A glimpse into my daily life

Sometimes my life is so wonderfully boring that I have to take pictures of little things like this:

A three (almost four) year old all dolled up and ready to splash in the puddles

Or that three (almost four) year old who refuses to wear clothes, and her 21 month (almost two year) old sister who wears them for her...on top of her own clothes

Or that same 21 month (almost 2 year old) who likes to sit and study the fliers...just like here dad!

These are the things that make my life just to so perfect...and just so normal. I love normal.

p.s. do you see that dog in the 2nd picture? No we did not get a dog...we're just dog sitting my brother and Sister in laws dog for the week. I have to say, I've learned a few things about dogs this week:

one - I'm still allergic

two - dogs don't like to listen to me

three - dogs remind me of a certain 3 (almost 4) year old I know...one that needs to be reminded to pee all the time, be played with constantly and is ALWAYS right on my heel.

Anyway, we really have had a lot of fun with Ni-Ni here this week, I know my girls are going to be BEGGING me for a dog for a long time to come. They can just count their current blessings though because I like things as they are.

Stunning

I love my Country. I love my little town. And sometimes I need to be reminded of that...like when it's still clearly winter and we're just days away from April! I just have to say, this little home of mine is very lucky that it regularly surprises me with stunning views like these:

We're so used to the beautiful frosty trees we get here during the winter, but yesterday's frost was exceptional. I wish I was a better photographer so I could really capture what it was that I saw...because it truly was stunning!

Before and after

Paige...before naptime

Paige...after naptime

Poor kid.

Huatulco - Day 7-8

Day 7 (Santa Cruz)

On our last day in Huatulco, we woke up to this Sleeping Beauty

The kids were definitely running out of steam by this day...they just played SO hard all the time. Thank goodness it mean they slept hard as well!

After breakfast we all headed down to the snorkel Beach for some fun in the sun. Ben and my Mom played in the waves and the rest of us made sand castles

Later we headed over to the kids club and left the kids with my parents....Paige sure LOVES her Bumpa

While my parents watched the kids, Ben and I took one of these bad boys out (the Catamaran that is...not the resort worker)

It was so nice...and so relaxing. I loved just sitting back soaking in the sun while the spray from the salt water cooled us off. It was definitely a good way to end the day

The girls really really LOVED the kids club!

Hailey also really really loved all the towel art our housekeeping left for us each day

Later that afternoon my parents went on a Sunset Cruise of the Bays of Huatulco. Apparently it was really quite beautiful...but I'm not jealous at all. Really who would want to watch the sun set on the Pacific Ocean, on a Sailboat, in 30C weather, with your best friend beside you. I mean, that doesn't sound perfect at all...right? Ok, I wish I was there too!

But to make up for it, Ben and I and the girls went into Santa Cruz that evening o do some more shopping.

So I had been very careful this while trip to monitor exactly what my girls ate - we did NOT want them getting sick. But there was just something about the ice cream the street vendor was selling from a box at the front of his bike. Maybe it was the intense humidity that hit us once the sun set, or maybe it was because we just felt so safe in Huatulco, or maybe it was because it was coconut ice cream...whatever it was, we're glad we bought some because it was heavenly!

The girls loved it!

Now this is another thing I LOVE about Huatulco...it just felt so safe! It was getting really dark and Ben really wanted to run back to the market and buy this hammock he saw...and the girls and I just didn't feel like going with him. So...he left us alone in the town square to wait for him. I felt safe the entire time! I have been more scared in broad daylight in Calgary then I did in Santa Cruz in the dark. I just love this place!

I also love Hailey's imagination..."look mom" she said, "I'm an Elephant!"

Once we all got back to the resort, we went for our last "a la carte" meal of the week (dinner at a restaurant instead of the buffet).



we toured the grounds and said "goodbye" to everything we were going to miss...like the foot showers

And then we watched the final performance in the theatre and went back to our rooms to sleep. Our last night in Mexico :(

Day 8 - going Home

We were so sad to leave this little piece of paradise. Even though the heat was starting to wear on Paige, and I was sort of looking forward to my own room; we really did NOT want to leave. So on the last day we made sure to take our time getting ready. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and Ben and Hailey even took one last trip to the Beach...while Paige and I packed (why do mom's always get the hard jobs?).

anyway, I had two cute little helpers

Once we were packed we loaded all our stuff into this shuttle bus (just like the many shuttle buses we took to get us around the resort throughout the week) and headed to the main lobby to wait for our bus to the airport


Hailey was very insistent that she pull her own suitcase...and we were grateful for the extra hand, that's for sure

The airport was HOT...hot enough that Ben took the girls to the bathroom and soaked them in water in an attempt to cool them off. It sort of worked. Grandpa was good at distracting them from the heat and all the waiting we had to do.
The last picture of the group (minus my mom, who took the picture). We were HOT...they airport was completely open to the outdoors and had no circulation at all.

