Christmas

 

We left Los Cabos on December 23.  This was a nice, cheap ticket because, who leaves Mexico right before the holiday?  The problem was that we arrived late that night, after the rental car places were closed, so we booked a hotel by the airport and Christmas Eve morning, I bussed it to Bellevue to get the only sort of reasonably priced car at one of the few agencies open that day.

 

We stayed at a friend's house which was nice after having so much closeness on the boat. 

 

One day we went out to Monroe to the Reptile museum which we'd never been to.

 

 

 

A snake that had gotten out was found and the kids got to see it up close.  Apparently it's rare that one gets out (!?)

 

When the family's kids got back the kids all played video games together and the parents watched movies and played board games.

 

We visited the Funko flagship store in Lynnwood.

 

We visited my mom's side of the family and ate and ate and ate.  It was good to see them.  We visited my Dad's side and had our annual White Elephant gift exchange. V had noted in her class when they shared favorite holiday traditions that this is the highlight of her holidays.

 

Paul tried on a wig my cousin got.

The kids worked on Shrinky Dinks my cousins put out.  H made Bob Ross painting a self-portrait under a rainbow.

 

We had a nice time hanging out with everyone.  And, yes, for probably the last year, the little kids are still small enough to qualify as carry ons.

 

The Seahawks usually have a cutout at the airport. This year was no exception.

 

Our tradition is to have a Starbucks drink at the airport and ride the underground terminal train while we wait.

 

My parents used to bring me to the airport when security was set up differently to see airplanes take off and ride the train.  It was cheap entertainment!

 

Then we headed home to open gifts and visit with my inlaws and have a few days to fight the jet lag before heading back to school.

 

Mexico

So after losing my mind the first month husband was gone, we finally got a break.  In Mexico!  That's where my parents www.salishaire.blogspot.com are currently.  Their version of our trip is here. We flew in to Cabo and met husband there.  The kids are pretty easy to travel with now-we are able to keep to two carry on backpacks which oldest son and I carry. We get on the plane, hand out electronics and snack bags and veg out.

The kids got a little restless in the airport as husband's flight was about an hour behind ours, so we changed our pants and shoes.  H did some boat pose to pass the time.

 

Once we made it to the boat, my dad kept the kids on the lookout for wildlife with a scavenger hunt.  V was on the lookout for whales and birds. This was her kind of trip-boat, water, sand.

 

Some people have asked-how do you add 5 people to a boat that already has 2 people and a dog?

 

No worries, there's space for all of us!  Here's husband and my bunk.  We used to have a kid sleep on the bunk above, but now 2 are in the captain's house (there's 2 bunks there) and one sleeps in the main living quarters.

 

 

The adults and V embraced the concept of siesta each afternoon.

 

We traveled from Los Cabos to Friar's Bay where we spent a few days snorkling (we got usnorks for all of us which were pretty comfortable and easier to keep track of than separate mask and mouthpiece) and playing on the beach.  It's a national park so it was pretty and quiet, though a little windy. I was glad I'd brought a light sweatshirt.

 

When we arrived, C, I and V swam to shore while H and husband took the kayak.

 

 

After playing at the beach, grandpa got out the dremel tool to help V turn her shells into jewelry.

I spent my time at the beach building a sandcastle

The rocky beach (far end) was where we went snorkling. We also climbed that hill.  The near side was very soft sand to play in.

 

We found coconuts!

 

 Not to miss out on Christmas traditions, we decorated cookies

 

 

Beautiful sunsets

 

We were lucky enough to catch the local biologist on the beach when dad and I were walking one morning.  She gathers turtle nests and puts them in an enclosure to protect them from predators and every morning would sift through to find hatchlings.  Then at 10am put them in the ocean.

The shells

The biologist estimated that 1 in 1,000 will come back to nest. We watched them for quite awhile as they made their trek to the ocean.

C and H made a different kind of sand castle

 

V collected coconuts

 

We did climb that hill.  Mom and dad had previously made it to the top.  This time Mom, husband, I and H made it.

 

 

Ready for the beach!

 

Mom still gets a little exercise.

 We then took a bus into Cabo so the kids could spend their scavenger hunt reward money. Turns out they all have secret bargaining skills.  C ended up with a wood shark, H and wood turtle and V a small purse.

After such a busy month it was the perfect vacation and getting to see family was a bonus. The feeling of relaxation and letting go has so far stayed with me in to January!