More Mexico Fun

Back again at my new favorite coffee shop, Giuseppi’s, where the latte is excellent, the food is delicious and you can’t imagine a friendlier staff. The two women who work here, Norma and Cristina are sisters and good friends of my mom. In fact, last night they came over to the house with their daughters, Ary and Alex, to play Mexican Train Dominoes. Adam fell asleep just after they arrived, but Morgan stayed up late helping me and we all had a great time. We had a decadent German Chocolate cake from Candy Cake – a local shop around the corner from Grammy’s house. I am quite sure I’ve gained 5 lbs since we’ve been here. The food is so rich and delicious.

Dinner at El Capitan

Last night we ate at El Capitan, which, according to Grammy's legend (for Adam's benefit), is a former lookout for ‘pirates’ wishing to steal from the shrimping boats. In honor of the occasion, Adam decided to wear his pirate costume. He didn’t have his eyepatch or hat, but there was no mistaking who he was and he received several comments of admiration. The view was incredible. It was a bit windy and chilly, but it was worth sitting outside for the view. The food… well, I could handle eating their quesadillas, pico de gallo and quacamole for every meal.

Morgan has been amazing this trip. So polite and helpful. I am so proud of her – she is getting so big. I will be sad when she goes to Kindergarten in the fall, but I know she is ready and is going to have an amazing time. She enjoyed another hour at school yesterday with Maestra Maria Luisa. She worked on her shapes, reviewed her colors and learned more animals. She really enjoys learning Spanish and wanted to go back again today, but we have too much to do in our last 24 hours here. If she won’t be getting Spanish in school next year, I hope to find a place for her to continue to learn.

Morgan and Maestra Maria Luisa

The kids had a blast at the beach again yesterday. They would stay all day if the could. We ran back and forth along the shore line yelling, “FOOTPRINTS!” and making prints then watching the water wash them away. I’m sure we looked crazy, but it was a lot of fun. The water was rough and at first Morgan was skeptical about going too close. After a while though, she was right out there enjoying the feel of standing in the sand letting the water rush past her then feeling the tide pull the sand and water back. She told me, “I never knew it could be so much fun when the water is choppy.”

Today we are going to finish filling the dirt with rocks in Grammy’s back patio, shop at ‘Rodeo Drive’, hit the beach and visit with Grammy’s friend Perla and her son Edgardo. So, I’d better sign off for now. The pictures I am posting are all from Grammy’s camera so after I get home and download some of my own, I’ll post some more with a final recap of our adventures.

Spidey at the Malecon

Rocky Point Getaway

Fun at the Beach

I am sitting in a relaxing little coffee shop in Rocky Point (aka Puerto Penasco, MX) called Giuseppi's Espresso Shop. I just tried Sugar Free Coconut Syrup for the first time in my decaf non-fat latte. It was amazing!! I love it here and will definitely be a regular during future visits to RP. So... what am I doing here? Well... Grammy (Nancy) owns a house here and invited the kids and I for a getaway. I hadn't realized how much we needed it. Life in AZ is great, but it is very go-go-go. The kids and I are enjoying the lazy days. We've been to the beach, to restaurants with incredible views and have slept at least 10 hours straight a night!! If you know us well, you'll know that this is unheard of. Our first night we actually slept from 9 pm - 9 am. Talk about refreshing. This morning we are going to help Grammy landscape her back patio. Then we'll have some lunch and drop Morgan and Grammy off at Spanish school. We all went to school yesterday and Morgan asked if she could go back again. But of course! I have always joked that my mom knows everyone in Phoenix. Now I have to say "and Rocky Point" - she knows the vendors at the Malacon, the teachers, the coffee shop owners, her neighbors. And she doesn't just know them - they know her and are excited to see her and visit.

Dinner at The Friendly Dolphin

Last night we went for a walk along the Malecon (a boardwalk with shops, restaurants and public space along the water) and Adam wanted to wear his Spiderman costume. It would be an understatement to say that he was a hit. Adam is usually pretty reserved and unseeking of public attention, but he puts on that costume and eats it up! Grammy bought Morgan and Adam each a cowboy hat at one of the shops. They love them. (No pictures downloaded of this yet, but they will come soon!)

Ice Cream at Thrifty

The kids and I miss Jeremy (we weren't even off our street on our way here when Morgan said, "I miss Daddy", but he is in Denver today so we'd miss him at home too. We are enjoying ourselves and will be back to the real world soon enough.

San Francisco

It was a glorious getaway for Jeremy and I (thank you Grammy!) to San Francisco in March. Jeremy had a conference in Santa Clara and I was lucky enough to be able to tag along with him for a couple of days. We flew into San Fran on Sunday and spent the day exploring. The best part of our first day.... our Segway tour! Jeremy was the best in the class - a real natural. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but then I felt pretty comfortable. It was such an awesome experience. I hope to do it again someday. We went along the Wharf, through some of the neighborhoods and to the beautiful Palace of Fine Arts.

