When we left California we knew that we’d have to lower our standards in certain ways. We left our carseats behind, sold our bike helmets, and stepped out of Whole Foods.

We got to Mexico and ate ceviche, with salsa, from a street side vendor. When we order water at a restaurant we don’t worry if it comes from a bottle or a glass.

We’ve accepted rides in cars without carseats. We’ve taken rides in taxis without seat belts. We once waited for a bus so long we got in a delivery truck in the front seat, with no seat belts, with a stranger.

We have shopped at Walmart and sprayed DEET on our skin. We drink Coke and cocktails from cans. We’re planning on buying precooked bacon and chicken from a can from Costco.

We send our kids to get ice cream, by themselves. Did I mention that they didn’t even eat dairy in the US?

We ate breakfast at a restaurant during the pole dancing lessons and watched the kids perform when it was their turn. They sure can spin!

We went nearly a month without a real shower.

We left our kids with someone we just met so that we could go snorkeling. We sent Ruby to a sleepover on a boat we hadn’t even been on.

We celebrated a birthday yesterday with ice cream sundaes, complete with colored sprinkles and gummy bears. Ruby and Olive didn’t know what ice cream sundaes were, and we let them veer from our old one piece of artificial color candy a year standard.

We got in a car with our friend and Olive sat in my lap in front seat. We didn’t even reach for our seat belts. I had just given Ruby permission to ride home on the pegs of her friend’s bike, with no helmet.

Last night we stayed out late at Ana Bananas, listening to the loud classic rock cover band, until the kids needed to be carried back to the dingy and dropped asleep in their beds without having their teeth brushed.

And tonight we’ll go to a wedding, of a couple we met yesterday, and celebrate with some sparkly boomy things that are usually reserved for American Independence Day, that we bought with the guidance of a nine year old friend of ours.

The thing about Mexico is that we feel safe, and we do what we need to with the resources and information we have here, and every day is a celebration of something. And girl do we have fun!