Nuevo Vallarta

Last week we took a time-out and headed for sunny Mexico. In mid-February we were starting to feel suffocated in our cold gray bubble so we decided hitting the road asap would be good for the family. It was our first vacation alone as a family of four. We had a great time, though vacationing with kids is hard work! Think: 5 hours on a plane with a 1 year old, the kids up from 2-7am on our first night there, etc. No complaints here, but I just had to throw that out there so that my readers without kids don't get the idea that this was an effortless picnic.



LBK (Life-before-kids) allowed us many opportunities to travel much more rustically than we care to do now with toddlers. This has been a huge mental shift for us. We stayed at the nicest hotel either of us have ever stayed at, due to a great special grand-opening sale on Costco.com. It was a strange experience. It's the kind of place where the pool girl straightens out your towel while you're swimming, and where they pass out cool washcloths at the pool while you're sunbathing. L'Occitane bath products were the freebies in the bathrooms (I stocked up :). Anyway, we were not roughing it, and had to be careful our boys didn't break the 4 foot tall ceramic vases in our room (those were quickly stashed in the closet). As nice as this was, I'm looking forward to LBK style vacations down the road, with the kids.



Our daily routine (yes, even on vacation a routine naturally established itself):
6:30am: Torin wakes up (please baby, please...sleep a little longer)
7am: breakfast
7:30am: Boys watch Thomas the Tank Engine (a special treat for vacation)
8:30am: Beach walk and play time on the beach
10:30: back to hotel to hit the pool
noon: lunch
12:30: naps
2:30: pool again
5pm: baths
5:30pm: dinner
6:30pm: smack-down with dad (rough housing)
7:30: books
8pm: lights out for the babes
9pm: movie for the adults
rinse and repeat



Some of the highlights:
BIG Airplane
Bubbles on the beach
Flying HIGH with dad
Parachutes overhead
Jumping and swimming, jumping and swimming
Mangoes
Thomas
Climbing into new nooks and crannies

I'll add a slideshow off to the side here when I have a chance...

Happy Easter

I forgot to take photos of the boys today in their matching Easter shirts--or at the egg hunt yesterday, so instead here is one of my favorite pictures of the last month...they were standing up on a stool watching Mark make lattes. He is Risen!

Park time and Deeper Thoughts

We visited four parks last weekend--the boys were in heaven. Again, it was the beginning of packing in fun now that the weather is warming, and our remodel is no longer a weekend-thief. I try to take them to a park every day, just to get their energy out and to interact with other kids. This park is a couple minutes drive (yes, I know that means less than a 20 minute walk, but it's completely uphill, so I like to drive to this park unless I need a thigh-burning workout). We love that most of the families who frequent this park are East African. It is a beautiful thing to watch my oldest son play amidst kids that look like him in so many ways. It reminds me of how white our other parks are, and encourages me to continue to seek diversity even in our play spaces. It is inevitable that Ashen will feel like a minority in school, in our neighborhood, in local stores, etc--it's the nature of this city (and of the United States as a whole), but as much as we can embrace communities where he feels less different, the better.

This concept is something that is hugely challenging to me, and often on my mind as I navigate places where both my children feel safe and accepted. Things are different now that we have an African-American son. I never want our involvement in communities of color to be un-authentic or forced, or something we do *only* because of our children. Then again, as a trans-racial adoptive family, we are different than 99% of families in the US--and by definition we will likely always work to find a place where we fit. We also have to continue to keep Torin's perspective in mind as well. Growing up with siblings of color is an experience that Mark nor I have had. We have much to contemplate. Much to learn. We are learning as we go, trying to soak in other's experiences and guidance. It's worth it though, totally worth it, and we are and will be much richer for it.

Worth Dancing for...

The morning wouldn't have been complete without the yummiest burger and fries this side of the Missisippi (or maybe in the whole country!). After the boys ate up their burger, Ashen couldn't help but break out some moves on the dance floor...I mean in the entry way. I don't blame him, it was that good.

Where are the Fishies?

After the train park, we went in search of fish. Unfortunately, it's not the right time of year, but the boys were enthralled with the "dam" and underwater fish ladder viewing (aka: bubbles!), and watching a boat (actually it was one of the largest yachts I've ever seen...I bet the owner would be offended if I called it a boat) come into the lake was a bonus.

For the Love of Trains

Last weekend we began making up for lost weekends of yesteryear, and packed in a bunch of fun. It started with an early morning trip to the park to anticipate the rumbling of trains underfoot. Watching them come from around the bend, then barrel straight toward us. Torin was a little taken aback as it went underneath him, but Ashen's perma-grin and incessant flipping through Picasa of this group of photos (like a flip-book) every day since then...well, I think we know what he thought.