Mexico, part 3, and the banana split that saved us

Before I start on today, I wanted to mention what Sacha and I have been doing in the evenings.  Basically, a whole lot of reading.  It's not safe to go out after dark, so after dinner and putting the kids to bed, we've been hanging out in an empty bedroom of this huge house and reading our books.  Good thing we brought some!  Here's Sacha right before we finally gave up and went to bed last night:

 We ended up having a big adventurous morning today!  The kids are about get up from their naps and demand that I get in the pool with them, and how could I resist that?, so this will be short and mostly pictures.  We first did a half-hour horseback ride through town that we had heard was fun.  It was fun, although both Sacha and I had to sit WAY back in the saddles so that the kids would fit in front of us, and that wasn't so comfortable.  However, we got to go along the water and through the streets and we even got to ride the mama of a new baby horse that was hanging around all the big horses when we got there.  SO CUTE!

Then, since only half an hour had passed and we had the whole morning in front of us, and since we were feeling ambitious, we took a taxi to a nearby larger town that has a nice waterfront.  Once there, we caved to the kids' demands that we take a boat ride.  That was fun and VERY bouncy on the way back, which the kids thought was hilarious.

After the boat ride, we were all fading fast.  My family did a lot of traveling when I was a kid, and I did a fair amount during college, but I've never been in the situation of being a parent in charge when everyone is falling apart in a foreign country.  Sacha and I were like, where are our parents to step in and decide what to do?  Long story short, we found a nice cafe and ate and then had the banana split that saved all our lives.  Soooooo big and soooooo good.  Yum.  Yum yum.  Here it is:

Newly energized, we taxied it back home and did our naptime thing.  This afternoon's plans are much like yesterday's:  splash around and play in the pool.  Natalia seems to have developed a strong fear of going in the water, but she's okay with splashing her feet in at the edge, so I guess that's a start. (Updated to add that we actually did get her in the pool and she eventually decided it was pretty fun.  Success!)  This is the pool, and then our casita in the background.

Note to self:  having a private pool is pretty sweet.