Welcome July

After returning from Mexico, we have hit the ground running. It seems we haven’t had a free moment since we returned, but we have had a great time together as a family. Maggie had golf camp the Monday after we got home and discovered she really likes hitting a ball. She improved everyday she was there, and we have gone to the course as a family a few times. Lanna likes to hit too, and on one outing I saw her behind me with a stick hitting pine cones. Improvisation at it’s best.

July rolled in with our usual family celebration of Lanna’s birthday and 4th of July festivities. We had our traditional 4th breakfast followed by a trip downtown for the annual parade and finally, a walk around the lake to watch the festivities and stroll through the booths selling junk. We had to opportunity at about a dozen different places to get a henna tattoo, but somehow we managed to pass them bye. That night we watched fireworks from Nanny and Grandpa’s house and saw about six different shows going off around us. It’s amazing what you can see from the roof!

Next up was Lil Devil’s basketball camp hosted by the LCC Women’s Basketball team. Both the girls attended and really enjoyed themselves. Of course you know from previous postings how literal Lanna is. The coach told the girls when they were dribbling down the court to look up. Lanna did exactly what the coach told them, and managed to make it all the way down the court dribbling while looking straight up at the ceiling. She earned special praise from the coach for doing exactly what he said.

The girl attended Goal Line Soccer the next week at 7th Avenue. This was Maggie’s second year and Lanna’s first. The coaches come from England and do such a great job with the kids. The girls enjoyed everyday and can’t wait for next year. This was the third camp this summer, and did I mention how nice it is to have a spouse that is a teacher?

We finally had Lanna’s birthday party, and she chose a Chef Party for the theme. The kids decorated their own aprons, frosted cake (followed by skipping the decorating part and consuming the frosting and sprinkles straight, which I think they liked the best) and had a scavenger hunt for kitchen items. The twins came up for the weekend (and their parents too) which makes Lanna’s celebration a multiday event. We always enjoy when they visit, and the kids are exhausted by the time the weekend is over. Nanny and Grandpa bought a blow-up human habit-trail for the pool, and the kids have had a blast playing in it. Who knew a square and two tubes could be so much fun, they play in the pool for hours…and hours…and hours!

July is almost over (Yikes!) and we will be into savoring the last month of summer. Lanna is enrolled in Kid’s Chef Academy (yes, another camp) the first week of August and is very excited. We are hoping her interest in cooking will continue to grow, and eventually she will be making great dinners for the family! The summer has been busy, but we have had a great time and made some wonderful memories.

Puerto Vallarta

The month of June was long in anticipation for the end of the school year, but more importantly, the family vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The girls counted down the days (as did Mom and Dad) and on Friday, June 13th, we bolted out of Longview for the Portland Airport to begin our week of rest and relaxation. We made the trip with another family of four (The Julian’s) who served as our tour guides during the week.

Mexico was sunny, warm and full of interesting sights. It has been a while since we were in a humid environment and it did not take long for us to remember how much we don’t miss it. We had fun sight seeing around the city, enjoying a variety of great meals, and swimming in the warm pool, especially with the swim up bar. The pool even had live iguanas nearby and occasionally we shared the water with them.

The hotel was nice and we had a great view of the harbor along with a view on the opposite side of the local athletic complex. This was used everyday in some manner, but mostly for playing soccer as can be seen by the fields worn down to the dirt. We had a bird’s eye view for watching some good soccer. After looking at the condition of their fields, we are VERY thankful for the great soccer complex at 7th Avenue we are fortunate to play on.

The girls befriended the hotel’s special guest, a cat, and promptly named him Garfield, then Larry, only to find out later El Gato was actually La Gata which went by the name Pancha. Every trip to the pool or out to town had us pass by Pancha and required we stop for them to pet her, hug her or otherwise shower her with attention. She is obviously well taken care of by the staff and is a very patient and friendly cat.

We visited some areas outside of the downtown area to get a different feel for the area and to experience more of the local flavor. Dan was able to use his Spanish, as was Dawn, and enjoyed listening to the comments people made in Spanish not knowing he could understand. During our visit to the small town of Pitillal, we walked the old cobblestone streets looking at the various shops, houses and other interesting sights. Being of Northern European decent, Dawn and I naturally were either white or red and at the mercy of the sun. Two older women were sitting in their shop across the street and Dan heard them say in Spanish “Look at those two white women, they’re red.” Of course, I am sure they meant Dawn and not me!

We also visited a bit of the jungle when we headed up to El Eden, the sight of the filming of the movie The Predator. As a civil engineer, I can honestly say the road to El Eden was anything but Eden. It was dusty, curvy and full of potholes and managed to make Lanna carsick. But she was a trooper and held it all in until we made it to the site before getting sick. Once she was done being sick, she felt better then smelled the restaurant and said “I’m hungry.” But we skipped the food to head to the natural pool formed in the river and the kids played in the water, swung off a rope, and slide off the rocks into the pool below. The girls wanted me to go down with them, so I climbed across the rocks and as I was stepping across the last rock toward the slide, I slipped on one of the rocks, landed on my behind and then looked around to see if anyone saw me. I dusted off my pride and took a turn going down the rocks and splashing into the pool below.

The kids were amazed by some of the sights they saw and were appreciative of not only a nice place with a roof over their heads, but the relief of the air conditioning. It was an opportunity for us to expose them to another culture and way of life. It sure made them appreciate what they have. We came across an elementary school and the kids appreciated what we have back home. Dan and Dawn were able to go into the school for tour and to talk with one of the teachers, a 23-year old women that just started teaching 6 months ago. The schools are not air conditioned, as evidenced by the picture, and kids attend from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. when it becomes too hot to sit in a class room.

We are back to cooler weather now and into the swing of camps and day activities. We’ll be posting new events soon, and hope to hear from all of you.

Adios!