Stilts, drums and fire balls

You know the bad thing about having Chris sleep in a big boy bed is that he can get out of said bed when he wants to sleep with us. Last night he threw a tantrum because I wouldn't let him come to the "big bed". He eventually showed us who's boss by getting out of his bed and hoping into ours. Although I should have put him back in his bed to discourage such behavior, after fighting with him for an hour, all I really wanted to do was sleep. He stayed in our bed. I think it's time to putup a baby gate at the door.


And now, a tidbit from the "they grow up too quickly" files:

CMan: Mommy?

Me: Yes babe?

CMan: I want an iPod.


So my trip to El Sal was great, but I haven't really had the time or inclination to tell you all about it, so here goes:
On Friday I got there and that night, they had a nice home made dinner waiting for me. Yum. The following day I got to go to the beauty parlor and have my hair and nails done...Aahhh much needed pampering. The wedding was that evening and it was quite lovely. I've never seen so many photographers at a wedding. The bride and groom (my cousin) looked like they were celebrities being hounded by paparazzi.

The reception was at a nice hotel in San Salvador. At first I walked into the wrong wedding and was happily snapping pictures of the cake, when I realized that I didn't really know ANYONE there, so that couldn't be the right wedding. Fortunately this happened within the first 30 seconds after I got there and not after sitting down and eating the meal. Ha ha...that would've been hilarious (wow, this food is good, but who are those two people dressed like a bride and groom...uh...oops wrong wedding).

Once I made it to the correct room, we found out that our table was too small for all the people that were assigned to it, so mid-wedding, they took our table away and gave us a new one. We were stuck all the way at the back, so my mom convinced them to move the table right next to the dance floor...much better. They had a live band that was playing pretty good music and after a while, the bride took the stage and sang 4 songs with her band as well (she sings in a nightclub once in a while). This really got the party started and got some people out of their seats.

The party was in full swing, everyone was having a great time and then things got crazy....the drum players, fire juggler and stilt walkers showed up.

I'm not kidding.

They were passing out wigs and masks and noisemakers and veils and all sorts of fun carnival type things. It was so crazy, I've never seen that at a fancy hotel wedding before (or at any wedding for that matter). It was really fun and I would have participated more if it weren't for the fact that my shoes were killing me and for some reason I felt weird taking my shoes off and dancing with my pantyhose (yes, I know, feeling weird about that amidst stilt walkers really doesn't make sense, but hey, I didn't want to rip my spanx!). I was standing by the dancefloor to see the fireball lady, but I backed off a bit because I was scared that she was going to hit me with one of those fire thingies...she didn't seem to be very careful about looking around to see who was standing close by.

This was only the second wedding that I'd ever been to in El Salvador, so I noticed some differences between it and the weddings that I had been to here. I didn't see a bouquet toss or garter toss happening and the first dance was not really a big deal in the sense that there was no DJ or MC announcing it or anything. The cutting of the cake wasn't a big deal either. I don't think the couple ever cut it or took pictures with it (the hotel staff cut it up and served it)...and well, there's no need to mention the whole circus atmosphere either. It was definitely fun though. The party continued until 5 am (have I ever mentioned that these people like to party?), but I called it a night at around 12 or 1. I heard that after I left there were also mariachis that came later on. Wow, what a night!

The following day, we headed out to the beach house nice and early. On the way there, I noticed an accident on the side of the road. The police were there filing their reports and looking at the car, but there was a clown directing traffic away from the accident lane. Yes my friends, only in El Salvador do the clowns direct traffic and the cops make you laugh.

The beach house was so nice and relaxing. I got to vegetate in a hammock for a little while and go swimming in the pool. Good thing too, because it was so freaking hot, I thought I was going to melt. During this time, the cicada skins are still on the trees. I love seeing them all over the place because it reminds me of my childhood when my cousin and I would have contests to see who could collect the most.

The following day, it was time to come back. Boohoo. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

More pictures are up on Flickr (check them out over on the sidebar thingy over there --->).