2/3/2011 - The latest happenings in our world

I think the paint fumes have gone to his head.
No one smiles that big when they work that hard.

"Daddy, you need to quit working so hard and have more fun!"
All work and no play has made Monica and Jake bored.  Andy has been working so hard on the boat that he hasn’t gotten to partake in any of the fun Jake and I have been having.  He’s repainting the entire deck as well as our cockpit and I have to say it’s looking fabulous.

To keep from getting painted into the cabin by our overachiever Captain, Jake and have been hitting the town.  We finally made our way to a little town close by called Bucerias.  It’s a short bus ride from La Cruz and well worth the hassle (can you tell I don’t like the bus system here?).  It’s full of fun little shops and a Mercado as well as tons of restaurants right on the beach.

 

The various booths at the market are always so tempting!

Jewelry making is a huge business for the locals.

The light sabers are always the first toy to come out.

The kid scene has also picked up here.  There are two little boys close to Jake’s age that pulled in last week…Matero and Shondro.  Matero had his birthday today at a local housing development site that happens to have a fabulous pool.  Unfortunately, today was the coldest day we’ve had in Mexico since we left and the kids didn’t actually do much swimming.  But they had fun anyway just getting to be together. 

Vallarta B - beautiful pools (and bushes?)

On a hunt to look for a stray crocodile.

The kids had to hide from the wind to keep Matero's candles from blowing out.

A nice surprise sailed into the anchor a few days ago…some friends we spent the summer with in the Sea…Eyoni.  Zada and Jake talked on the radio for a few minutes promising to get a date going soon.  There are also some older kids here and we found a babysitter for tomorrow afternoon while Andy and I go to a special party for the folks crossing the Pacific this season.

Tonight we ended our busy day watching a couple from France put on an acrobatic show on their boat.  We had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be pretty darn good.  They’re doing another, different show later tonight.  As good as the first one was, I’m sad to say it’s just too cold and too late to go see the next one (we’ve gotten soft out here).

Looks like fun, right?

Jake and I are off to CA to see my parents one last time before we head to the South Pacific, so the blog posts might be scarce for a week or so.  We fly out Sunday leaving Andy for a week to finish up his projects (and enjoy his time alone).  When we get back, Andy’s parents are coming to visit for a week so we’ll have plenty more stories to tell I’m sure!  We’ll be doing a lot more exploring with company here. We’ve been here for two months but have really just been working on the boat and doing day to day chores…not the usual exploration we normally do.   But we’re looking forward to learning more about Puerto Vallarta with Mac and Merle and can’t wait to see them!