Monday, September 5, 2022

It's been a LONG while

 I haven't posted in half a year.  Life has been busy and wild around here.  I am hoping that a fall rhythm will allow for more time to blog and to figure out a way to get the blogs published since that is really the point of the blog and it hasn't happened since 2015! 

I decided to just pick up where I left off in March.  Here are some pics from M and T's time with grandparents while we were in Mexico and in MO while they were on Spring Break.  They had two great weeks with grandparents and Brandon and I enjoyed the extended time of focusing on each other and on some much needed post covid/homeschool self care.  

While we were in Mexico and having a catch up work week at home without kids, the kids were busy having LOTS of fun with grandparents!   We are SO VERY GRATEFUL for this time both for Brandon and I and for the kids.  They are making memories that they will always cherish.

Indoor water park #1

Thankful for indoor pools in the winter!

T:  I wore one of Dad's Tshirts to school to remember him.

T: My hair was pretty wild after we took it out of the buns.

M had a choir concert while we were in Mexico


He seems to be enjoying himself.

This face haha.

Fancy hair.  Silly cat.

Playing games with grandparents is great fun.

Another day, another game.

Temps are a lot warmer in MO.  I guess that means the kids went to a warm spot for Spring Break :)

Building a fort.

*Pretty much our only picture from our week without the kids.  Sunshine was VERY happy to see Brandon.

More games in MO.

Three Pianists!

Pancakes every morning.

Another indoor water park, this time with cousins.

Looks like fun!
They also went to an indoor arcade, laser tag, roller rink, etc!
T: I have so much for with A, my best friend.

This looks wild.

The skaters!

T: Everywhere I go I find an animal to love.

Getting outdoors is great, especially when you know it is much colder at home.


Sunday, April 3, 2022

Mexico 2022

In 2020 we traveled to Mexico right as the world was falling apart and the pandemic officially began.  You can read about that HERE if you want to. Sadly, we decided to take a year off from our Mexico travels in 2021.  I think this made our trip this year much more special and much more needed!  

There was so much work leading up to the trip.  As always, I questioned if it was really worth it.  Even before the plane took off I knew it was very  much worth it!  I was a bit nervous that we would somehow get stuck in Mexico with covid.  You have to test negative to get back to America so we were super cautious in the airplane.  I had a KN95 mask with a cloth mask with two filters over it.  Thankfully it was overkill and we made it through the week covid free!

Our time in Mexico was wonderful! The weather was perfect every day.  I am not sure of the temps, but I would guess it was mid 80's.  We have such a similar routine every day.  We wake up whenever we feel like it and read our Bibles and journal. I love to sit on the balcony and breathe in the fresh warm air.  We make breakfast in the room.  Brandon has instant oatmeal (like the flavors from my childhood) and I make an omelet.  Thankfully we have a pretty full kitchen and we shop at the grocery store on sight.  After breakfast and showers and a round of sunscreen (which is really the biggest chore of vacation) we head down to the pool area.  We basically spend all morning by the pool or in the pool reading.  Around midday we float 2 or 3 rounds on the massive lazy river and then sit in the sun for another hour to warm up.  We eat lunch in the room (sandwiches for Brandon and veggies and dip and nuts and raisins for me) and then do another round of sunscreen.  Then we head back down to the pool for the afternoon or reading or time in the pool.  The pools are plentiful and have tons of places to sit so I read quite a bit of time in the pool.  Each afternoon we take a long walk along the ocean. Once the sun gets lower we head to the room to get ready for dinner and then go out to eat and then go for a walk or buy more food or something and then head to our room.  I took a bubble bath many nights and did more reading :)  Lots of reading!  I read NINE books!  I read the Tender Years series by Jeanette Oke and was shocked and surprised that it was a follow up to the When Calls the Heart series that I read a few years ago.  I also read the first 4 books of the Home to Hickory Hollow series by Beverly Lewis. Lastly, I read Corrie Ten Boom's Tramp for the Lord.  I ready one Corrie TenBoom book each trip.    

 This year the blog post about the trip will be a lot longer.  I have a dear friend who is going through chemo right now.  Chemo during a pandemic is rough as it is trickier to have people join you.  Because of this I try to keep her entertained with some stories as she sits.  I told her long stories of travels to and from Mexico and a bad evening we had.  I decided I might as well include the stories here since they were already written.  I did cut out a lot of it but saved some of the highlights. If you are not curious about the stories, just scroll to see the pictures. 

We sent a pic to our kids before the first plane took off. 

