Beach Fun & Jet Skis :)

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One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach; one can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few. ~

Now where did I leave off? I think Sunday night when we enjoyed another rab-tab fabulous dinner out at Calle Ocho. We enjoyed garlic shrimp, Rib eye steak, and grilled herbed chicken. The chicken was crispy on the outside, very well-seasoned (from someone who thinks they do a good job on seasoning) and with some crispy potatoes and salad. We enjoyed an acoustic guitar player and he played sax too and I LOVE the sax! His mother was a famous singer in Mexico but I did not get his or his mother's name. I will do so next Sunday night.

We enjoyed a free round of margaritas and mojitos on the house and was introduced to the General Manager Juan, who is probably more American or Canadian than he is Mexican. Which of course I teased him about. He spent time growing up in Montreal and seems to have traveled extensively around the world. His father was American and his mother from Colombia...He was a lot of fun, and he sat with a us for a while chatting about Playa, the hotel business etc. He was really a nice guy and guess whose glasses of wine was on the house...YES moi. (Also thanks to Ray and Pat for treating us; it was a fun night out!) Now if I can just start writing travel blogs for their hotel and restaurant we'll really be stepping high!

Sunday Ava hadn't been feeling great from we think swallowing some pool water. By night time she was feeling pretty rough, and it wasn't long before she vomited. So we gave her some medication, and tucked her into bed with us. Of course she liked to be snuggled in with us, but even a king size bed is no match for Ava; the wild acrobatic artist that she is and the all time world-championship bed hogger. I fell asleep and I thought I had entered into some Bruce Willis action movie where I was running for my life, defending my turf and hanging off cliffs. I woke with the sheets tangled around me, my pillow on my feet and hanging by a thread off the side of the bed. And Ava? She woke with a smile, all cozy, stretched out and said she had a wonderful sleep. Ahhhh the good old days of being a kid.

Yesterday we enjoyed a really great breakfast on the beach; for $3.50 (approx) I enjoyed scrambled eggs with a side of bacon, and toast. I don't eat a big breakfast, so this was perfect and so reasonably priced. The rest of the gang had an assortment of breakfast, which included fresh fruit, freshly squeezed OJ, toast and coffee. And included in the price, a beautiful amazing, eye candy ocean view. (oh & might I add, a beautiful view of the family - brownie points you know 😊

Late morning a thunderstorm was brewing, but again, it's SO weird as it remains somewhat sunny and of course hot, then after an hour of it grumbling & rumbling, we got a big downpour. It lasted a few minutes them whooosie, it was HUMID and sunny sunny hot hot. How hot was it (I know...you've been waiting for the hot jokes...right? :>

OK it was SO hot today you could wash and dry your clothes at the same time. It was SO hot you're getting hot flashes - and you're a MAN. (thank you for letting me amuse myself 😉

After breakfast the kids made good use of the pool, and then we made a trip to DAC which is a locally owned company that offers fresh fruit and veggies, fresh flowers and baked goods, and grocery items. (I love their flowers here; the sunflowers & gladiolus are amazing & we buy them for our condo!) They have selected fruit & veggies that are kept cold too so for those that shop there, make sure you ask if you're miss seeing certain veggies. This was all for a big dinner that Lara was cooking for us last night. A sesame chicken stir fry with rice noodles. She was pretty excited to be doing this, in her words to thank dad and I for bringing them here. Awww, isn't that sweet?

On the way back from groceries, a newly opened cafe was selling fresh waffles with chocolate dipped in sprinkles or plain waffle bites! I bought a few for the girls and let me tell you, I am Mother of the Year for thinking of that. Imagine...fresh waffle bites sold on the sidewalk 😊

After lunch we rented two super duper Yamaha jet skis that can take 2 people out at a time. Well I tell ya, that was more fun than anticipated. Al & I both drove, and I took Rory with me and Al took Lara with him. OMG, it's something else to be on the ocean ripping around on a pretty big machine and this speed demon LOVED it. The one consideration was not to hit the waves too hard because the girls are pretty light, so they had a good grip on me. You can get up to pretty high speeds but we were cautious yet we gave it a good acceleration when we could. I like that the jet skis here aren't as noisy as the ones at home. Once Rory had her turn, I taxied her in and got Miss Ava. She was a bit nervous but before long I could hear the screams of joy and laughter and her little arms around my waist hanging on for life!!

