Isaac and Elliot and a whole bunch of animals .....

They thought it'd be a good idea to feed the one pigeon that was on our deck.  Before I knew what was happening, there were a ton of gutsy pigeons eating out of my kids hands!!!

Elliot is quite the animal lover we are learning today  ....

Of course Isaac wants one to eat off his head ...

After a play in the ocean, we moved to the pool.   This guy was named Ricky!! His girlfriend Lucy was apparently nearby....

Elliot spent a long time with Ricky .... It was super cute.

Until he tried to pick Ricky up ..... Then he got slashed on the arm by Ricky... Fair enough I figured.  

He tolerated this for a minute....

And then no more .... I love how Elliot tries to smile for the camera ...

Even though we bought groceries yesturday for quite a few meals, we didn't buy any meat other than a bbq chicken that we had last night .... And the smell of the outdoor Bbq grill was driving me crazy!  So we ordered a couple burgers and ate them by the pool .... Below was our company!!!

Lucy showed up .... And it was confirmed with everyone around that she was a bag.... Everyone loved Ricky more!!

Such a handsome kid ....

We're just having the nicest time .... Today's big goal was to get our clothes to a laundromat (laventeria)!!! The resort charges PER piece of laundry!! No gracias !!! So we hoofed it into town with two backpacks on our backs in search of a local one.  I remember using one on my trip to Puebla 18 years ago (!!! Holy it's been a long time).... But they do it by kg not by piece!

So we started our walk (caliente!!!!!!!) into town and we found the first place that was just closing and she gave us directions to another place.  And on the way there we found a Starbucks (=happy husband)......so he had a frappucino and it was a nice reprieve from the heat. I love the heat .....

We finally found the laventeria in an outdoor mall .....$72 pesos!! Grazi!!!

Downside is tommorow everything is closed so the boys and I have all been walking around all day without underpants on (it's been nice!!!), so we have to wait til Monday morning for clean clothes .... The plan tommorow is anyways to hang out here and get the timeshare talk done first thing and figure out the tours we want to do .... We are leaning towards taking the boys on this big pirate ship for the day!!! Looks so fun!  We almost said yes to the resorts complimentary boat ride/snorkel trip until we read tripadvisor and read that people felt like prisoners on a hot stinky boat for 8 hours!!  No thanks !! I love trip advisor!!  Especially down here, I find that foreigners (us), tend to really want to share information with each other!  The language barrier is really tough sometimes - I wandered around yesturday at the grocery store looking for cheese!! What is cheese in Spanish???  Nobody knew what I wanted, I mean, you can't even act out cheese!!  So I found another couple looking for bread from the butcher (who spoke a bit), and sidled up for my turn with the bilingual butcher!!  As the couple was walking away, I yelled after them that the aisle signs are Spanish on one side, but English on the other!! Didn't find THAT gem out until halfway through my maze runner shop!!! Figured I'd save them the hassle!

It's been fun and interesting .... Our feet are sore pretty quickly though... The streets are all cobblestone which is super cool but hard on your feet.

Anyways .... Chris is napping after coming home from the laundry adventure and the boys are locked in at the kids activity centre playing minecraft, so we've all had a bit of a break from each other .... But it's been an hour so I need to go grab them .... Such a nice place .... Not sure how people afford it all, makes me wonder what the locals think of these rich tourists? I mean, here I am sitting just in the lobby!! Look how gorgeous it all is;

Housekeeping vs All Inclusive option

Today a lovely Senora arrived at our unit to clean (!!!!!). She made the beds, swept the floors and cleaned the kitchen. We tipped her generously and what a great start to the day!!

After she left, I made the boys French toast and a fresh smoothie (papaya, banana and strawberry....). I actually prefer to cook for these kids rather than give them their own options since I saw what they chose to eat at the last place! (I mean I took this picture 5 minutes after they ate ..... Here is Elliot asking for cookies!)

So I would choose daily housekeeping over all-inclusive!!!  

Happening now: 9:42am (7:42 our time)

We still haven't been able to shift!  We stay up til midnight together and sleep late. Here is what's happening now;

Elliot is doing a blog (minimum 10 sentences on his day yesturday)

 Isaac...well, this is Isaac now. 

