High Waves and Kite Surfers

     Whew its windy again today.  Big rollers coming in.  Lucky for us we are at a beach access point and four kite surfers came to enjoy the wind and waves.  Its a very athletic sport that looks like it takes a lot of finesse and strength.  Stella pointed out that the best surfer was a girl.  She wants to learn how to do kite surfing too.  Stella wore her new "tankini" that we bought at the grocery store and was very aware of how cute she looked today.

     Stella felt better today, Kellen was worse, and the virus claimed another victim, me.  I coughed yesterday and thought it was allergies, but today brought a headache and fever.  I'm missing out on a highly recommended visit to the Jungle Spa.  Aloe bath, long massage and hot shower.  Instead, Grandpa and I are moderating a game of indoor hide and seek.  This five bedroom house has lots of good hiding places.  Grandpa is also getting to be an expert on playing Chutes and Ladders, although Stella usually wins.

     We are constantly running into the problem of interpreting the Spanish instructions on food packages and medications.  I bought Tylenol for Kellen's fever and eventually had to Ask Google what the dose should be.  Making pancakes was complicated by unfamiliar measurements.  Baking chicken nuggets required a translation from centigrade to  fahrenheit for the oven.  

    The Jungle Spa visit was truly an adventure into the jungle.  It was a long drive down a pothole covered road.  Massages were done in grass covered huts by

short, little Mayan women.  The strenuous massage ended with a rub of fresh aloe for dry winter skin.  It was quite the 3 hour adventure which left everyone tired, relaxed, and covered with aloe.

    I'm dosing myself with orange juice and Tylenol and hoping this sickness passes quickly.

   

Swimming in the Caribbean Ocean

     We had a big rain overnight and woke up to pddles of water on the living room floor and in the kids bedroom.  There was a lake of water just outside our door on the patio.  The pool guys who come each day to clean the pool spent a lot of time picking up debris from the grounds.  It always looks so beautiful with lots of flowering plants. 

     Cancun is on the Yucatan Peninsula , just around the corner from the Gulf of Mexico.   Last falls hurricanes paaed it by, so winter getaway business is ghriving.  The ocean just at our doorstep is the Western Caribbean.  The water is deep blue and relatively warm.  The beaches are gold and the sand is fine and soft.  Stella was barely out of bed when she begged to go play in the sand.  She was willing to hold off for a while and have some pancakes with her brothers.  Then she pulled on her bathing suit, slathered up with sunscreen and climbed down the stairs to the beach.  The house is well supplied with pails and scoops. 

     Before long the sun broke through the clouds and the day warmed up.  Everyone joined us at the waters edge and soon were in the water.  Carter and Kellen learned about the bouyant properties of salt water as they did back floats.  Bennett has been swimming in the pool with his snorkel gear non-stop.  He never wants to go home.

    Once again the day clouded up and the rains came in the late afternoon.  We brought in heaps of wet towels.  It's great to have a washer and dryer in the house to keep up with all the damp clothes.  The humidity remains very high.

    Kellen was coughing and seems to have caught Stellas cold.  He wiped out on the sofa for a rest.  The kids played Monopoly while the adults planned activities for the rest of the week.  Unusually big waves have stopped some of the snorkel and scuba tours.  It's supposed to be better late in the week.  The ladies went back to the big grocery store for more food.  It is a time consuming activity to shop in a very unfamiliar store with all the labels in Spanish.  The upside is amazingly good fruit and vegetables.  

     We went home and prepared a feast of chicken tacos.  We are eating very well with our great grill and two big refrigerators full of food.  The kids are using up calories at a high rate from all their swimming a playing.  One week is not going to be long enough!

"Let's always live here, Grandma."

     Shortly after I finished my blog last night, it began to rain.  Which was no big deal except that it was already about 99% humidity.  So we had the air conditioning on to cool things down for the Minnesota crowd.  Then, in the blink of an eye, the lights went out.  Blinked back on, then out.  We checked  outside and saw that the darkness was throughout the whole neighborhood.  We turned on flashlight apps on our phones and found house flashlights and candles.  Now it was both hot and dark.  We had to put the kids to bed in a totally dark, unfamiliar house, but they were troopers.  The lights, TVs, air conditioners- all came on a couple hours later.  Fortunately the sleep deprived kids didn't wake up.

