Samantha's First Trip to Mexico

Traveling with a baby can be problematic from what I've observed. Fortunately, we just returned from a grand trip to Mexico where Samantha behaved like an angel. Three flights, the beach, a day on a boat, jungle hikes, sleeping under a glorified palapa, the mountains, the city, many car rides and late nights in restaurants were not enough to rattle her. She set a precident I hope she'll continue to live up to.
The journey was 3 pronged: we started off in Puerto Vallarta where we attended a wedding and stayed with the rest of the wedding party at the same hotel that we made headquaters for our nuptials 3 years ago. Then we headed north into the jungle around San Pancho to my dad's place where Samantha got to meet her grandfather and that side of the family. Our last stop was in and around Mexico City where Samantha was introduced to her abuelita and got a taste of her Mexican heritage.

The balcony of our room at Los Tules

We weren't the only ones with a youngster in tow. In fact, there were quite a few.

At the wedding: before things got sloppy...

No Mexican wedding would be complete without a perfect sunset

The jury's still out on the comfort of water less than 90 degrees...

Chillin' with Uncle Rhett, or maybe it's Jeebus Crisp himself?


La Playa de Divisadero--the smile says it all!


el Tigre and his granddaughter

We went to the nursery to pick out a tree to plant in Samantha's honor. We settled on a Tulipan Africano



The Jacogirls


"Of course I'm ready for children....NOT!"

Samantha wearin' her colors


On a jungle hike

Who doesn't love a nap on the beach?


Pumita stalking out a hidden jungle pool

The family at la Selva del Tigre

Then it was off to meet Abuelita in beautiful Valle de Bravo


After an excellent lunch overlooking the lake in Valle de Bravo we walked the cobbled stone streets and found several mountain bike shops. We are just going to have to go back to this town to bike the hills and see the monarch butterflies with Samantha.


Colorful church in Metepec, where Abuelita Sylvia lives. The town is SW of Mexico City under the impressive snow-capped Nevado de Toluca (4600M or 15,016ft)


Mom at her alma mater in Mexico City where Samantha will
hopefully go one day and be 100% bi-lingual!

She really does like her tia Yolanda...!

Smile if you like not wearing a diaper!

Thanks mom and dad for making us miss our flight home so we could stay an extra day and chill on the rooftop of this swanky hotel in the leafy Condesa neighborhood!
The hotel is so cool that you can borrow the Establishment's chocolate lab "Conde" and take him for walk. They also have a fleet of bicycles available for the braver guests to borrow, which I did, and proceeded to tour around Chapultepec park and the surrounding areas. Mexico City is not what you'd call a "bike-friendly" city at the moment, though there is a small movement in that direction.

"After much reflection, I've decided that Mexico suits me"