Cuernavaca

I'm writing this at 7am, Mexican time, while Clover sits on the sofa trying to ingest a large plastic crocodile. Daisy and Pabs are still asleep.

We're in Cuernavaca, just outside Mexico City, at the Girl Guide World Centre Our Cabana. Paul's got some work to do here, including a fundraising workshop to run tomorrow (he's the Fundraising Manager of the Girl Guides World Bureau). I shouldn't imagine that it's a usual tourist stop, but it's rather wonderful. They've given us a fantastic apartment, which has a bath and a packet of Tetley Tea, which are two things we aren't going to see for a while, and Daisy is enjoying running around the site, which is safe apart from an unfenced swimming pool (very cold) and has lemon and orange trees which she is very excited about.















The flight here (just mistyped fight, which is rather appropriate) actually went ok considering. We nearly missed it, typically, while faffing around in Giraffe having a meal and buying slightly naff UK themed gifts (London eggcups anyone) in the Glorious Britain shop. Daisy decided she wanted a beer because she was a big girl, but couldn't be persuaded to ask the air hostesses for her 'big girl beer' once on the flight, because she was a little shy.













Twelve hours on a plane with two children is a long, long time. We're grateful to Auntie Bel for her presents for Daisy. The modelling clay passed a good half an hour (and thankfully was not confiscated at security), as did the mini painting set.By the time we left there were stickers all over the seatbelt, and plasticine all over the tv set. Sorry BA.














The hostesses were kind, and Daisy ate more snacks than you can possibly imagine, and some of her children's meal. Clover discovered her inner flirt and eschewed sleeping in favour of shouting loudly (she's also just discovered how to shout BAH BAH BAH) and then smiling and cooing at complete strangers. She slept for a total of two hours and Daisy for a total of four. Not enough, really.

Tiger Trunki came into his own at the airport, as we wheeled Daisy around to the amusement of other passengers. Daisy staged a good strategic tantrum at immigration when she wanted to enter the country by running past all the security without Mummy and Daddy - that got us rushed through, but it was still an hour before we got out and through to Hotel Aeropuerto, the local untrendy hotel.















Here we discovered the delights of four in a bed (that sounds a lot more exciting than it actually was). Clover, it emerges likes to sleep, in a starfish shape, and jetlag meant a 3am unscheduled story and playtime while we tried in vain to explain why it was still dark outside.

But actually, both girls did very well, and also survived the bus trip to Cuernavaca. Daisy still insists we are not in Mexico, however. Every time we try to convince her she flatly denies it. We are worried that she sees Mexico as some wondrous mythical land and this will not end up matching her expectations. More prosaically we have some toys with us 'for Mexico' and have not undone them yet. Maybe that is all it will take.

So here we are for two nights (last night went ok) with our Tetley tea, our flirting children, and enough luggage for a small army. It won't be this warm (around 28C) in San Cristobal, but we are enjoying it while we can. I've attached some pictures so you can see what we did...