 Travel to Puerto Vallarta:  

We woke up to cold and snowy conditions.  With the time change it was quite an early morning.  Brandon's dad drove us to the airport and we made it in plenty of time.  The travel to Puerto Vallarta was pretty uneventful.  We have always traveled down on a Monday in the past even through we have to rent our room Sunday to Sunday.  I was a little nervous to travel on the weekend and it turns out I had some reason to be.  Once we deplaned in Puerto Vallarta I could tell that the process would not go quickly.  We didn't have a gate so first we waited for a bus to come to take us to the airport.  Next we had to go through customs.  There were many customs agents and they has those snake lines going every which way, but you had no idea when you got in a line when you would actually get to the front because some had more zigs and zags. When we were almost to the front there were some college students who had stepped out of line and rejoined in front of us. We could hear the immigration officer asking them questions.  He asked the boy how many nights he was staying and I am not joking the boy said, "lots."  I died laughing inside.  The girl with him said 5 days and 5 nights.  Hahaha  Next it was time to get luggage and another really long line for that part of customs. Brandon went to the bathroom and we decided that I would just get right into the next line and he would come and find our bag and join me.  I could see our bag far in a corner, but with the loud place and masks I was shouting to him like crazy.  After we made it through the second long line with luggage we headed through the airport to the taxi lines. When we come on Mondays we hop right into a taxi connected to the resort.  Not this time!  After waiting to fill a bus we arrived at the resort with many people. Once we arrived we opted to walk rather than shuttle to the check in.  This put us at the front of that line.  Sadly, they don't give you a room until you have talked with at least two high pressured people trying to get to you go to the time share breakfast.  After this they sent us to our resort (within the complex) and then we had to speak to a third person before we finally had a room number.  Finally we headed to our room and it took much work for Brandon to get the door to open.  We were so excited when we learned we had an ocean view room.  Our view was soo beautiful.  We called for our luggage, but it took some time to arrive so we hung out and decided to try out our door.  It would not open at all any more.  We realized our bracelets were not working so back down stairs and they reactivated them and back up and still not working.  This time we could not get in at all.  We started to doubt if this was our room.  We went back down and after questions realized that the key thing on the door was probably out of battery.  We headed to the room and then a worker arrived and said that was the case and they got us in and changed the battery.  After that we decided to switch into dinner clothes and eat an early dinner as we were hungry and weary.  We didn't swim at all the first day.  Even though it was chaotic, it was wonderful to be eating dinner is paradise!  It felt like the day had been three days long and our home was a million miles away.  To wake up in a snowstorm and go to sleep in a tropical paradise is quite incredible.


Most of our week was perfectly wonderful.  However, Monday evening was our very sad evening.  After having a lovely day by the pool we took our time getting up to the room. No need to rush, we were on vacation!  Once in the room Brandon decided to go workout and I decided to take a bubble bath and read.  He came back and we slowly got ready for dinner.  He reported that they had no rowing machine but he stayed and lifted weights. I put on my not very practical sandal wedges.  We planned to get fajitas at a restaurant pretty close to our condo.  I have never in my time in Mexico seen a line like the one to the restaurant.  It was like Best Buy on Black Friday.  We both knew that if we wanted to eat before 10:00pm we would have to go somewhere else, but where.  We thought of another place and decided to walk there.  As we were walking I could feel the skin ripping off my baby toe.  It kept hurting worse and worse.  We got to the other restaurant and it was full too and there was no one offering to help us and we left feeling dejected.  We decided to go to the grocery store.  I bought olive oil to make homemade mayo and Brandon got PB and J.  We soon realized that the PB was like $10.  I found a generic one.  The jelly was like a farmer's market jelly so that was expensive too.  Our bill ended up being as much as if we ate out!  On the way back to the room the paths were pretty dark.  Sadly, Brandon smacked his arm into a tree on the side of the path and his wrist hurt quite a bit.  We were a sorry sight with our wrist and foot pain.  I was almost in tears when we got back to our room.  I tore off several layers of skin and it took about two week before my toe quit hurting in shoes.  Back at the room, I made omelet and Brandon made PB and J.  He was excited to watch a show on HULU and couldn't get that to work because apparently it is only in the US.  It was just an all together rough evening.  Thankfully the rest of the week was much much better!

Ironically the tree Brandon hit is near this tree but more on the edge of the path.

One of the highlights of this year's room was the incredible view.  We had sunsets, mountains, and the ocean (as well as the pool area)

The view never gets old (the circle thing is a restaurant).

A much happier night.

This is pretty much my day.

Our lounging view of the pool and our room

The best!

Anxiously awaiting my fajitas!

Incredible views on an after dinner walk.

So thankful for this place!

A new area to walk in felt almost like we were hiking through a forest.

A hiking selfie.

Odd sign!  What does it mean?  Also we saw no circle or the four intersecting paths.

I sure do love this guy!

Another lovely sunset!


Balconyview!

More balcony views.

One last shot with the pool and ocean.

This year all the products had warnings on them.  This one has excessive calories and sugar!

I miss this.

I really miss this... reading in the pool is incredible.

One last fajita!

The last morning Brandon decided to take some pictures of our unit.  We probably should have taken them after the housekeeper was there, but these have a more lived in look.
The living room area

Bedroom

The lovely soaking tub bathroom through the door.

The kitchen area
Our final day there was lovely as we were able to have several hours in the sun before heading to the airport.  We strive to soak up all the sun possible because we know that winter part 2 is waiting for us at home!  Sidenote: I have 5 swimming suits and every picture this year has me in the same one. 
3 hours to flight time and lunching in the sun!

