Jensen Family: January 2012

AHhhh!! The water was absolutely perfect. A perfect temperature, depth and great waves for kids. This was where they lived. Avery is turned around looking for the next great wave. They started looking for the "Big Kahuna."

We brought these inexpensive blow-up inner tubes. One of the best purchases we could have made.

Ready to play! The hotel checked out boogie boards to us too. The ocean very gradually dropped off. This made it perfect for kids.

Avery probably spent the most time out here. She made friends with anyone out in the ocean doing the same thing. They would all wake up first thing in the morning and say, "Can we go swimming?"

I love that feeling of hot sand all over. I know this is what Cooper was feeling and why he spent so much time rolling around in it!

Avery-with a little exfoliation. We found some great shells and many kids to play with too. We were able to just walk down, drop all of our things and keep that area for the day. We loved the waiters coming by and asking us what we wanted to drink.

One of the three great pools. We brought googles and dive balls and when they were not in the ocean, they spent the rest of their time in the pools.

We wore Cooper right out

Smoked salmon appetizer! Yum. There were a few different restaurants we could visit. The ceviche was my absolute favorite here at Oceana. I could have eaten it breakfast lunch and dinner!

Myah ordered "A Prawn" . Dave had a great time ripping the head off. When he finally got down to what you could eat Myah loved it, but she did say, "That is a lot of work for not very much food!"

Early one morning we left our hotel and took a boat to a beach area called "Las Caletas." This was an amazing day. The girls snorkeled with Dave for a while. They were able to see all sorts of amazing fish and lots of jellyfish! They walked backwards so they wouldn't trip over their fins. Avery had a few questions about this matter!

This picture with "locals" was taken right when we arrived. The birds were beautiful. They flew over to the boat as we were getting off and shelled and ate peanuts more gracefully than any human. It was a perfect distraction while the captain was docking the boat.

The girls were suited up right after we arrived. They had an adventure filled time for the next hour.

Aurora feeding some ducks.

They had a cute little safety skit before they were all suited up to go zip lining, donkey riding and a ropes coarse.

The little monkeys loved Aurora! It was so entertaining to watch my kids try and hold still so they would not scare the monkeys! I loved the challenge.

Myah with her little friend on her arm.

This one needed a little better view!

Avery doing the zip line! The girl helping them was so charismatic. She made the experience even more fun. Although I think they were at their maximum capacity of fun!

Myah enjoying the ride!

I think this was Aurora's third time. They finally had to cut them off!

The kids all donned war paint after their "kids adventure". Cooper even got a little.

Cooper getting ready to fill the bucket up for the 20th time. He loved it!

This was hilarious! They had a sea lion come up to the shore. They are the craziest looking creatures, but very well trained. It was trying to give Cooper a kiss, but, well he was all that into it!

The sea lion attempting to give Cooper a kiss.

Relax with Dad in the tube? That might last a minute and then there are other things to be done!

I have never tried paddle boating before. If you haven't-YOU SHOULD! It was awesome! I could see into the water perfectly. The fish were great and it was such a fun way to get around in the water.

This is my favorite picture of the whole trip! No words need to explain!

We took a city tour of Puerto Vallarta. This was the one thing we would not do again. The driver kept trying to sell real estate the whole time and being in the van with the kids for 8 hours-way TOO long. They told us it was between 4-5. It was not! We did have some amazing views and places to visit though. This was at the top of some crazy windy road and we could see for a while. I thought it was ironic that there were "salesmen" right as we got out of the van in an old beautiful neighborhood trying to sell us trinkets?

This was a gorgeous view. The little boy that was also on the tour was hilarious. He did not speak a lick of English. Once he found out we spoke a little Spanish, he talked to us the whole time. Myah can understand quite a bit and she eventually couldn't understand, or it took too much effort to try and translate. He talked and sang and talked some more. I thought is was even more interesting that his name was Vladimir and he was from Mexico City.

Myah with the background of Los Arcos. This was a beautiful view on the city tour.

Cooper finally fell asleep in the van. We ended up landing at this restaurant called "The OK Corral" about 45 minutes south of Puerto Vallarta. Dave and I could not grasp that there would be a restaurant in the middle of the jungle and sure enough there was! They owner was nice enough to make a little bed for Cooper so he would stay sleeping.

As we were waiting for our food, Dave and Myah took a walk and found this really cool plank bridge. There were houses on the other side with no road access. That is a long way to haul your groceries!

Aurora ordered a pineapple Daquari and Avery a lemonade. They were to die for!

This was the meal I ordered for Dave and I. My brain took a temporary absence from currency exchange. I did not even look at the price of this meal. Needless to say it was really expensive, but well, well worth it! We had amazing Red Snapper the best I have ever had! We had lobster, Mahi Mahi and some perfectly cooked enormous shrimp! This made the long van ride worth it!