"Some friends come and go like a season. Others are arranged in our lives for a good reason." ~ After rising early yesterday I was off to Mega, THE grocery store here in Playa I love. What a place; fresh food to go, marinated pulled pork, chicken wrapped in banana leaves with pineapple, guacamole & tortillas made as you wait. They get fresh fish off the boat and it's on ice by 9 am...impressive. Oh and then there's the liquor section :). They carry everything with alcholo you can imagine & I expect a few items you've never imagined! One stop shopping is my cup of tequila! The bakery is huge; OMG pig heaven! Every doughnut, every stuffed croissant, and freshly baked bread, baked buns, baked gooey sugary items that all end in sheer pleasure! And ... read more

Hi all, well after many lists, coordinating kids' schedules, making sure Al had his "honey-do list", I am off to Playa del Carmen Mexico courtesy of Tonya of Playa Beach Condos & Villas - the highly acclaimed company I write travel blogs for. I left the girls a surprise gift to open this morning which will make their day. Happy kids makes a very happy mommy. It's 4:30 am as we (Danielle my travel buddy) sit in the very eerily quiet airport. That suits me just fine; however, somehow I know with all the empty seats some yapper will sit behind me and talk on his iPhone in his loudest voice about the corns or bunions on his feet. This is something I've come to expect as it happens to me on a regular basis. Empty ... read more

If you recall when we had to postpone our trip home due to Lara's illness, hero mom called & found out her travel insurance would cover a portion of our extra few days. Mom received the forms in the mail & being out of town my niece Meghan agreed to hand deliver them to us. Dad was put in charge of getting "operation" forms to Meg's house . When he didn't find her at home, he simply put the big envelope somewhere on her car & left. When mom called Meg to mention the envelope was in/on her car, she went searching for it. Not long after she looked over & there was her spirited doggy Harley having a grand old time ripping the forms to shreds!! Yep, the dog REALLY ate our homework! He was ... read more

This is the last picture taken on our final day in Playa. It's one of those cheesy pics that everyone needs to have taken to say you where "there". UPDATE - Thrown back into routine "feet first"... -Lara slowly recovered over the weekend & stoically made it to school Mon am for band practice. -Rory woke Mon with a sore tummy & I found the last Gravol in the pack...all mushed up :( -Garage door was stuck due to the cold but after a few tries finally opened (-24C). -Desperate for a coffee I hit Tim Horton's drive through & my van window wouldn't open despite the few good bangs I gave it; I musta looked like I was part of a Houdini escape routine ;) -Had to pull past the window & squeeze out the ... read more

Well tomorrow we leave...WAH!!! :( We woke and had a relaxing coffee and made plans for the day. Lara and I did some sightseeing and shopping and stopped for breakfast on the beach. This business of having a margarita before noon is pretty awesome but will have to be curtailed upon returning home (I'll slowly wean myself off the morning booze...in about 2 weeks!!) ... WAH again! :( After packing and laundry we decided the day was still young and we deserved drinks and lunch. We toured around and had lunch on the beach which was quite tasty, and made plans to finish up shopping for the girls' friends at home. Afterwards we stopped to listen to this fabulous band called "Sumaj Punchay". This is the woman that plays the recorder, pan flute, bongo drum, you ... read more