Zihuantenejo: Memories

Zihuantenejo is such a memorable place for us, we were so fortunate to be able to go back and take the whole family with us.  I loved walking to the town square around sunset to get ice cream.  Being back at Paty's was perfect.  The first night we went there, Mayson found a friend to play with and they did her Frozen sticker book and ran around the beach the whole time.  Keri and I enjoyed our drinks (maybe too much) and Gray loved playing in the sand and play area. We had lots of long walks and outdoor dinners, and we realized that although our kids love each other, they also want what each other has and like to argue about it. Mayson doesn't back down, and Gray may be a little stubborn and grouchy. The ladies of Mexico loved Gray and his blond hair.  He gots lots of cheek pinches and head rubs as he walked by. It turns out that Gray moves everywhere in bed while he is sleeping, and delivers some swift kicks, so I had the pleasure of sleeping with him.  It was worth it every morning when he woke up because he gave some pretty amazing cuddles.  I will say I can't read Pete the Cat anymore after this trip. 

Zihuantenejo: Family Love

We had lots of family time together!  The hammock gave a good chance at cuddles while looking at the view. We didn't have a car, and didn't really travel very far other than the airport and short trips to La Ropa, so we didn't have car seats with us. It was kind of fun to be all strapped in together in the back of the taxi.  Mayson tried to help us out on the trip and take some pictures for us, so Keri and I look a little tall from her view.

Zihuantenejo: Fun

We loved the pool and went at least once a day.  Gray got really good at learning to paddle around in his life vest, and Mayson is showing strides and hinting about being ready to swim on her own soon. The pool had a great view and was just steps down from our place. Although Gray wasn't too sure about the ocean, Mayson loved going out and floating in the waves with Keri. The bay is so perfect for kids! Our other entertainment was playing in the condo, reading books, trying out the new tablets, and of course taking lots of walks to find new fun places for dinner.  

Zihuantenejo: Drinks

We had to stay cool and hydrated so of course we had to try lots of fun drinks. Mayson and Gray have been deprived all of their life, limited to milk and water, so this trip was "crazy sugar" as Mayson called it.  Now that I think about it, maybe that was why they had so many problems listening.  Hmm, I'm going to have to think about that one. Anyway, the biggest hit was horchata. The two of them drank that one down in about two seconds.  The coconut wasn't such a big hit, but it sure looks cool to drink from one. The fresh squeezed jugo de pina and orange juice were a great start to our mornings.  

Zihuantenejo: Food

It was so fun to eat out all the time and try new things.  First, La Commercial, the big supermarket was a hit with all the pastries out on display and the aisles of new food and toys. We had to visit the ice cream vendors every day to get a cone. Mayson loved the Elsa truck of course, but I was partial to Dora. Not a bad treat for 10 pesos (60 cents). We visited our two favorite restaurants frequently and got to know the people who worked at Patty's and Adelitas. Adelitas was the hit for breakfast with fresh juice and pancakes for the kids, and yummy rancheros and chilaquiles for us. They were Seahawks fans too, so we had to make friends. We also had to visit Paty's on the beach of course since we have so many memories from past trips. Their 2 x 1 happy hour is hard to refuse.  It was meant to be too since they have a kids play area in the sand too. 

Zihuantenejo: Art

We had so much fun looking around at all the colors and art.  We loved the colorful flags and pinatas hanging above all the streets, and the pinata market was just down the street from us.  Families were making the pinatas by hand and each stall had slightly different variations of characters, stars, and flowers.  The main square in town had kid's art activities every night, so Gray painted on the little easels they had set up, and Mayson painted some pottery with adorable girls who tried to talk to her while she played shy.  

Zihuantenejo Holiday

Zihuantanejo was a hit! Keri and I hadn't been there for ten years, and it was the same wonderful, sweet little town with welcoming people and amazing views on the bay. Mayson and Gray got to try out their passports and take their first trip to Mexico.  Our condo was fantastic: totally open in the main living area, with two blessedly cool air conditioners in the bedrooms to combat the amazing, balmy 90 degrees.  It was the perfect La Madera location, close to town, La Ropa, and great little restaurants down the street.  Love. 

Halloween Preview

The kids have been going back and forth on their Halloween costume requests.  Mayson has been voting for Elsa, and Gray has been wavering between a storm trooper, Thomas, or Princess Leia. They haven't seen any of the Star Wars movies yet, but they love reading the cartoon version of Darth Vader and Son with Keri.  They recite the lines from it like, "I am altering the deal, pray I do not alter it further." Their favorite is when Keri tells them, "Your time has come!" My friend Trish from work let me borrow some costume contenders to see if the kids were interested, and they loved them! We'll see what happens on Halloween, but so far these are the winners.

Beach Outing

It was another 90 degree day so we hit the beach this weekend.  We drove to Denny Beach over on the Kirkland side so I could show them where I swam at when I was little.  It is beautiful there! There are big trees and shade with views of Rainier.  Mayson and I swam around a ton, and after an hour of warming up to the idea, Gray joined us too.  He is funny--content watching from the beach and sitting in the shade having snacks before deciding that it could be fun to go in.  He is such a sweet boy.  He alternates between saying "no please," and "no thank you."  He was exhausted on the way home but fought the sleep the whole way home.  I will admit to being quite worried, this is day three of him not napping. He usually goes to sleep for three hours, and now he just goes in his crib and stomps around and yells at us for the hour before I give in and get him.  I cannot admit this is the end of napping.  

Dance Party

We had an awesome dance party the other night.  We were talking about Madonna after Mayson got into my bachelorette party pictures and saw Ben all dressed up.  So we had to put on our 80's dance mix and have a party.  Gray didn't hear us correctly when we said we were listening to Madonna and kept asking for Old Macdonald instead.

Thomas

I will admit that Mayson watches a lot of TV when she wakes up every summer morning.  I thought that if I limited it to PBS, it wouldn't be so bad.  No commercials, educational programming...but they do advertise events sometimes (see the Daniel Tiger post)!  So, on Friday we found ourselves at "A Day out with Thomas."  Gray loves Thomas and loves trains, so this was a little treat especially for him.  We went on a 20 minute train ride on Thomas, and then got to pose with him while he made silly faces at us.  Then we went on another little ride on some sort of train track repair engine. Mayson thought that one when a little fast, as her face indicates in the last picture.  But I liked the rush of it after the 1 mph slow Thomas ride.  Then we spent a good hour playing at the train tables before having lunch and heading home.  Oh yeah, we did get to meet Sir Topham Hat and climb on some other trains.  I think it was Gray's favorite day.