, doing beadwork, firing pottery, and on and on -- only not on Sundays, as we found out the hard way. Even with all the goodies on offer, we somehow came home with a few bottles of grape juice, a couple of turquoise glasses and a soap dish. Better luck next time.

We finished up the week by firing up the barbecue with our neighbors, a family of five who just arrived in town from Peru three weeks ago. The girls were very impressed with both LouLou and the baby, but their youngest was mostly interested in the limon tree on the patio.

You put the lime on the coconut (head)...

We're racing to pack in as much as we can in the last few days here and will take photos accordingly. Stay tuned!