Christmas Day + Coyoacán

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas! Just like that, it’s the 26th already. Wow.

We had a good day, albeit drastically different than any other Christmas in my life! The boys were mildly grumbly about the fact that it “didn’t feel like Christmas”. They didn’t not enjoy the day or anything, but they said it just felt like any other normal day on a Mexico trip, not “Christmas”.

I gave them a fairly stern talking-to in private and reinforced that a) they are not to complain, at all, especially in the presence of relatives or their dad! The last thing I want is for people who are very excited to have them here think that the boys are not having a nice time, and b) we knew it wasn’t going to be like a regular Christmas!!! It doesn’t have to be. It’s just one year. It’s perfectly fine to have different experiences at different times in your life.

Christmas Day

The day was pretty low key. Turns out not everyone actually went to bed around 2 am when I did- a group of 4 or so (including Ivan, of course) stayed up until 4:30 am playing cards. Haha.

It was a slow morning then, with people rolling out of bed eventually and having coffee and conchas (sweet Mexican rolls).

We basically hung around and talked and eventually had a leftovers lunch. Kids went to corner store with their cousin and played soccer on the roof and video games.

Eventually people rotated through showering, and we headed out for a little local excursion. Ivan’s cousin’s daughter and fiancé wanted to take us to Coyoacán, which is a cute little historic borough or district within Mexico City.

We packed up and loaded our suitcases in the car and followed them.

Coyoacán was super cute!! It was also WEIRD to me that it was bustling with people, an artesanía market, little shops and restaurants open, etc… on Christmas Day! I think many/most things are closed in general on Christmas here, but this is a little tourist hotspot, as well as a place locals like to come.

There’s a park-like area with fountains and a square for wandering and it is known for having lots of churro and hot chocolate places. Many people were out enjoying, and it was a beautiful day.

I love these pics we took at the fountain!

We spent a long time just milling around checking out the area and looking at some of the craft stands and such.

The Coyoacán sign:

Eventually we got hot chocolate from a place that Ivan’s cousin’s daughter said was the best- it was really good!

Around the corner was her favorite churro spot:

They make them fresh to order and they were DELICIOUS!!!! I got mine filled with Nutella. It was to die for. At home I feel like churros are usually over fried and greasy and too crunchy. These were soft and just perfect.

Ivan and Asher spotted a place with tacos al pastor, which Asher loves, so he had to get a taco.

This little area was all decked out for Christmas and very cute:

Ivan always has to get esquites– corn kernels in a cup with mayo, cheese, lime, salt and chili piquin, always sold on the street in carts. I hate mayo so these are not for me, but he loves them.

Then we just walked around some more!

There was a very large, beautiful Nativity scene:

Then we said goodbye to his cousin’s family and drove 20 minutes or so to a different aunt and uncle’s house.

Example of another narrow street! Not sure how the parking situation always works out around here….

A pretty Mexican kitty! (Belongs to another relative- we walked past their house on the way to his aunt’s house.)

At his aunt’s we just gathered around the table and visited mostly. The boys were acting a little bored as there were no other kids their age there (except his other cousin’s FOUR teenaged daughters but they don’t know each other and the boys were acting awkward. 🙄) They ended up playing on their phones and watching part of The Croods 2 on TV in Spanish. lol.

Ivan visiting with his dad and uncle while some others went to pick up some food.

His cousin has a teeny tiny chihuahua puppy named Samantha that I snuggled for a long time. So tiny!!!!

Finally his mom and aunt and cousin returned with big bags of quesadillas and tlacoyos. These were sooooooooo good. I had one potato quesadilla which I loved so much I wished I had not ordered anything besides 3 of those. The árbol salsa and pico de gallo on top was perfection

We stayed until almost 9 before then driving back to Toluca (where my in-laws live).

I dozed off in the car! The long previous day caught up with me. Back at the house we unloaded suitcases, I had some tea and a cookie and then basically got ready for bed.

It is COLD at night in Toluca!! Huge temperature variances- it’s at an elevation of 8700 feet, so the temps get up into the 60s during the day and down into the 30s at night in the winter. But- they do not have any heat in the homes here! And they are made of like concrete basically so it feels almost colder inside than outside. 🥶 Good thing I planned ahead and brought my slippers, Cuddle Duds fleece top and fleece PJ pants. 😉 Once I was in bed with blankets piled on top I was just fine. (But I secretly wished I could transport my gas fireplace here, lol!)

Ok gotta go, I think my huevos con salchicha are almost ready for me to go and eat (with a fresh corn tortilla hopefully 😋).