The Kelefors

We went to Oaxaca and we went to a park that was really fun with a basketball hoop and a running track. We ate lots of good food, like tamales, chilaquiles, piggie gomas (candies), and chocolate. We saw beautiful art and we took a nice hike. We climbed up on a tall, tall pyramid at Monte Alban. Our hotel was really funny because it was so close to the zocalo and it was so full of animals, like birds. Our second hotel was really fun because there was a tennis court really close and there was a swimming pool and we made a new friends named Antonia. We saw the biggest tree in Mexico.

— Dylan and Adela

There are not many things that bring me to tears, but my daughter’s first dance concert nearly did. She’s been taking classes at Dance Mission with Teacher Stephanie and Teacher Maya (known to Adela and her classmates as “Maya Papaya”) and today was the winter concert. It’s a pretty professional outfit and the day had the real feel of opening night, even though it was 10 in the morning. We started backstage with 40 girls and a handful of boys, getting into their outfits. Adela had worn her own fairy skirt and butterfly wings, but we convinced her that that was just her practice outfit. After a little bit of practice, we left Adela in the good hands of her teachers and took our seats in the theater.

The show was “Mother Frost” and started with the littlest ones dressed as snowflakes. They were followed by three groups of migrating animals — geese, butterflies, and whales. Adela was a butterfly. She had a bit of stage fright, but performed nobly, and gracefully of course. The highlight was when she spotted us in the audience at the end and waved furiously. Enjoy the adorable pictures!

This year’s Halloween belonged to Adela. Last year, she had some input into her dragon costume (as part of our Shrek theme) and she ended up wearing it at least weekly throughout the following year. But this year, she very firmly let it be known that she was going to be Ariel for Halloween. The pictures are priceless, but they don’t quite capture Adela-as-Ariel. Whenever she puts on the costume… and wig… and crown… and wand… and princess shoes, she walks around the house singing Ariel’s song (if you’re a fan of the movie, it’s the tune that Ariel sings to Prince Eric on the beach and causes him to fall in love with her). And if, in the midst of her reverie, you ask her any question by name (“Adela, would you like to…), she reminds you that “I’m Ariel, not Adela.”

That’s not to say that Dylan wasn’t cool in his Batman costume (although I’m still working on the idea with him that Batman doesn’t kill bad guys). And he got to wear it for practically two days straight, between the Halloween parade at school, the actual trick-or-treating, and his sleepover costume party at Aethan’s house last night.

For us, while Halloween was fun, it was eclipsed by a magical evening tonight celebrating Dia de los Muertos. We joined thousands of San Francisco skeletons and revelers parading through the streets of the Mission with candles, flowers, offerings, incense, and photos of loved ones being remembered. At a small park, a community altar had been erected and everyone wrote messages to the dead. Dylan wrote a note to “Pop Pop Joseph” and drew a picture of him. Adela wrote to Nana and Umpa. We wrote notes to Uncle Dave Hirsch and Dave Merta. It was very special and Dylan even saw his kindergarten teacher, a real highlight for him.

Oh, and two days out from the election, we saw the best evidence yet that Obama has this thing in the bag: a sign reading “Skeletons for Obama.” I guess, like any good Chicago pol, he’s even got the votes of the dead. 😉

Happy Halloween! Happy dia de los Muertos!