We've been doing a lot of work on our yard (which is about 90% rock) this week. Part of this involved going to collect more rocks to build a rock wall creating two "levels" to our yard. Our neighbors are helping us -- without them the wall would just "come a tumblin' down." Zam and Miguel are having a blast working together.

Zam was studying bread in his homeschool and we got to make pretzels...yum!

Bucking Bulls -- one of the events the kids went to watch during Holy Week in Olinala. Here are Zam, Hizee, Ziko and Migueal before heading to town for the show.

The kids playing Lego during one of Bruce's computer classes.

The kids have been on a Lego craze lately -- they took these photos by themselves while Bruce and I were out for a walk. When we got back from our walk we were all excited about their creations and told them we needed to take some pictures. Zam responded, "It's okay mom we already took pictures of everything." I thought their little "photo documentary" turned out quite well!

There were lots of activities in Olinala during the Holy Week, one of which was horse races. Hizee enjoyed seeing her favorite animals in action. It was super hot, but we managed to grab some shade and had a great time!

We had a great first Easter in Zacango! The day began with Zam giving us each a card that he had made; after which we had an Easter candy hunt with the neighbors (too hot for chocolate eggs); and we ended with a pizza supper ( a lot of people really like pizza here, so it's kind of a treat). Click older posts for Good Friday events.

On Good Fiday we had a sleep over on our roof. This may sound a little crazy but our roof really isn't too high and there is lots of space. A few of the mom's here still thought it was pretty crazy but still joined us for the movie before the sleep over.

Miguel, Zam, and Erriberto (Miguel's little brother) engrossed in a DS game. I love little Erri's face in this picture! He's such a sweetheart!

Here's the swimming collage that I was trying to post with the little blurb below. Hope it works this time...see explanation below.

Zam and his best friend Miguel sitting on the fence by our house.
Ziko and his good friend Edger who helps Ziko navigate all around town on his trike.
Hizee playing in the sand near our house with her friends Aniesa and Lizette.

Bruce has been teaching swimming lessons at the presa (small dam) in Zacongo for a few months and he promised the kids a trip to the pool in the nearby town of Olinala. We went swimming in Olinala during Semana Santa (the Holy Week or Easter holiday) and it was great fun!

This one's for you Candace! Pig-Pig is growing!! She's a big girl now and loves to come out of her pen and walk around the yard with me. I make sure to let her out late at night when no one is around, lest they think that this "gringa" is totally insane walking around with her pig!

A couple of weekends ago the kids hopped in the truck and we drove about ten minutes out of Zacongo for a hike. We had a blast!

There were three student teachers in Zacongo for the past three weeks. They were a lot of fun and did a lot of cool things with the kids. One of the events they organized was a school dance show for the community. The kids practiced every afternoon for the three weeks leading up to the big show and we would often go and watch them practice. Hizee especially liked one of the numbers they were practicing and would always join in. She told us that when it came time for the dance show she was going to dance too. When the actual night arrived we thought that she might be too shy to join in, but we were sure wrong about that one! The minute she heard the song being qued up she ran out onto the cancha (basketball court) and joined the group of grade one and two students. What a brave girl!

The show was quite astounding with everything from traditional Mexican dance, to frogs and cowboys!