and we find ourselves miles away from home....

What in the world have we been up to? Exploring Puerto Vallarta of course!

 Why? We were asked last minute to join Neil's dad to accompany him to go and see his newly purchased vessel, a 46ft. center cockpit Cal. This boat is HUGE!!

I mean the pictures really do it no justice. Imagine if you will, for us smaller 34-36 footers, that you have a 14 foot beam, followed by enough deck space to literally put a scooter, a dinghy, a surfboard, a kayak, and still have room for a cartwheel or two.

The boat down below is quite spacious. A huge stand up engine room, that is the size of a small shed, a large walk around galley and kitchen setee, a overly large V berth and a HUGE master bedroom in the aft...2 full size bathrooms and showers..this along with the huge amount of storage for anything and everything...did I mention HUGE? Ha Ha...well for Grandpa Jamie, the shift going from land to water will not be too hard, not at all!! In fact he seemed to take to it rather quickly and had his laid back beer in hand pose down to a science in no time!

 This guy looks quite comfy aboard his floating castle!

About the trip:

The plane ride was so neat because I saw where the sea of cortez started, it was gorgeous teal and blue.

 Sandy beaches everywhere. Dry hills and mountains until we started to turn and head east. It became green and lush in no time, jungle everywhere!

And with that green luciousness came the hot sticky wet heat. It literally felt like a steam room, but it wasn't too hot. Of course this is the time of year that no one wants to go down there. It rains almost every day. It was the case for us, but it was always sunny and beautiful every day until about 5pm. Than the clouds would roll in off the mountains, and they would open up with such force. Mid week we were playing tourist in one of the local hot spots just outside of downtown and kapow! Rivers appeared out of nowhere! No one seemed to care, the kids played in the streets,

 the motorcycles  kept on going....

the cars kept going.....

 ..... they went until they could go no more!

Some of the locals used this as an opportunity to take a break and enjoy what nature had provided.

We found some amazing bridges to cross through town to avoid the flowing water below.

    We found out later that this was one of the biggest storms they had so far this year.

 There are a few who speak english here, but not everyone. We know little spanish but are learning that with hand gestures, some simple words, and lots of niceness, this place does not seem so foreign. The people are mostly friendly and even the ones who seem hesitant to smile, give in and let their guard down when they have 5 people smiling wide in front of them.

I had read a blog that stated that the markets were a dissapointment down here, but I must say that maybe living so close to the border that the shift was easy. Granted I picked out some God awful coffee but, hey, it's a learning curve. They have everything that we have, the labels are different of course, but it has been great fun shopping here. The bakery's are "fabulouso!" I have never seen so many treats. Breads, cakes, pastries, jam filled, chocolate covered, spicy chocolate...and yes, sometimes the children can't help themselves and you see a few with a bite or two missing. This makes me chuckle because I don't blame them, they are so yummy!! Ha Ha... we just reach for the ones in the middle. We had our fill of fresh and hot homemade tortilla's..these girls were fast and very professional.

The taxi's are everywhere and incredibly reasonable. This is the best way to do a grocery run. Otherwise it's the bus, along with the hard working locals, the kids, the grandparents...they are all old school busses with a few newer  ones here and there. The fare is a whopping 7 peso's and yes folks, there is a bus that goes only to Wal Mart! So for about 10 bucks you can take a bus all day long to just about anywhere..not bad for 5 people.

   We were fortunate enough to get an excellent deal on a shared condo on the beach. Since this is the off season the prices are cut in half, sometimes even more. For us it was a little slice of heaven.

 The locals would fish every morninng and all day and sometimes into the evening if the conditions were right.

We swam right along side them.

I asked what they were fishing for and with a big grin he held up his catch and said Dorado and another fish that I had never heard of.

The views from the balcony were just simply gorgeous!

Off in the distance we saw these little islands and thought how cool would it be to take Jamie out for a sail and swim at the islands...

....and so we headed out, anchored the boat in front of the condo...

 hopped in the dinghy and rowed to shore for snorkel gear...yes, we brought it with us!

Than off to the islands... which ended up being spectacular little caves that you could swim through...

 ..they were so pretty, but full of bats!!

