Our little man, Riley, turned six today. Hard to believe as it seems like only yesterday we were celebrating his first banana birthday in Kuala Lumpur. This time around, it happened to be in Oaxaca, Mexico.
On the days leading up to Riley’s birthday, we were in and out of the city, taking in the occasional site, catching up on doctor’s appointments, and getting this and that for the special day.
Oaxaca City is a fun place to poke around, with lots of interesting historic sites and quirky neighborhoods.
Our Mexico-USA RV Journey 2024-25
On this particular day, I got to take Riley around for some special one-on-one time while Noe and Lori had eye checkups.
Hanging out with my not-so-little-anymore goofball.
Cafeto & Baristas is a tiny hole-in-the-wall with good coffee, but more importantly today, very tasty brownies, which is why Riley and I are here.
Not the most inspiring playground. Suffice it to say we didn’t stay long.
Between appointments, Noe and Lori visited a library in their neighborhood—something of a novelty in Mexico.
Lots of kids around the RV park these days. Lots of new friends to play with.
The boys’ classroom, these days.
The walk to the bus stop in Tule. There’s a Walmart halfway between Tule and Oaxaca City, so we thought it might be worth stocking up on some things we can’t find at the local abarrotes.
Riley’s birthday coincides with pumpkin season, which makes him very happy, and seems to suit him somehow.
The boys always take the opportunity to spend some quality time in the toy aisle. There’s never anything new or different no matter which Walmart we go to. But they still enjoy it. Fortunately, they rarely ask for anything. On this day, however, Noe did have a request.
At one point, when Riley went off with Lori to search for this and that, Noe pulled a wad of pesos out of his pocket. I reminded him, that we weren’t getting anything today. He said, “No daddy, I want to buy something for Riley’s birthday.”
I was taken aback a bit by his sweet gesture. The boys usually make something for each other on their birthday, but Lori and I had been talking about how it would be nice if we encouraged them to think about something they might want to buy as well. Noe beat us to the punch.
We discussed a few options, and Noe ultimately landed on a Lego set that Riley was eyeing five minutes earlier. It was a bit of a feat getting it out of the store and back to the RV without Riley seeing it (he likes to snoop around to see what we get), but we somehow managed.
The next day, it was time to pick out a cake. Fortunately, we didn’t have to go far. There’s a nice little cake shop right in Tule.
Riley was very excited that we let him pick out a big one this time. It had to be a bit bigger than usual this year, as we planned to share it with our new friends at the RV park.
With cake in hand, the muddy business of getting it back home. Lori pleaded me to be careful and not to slip. I opted for the grassy route.
My mom asked us for a photo of the boys holding signs to mark their first day of school. That was about a month ago. Better late than never, I guess.
Noe was keen to oblige Nanny, but Riley wasn’t particularly happy with the idea. We eventually convinced him to snap a picture several days later.
The evening before his big day, some of the folks at the RV park organized a potluck, and a little birthday celebration for Riley.
Birthday candles in Mexico are just a little different…
…as well as the birthday customs…
This is the Mordida, a staple of Mexican kid birthday parties where the guest of honor takes a massive first bite out of an otherwise pristine cake before it gets sliced up and passed around.
It was excellent timing for such a party, considering our Canadian friends with their three kids were leaving in a couple of days. So Riley got about as close to a traditional birthday party as we do these days. Their Canadian friends even got him a little gift, which was very sweet and made Riley’s day.
The kids played in the big playground/pool area next to the pavilion while the rest of us chatted and drank family-made mezcal that a taxi driver amigo of one of the residents brought for everyone.
The next morning (on Riley’s actual birthday) we headed back into Oaxaca City for a full day of fun.
We picked out a special brunch place for Riley (A.M. Siempre Cafe) in Barrio Xochimilco (the oldest neighborhood in Oaxaca—not to be confused with the boat canals in CDMX). He was very happy about it. The kid loves food.
There’s a 17th century aqueduct near the coffee shop, so we thought we’d check that out before continuing on.
From there, it was a 30-minute walk to a mystery destination. Lori gave the boys a clue every time the timer went off, but they never quite guessed what the surprise was.
Poing Poing kids center.
The first thing they saw when they came in was the big jungle gym. For a while, they had no idea there was more. But there was lots more.
This was an unexpected treat. Noe volunteered immediately to give the bungee trampoline a try and loved it, but Riley initially had no desire.
He did, however, enjoy watching his brother jump-off the deep-end for his amusement.
The boys have been wanting to do bumper cars for a while, but they haven’t been big enough to ride the traditional ones. These were better suited for them and lots more fun. And best of all, we all got to ride our own in the same ring and really sock it to each other—particularly Lori, judging by this picture.
The boys were very excited to tick that one off their list, especially Riley.
About an hour into our time, Riley surprised us all by deciding he wanted to try the bungee trampoline, after all.
I was very proud of him for trying something that scared him. He didn’t love it but didn’t protest either, and we did get the occasional smile.
Afterwards, it was time to head back home for some swimming and opening presents…after making it back through the mud bog. This was a particularly nasty day.
The banana is a tradition we’ve done with Riley every year since his first birthday.
We were at a pizza brewpub in Kuala Lumpur that year and the place didn’t serve dessert. But Lori had a banana and a candle on her, so we went with it.
Riley no longer likes to eat the birthday banana, but Noe happily eats it for him. As for the big yellow Pikachu, that’s courtesy of their Canadian friends for Riley’s birthday—a token of their shared love of Pokemon.
And what do we have here? Another slice of cake. That was Noe’s idea. We bought the big cake for the potluck, but Noe thought little bro should also have a slice on his actual birthday.
Noe tried again to slip me some money to buy it. This time I took his advice and told him he could keep his money (he had already bought Riley a generous gift earlier in the week).
After banana-cake-candle time, some final pool time with the amigos.
It ended up being a pretty packed day, so by the time Riley opened his presents he had nearly forgotten about them—and it was well after dark at this point.
The first was from Noe.
Riley couldn’t believe his brother had gotten him the Lego set he’d been eying at Walmart. He then wanted to know how Noe snuck it past him.
We could’ve stopped there, but there was still one more gift to open from mommy and daddy.
He was a bit confused until we asked him if he had remembered his little helmet we had him wear around the house in Cambodia after his little run in with an i-beam. Then we “remembered” the box in the other room.
Riley’s been asking for a scooter for months. Somehow, he still was surprised when he opened the gift.
A bike wouldn’t have been the most practical mode of transport in Mexico given the condition of most roads around where we stay and the fact that all four of us would have to get bikes too to keep up with Riley. But a Razor scooter seemed like a good compromise (and is what he really wanted, anyways).
We’ll still have to work hard to keep up with him, I imagine.
Of course, Riley’s birthday wouldn’t be complete without some Pokemon cards.
A fun string of RV birthday celebrations these past couple of weeks, but that’s it ’til January. We’ll see where we find ourselves then.
Happy Birthday to our sweet, witty, and lovable firecracker—Riley!!!