Once we cleared security though we entered into the most glorious air-conditioned room. It was so nice. I almost think they make the airport so hot so that we actually look forward to going home to our frozen tundra....almost.

But we are happy to be home, we just hope to return again soon. This trip was really fun. I LOVED bringing our girls with us, and I especially loved having my parents come along. We debated and debated about where to go, and we weren't really sure about Mexico because of how dangerous it is in other areas. But we did the research and felt really good about going to Huatulco, and I'm glad we did because I believe we've discovered a hidden gem. It's one of those places that we want to return to again and again...and keep a secret so that it never changes.

Huatulco - Day 5-6

Day 5 (the Beach...again)

We spent a LOT of time just hanging out at the Beach this trip...and rightfully so, that was the while point of the trip!

We also spent a LOT of time drinking Pinada's...mmmmm

More pinada...

Ben and I...all dressed up and ready to go out for our "Anniversary Dinner"...alone

The view from our Restaurant...Beautiful

Mmmmmmmm
This is the kind of stuff Grandma lets my kids do while she babysits....I hope they're tickling her feet and not being forced to massage them:)

Day 6 (We found the Kids club!)

So up until day six we'd been working our way through the three beaches and the main pool...they were all fun, but none of them were all that relaxing. Have you ever travelled with a fearless 20 month old? Well let's just say it's BUSY! Especially when you're in potential drowning areas. So needless to say, we were very excited to find the kids club...with a shallow wading pool, a trampoline, a slide, a swing set, and chairs to lounge in!

Way more relaxing....as you can see.

The girls thought I needed to have a flotation device...so I humoured them (little do they know, my flotation is built in:)

Grandma and Grandpa got along great!

Later that day while Paige was napping we took Hailey into the shade to paint a little Iguana...she obviously loved it:)



We also decided to play a game of Uno: Hailey's tough competition...it's always so hard to know what kind of cards she has
Later that night they had a traditional Mexican fair for the kids - Pinata and all. Of course I didn't get a picture of Hailey 'tapping' so lightly on the pinata. But I did get a good one of Ben and I

The girls playing with the balloons....don't they have the best hair? I think they were made to live in that kind of humidity!

Stay tuned for the last two days of our trip

Huatulco - Day 4

Day 4 (FUN!)

This was the day that Ben and I went on a Jet ski/Snorkeling Tour. Huatulco is centered around 9 Bays along the coast, all of which sport some amazing Beaches. Some of these beaches are in protected National Park land and are only accessible by boat. Which is why the jet skis were so important. We toured most of the bays and coves on the jet skis and then our guide brought us to one amazing beach so we could snorkel. It was pretty fun!

Waiting for our bus to come pick us up and take us to the Marina

A view from the Main lobby...still waiting for our bus

A pic of us just before we dove in the water for some snorkeling


The Beach we left the jet skis on while we snorkeled...we're pretty sure this was a boat access only kind of beach

One of our guides took pictures of us under the water with all the cool things we found and held - like blow fish and starfish etc. We bought the pictures off him and didn't realize until we made it back to Canada that all the pictures of us were missing from the CD. Oops. What can you do though? There were tons of us on the jet skis and tons of all the fish he saw...just none of us under the water. Oh well.

Anyway, my parents watched the Girls for us while we went on the tour (we're very grateful)...AND we were lucky enough to make it back into time to catch these little trouble makers eating ice cream in the snack bar/restaurant.

We loved the snack bar - it was located right off of our favourite Beach (the snorkel Beach) and it provided us with ice cream, hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and Nachos ALL day long. The girls especially liked having some recognizable food to eat!


After the ice cream, Ben took Paige back to the room for a nap and Hailey, my parents and I hung out on the Beach.

We found an Iguana on the rocks just off the beach. Hailey was pretty excited about this guy...which is shocking since she Freaked out over s spider on our first day there:)

My little Beach babe....I just have to say: She was soooo beautiful this trip. The humidity made her wavy hair a little bit more curly and she just looked like the perfect little beach babe the whole time! Don't you agree?

So that's Day 4 - I'll post the rest later.

P.S. Did you notice that my camera was working again? We woke up to a fully functioning camera - definitely a Mexican Miracle! We just made sure to not bring it under water again.

Edited to Add Pictures from my Mom's camera:

While we were snorkeling....my parents took the girls to the 'theatre' to watch the practice for our nightly dance/theatre performaces (I have to say, these performances were entertaining....very entertatining:)

My parents took a kayak out for a spin that afternoon (after we'd returned)

Hailey and I...at the Beach