We went to a very yummy restaurant for lunch with our friends, Valerie and Clay. It's one of their favorite places and after eating there, it's one of my favorites too! The food was really fresh and well prepared. I had carrot soup, followed by chicken breast with veggies and rice. The restaurant is one of the cutest I've been in. I really want to hang piñatas in every room of my house!

We frequently find ourselves in the Zocálo and we are often blowing bubbles. My kids all really enjoy it. The Zocálo is such a fun place to people watch. There's almost always live music and there are little stands selling all sorts of things. Here are some pictures of my Maeve looking so dang cute and so happy blowing bubbles. 

Today, we went to the market in Etla. Wednesdays are the market days there. I met a woman at church named Valerie and she's spent a lot of time here in Oaxaca. She invited us to go to this market and we jumped at the chance. We met her and her husband, Clay at the bus station and found out that the buses to Etla are no longer available because the company went out of business. So instead we caught a collectivo which is just a taxi crammed full of people. So all 7 of us were jammed into one taxi! Fortunately it wasn't a long drive really. The market was very big and very busy and packed full of so many things and people. We didn't really buy much besides juice, tamales, oranges, and some little baskets, but I did really enjoy seeing all the sights and observing what Valerie bought! We were so grateful to go on this outing with people who knew what they were doing!

We went a a restaurant recommended by friends called, Casa Oaxaca. It was fancier than I anticipated! The one we went to is the "cafeteria" one and there's another, fancier one downtown. The food was delicious and we loved watching one of the men make salsa for us table side. I keep trying mole with the hopes that I'll love it, but I think it's an acquired taste that I have not acquired. Not sure if I should keep trying! By the end of this day, we were exhausted and so ready to put our feet up and sleep. Poor Maeve has been hauled every where without naps lately! She's a trooper, but we feel it in the mornings when she wakes up ticked off! 

PS: Holly bought the sweater she's wearing about and it suits her so perfectly! 

This was a really fun tour for me, even though we were out of water and all really thirsty, tired from our day of walking and it was a very warm day! The Botanical Gardens are so beautiful and to me, there's something really magical about cacti. Sometime when we lived in California, I decided to buy some house plants because I had read that they can increase happiness. My mom was visiting and we choose 3 plants together. I've since expanded my collection to 16 (and maybe killed a few!) and I find so much joy in my plants and how they grow. I have some cacti and other plants that I've seen growing outdoors in the ground here. 

The tour was long and we bailed after an hour. At one point, when the tour guide was explaining something in Spanish that I couldn't understand, Maeve walked in front of the crowd (I'd guess 50+ people), waving and saying, "hola." She's a heart melter! My girls have an appreciation for plants and they enjoyed the tour as well, although they were happy to go early and hunt down some water! In my opinion, this is a Oaxaca must visit. There are tours in English too. It just worked better for our schedule to go at that time (or so I thought). I'm a little panicked about fitting everything I want to do in. I need to let go of my scarcity mentality. Here's a swamp of photos! Because you know, my girls + a beautiful garden = me going bananas with my camera!