It was hard not to just stay the night....

 ...it was so relaxing....

The water was a warm 80 degrees, a little cloudy from all the storms but you could dive down and see so many fish, or "FEESH!" as Katie and I say. I think I saw Dorie! I tried to get some pictures of them, but mainly took video... I may add a few pics later.

The condo had a pool that was nice but no comparison to the ocean.

 We were 7 flights up and thought this was amusing and scary to see on the balcony above...I hope no one tried to jump from there!!!

As you recall I mentioned bats in the cave...well it was just after midnight, Stewart was up and we heard a commotion and a bit of a muffled yell..."BAT!!"

Loe and behold, enter the bat! Neil and Stewart shewed him right out with a bit of a chuckle.

The wildlife here was definately different. In fact I have never seen so many Iguana's running loose in all my life!

There were lizards galore...

leaf cutter ants...

and even some croc's!! Although we didn't get to see any...

The coconuts were plentiful...

We enjoyed the culture, the taco stands, the flea markets.....

 and the cobblestone streets.

The day before we left we were able to go and do the Zip Line Canopy Tour. This is one of the tourist attractions here that help create big revenue for the people of the area. It is basically an oversized cabled "flying fox" that allows you to harness yourself to a line overlooking the jungle and at a high rate of speed go "whoosh" through the jungle. It was a lot of fun and even though Neil was only able to watch( he still had to wear the safety gear) it was something that we will never forget...the pictures didn't turn out as good as we would have liked, but here we are geared up and ready to go!

The best part was just being in the warm tropical climate...

 the water....

 the play fullness...

the adventure....

        the appreciation for simplicity....

  being with family.....

 ....I can't wait to take my own boat there...

we thank Jamie for this opportunity...it was not all play,

but it was a pleasure!

Oh and if you are ever to ride the bus please observe the rules below: Pregnant women, old people, and blind people sit in the front....and perhaps those with a nice rear end may as well....I sat in the middle!! ha ha.

Summin' up Summer

What in the world have we been up to? Well the summer has gone by in a whirlwind of business and pleasure. Neil has been to see numerous surgeons, ran more extensive tests, even a few painful ones resulting in one thing, “yes, he is a candidate for surgery.” This is something we all knew, but needed confirmation. We are not out of the woods yet. Everyone from the doctors, to lawyers, to us has to agree on the proper proceedings….and in between all of this, a little bit of playtime as well.


Stewart has gotten in some good bowl time at the skate park and his “airs” have gotten a lot of notice from, well, just about everybody. He is also interested in surfing again. We are hoping to meet up with a group of families that get together on Sunday mornings, just to surf and “stay connected with family and nature.” I feel like after all this time, we have all met some very cool and fun people who have similar interests, values and priorities as ourselves. We haven’t met a great bunch of people since Richmond, and probably never will…yes we love you guys!! I am just always so impressed by Stewart’s ability to watch something, than be able to do it, with little effort. He has switched to more street skating…ie. Jumping and airing stairs and obstacles. As a girl I am like “ wow, look at that!.” As a mom I am like “oh! I can’t watch!” Ha ha!

Katie has joined the San Diego Derby Dolls. That’s right, she is a “Roller Derby Girl.” Her team is called the “Juvenile Dollinquents” and she is kicking butt. She is still looking for that perfect name and will gladly take suggestions. Her first match is in September. They do flat and banked track. I invested in a pair of old school skates and pads, and practice with her. The group of girls vary in age from 11 to 18. She has made so many new friends even though they are all too busy training right now to get too personal right now. It is a lot of hard work with a lot of reward. Needless to say, I am seriously thinking about joining myself, but for now, we skate! (pictures to come soon).

We have had a gaggle of kids on the boat. Some are the same crew as last year and some are newbies. It has been a lot of fun with trips to the desert, various skate parks, the beach, and snorkeling and diving. I am a big kid at heart and it makes me just as sad to see the summer end, but the playtime is far from over.

