Goldie and I just returned from a week in Mexico where we went to attend a wedding of some of my adopted Mexican family and learn to barf in new and interesting places.

I spent a good chunk of my early twenties sowing an increasingly empty stash of wild oats in Oaxaca, Mexico. Whenever someone asks me where the hell Oaxaca is, or more com.monly, how one could survive in a place with so few consonants, my canned response is that it is 6 hours south of Mexico City and the ability to live in a place (and at time on entire streets) made it easier to hide from old boyfriends. I encourage anyone to try to find me on the corner of xicotical and San Salvador Tzompantapec. Suckers.

Since I returned stateside, Mexico has clearly had a dramatic improvement in the snack arena. No longer are one's only options restricted to fried pork skin or fried grasshoppers (although I have never seen an actual Mexican eating the grasshoppers, only trying to make frightened Americans believe that they do). They now have introduced the most delicious, and entertaining snack of all time. I give you: Hot Nuts!

No matter how bad you feel, just saying that you would like to eat los Hot Nuts! can make any day better. En serio? Hot Nuts! Made you smile. You're welcome.

Traveling with Goldie was amazing. She clearly got the traveling gene from me. The kid barfed in plants, had diarrhea in some really drab bathrooms and vomited into plastic bags whilst riding in a taxi with nary a complaint. Best Goldism of the trip:

"don't worry about that smell, it's just my poop" Sheer comedy gold that kid.

Also: when the Mexicans tell you that you are going to Dance the Turkey, do not assume that they are making some Spanish mistake for the Chicken Dance. You are going to dance with an actual turkey. And the next day? They are going to kill that turkey and drain the blood out of it right next to where you are eating your huevos a la Mexicana.

God I love that country.

Disneyland Advice You Didn't Ask For

Despite the rough spots, this vacation continues to rock. I had been doubting if this was a good idea with the girls still being so young, but it is working out perfect. The key to our success was taking advantage of the Disneyland sale and getting the 6 day pass. That seems like Disney Overkill, I know, and if we were just two adults, it absolutely would be. With the littles, however, having the extra days takes off the pressure of dragging them screaming and crying around the parks trying to cram in everything. Don't get me wrong, we are still dragging them screaming and crying, but I feel less desperate to push them too far. We have done 3 days so far and the groove is that we get there early, leave at 1 or so and get physically away from the sensory overload to eat lunch and then bribe and threaten and coerce them to get a nap in the car while we drive around (we are still in Carlsbad for another night) and then go back into Disneyland about 5 or so and stay until closing time. This has allowed me to avoid the panic we heard in one woman's voice whose husband thought all the lines were too long and she was shrieking "Well, we have to get in line for SOMETHING!!"

This is has been my food plan for the trip:

It amazes me to see so many people eating all their food in the park. We are lucky to have had this week in the condo by the sea where I can cook. We eat breakfast here, lunch somewhere in Anaheim and then I pack the cooler with sandwich stuff and yogurts, fruit etc. for the ride home. Of course my purse is packed with crackers and lara bars, water bottles and some treats to ward off the grumpys when we are in long lines. The best part of this? Vacation weight gain: Averted! About a hundred dollars a day we could have spent on crappy disney food? Spent on booze at Costco! Tomorrow we head up to stay a few nights in a hotel in Anaheim and it is presenting a bit of a challenge food wise because we won't have a kitchen. I hard boiled eggs for the cooler, got oatmeal packets, yogurts, milk, bread and sandwich fixings, bagged salad, fruit and snacks. It should be perfect. I just don't like eating out so much, and I guess the girls don't either because instead of eating their dinner at a restaurant yesterday they ate the kale and carrot garnish. Nice.