Day 218: Mexico, Day Two

Today is our first full day in Mexico!  We went to sleep around 9:00, so we set our alarm for 7am.  The alarm was incredibly quiet, and we didn't actually wake up until 7:40 - but we were still the first ones up!  Eric looked out toward the ocean and said "those clouds look like mountains" and I explained "those mountains ARE mountains!"  I expected to find some family at breakfast, but Eric and I ate alone for about 20 minutes before Mom and Alan joined us.  I went up to get some more food off of the buffet, and when I came back I found that a bird had stolen my donut! The dining area is sort of like a pavillion - roof with open sides.  

We eventually met up with my parents and Eric's parents on the beach and decided to walk to Bucerias, a nearby town that has a big flea market area.  It took us more than 2 hours to walk there - and in the process we found a baby turtle and a giant, dead, moray eel.  In Bucerias, we stopped at a hotel that was selling fresh smoothies.  I also exchanged some dollars for pesos - the exchange rate is about 110 pesos per 10 US dollars.  I bought some decorated marshmallows for my students, and we looked at the other wares - jewelry, vanilla, shirts, bags, and beaded art.  Then we walked back and it only took us about an hour and a half because we didn't stop as often to admire the fact that we're walking on the beach in Mexico, in January!

When we got back, Eric sat on a lounge chair and instantly got stung by a bee.  It remained swollen really huge for the rest of the day, but that was the extent of his allergic reaction.

We had lunch with the entire crowd and Eric coined the phrase of the vacation, talking about my Jello... "I tapped it, I flicked it, and it tumbled off the plate!"  Ally just about died giggling about this.  Then we took a dirt spray shower and a nap, because we had just spent over 5 hours in the sun on our first day.  It was tough to rouse from the nap, but we headed out to the beach and bought a dress that just screamed "Shannon!"  We met up with most of the family in the First Club and took Ally down to the snack bar because I didn't want to wait for dinner.  The food wasn't anywhere near as good as yesterday - the fries were terrible.  But I shared a cheeseburger with Eric and that held me over.

We also found that my towel had been stolen off of my chair during our nap - so I stole a towel that was laid across a bush after dark.  It costs $30 to replace lost towels, so this was my best option.  In the evening, we played Farkle with Paul & Deb, which brought on hilarity.  Eric stated that most shark attacks occur within 3 feet of water - and meant to say 3 feet deep water, but I couldn't stop laughing and said that probably 99% of all shark attacks occur within 3 feet of water!  At one point Eric rolled and said "I got 1000", to which I replied "that's 2 ones and a two...", and Eric said "reroll!"  It was a good day - and we went to bed right after 10pm.

 A lovely breakfast to start each day!

We nicknamed this bird Addy

A family picture!  Alan is standing on my head! 

Eric found a baby turtle and I got to hold it! 

 Paul and Deb taking a break on the driftwood.

Enjoying fresh smoothies after our long walk!

You can see the swelling on his left arm where the bee stung him.

Day 57: Life's a itch

These darn bug bites are KILLER!  I woke up scratching my feet together like a grasshopper.  I ended up having to take a bath, apply layers of benadryl lotion, and put on three pairs of socks to ease my misery.  Surprisingly, the socks actually helped!  Eric didn't buy into my pitch, but we did both take benadryl pills before bed. 

Knee socks and two pairs of thick slipper socks - I was able to sleep!

A close-up of the misery provoking bites.

Day 56: Happy Belated B-Day Ross!

Today was full of nothingness until the evening - I was home being a lazy bum while Eric worked all day.  After he got off of work, we puttered around the house and cleaned up [because we THOUGHT Steven and Leslie were coming over - nudge nudge! :)], then left for Ross's Birthday Bash.  At the liquor store we each found a great, yet terrible, deal.  I found a 1.5 liter bottle of chilled Yellow Tail Riesling [it tasted like chardonnay and wasn't very good], Eric found a 1.75 liter jog of Blackheart spiced rum for $10 [very harsh and very gross!].

We had a great time hanging out and talking with the crowd.  Unfortunately for us, we spent far too much time on the back porch and got more chigger bites than we have ever had.  Eric didn't count his, but I've got over 50 bites on my feet and ankles, with another two dozen on my arms and hands.

Pictures will be posted when Eric texts them to me and I upload them!  The real camera should be back any day now!

Day 39: Yeowch!

While at my nannying job, the UPS man delivered a large box of diapers and a large box of wipes.  When delivering smaller packages, they put it under the doormat so people don't steal your things.  Apparently for giant boxes, they just prop it up in front of the boxes, not obvious AT ALL!  I brought those inside early in the day and took Jack swimming that afternoon.  When we got back I started to kick the mat back into place when there was a pinprick of pain that rapidly grew into searing pain throughout my foot. 

I pushed Jack through the front door and said something along the lines of "doyouwanttowatchamovie?  GOOD, PUT A MOVIE ON, YES, WATCH RATATOUILLE!" I promptly iced, washed, iced, and numbing sprayed my foot.  I peeked outside to discover a nice family of wasps building their home on Jack's porch.  I only had another hour with Jack, so I also took two benadryl and some ibuprofen. The benadryl was not a good idea and I shouldn't have driven home - as soon as I made it, I passed out in bed for a nice 4 hours coma.

Eric was naturally at work through this excitement, but he woke me up when he got home and we made brownies!  Yum!

Mmmmm, batter!

Day 38: Bugs

Today was a pretty average day.  Eric had work at Checkers and I worked with Jack.  The cats spent a nice lazy day at home sleeping - taking the occasional break to yell, hiss, and chase one another. 

A common "I've never met real danger" sleeping on her back, Addy; and a "I'll sleep on the smallest surface available," Mystic.

When Eric and I were home from work, we continued to attack the mess of boxes in our house.  We singled out a large amount of stuff for trash and the garage sale, and further organized anything going back into storage.  We have a little 5x5 storage space right outside our front door, and between the porch light and living room light, we had a bit of a security breach.  Addy went nuts over the dozen, or so, moths that made there way inside.  She proceeded to disable the flight capabilities of each and every one of them!  Hooray!

Sadly, this video demonstrates the spot on our inner lens, sad times!  I need to return the camera and iPod [cracked screen] to Best Buy.  Thank goodness for extended and initial warranties!