Chris is still in bed ....

And me? This is my view right now. 

Velas Vallarta !

Checked in early and our room was ready .... We checked in and within half an hour we dropped our bags and hopped onto a city bus to go grab groceries. That was an experience!  I wish I knew Spanish better! Even when I can figure out how to word the question, the answer is almost never understood!! (Unless actions and pointing are part of the answer! Then the odds go up!!). They speak so fast!!!! So friendly! But too fast!!  

We are surrounded by many Canadians though we are finding!  So we just look around for a white face and they are either from Vancouver or Calgary. (Had a random couple today on the bus from Ontario!)

Took a taxi home.... The bellman helped us upstairs with our groceries and we felt terribly rich!!  Because guess what??? We asked what the all inclusive option would be if we opted in enstead of using our kitchen. And get this:

$100 per adult and $75 per kid so we would be at $350 US PER day!! Which would work out to $2300 for the week!!  Isn't that crazy!!? (So we paid $500 cdn for the week to stay here and that would barely cover what it would be to eat here for one day!!) Yes, it's a beautiful 5 star ... I wish we could opt in! But these kids are happy on toast and smoothies!  So we opted in for the timeshare talk tommorow and they will give us breakfast and $200 .... Our heads are still rolling at that kind of dough!!

Tonight as it got dark; 

It's beautiful here but definatly not authentic like the last place. But chris is happy and relaxed now that he has a kitchen and can eat.  He says he's been starving these last four days! Lol. 

Checking out of Royal Decameron !

I eagerly wrote a glowing review in trip advisor for the final service we received at this resort. There were many great interactions with staff but the final one pushed me over the limit to not delay in writing a review !

I was unsure when we would eat next as check in to Velas Vallarta wasn't until 4, and check out today was noon. As we were checking out, I asked if we could stay for lunch.  No problemo Senorita!!

I loved this because all 3 boys eat at lunch! The boys get the pasta bar (they can choose their sauces and pasta), and Chris had a sandwich from the Woodfire oven. They've all gone hungry as tacos and Mexican fare is not up their alley!

So here is our final meal!!

Checking out .... Waiting for our taxi. 

Yes-it's a live one!

And smelled amazing!!

Last Decameron Resort show!!

It was Mexican night at the resort (?!), so all the buffets had a little extra Mexican flavour. Even the "Jap Jap" restaurant wrapped their big cement budha out front in a Mexican poncho. We watched one of the service men walk past and rub it's belly. Thought that was funny. So I had my first awesome taco! (Many tacos), without burning my mouth off - so that was a success for me. The rest of my family, however, were not so adventurous. The boys each had a cheese quesadilla, Chris had some rice I think?  Haha .... Later that evening we were sitting at a table out near the beach as a couple from Vancouver had been out fishing and had too much mahi mahi that they had the restaurant cook up ... So that's what my family ate for dinner. ... Lucky hey? They were close to starving!!  

I had a nap at 8pm to get ready for the 9:30 show (why are we so tired?? Chris had 2 naps that day!!!!). The boys hate the shows ... Too much dancing and singing.  But being "Mexican night", there was a lot of cool dancing that I enjoyed but they did not!

We left abit early and headed to the beach. Chris and I grabbed a drink from the bar and watched the boys build sand castles til after 11.....nice night. Love my family. 

 

Royal Decameron

We woke up this morning realizing that we had one more day.  The first 2 nights were in a room right next to the speakers and the music is loud and crazy an festive til midnight an constant through the day!  Chris and I deduced that locals stay in this building - live! Colourful! Loud! Such wonderful and happy people but we couldn't do another night of the constant noise. So this mornin we woke up and requested a different room. They moved us immediately to a quiet building that is lovely!! (Will rave about that on trip advisor for them!). 

After the move around 10am, Chris and I made the mistake of lying down for a minute and stayed there and slept hard for 2 hours while the kids played their screens!!  Glorious!!!

Then lunch time (the pasta bar is saving my family! Although I continue the hunt for a good taco without the guacamole oburning my face off!! Last night the nice waiter brought the poor white girl a mineral water to cool off the spice even though I asked for milk in my panic!!  