Let me just say, it's harder than it looks. First you've got big waves (even if it's calm there are pretty well waves) and then you've got the wind which can take you up and slam you down, so being as smart as I am (ahem) I knew to be careful not to come down on the handlebars or fling us right off. There are safety cords if you fall off the machine turns off immediately. Otherwise we were given areas we could jet ski in, which meant a good part of the ocean between the two ferry docks. It was fun jet skiing under the para sailers who would wave down on us. The kids really enjoyed the adrenaline rush and the staff was super friendly and helpful. I raced Al a few times and he had to drink in my ocean spray (hahahaha)...Another wonderful family memory for the photo album.

We went back to the condo, listened to some Spanish guitar music, enjoyed a read on the balcony until Lara & Marth started to chop up the veggies for supper. We tried some corn on the cob here but I will tell you, surprisingly it was nothing compared to what you'd get in the Pontiac. (Mexico = corn so that's why I was surprised by its tougher taste).

The stir fry consisted of broccoli, onions, carrots, peppers, bean sprouts, garlic and a soya and sweet chili sauce, then chicken was added in, and topped with cilantro, all served over rice noodles. It was an amazing dinner Lara & auntie, thanks for your effort and girl, you've got some cooking skills! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree; or is it the coconut doesn't fall too far from the palm tree in our case?

Al & took the girls for a walk to the local fair; the night was lit with lights, ferris wheels, music and sounds of laughters and screams of joy! There was a ton of people. It was enjoyable walking around seeing all the families out for the night. At the end of the school year the local government gives each school student 25 tickets for rides at the fair so last night was opening night and it was packed. We just walked on the parameter to get peeks of the excitement. We'll take the kids back tonight when it's not so busy.

Will post more, out for a walk with Rory and we're stopping for a hot chocolate at an ocean cafe. Al's diving; ocean is pretty wavy today so hopefully it's a good dive. He was pretty excited about it.

Hoping tomorrow we might take a catamaran tour to Isla Mujeres which includes your food and drink on boat, snorkeling off the island, shopping in town, then time at a beach club (which again includes your food & drink) wow, what damage we could do there ey Sue & Cory??? Then a trip to a marine park where there are sharks and other marine life but the sharks are what Lara wants to see. Or it may be more to our liking to make our way there on the ferry, rent a golf cart to see the island and then do the activities we want to.

Isla Mujeres is near Cancun, and means "Island of Women" and in Pre-Columbian times was sacred to the Mayan Goddess of childbirth and medicine. So when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century and saw so many images of goddesses they named it appropriately, "Island of Women". (I'm sure when most men hear they are going to the Island of Women their blood pressure rises).

There are many delicious places to eat, many incorporating the local recipes and traditons into their food specifically fresh seafood (happy face). Howevr, times have changed so there's many choices of food like Italian, Thai, American etc. And as mentioned, the only way to get around the island is golf carts or scooters (this could be FUN) Can't wait to race Al on a scooter (OK we'll be very very careful!).

Wishing you a wonderful Martes (Tuesday). There are 26 pics below to see (on 2 pages I expect)

And I'll leave you with an Irish Blessing:

As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way"...

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Comments

[Susan]

Isla Mujeres
My favourite spot to go. Oh we had the best day there. We rented a golf cart and went around the entire island. There is a great spot to see turtles. We found a little seafood restaurant on the beach downtown. It had sand floors and two old guys playing one of those keyboard thingies. We went swimming with the dolphins there. That was a once in a lifetime experience. We like it there because it is a research centre for dolphins. They really care for the dolphins and they are in the ocean not a pool. Fun stuff. Oh....I want to go back!