I had the opportunity to snorkel in a very cool coastal spot. The water was fairly clear for the area and I was able to get incredibly close to sea lions. In fact, I first went out in just my bathers, came back to shore for my wetsuit and stayed in, mesmerized for a few hours. I have to say that to see the seals interact with each other, swimming around and neck hugging each other, playing, exploring, splashing….it was beyond amazing. It was a pure raw energy that as you can tell hit me right in my soul. I have snorkeled before, seen fish and starfish and even octopus, but this…was….truly incredible and I feel so blessed to have seen it with my own eyes…ugh, I could go on and on but I will spare you my mushiness for now! I plan to go back on a much clearer day for better video but you will get the point. I love love loved it!

If anything this incredibly warm summer has given me enough of a taste to go and get myself certified…for diving, not the loony bin!! Ha ha. I have enjoyed taking over the boats bottom maintenance and I love being in and under the water. I would like to try tanks soon and see what else I can “see.”

Not bad for a girl missing a third of her lungs!!

So we have had and are having a ball with our kids, their friends, our friends, the dogs, and even a few strangers…wish you were here…. enjoy the video below.

Fun and games

We have gotten a few good but short little sailing jaunts here and there since the last post. We were treated to quite a little show of dolphin play this last time and ended up having a momma and her young swim along side up by the bow.

So graceful...

They truly are beautiful creatures and I feel so fortunate any time I get the honor of their pressence.

 

Two peas....

Once back into a little cove, we took advantage of the local beach and did some much needed bottom scraping and painting to the "water taxi."

(Slave labor I tell ya!!,,haha)

I don't care how old you are, it's always fun playing around at the beach......

you never get tired of lounging around in hammocks......

  and the sunsets are always gorgeous.....

Since then we have gone on  to do a bit of exploring of some of the state parks So Cal has to offer. From time to time I start "jonesing" for the mountains...so off we went....

.(but it was not all for me...it was just what the doctor ordered for all...)

The beauty of So Cal is you can be within several diffferent atmospheres in a short amount of time...Ocean, Valleys, Mountains, and Desert....how lovely is that?

 Having the Jeep also allows for us to "explore" without having to "foot" it. Just take the top off and away we go...Right now, that is the best way to get Neil up the mountainside...

The dog's joined the inland crew for a bit of the action as well. Foster at one point got so hot he just walked on in the little creek after a sip or two.

Winnie needed lot's of mini breaks. She has the shortest little legs and sometimes her desire and her ability conflict....don't we all have moments like that?! She made use of the top of my backpack and "hitched a ride" for a little while.

Daisy, well she just kick's major butt and appeared for most of it to have somewhat of a happy little grin on her face.

They were little troopers and kept up pretty well for being a bunch of "boat dog's."

The kids and myself decided to do a little rock climbing. I tell you what, I am no spring chicken and it was challenging but I love to hike, always have, and to have the kids old enough to not have to worry about them, was quite nice. ( I still was like, oh be be careful, and they were like, "mom! we got this!" and I was like, "oh ok"...haha).

My little "Monkeys"....

Neil was able to keep up with a little flat land trails with help of some serious medication, but for the most part he  kept up with the 4 x 4. ( yes, we can't wait until he is done with surgery, recovery, and back to somewhat of a normal life!!!)....

Speak of the devil...We are only a few more tests away before we start to get into the fine details of planning Neil's much needed lower back surgery. It looks like his "year off" as advised by the doctor's has just not produced the results they wanted. Instead we are looking at further damage to his lower back and we are hoping that his nerve test tomorrow will look favorable instead of more "damage" to add to our list of..."poop."

***(will not insert poop pic here....although tempted...haha!)***

Stewart is getting better and better with his skating...and he absolutely loves it, and we love watching!

Katie has taken a large interest in photography and even with our mediocre camera has taken some very lovely shots. She hopes to get more involved in it and like all of us has plans to travel the world...I think I will join her!

As always we have good days and bad. Most bad days end with good and so on...and that's just the way it has to be! I am thankful for the gorgeous gorgeous weather here, the good doctor we are with now and all of your prayers, well wishes, encouragement, and sometimes kicking me in the butt for not staying on top of this blog!! haha...

In all seriousness,remember take care of you and yours, and always make sure to treat yourselves!!....

However simple that may be....