 

Our last picture of our time in Mexico is with my favorite Vidanta worker, Isabel.  She gives us our towels each day.  She is so kind and caring and seems to remember us from year to year.  She says, "Good morning my friend."  When we ask her how she is doing she says, "Fantastico" or "Excellente!" I actually got teary saying good bye to her the final day so we decided to go back for a picture.  The staff were all required to wear masks at all times, but she took it off for a quick picture.  I can't wait to see Isabel again next winter!

She is real deal incredible!
 
Traveling home: 
 In the months leading up to the trip our flight time kept changing later and later.  We were very OK with this as it meant we had more time in Mexico on our travel home day.  Our flight ended up leaving at 3:30.  Our day was long but eventful.  We were told that we needed to get a covid test the day before going home and we should schedule it the day before that.  When we tried to schedule it on Friday morning for Saturday every Saturday slot was full.  We were in a bit of a panic but decided to schedule it for Sunday morning and pray the results would come back swiftly.  We talked with others who got results back in only an hour so that would have been plenty of time.  We got appointments for 11:30 on Sunday, 4 hours before the plane took off.  We decided to take covid tests in our room on Saturday night after dinner so we could plan ahead if one of us was going to have to stay.  We had decided on Saturday that if one had to stay we would stay alone so the other didn't risk getting it and having to stay even longer. 
OK, so Sunday morning we got up early so we could pack.  Since we have done this so many times we know the drill well.  They come and take your bags, but you pack a beach bag or two with your things for the day so you can still have time at the pool in the morning. We also packed up lunches to eat by the pool.  Sadly we had to have our passports with us for the covid tests so that was a bit of a hassle, but they stayed safe.  We hung out by the pool but didn't get wet and then went to our covid tests.  We went in swimsuits because the whole week we live in swim suits, even at the store.  The only time I had on clothes was for dinner.  Anyway, the covid people asked when we were leaving and we said TODAY and asked for the results quickly.  It is just a rapid test so we knew it was possible, but you need the special email for confirmation. 
We left the test place and did three rounds on the lazy river.  I didn't want to get out.  After that we checked and the results came and we were both negative!  Yahoo!!  We enjoyed the rest of our time eating and relaxing until it was time to walk to the taxi loading area.  This is a big walk but we did it in swim gear.  Once we got to the loading area we changed into pants that felt confining and gross in the heat.  Soon the taxi was there and we were on our way to the airport.  The lines were all long, but we managed fine and had plenty of time to wait for the plane.  Sadly the only water we found was so expensive so we paid $8 for two tiny bottles.  Most water is mineral water so getting the kind without bubbles is a hard task. 
The flight from Puerto Vallarta to Dallas was pretty uneventful.  I slept the whole time.  When we landed the pilot said, "Well, the good news is we are 30 minutes early.  The bad news is we are 30 minutes early."  They didn't have a gate for us so we just waited on the plane for a LONG time.  I was able to  check email for the first time since we left Chicago.  (I also didn't watch TV once.  Zero screens.)  I had about 200 emails but most were junk or from school.  It passed the time to delete things and then read others.  Finally (30 minutes later) we moved to the gate and many stood up.  Then 15 minutes later the pilot said that the person driving the jet bridge thing was having problems getting it to connect to the plane.  FINALLY we were able to get off the plane.  We walked the long maze to customs and saw a crazy long line.  So many people, like a thousand people in front of us.  After the customs process which actually went much quicker than imagined (maybe 20-30 minutes) we went down to get the baggage.  We thought since we had landed over an hour ago it would all be there waiting for us.  Nope!  We waited quite a while for it to arrive. Finally we were able to get luggage and then finish the customs process and do bag recheck and then go through the whole TSA security process again. Then we hopped on the train to the another terminal DFW is a huge airport! Our flight had been delayed so we had time to find food and water and bathroom before boarding. I had Larabars in my bag, but the overpriced salt covered almonds were calling me (LOUDLY) so we splurged!
Our final flight was an older plane with really uncomfortable seats. Brandon and I were across the aisle from each other so I wasn't able to rest on him either. I did sleep manage to sleep a bit.  When we landed at our home airport the pilot said that sadly we landed at the same time as two other flights so they were not ready for us.  It took forever again to get to the jet bridge.  What are the changes.  The airport was dead until we got to the baggage claim.  It was hopping.  Even through there are tons of baggage places they apparently decided to use the same one for all three flights.  Ours was the final one of the three.  Finally it all came and we were able to get on the fast park shuttle pretty fast.  Brandon's dad brought our van to the park place on Saturday before they all headed to MO.  It was after 1:00am by the time we left the lot and after 1:30 when we got home.  I slipped right into PJ's but it was close to 2:30 before I fell asleep because my mind was going so much.  It felt so good to be home in our own bed!
 
We had a wonderful vacation.  We are so deeply grateful to my parents who share time share weeks with us making it possible for us to afford paradise!  We are also incredibly blessed by Brandon's parents who watch our kids while we are gone.  This time the watched our kids for two weeks as they took them back with them to MO since they were on Spring Break and eager to see cousins.  The next post will be about the kids adventures here and in MO with family.