tiny dancer

Yesterday was the first day of dance class. Ximena was ecstatic.

In the morning we went to the store and picked out a pink leotard, tights and ballet shoes. She kept looking at each of the items as we took them off the shelf asking breathlessly "this is for me?”.

After her nap I helped her put on her tights and then she took over, wanting to put on her leotard and shoes herself. Her good friend Maddie spent the afternoon and once dressed the two girls were non-stop twirling, hopping and leg kicking with excitement.

We met up with my sister Natalie and her daughter Frances and the three little girls dressed in pink from head to toe joined their first ballet class. They looked so tiny sitting in a circle around their teacher.

We tried to hide our smiles as we watched their awkward attempts to follow his instructions- hands and legs stretched in wrong directions.

The 30 minute class was over quickly and she flew across the floor to show me the sticker she received from her teacher.

In the last picture we lined all three girls up to take their picture but could not get them to look at the camera they were mesmerized watching one of the older girls stretching at the bars.

Ximena was helping me put away the laundry today and found her leotard .She immediately wanted to put it on and is napping in it right now, no-doubt she is dancing in her dreams.

lunch

As with many good things our daily routine of two naps has come to an end.

The girls now take one mid day nap and I am still tweaking the timing on this.

This napping- less routine has set me into a tizzy of re-vamping the flow of my days. I am a routine person and love knowing what to expect from my day. I am most productive when I have a routine in place and have an idea of what I want and need to do at any given time.

So today after tucking the girls in for their nap I found myself wandering through the house -wondering what I should do first.

Lunch seemed like a good idea, and a proper little lunch it was, of re-heated soup and crispy toast.

I leisurely flipped through the pages of a new magazine as I ate and knew I could get used to this quite quickly.

cocos frios!

We spotted a brightly painted sign announcing COCOS FRIOS and our taxi pulled off the freeway for one last treat on our way to the airport.


The sun was beating down on us overhead- hot and humid -the promise of fresh coconut water was captivating.

Situated with the freeway on one side and the ocean directly on the other a man and his son sell coconut water from their stand by the road.

As we watch he swiftly chops the coconuts with a machete and in a fluid motion pours the coconut water into a small clear plastic sack, and ties a knot.

The coconut water is nutty and sweet it is perfect and so refreshing, we make quick work of sipping it down.

Ricky squeezes fresh lime juice and sprinkles chili over the coconut and we take it with us to eat in the taxi.

Our taxi driver wanted to take a picture of us with the ocean as a back drop, so we pause for a quick photo before heading to the airport.

Rested and refreshed from our trip we are ready for home.

piñata

We stumbled upon a piñata on our way to dinner.

Ximena was immediately invited to take a turn. I loved watching her confidently grab the stick and almost immediately HIT the piñata!

She hit and ran- back to my side.

Both girls were shiny eyed watching the process and with Mudtzy's expert help were able to come away with a nice little stash of Mexican candy.

We headed to dinner and were serenaded by a mariachi group.

Ximena wanted to dance with her daddy.

Soon her cheeks were flushed and her hair damp from dancing!

eat.play.sleep.repeat

Our time in Mexico was the perfect mix of fun, relaxation and good food.

Our room was located at the end of the resort property with a view of the beach and city.

When we weren't out and about we spent time on the patio painting, reading or watching the activity below.

One afternoon in a fit of testiness Kami tossed her bottle through the railing to the grass below, for the rest of the trip whenever she couldn’t find her bottle she would run to the railing and look down to see if she could spot it.

The girls slept with us in a huge king bed and they adjusted quite well. We would lay with them for a while until they fell asleep or *ahhem we fell asleep, and then slip out to the other room.

Every morning we ate a huge breakfast outside, overlooking the beach - fruit, and yogurt, crunchy granola with plump raisins and fresh coconut, chilaquiles layered with thinly chopped crisp red onions, drizzled with cream and sprinkled with cilantro, and warm re-fried pinto beans.

After breakfast we would head to the beach for a seashell hunt and then to the pool where we spent the rest of our mornings playing in the water until nap time. We spent so much time in the pool that Ximena and I would regularly compare our wrinkly fingers and toes. Kami spent the majority of her pool time near the fountains or lounging on the poolside chairs pouring water from container to container happy as a little clam.

During nap time Kami would serenade me with her version of "tinkle, tinkle little star" as she patted my face and hair before falling asleep. I love to recall sweet moments like this when she is throwing a fit!


We would head to the pool again after nap time and stay until we began to feel chilly. In the evenings we would take a taxi into town on a hunt for good food.
We hit up our favorite spots from past trips and a couple new recommendations; Ricky pries the taxi drivers for information about where they like to eat as we drive. My favorite was a tasty red snapper, cut in half and grilled till the outer crust was a lovely caramel color. We made little tacos with the fish, a squeeze of lime and hot sauce -SO GOOD we went back twice!

Thank you Olga -our housekeeper who cleaned up after us everyday. Coming in from the pool to a tidy space, with fresh towels, sheets and a made bed was purely magic- when she made the beds she would arrange Kami's care bear, monkey and puppy on the bed in front of the pillows much to the girls delight upon returning to the room.

*The last two photos were timed- we are a little rusty on our timers and trying to jump into the picture before the camera started snapping!