Muy Bien

SATURDAY
Off to Mexico!
Woke the kids up at 6am to set out on the trip. They were in a great mood, excited and amenable to being out of their routines. Leg 1 of the flight was great, we got off in San Francisco to run the kiddos a bit. When we got back to the gate, it was empty…panic, panic. The gate agents motioned to us to RUN! We did, and as we got on the plane, all eyes turned on us—my boy started crying (he who hates being rushed) and inexplicably, a flight attendant grabbed my baby in an attempt to help. I was sweating so much I let her and babes CRIED and CRIED…have I mentioned she won’t even let her DADDY hold her when I am around!?!? Half the plan laughed while the other half cursed us. Ah—traveling with kids.

Arriving in Puerto Vallarta and I still hold onto my Mommy ways. Can’t relax yet—make sure all the strollers and carseats are present (I think they might be starting because they’ve never SEEN a carseat). Into a van with no seatbelts—so much for the carseats. Short ride to the rental car place where we’re given a tiny car (did I marry my Dad?? Economy, what?) with a backseat seatbelt that does not work. I finally hold my ground, we’re upgraded (anything for the right price, hmm?) and get them all set, buckled in and we’re off. Babes tells me for the 16th time in the hour since we’ve arrived “Ionfoo” (I want food). Oy. And I want a drink.

We arrive at the most stunning setting—a little city in the middle of the resort towns. Our home is set on the beach with our own pool, one of about 6 houses in the complex. The pac and play we ordered for babes in nowhere to be found, nor is the property manager who is to meet us. We search for a way to call him to no avail…finally talking to the gate agent, who “knows a guy” (a refrain I am to hear many times in the next week), Jesus arrives to help us. He is the local version of the property manager. He guides us through town “Follow me” and gets us acclimated.

La Cruz is 3 or 4 streets which sometimes have restaurants open and sometimes not. If you can figure out which streets are paved and open and not clogged by constructions (which my money says will never be completed), you might be able to find a treasure. We did in La Frusciate. Outdoor garden, delicious pizzas, pasta for the kids, and excellent wine/beer list.

NOW, I am on vacation.

SUNDAY
Sleeping with Ryen is not restful. Must get pack and play today. She sleeps just like her Dad—all over the bed, 73 different positions, can’t get comfortable, crazy girl. Ah, well. We’re in Mexico, right?

A day by the pool, Steve the property manger finally shows up, we run to the MEGA store to get food and run into him buying the pack and play (YAY!). we’re set. Happy Hour starts early today…not that I really know what time it is anyhow.

MONDAY
Today we’re down on the beach, trying to make the soft, hot sand into shapes. I’m running up a down to the water and back to harden up the sand structures. The beach is a bit rocky so the kids can’t get any closer but-- such a problem to have, isn’t this?

I see mirror images of my kiddos wandering down the beach from just two houses down. They make their way to us and introduce themselves as Dominic (age 3-1/2) and Gabriella (age 22 months). Oh, we don’t even know yet what fun is to come! Lauren, their mom, chats with a beautiful South African accent. They live in Vancouver, B.C. and the kids play together wonderfully. We make plans to meet up later and off to nap.

Lauren stops by later but the wind has picked up, we table plans to go to the next town over (Bucerias) to softer beaches. Her husband, Kevin, takes on my rejected bottle of Mexican wine as we watch the kids play Diego, then Dora, then dance to the Wiggles. Life is truly good.

TUESDAY
We head into Bucerias this morning, hoping to catch the warmest part of the day. The morning is spent running in and out of the beautiful waves and burying unburying, burying again the boys in the sand. Ry is – as usual- needing “foo” every 7 minutes or so. I have no idea how much sand she ate..

There is a real market here that we walk through, more life than in La Cruz. Restaurants line the beach and we choose one for lunch. I order and make my way about ¾ through an amazing margarita! Ry crashes on the way home and transfers to nap—Kade swims with his Daddy and spend the afternoon running between Dominic and our home. All in all—another perfect day.