This afternoon, Isaac took a break from the beach and the pool for another bowl of pasta on his own....got to love all inclusive!

We played in the waves with boogey boards .... The water is so warm and awesome. 

Spanish lessons ...

I know it's still early and there is much more in the day to find the best "quote of the day".... And they are more conversations than quotes - but here is today's best (so far) ....

Bellboy: "ola senorita, can I help with your bags (in Spanish)"

Me: (trying out my Spanish as best I can) "No gracias, waiting por mi esposa"

Bellboy: (deadpan face) "ah Senorita, you are waiting for your wife?"

Me: (not so deadpan face) "Quai??? What's husband in Spanish?"

Bellboy: (big smile) "Esposo!  You never know these days" and he walks off. 

Perfect afternoon - Day 1

I went to bed anxious and woke up feeling better. Elliot and I were up early and went for breakfast.

 We had smoothies and did a word search.

This morning we all played in the waves before lunch.

(Man, the salt burns your eyes but the water is so warm!) This afternoon after lunch, chris and I slept ALL afternoon. For like 2 solid hours !!! The boys happily played screens on the bed beside us. 

When we got up, we went back to the beach. There are so many Canadians here (mostly vancouverites and calgarians!).....everyone is happy to chat and share info!!  This is what I witnessed at the beach.... Total bliss. 

The sunset was breath taking!

I watched the boys play with Chris in the waves for hours!  From roughly 4 til 6:30! Then we got dressed and went for dinner!! 

If I had to go home tommorow, that'd be ok. That's how nice today was. 

Hippo for Kelly!!

She has rooms of hippos!  And she is retiring in the new year, so we had the amazing glass designer make her a hippo!  He had never made one so he used my phone with a picture of a hippo on it to go by!! It was incredible to watch him work. Since Kelly doesn't read my blog, I thought I'd put the process here since it was so cool. 

He looked a little closer at the picture and was able to get all the wrinkles on the hippos back!! Amazing!  150 pesos well spent!!

Quote of the day

Waiter to Chris at the resort "hey senor!! You want a tequila?!!"

Chris "No thanks...i'll just have water"

Waiter "Tequila is like water to me!!" 

Elliot and his little Angel ....

We had a nice dinner, such monkeys (this trick impressed our waiter);

Here we are leaving and heading over to the courtyard:

Elliot saw this man (we call him the Mexican Dave from storage wars)....his talent is amazing!! Elliot saw an angel last night and has been asking for it since then. So tonight was the night. He asked for an angel with blue wings. It was 60 pesos. 

It was such a kick to watch it being made!

He's pretty pleased with his new souvenir. 

Viva Las Vegas resort show!!

Oh my goodness we struck gold on the resorts show last night.  We have arrived in Mexico with no ideas on what to expect. We knew where to catch the cheapest cab and we just trusted he would know where to take us. He did. When we arrived, we were shown our room. Nice and clean and air conditioned, but right beside the loud speakers and stage of the activity centre. No joke ... Excited (yelling) Mexican organizers or loud techno music through the whole day!! So.... With the mentality of leaving in a few days, we sucked it up!! So the kids played in the waves, we had dinner, and then we were told to head over to this huge stage for the resorts "Show"...apparently it's different every night. Well that night was THIS; (!!!!)

Dancers!! Sequins!! Men in heels!! Enough boobs and bums for me to look over at the boys to see their reactions! (Big eyes, of course!! Lol) .... 

This guy! Ok. Not the most flattering picture but we watched him spin and swing himself around on that rope!  It was wild!!

And these pole climbers!! Incredible!!!

There was this crazy flexible woman (like ripleys believe it or not kind!)-I had to look away for most of it. And a woman who did crazy things with like 5 hoola hoops!! The show was awesome! And over around 11pm ... When we got back to our room, the speakers were still blaring music til 11:30 which was fine because we were all still pretty jacked at our evening. Chris went out metal detecting for abit ... 

Tonight is another show and we will head over to it to check it out with the promise to the kids that we will leave if it sucks. Elliot looks up and me and says "I dot want to see anymore ladies in bikinis"... That's cool kid ....