    This morning was sunny and much calmer.  The kids gulped down their cereal and suited up for a beach walk, swim, snorkel.  The beach is raked each morning and so it is amazingly fine, clean white sand.  Perfect for building castles.  The pool is chilly, the ocean fairly warm.  Three hours later we dragged everyone inside for lunch.  

    After lunch the rain returned so we all relaxed on the covered patios.   Flocks of brown pelicans streak along just over the top of the waves looking for fish.  Dozens of dive boats wander back and forth along the edge of the reef.  On our side of the reef the waves are small, which makes it perfect for the kids.  We can see big rollers crashing against the far side of the reef.

    After a big nap Stella collected colorful leaves and flowers that were blown off in the rainstorm.  She gatherered them on a tray to "decorte our table.  The boys learned how to crawl into hammocks slung under the porch overhang and sprnt part of the afternoon reading.  

     The house has a huge supply of games and DVDs so we end our day playing Monopoly and Pictionary.  Carter just loves this house and thinks we should all just live here.  He loves the arches, and the roof top patio, the big table we can all sit around and the big bedroom he shares with his brother.  He loves to hang out with the whole family and see the ocean from all the windows.  On this lovely evening the wind is still quiet so we can hear the soft sound of the surf.  Perfct day 2. 

Casa Margarita

     We're here!  20 miles south of Cancun airport.  Windy, humid, 80* and pounding surf outside our door. Our day began at 5:30, with a checkin at Terminal 2 at 6:30.  We flew as a group so we all had to check in at the same time.  Coffee, rolls and a little playtime and then four hours in the air.  I he kids were great so itvwas a long, but easy trip.  It was a little slow going through customs, but the biggest wait was for our luggage.  I think Ricks suitcase was the last one off the plane.  We found our transport and drove past miles of mangroves interspersed with dive shops and activities. 

       Within ten minutes of arrival the kids were in the pool.  It was a great way to burn off energy after a long sit on the plane.  The house manager, Roberto, walked us through the house and grounds.  He then took Amanda on a drive through town to show her where to run.  Tomas came by to help us schedule a morning of snorkeling on the reef and then ordered a couple pizzas for the hungry kids.  A grocery shopping  contingent headed off to the big grocery store out on the highway.  

   We watched the sun go down and the blue and purple lights go on in the pool.  Only 6:15 and Stella asked to get her nightgown on.  I think it's going to be an early night for most of us.  It gets dark early so we can see the many lights on the cruise ships out beyond the reef.  The guys cooked us some barbecue chicken and hamburgers on the big grill on the patio.  The air is cooling down a bit, but humidity is still high.  My winter thirsty skin is drinking it in.

    Tomorrow we wake up to a walk on the beach!

  

Warm Weather, Here We Come

     Tomorrow morning, bright and early, our extended family of 10 will hop on a Sun Country plane for a flight to Cancun.  It has been quite a project getting passports for the little kids and making lists to be sure that we have all that we might need.  Although there IS a Walmart nearby our Mexican house.
    We are staying in a five bedroom, five bathroom house that is just outside the fishing village of Puerto Morelos.  My brother and his family rented this house last year so we are comfortable with knowing that it's a great place to go.  The house has a large, shaded veranda overlooking a pool.  It is right on the edge of a beautiful beach, and THE OCEAN!  I can't wait to hear the waves and smell the salt air.
    It is a big production to go with ten people and plan for food.  I have been making lists and checking out the website of the big grocery store nearby Casa Margarita.  We will eat most of our meals at home (the only reasonable option with four growing kids along) so we'll need a good supply of food.
    We are not renting a car; it's really expensive when we add in the cost of all the required insurance and the high airport tax.  I understand that it can take several hours to go through the rental process as well - not good with four hungry kids waiting to get "home."  We debated this and then decided to use the airport transportation to get us all to the house.  The house is only 20 miles from the Cancun Airport.  The taxi ride to the grocery store is just $2.  It's a ten minute walk into town.  If we need a car, we can rent one for a couple days. 
    I'm excited to spend this time with the family.  It has taken a lot of planning, but once we get our bags into our bedrooms and throw open the doors to smell the ocean, it will all be worth it.