WEDNESDAY
Little Man has started speaking Spanish...or he babbles in what he thinks sounds like what he is hearing. BUT, he DOES now count in Spanish, say "De Nada" to my Thank you and Adios as we leave places.

Events today were more of the same. Can’t improve on perfection…

THURSDAY
Valentines Day! We plan to check out Puerto Vallarta but boy-boy wants to stay and play. Lauren graciously offers to keep him so we adventure with babes in tow—neither of us can remember a time ever alone with her—its kind of sweet.

We walk the Malecon, the street in town with shops lined up. Stop for late brunch and have the place to ourselves! Little One runs around in glee, we view the beach from our upstairs perch, and spot a Starbucks down the way…and we’re off. Brad is happy.

Glad to see PV, but even more so to be in the little town of La Cruz. Does it ever rain here, by the way?

Tonight we’ve arranged to have Jesus, the property manager and his wife cook all of us dinner. Unsure of the time, we have cocktails and snacks with Lauren, Kevin, and her parents Wundra and Ian as we wait for our feast. As suspected, Ry makes her plunge into the pool. I have expected this all week, but am panicked, though I manage to move quickly to pull her out and calm her down. In fact, she calms faster than Mommy…

As our “chefs” appear, we take our places and toast our good luck in finding such wonderful friends so far away from home, a lovely vacation and beautiful food. It will be a hard Valentine’s Day to top.

FRIDAY
The air conditioner leaked all over the DVD player and broke it. One Dora down..

Last day to play in the pool. We take full advantage. Tonight we go to the “Hidden Paradise” restaurant—just a walk down the beach. Wow. There is no menu but a tray of freshly prepared fish and vegetables to choose from. I pick a skewer of shrimp, veggies, etc and have one of the most amazing meals. Again, we have the place to ourselves—including the porch built out over the water, looking out towards PV and the light breeze blowing through. You can’t imagine a place like this, let alone experience it.

SATURDAY
Adios, amazing week!

What a long flight! The first leg was manageable, though one DVD player down put us at a bit of a disadvantage. To actually have to entertain my own children! Shame. Once off in SF, though, it went downhill from there. Besides Baby Girl being STARVING for the entire journey, she decided it would be fun to run and hide in the customs area. No one there thought it was particularly funny. I fear they may have suspected a kidnapping in the process...In the meantime, Kader- after repeated questions as to bathroom needs- waited until we were no where near one to announce he had to go NOW. Once told there was not one nearby he announces, "well, I guess I just have to go in my pants". We diverted that disaster, but-- really??!

Then the fun began.

Ry climbed literally ON my head as we continued to try to keep her and her brother’s feet off the poor people‚s seat in front of them. Shortly after takeoff, he crashed. Baby Girl intermittently screamed her head off, pulled her brother’s hair to try to wake him up, and slept for short spurts at a time. When we landed, waking them both made them scream, cry and tantrum as we pushed the last remaining passengers (us) off the plane so that the flight attendants could go home. We had to stop and calm Kade down twice just to get him to go to baggage claim. He would only let me carry him so then Ry started screaming MAMA! MAMA! Our friend Alix picked us up and all we could do was laugh as the kids kept up their fight for Mommy. Girl Baby poked her brother in the eye at one point to get him off my lap.

As we drove up to the house, we thought WHEW! As Brad picked up the key from the side door, we saw him walk around the house to the front then--nothing. Total blackness. Turns out a breaker blew in the city light system and RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT, all the power went out in our neighborhood. We scrambled to disable the alarm, not wake the kids, light candles and locate flashlights all while trying to keep the remaining heat from leaving the house--short story long-- and after another round of tantrums, we all settled in a bit colder, darker, more tired and a bit crazy. I think Brad seriously considered no more children at about 2am˜and maybe giving away the ones we have.

It was still worth it.