Mexico Trip

June 9-15, 2008

*This was the week of the Mexico family reunion in Puerto Penasco. Dave and Amy came a day early with their kids so we had a fun party house at Matt and Lara's place with everyone. Then on Thursday we all packed up and drove to Mexico. The trip was only four hours, but it always seems a little longer when you have two active little boys who are desperate to get out of the car. Isaac and Levi spent most of the time having rubber lizard vs. rubber snake wars in the back seat.
* The place that we stayed was called Villa del Ensueno and it was huge! I guess it would have to be huge to fit all 30 of us comfortably. The place was amazing--everyone had their own room and bathroom and there was one big kitchen with a table that fit everyone and another little kitchen on the other side of the house. Plus it was right on the beach. The shore was a little rocky, but the kids didn't mind. There were still great spots to jump in the waves and lots of sand to dig around in.
There was also a huge fountain in the center, and the first thing Isaac, Levi and most of the grandkids wanted to do after the hot car ride was splash in the fountain so we let all of the little ones go crazy in there. By the third day though, a few too many kids had peed in it so we had to throw in some chlorox and shut the "pool" down for swimming. It was fun while in lasted.
* The beach was a bit rocky, but it was awesome to be right on the beach and the kids loved splashing in the waves. Isaac went out in the waves with uncle Dave on Friday and he taught him that the "olas" liked to say "hola"
On Friday some of the group went on a deep sea fishing trip in the morning and James made an amazing ceviche out of the fish for dinner with cilantro, tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc. It tasted perfect on tostadas.
Satruday I went on a crazy shopping frenzy with Marti, Lara, and Amy and we bought all of the supplies that the orphange director had requested plus some fun extras like a pinata, candy, and cookies for all of the kids. In the afternoon we all headed out to the orphanage and the service project was a big hit. We brought in a bunch of art supplies and all of the kids went crazy over them. They loved the paints, molding clay, and markers the best. Matt showed a bunch of the boys how to make paper airplanes and that was great to watch. John played his banjo and James also did a little juggling. The highlight for the kids though I think is when the clowns came. Lara had been trying to arrange a clown to come and she found a couple that volunteered to do it for free. They did a really awesome job. They engaged the kids in a lot of games and contests and even did face painting. Then we did the pinata outside and that kind of took a while because we wanted to give each of their 30 kids and our 15 kids a chance to hit the pinata. I don't think I've ever sung the "dale dale dale no pierdas el tino" song so many times in a row.
Isaac had been eating pretty poorly and we were skeptical when, on the second day, he asked to go with aunt Lara to a restaurant nearby. She took him to Rosi's Donas--which curiously does not sell donuts-- and he apparently pounded a couple of pancakes, and big servings of rice and beans. Lara says the server lady commented that she'd never seen a kid devour so much so quickly! We ended up taking him there a couple more times that week.
*Levi proved himself as good as his brother at remembering everyone's names, and his favorite ritual was making the rounds and saying "night-night" to everyone by name.
*We got our first taste of Nintendo's Wii system, which Tim and Julia brought down. We were all converted to Rayman's Rabbids and the basic tennis game. Everyone got in on the action, and we think Mom and Dad Nuttall may end up buying one...