dia de los muertos

Day of the Dead. A holiday celebrated by Mexicans to honor family and friends who have passed away. Traditionally, they set up "ofrendas" or altars with sugar skulls, marigolds and favorite foods of the deceased (see more here). I remember when L came home last year and was like, "Hey, Mom! We have an altar with a skeleton head on it at school! And we have to find food to put on it!" and I was like, "Wha...?"

But now I think, you know, it's kind of nice how they actually celebrate their deceased on a holiday rather than America's manufactured tradition of dressing up in costume while handing out bucket loads of high-fructose corn syrup, perpetuating the nation's demise in obesity and type 2 diabetes. But I still won't buy their sugar skulls. Which come in all shapes and sizes, by the way. And if you are looking for a creative way to send a death threat, you can have a name etched across the front of these sugar skulls - for the same price. Who doesn't love bargain shopping.

This little market can be found in Toluca, a small town located about 30 miles outside of the city. The kids and I made our way there with friends.















Looking at these sort of makes me throw up in my mouth a little.





50 pesos is equivalent to about $4.50 USD. They even leave a little space for the name across the front. I mean, who wouldn't want these?





The boys were a little creeped out.





This is the stuff nightmares are made of.



Dead nun or... dead angel? Seems like a bit of an oxymoron, if you ask me.





Filming some kind of news story or something.



These little treats were full of tricks...



Mini coffins. Quaint. They are about the length of my index finger.





Mini ofrendas. About 3 inches across. Cute, non? I'm a sucker for mini anything.



How creepy are these little beauts?



We eventually made our way out of the marketplace and over to the botanical gardens. Apparently, there was a Japanese man who lived here in Toluca and he created these botanical gardens inside this building of stained glass windows. 











Another picture, Mom? I can't help it. L likes to meander; therefore, he is easiest to catch on camera.







B, on the other hand, prefers to run like the wind. Just call me Spidey!



M just tries to catch whomever she can. Where are my brothers?



L making a wish with his one peso. Dream big, buddy.









Exhaustion finally overtook her. It was all those chocolate skeleton-pops.