Skinny dipping in Ajijic

Things have been busy. On Thursday, Barb’s sisters, Wendy and Faye, arrived on time, but a bit tired. They had been up until 3 a.m. the night before and had to get up early .On Friday, they walked around La Floresta in the morning, walking the dogs and seeing the neighbourhood. In the afternoon, they walked down to Ajijic (all around the town) as well as doing shopping. I went down in the early evening to Los Telares restaurant; as with many restaurants, we were out in the garden. Barb & I had been there before, but not for a long time; we always like it. On Saturday, the women went to Love in Action to take all the children’s clothes that Wendy and Faye had brought. They had each gone to ValueVillage and bought clothes and sandles for the kids. They had filled 2 big suitcases and didn’t have too much stuff for themselves. However, the stuff was a huge success. Elvia, the housemother, immediately dressed all the girls in her charge in the new clothes and shoes. Some of the kids didn’t have light summer clothes but were wearing heavier sweat shirts. They now have some more appropriate clothes for this kind of weather.

On Sunday, we got the 3 girls again. Now, they have no hesitation about coming with us. In fact, when we arrived, they came running over holding their bathing suits. Two weeks ago, one of thetwins had started crying until she learned that Elvia was coming too. Not this time. When we got here to our casa, they jumped out and went running to the gate and knocking to get in. When we got inside, I was hanging up my hat and not rushing. When I looked around, I saw the twins in the patio undressing as fast as they could. Then, I saw Fatima lying in the little pool already and completely naked. We have learned that they are accustomed to eating the big meal in the early afternoon and we had planned to eat immediately, then get the girls to lie down for a nap before going into the water! While Barb was preparing the food, I got Fatima out and got all of the girls dressed again; however, I had to tell them that we would eat first before going into the water. Barb prepared the pasta and vegetables in sauce with canned salmon. That was a great success. Unlike last week when the girls were slow eating, this time they asked for seconds and thirds. We are learning what works. After eating, I didn’t think that there was much of a chance to get the girls to nap so we let them in the water. Again, they had a whale of a time. When they finally seemed to be tired, Barb did try to get them to sleep. One of thetwins cried for a long time and eventually got Fatima crying too. However, the latter did go to sleep. The twins never did even with Barb lying with them. Finally, she let the twins get up and they had ice cream and cookies. We gave Fatima the same after we woke her up at 5. We finally took them back at about 6:15. We are getting better, but it is still amazing how tiring 3 little girls can be. I have also been confirmed in my belief that little girls seem to be born with a screaming gene. They all do it when they are playing.

Today on Monday, Faye, Wendy, Barb & I went to San Juan Cosala; first to the very lovely and expensive spa on the mountain, Monte Coxala and then down to the spa by the lake. This is a busy week for Mexican tourists to come to Lake Chapala. Thus, there were lots of people on the side of the spa where most Mexicans go; I expect that it is less expensive than the pool etc. where we go. However, there were more people in our area than we have seen before. We also had dinner from Reuben’s restaurant, although we had a table out near the pool. Tomorrow, the 3 sisters plus Kate are going to Tlaquepaque. Barb is trying to show our visitors as much as possible in the week that they are here.