Tuesday, January 17, 2012

MEXICO

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!

Coop and Dave early in the morning.  Did the boy ever adjust to being two hours later? NO!


You can just guess where we found sand on this cute little boy!  He spent most of his tim running from the ocean to the sand and back.

Aurora hanging out at the edge of the "cold" pool.



Cooper and his Dad hanging out by the pool!





A beautiful sunset!  This was the last night we were in Puerto Vallarta!

Friday, January 13, 2012

BIG BRIBERY!

So I realize these pictures could implicate any one of us. These could cause big problems in the near future-Say Myah's first boyfriend. They could be used for some serious blackmail-I know! But I just had to post them. Laugh after laugh after laugh we have had.  I never thought we would have so much fun from Photobooth.  Never!







Just a few acorns in those cheeks-huh?



UGH!  The Aliens!

More Aliens!

Granddaughter and Grandpa alien!

This is just disturbing!

I don't know what to say about this one.  Speechless.  I know amazing for me!

Cooper is in on the fun too! And yes, my mouth really is that big, but my Dad's forehead is not! 
I can't tell you how much I love that my Dad is in on the fun!  What a great guy!  I love that Aurora is cracking up in the back ground!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Thanksgiving and the Christmas Tree


My awesome younger sister Audrey eating the turkey leg. I think Dave and I have mastered the turkey.  I have always been OK with turkey, but now with brining and our handy, dandy Treager,  I love Thanksgiving turkey and so does everyone else.   We had plenty of amazing food and true to Thomas style we had more desserts than anything.
Avery surfaced for a few minutes during Thanksgiving.  Guess what?  She was hungry when we said it was time to head home!  I think she was too busy playing and not busy eating. 
A cute picture of my mom and Audrey.  We were starting to play to play this hilarious game that my sister Laura  and her husband Ryan introduced us to!  One of the rounds you can only use charades to describe famous people.  The best part was my Dad cupping where breast should be to describe Lady Gaga.  I don't even think he knows who she is.  I laughed until I had tears!


Here is Audrey in action during the game.

Dave and I both delightfully full after a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family.

Cooper's favorite part of Thanksgiving!

Switching gears a little and two days later.  We have a fabulous place in Buxton to get $10 Christmas trees.  We were joined by the Nissinens -somehow I didn't get any pictures of them and my parents!   The owner kept trying to help us by offering his chain saw.  He is the nicest man.  My kids get way to into cutting down our Christmas tree to use a chainsaw!


We kind of look like is was cold, but it was a beautiful 50 degree day!


True to his 20 month old self, Cooper just wanted to run around, get muddy, swing on swings, teater on the toter, get muddy some more and maybe, just maybe look at a Christmas tree.

We are so lucky to have my Mom and Dad visit us frequently.  With all four of my siblings in the Portland area, my parents find themselves traveling down from Montana about every 6-8 weeks.  I love their cute matching jackets!


Hmmmmm???  I am not sure this is a good idea.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Sky High

We had a few days off in November.  My parents were in town.  It was the day it rained almost 3 inches in Portland!  WE had some major extra energy at our house.  We headed down to Tualatin to Sky High.  It was the best two hours spent to expend all the amazing energy my children have every day!