Flowers

Rowan does not let one flower in our yard die a natural death, nope, he picks every single one he sees. Sometimes he brings me the flowers and sometimes he brings me the entire plant.



He also loves torturing pill bugs, lady bugs or any other bug that doesn't bite. Just had to mention that too.

Sausage

Rowan is talking a LOT these days and we crack up at some of his pronunciations. They're hilarious. This one is our favorite right now. Sausage.

The Lists

When deciding whether to move "home" or stay in Mexico we didn't want to make a rash decision so we made lists. It was simple concept really, a sheet of paper, two columns (Mexico and Fayetteville) and things we liked about each place. Here see for yourself. Click the picture to enlarge it.




We tallied it up and Fayetteville was the winner. Done. We're still finalizing plans but we'll be back stateside early next month.

Razorbacks

According to Wikipedia, a razorback is a feral, domestic pig. It also happens to be the mascot of the University of Arkansas, which is where Esten has accepted a faculty position. Yep, that's right, we're moving. Esten will be a wheat breeder, working to develop wheat varieties for the state of Arkansas and other southern states. He will also be teaching a class or two.
U of Ark is located in the northwest corner of Arkansas in a town called, Fayetteville. It's a progressive, small town and seems like a mini-Austin. They have a pay as you throw trash program, an organic, vegetarian meal delivery service, a "green" library, the Buffalo National River and a brewery. We are thinking we'll fit right in. We'll be leaving Mexico at the beginning of October. Ahhh. So much to do, so little time. Congrats to Esten on such a big accomplishment. It seems like yesterday we were just college students and now he's a college professor. How awesome is that?

El arco iris y los burros.

Rowan can climb into his stroller now. And that's what he does when he wants us/me to take him on a walk. After dinner the other night he did just that, climbed in and started buckling himself while yelling, "Walk." On this walk we went left out of our gate instead of right, partially because right is uphill and partially because we never go that way. Look what we found.



The picture really does no justice to the sight but it was a full rainbow. One end was in the village on the next mountain, San Miguel Tlaixpan and the other end came all the way to our village. It's been a really long time since I've seen a full rainbow. And then we found these guys resting after a long day of work, pulling a plow. The field they work is behind the brick wall.








You just never know what you might stumble upon when venture out beyond your walled paradise.

Evening in our Garden

In Mexico they call a yard, a garden. Have I mentioned we have a beautiful yard? Last week we were outside playing in our garden and after Esten and I both did some pull ups on our bar, Rowan wanted to try. Much to our surprise he could hang on the bar all by himself. He's strong. This picture didn't capture him all alone on the bar but notice Esten is not holding him.
And then he just wanted the camera and wouldn't hang anymore for a better photo op. But this one is cute.

This video needs a little explanation/translation. Rowan loves giving the dogs treats. Ian can sometimes snatch them from him and "bite" him. He doesn't bite hard but it happens. Rowan does NOT like this so he will mostly throw Ian's treats. Before he throws them, he "counts." He can say, two so he substitutes that number for all numbers. Pablo is small and Rowan puts Pablo's treat directly in his mouth. For anyone watching who doesn't know any Spanish, mas means more. It is probably the word that Rowan uses most often. This video is of Rowan giving the dogs treats. Enjoy!

Mount Tlaloc

This past weekend we braved the rain and chilly temperatures (50's) to hike Mount Tlaloc. Tlaloc is a rain god that is worshiped by the Aztecs. This makes a lot of sense because this particular mountain is one in the range of mountains that our storms come over. It is 4,151 meters high and gorgeous. Some friends from CIMMYT have climbed this mountain before and since there is not any signage and there are no permanent trails, besides the one main road, it is rather important to go with someone who knows where they are and where they have been, especially if you plan to venture past the main road. People illegally take timber from this mountain and as you walk you can see the donkey trails that have carried the wood out of the forest. When we arrived we saw three women coming down the mountain with buckets full of mushrooms, which were likely going to market. We went to look for mushrooms as well. Chantarelle and porcini mushrooms grow in the leaf litter from the pines and oaks high on the mountain. We came down with maybe 20 mushrooms in all and no one could confirm that they were 100% safe to eat. So maybe we didn't get dinner but we had a really good time and workout.

Just as we began hiking looking over at another mountain.

It was very misty.


Ro in the pack our friends Cristina and Jeff gave us long ago. Despite the look on his face he really did love it.

Ian the international hiking dog. Pablo couldn't come because of his attitude problem with other dogs.

Some of the mushrooms. I think they were alleged porcinis. I googled them and I'm glad we didn't eat them. Maybe they were chantarelles. I'm not a mycologist.

¡Qué tenga un buen fin de semana!