Mexico Vacation Part 5

On Sunday, Estrella (means the stars) came to visit. She was a girl Kenna's age who is either Jose's daughter or granddaughter....we weren't 100% certain. Jose is the caretaker of Gona and Baca's house and Estrella was just as sweet as can be. She spoke absolutely no English and it was quite obvious that my Spanish is limited to say the least! Most of what I know I have learned from Dora and Diego, ha! I loved that the language barrier didn't stand in the way of McKenna and Estrella just having a wonderful time. Kenna taught her to boogie board, and through loose Spanish and the help of Kathy I understood that she wanted a ride in the kayak. It was so hard for me to explain to her how to row that I did most of the work. Quite nerveracking when I don't know her language and she didn't know how to swim! I just had to trust in my abilities :)

We have decided that Kenna will make her a rubberband bracelet and write her a letter both in English and in Spanish using google translator. Would love to see what she writes back with! The girls colored and played ladder golf and really had a fabulous day! She was so grateful and affectionate giving everyone of us a hug and kiss as she left. I believe that she has probably not had a day like that before and that she really enjoyed it! It was quite obvious the privilege that Kenna has with American education as we watched the girls drawing together. My guess is that Estrella has not had the exposure to art with limitless resources in crayons and paper that McKenna has. I believe that this trip was great for her when she saw how little some have in the world.

I loved watching the boys play on this trip. Everything from go fish to cars in the sand - everything was an adventure together. They really had a great time just coloring or being silly and it was wonderful to see.

That evening Josh and I headed to Xcaret which is around an hour from the beachouse. It is a little tiny fishing village really in the middle of no where. But it is home to the Leaky Palapa which is a gourmet restaurant that must rely mostly on tourists or "gringos" as the locals would most likely never dine in such a place.

Josh started with watermelon caprese which was just so lovely. I had limited light, so the picture really isn't that great. I had the most delicious drink I have ever had the joy of drinking in a pineapple chili margarita. For dinner Josh had ravioli with homemade pasta and some sort of pepper cheese filling, I had the best risotto I have ever had topped with pork, was worth the drive! The drive home was slightly scary as we navigated roads that were so overgrown two cars could really not fit, and in a country with very few signs. Luckily Josh has an excellent sense of direction, and no one was walking on the road after dark (they were during the day.....scary!!!)

I took these pictures right as the sun was setting near the restaurant - just the most gorgeous sky!

At some point I took my camera out in the kayak and snapped a bazillion photos of the beach house and palapa - this was my favorite!

One afternoon - again my days are all running together - we went into town along the Malican (boardwalk created to attract cruise traffic.) It is very Americanized beachfront with wonderful shops and restaurants. We had a nice lunch and played in the water. The kids played in some hammocks on the beach and splashed around while we enjoyed limonade (lime aid) in the shade! After that we went to check on the casita in town, as the ladies that were renting Gona and Baca's city house had moved out. Luckily everything looked great, with some minor paint and landscaping they will be good to rent it again.

After a very busy day, this little guy was pooped. He passed out upstairs mid playing and I had to wake him up later to eat! The rest of this afternoon was spent playing games and relaxing in the palapa outside.

Mexico Vacation Part 3

I'll never forget the looks on the kids faces when they woke up and saw the ocean right outside their window. Each child got a new stuffed animal on their bed and they carried them around the entire trip. They played games together where their animals were alive and exploring, or going on adventures together. I most enjoyed watching the kids just play with no technology, no overwhelming amount of toys or things, but just their imagination and the outdoors. The next few days were a glorious blur of playing on the beach. The boys were a little intimidated at first, but LOVED digging in the sand. Grayson dug and dug the first few days burying things, and discovering them, running to the ocean to get water, just barely reaching the edge and getting a little so the waves didn't overtake him, was so fun to watch. I enjoyed kayaking and teaching Kenna to kayak. She was a natural and did great right from the start. By the end of day 2 on the beach she was able to handle her own boat, even though she was a little scared at getting it back to shore with the waves trying to knock her over :)

Zachary was ever on the hunt for coconuts, and marveled in the fact that they grew on trees here.

Here is a view from our room on the second floor....just beautiful.

Grayson's never ending hole. By day 2 he had a tent over him and his buckets. 

One of the best parts of this trip were the family dinners. One day one of the locals came by with fresh lobster he had just caught! He butchered it in front of us and we dined on lobster and salmon for dinner! We also had steak, chili, chicken....really were spoiled with the pantry of supplies that Kathy had purchased and brought in! The closest town and store is at least 30 minutes away and we definitely did not want for a thing!

By day 2 or 3 on the beach the kids definitely were brave. Josh did a great job of acclimating them to the waves and was basically the designated kid protector/wave guru everyday thereafter. Grayson was fine as long as he had a deathgrip on someone that would pick him up when a wave approached that was over his head. Zachary and Kenna enjoyed doing karate moves on the waves, and eventually both because very good boogie boarders, riding waves from mid beach all the way in!

This was the vacation I was hoping for. Nothing to do but play, sit, relax and eat. I even got to read an entire book....I cannot remember the last time that happened! Life here was so simple, letting the kids dictate what we did for the most part, which kept them very happy and extremely exhausted by about 7 every night :)