On Monday, Jeremy had to start his conference, but I headed back to the city to check out some more of the sites. I visited Alcatraz where I had a fantastic tour guide and had a chance to meet a woman who had grown up on the island when her father was the warden. I also went shopping near Haight & Ashbury where I got a cute shirt and got to feel trendy for a few minutes. Then I just had to stop by Boudin Bakery on the Wharf and Ghiradelli Square. After all my exploring, I headed downtown to shop and wait for Jeremy who took the train in from Santa Clara to meet me for dinner. We at at a vegan restaurant, Millenium. It was amazing! Kathie had bought me the Millenium cookbook back in 2000 and it was incredible to actually get to eat there.

I really hope to go back to San Fran someday and spend more time exploring. I just love big cities. So much history!

CA Spring 2008

Going back in time again now... here are some of our favorite pictures from our trip to CA in February/March. We had a wonderful time! It was a long weekend full of excitement. On Thursday, we arrived in Huntington Beach to visit Uncle Geoff & Aunt Denise. On the way to their house, however, we stopped at the beach. The kids got soaking wet in the COLD water, but, of course, loved every minute of it. We spent a nice evening visiting with Geoff & Denise and then on Friday morning we headed to Disneyland! It was Adam's first visit to the Magic Kingdom. (Morgan and I went in April 2007). Daddy hadn't been in a long time and we all had a blast. On Saturday, we started the day at Disneyland and then Aunt Megan, Grandpa Lee and Grandma Kathie (who were in town visiting Geoff & Denise) met up with us at California Adventure. It was the first time for all of us at that theme park and it was kind of disappointing. That said, the kids did get to meet some cool characters there and ride some truly non-scary rides in It's a Bugs Land. I had forgotten how scary some of the "kid" rides are at Disney. On Saturday night, Adam and Jeremy went back to Geoff & Denise's to visit with the family, but Morgan and I stuck it out at Disney then went back to our hotel and crashed. She and I were at parks ALL day both days while the boys went back to the hotel to nap on Friday and as you can see, Adam zonked out in his stroller on Saturday. She is a real trooper! Then, on Sunday AM we had a relaxing brunch with the family at Geoff & Denise's beautiful home before driving back to Phx. A whirlwind trip which left the kids saying, "next time let's go for a week!" Someday we will. :)

Tiny Tumblers

Today was our last day of Tiny Tumblers. We've done 2 sessions through Valley Sprouts. The classes were held in the community room at our local library. The teacher, Layla, is great. Very patient. Adam was really into it at first, but has only been interested in limited participation for the last few weeks. It is incredible how much Morgan has learned - she can do a backbend unassisted and was able to keep her balance in a head stand today. Yes, she is leaning against a wall, but still pretty impressive. Between karate and tumbling, she has become much more flexible. Adam is good at all the skills he does participate in. I am going to look into signing him up for something just for him. Morgan will do ballet through Valley Sprouts next session.

Adam took this picture of Morgan. I was too busy trying to get the camera back from him that I missed MO's accomplishment - her first no-help from Ms. Layla headstand - I am glad he captured it for us!

Adam usually is willing to participate for the headstands, but notice he wouldn't take his shoes off. LOL

Cousin Sydney

After Adam's party on Saturday, Sydney stayed and played a while while Mike & Lisa went and bought a new truck. The kids played with Adam's new toys, played dress-up and babies and just plain had fun together. For dinner we made homemade pizza (side note: Fresh & Easy has great pizza dough and sauce for cheap!). I just downloaded these pics and had to share.

Easter

Adam & Paige prepare to begin the Laveen Community Egg Hunt

(Adam went with Laura, Jeremy & Paige to the event - Morgan & I were at Karate)
Morgan & Cousin Sydney playing with one of MO's presents from the Easter Bunny

Connor showed off some dance moves in the middle of the Easter train


Egg hunting fun at Mike & Lisa's

Morgan at the Crosswalk egg hunt

Okay, so I am going backwards in time now, but that is okay, right? Wanted to shared some pics from all our Easter adventures. The kids participated in multiple egg hunts - MOMS Club, school (MO), Laveen community (Adam), Crosswalk Church and at Mike & Lisa's where we spent Easter afternoon. Most of the candy disappeared on its own or was given up willingly by Morgan in exchange for a Barbie-sized tea set I found at the dollar spot at Target (I love Target!).

Easter Day was full of adventure. The kids woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had hidden their baskets! Morgan was thrilled to find the mini Princess playset she had really, really wanted and Adam was excited about his new Bob the Builder cars. They also liked their chocolate bunnies and jelly beans (who wouldn't?!). After opening our baskets, the kids and I went to a local church, Crosswalk, where our good friends the Hoodys are members. We had a lot of fun. The services were great and after they had an egg hunt for the kids.

After church we came home, changed, played for a bit then went to a family & friends celebration at Mike & Lisa's. They did a fantastic job hosting! We brought Kimberly, Connor & Dylan along with us since Steve was flying. Everyone had a lot of fun. The food was great and Lisa put together an egg hunt for the kids complete with really nice buckets for each child with bunny ears and a stuffed animal. Because Adam's b-day was the next day, family gave him loads of presents. He got some fun movies, a badmitton game, a Wal Mart gift card (with which he bought a Pirates lego set), a fuzzy Bible from Gramma B (all the grandkids got one and loved it), puzzles and games. He was thrilled. Morgan always gets spoiled at Thanksgiving and Adam at Easter. The joys of a holiday birthday!