A ramble in Cabo and Adios Amigos

The day after the beach party, we decided to head into Cabo to have some breakfast and wander around.  We started our morning off at Mama's Cafe, where we had some pretty strong mango mimosas and we all enjoyed listening to a guy strum his guitar and sing (don't ask me what he was singing about, but I hope that by the time we go to Mexico again I will have learned a little bit of Spanish!).  The girls wore their finest Cabo Flea Market dresses for the occasion:

Mexican breakfasts are awesome because they come with this on the side.  Salsa in England is ridiculously bad so having access to so much delicious and fresh salsa was heavenly! 

And the Mexican scrambled eggs had MORE salsa mixed into them, along with delicious pinto beans, guacamole, sour cream, fresh tortillas (enjoyed by all, so we had to order a second round) and fresh fruit.  YUMMY!

After breakfast the flea markets we took a stroll around Cabo.  As a whole, the town is pretty dusty and run down looking, but they had a surprisingly big and new looking fire department complete with really nice fire engines.  As we walked down the street, people constantly tried to persuade us to try out their scooter rentals/whale watching/restaurant/wares/jet skis/massages.  It was a little overwhelming!

Back in resort land, where the grass is always green and the pool is always blue, the Disney Cruise had docked.  We went out kayaking the next day and got a good look at the enormous Disney cruise ship (complete with Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse tacked on front of the ship).  As a former Disney employee, the idea of being stuck on a Disney cruise made me break out into a cold sweat. Uuuugh.  On our kaying we also got to paddle around with some sea lions and paddled out (against my will, mostly) to get a close up look at "the arch" and the other rocks, upon which our tiny kayak could have been easly shattered into a million pieces.  Luckily, since Jim and I were sharing a kayak, I was able to ensure that we survived the ordeal. 

The girls also had a really nice spa day, courtesy of Dad, and I enjoyed the best massage I have ever and probably will ever have.  If I could have a massage like that once a week I'm pretty sure that I would have a much more Zen-like attitude towards life.

But all good things must come to an end and so we gathered for one last family dinner at our flat.  Everyone chipped in and we all ate heartily and a little sadly, knowing that we would be headed off in all different directions the next day.

I cried really hard the next morning when I watched a van load of my family drive off to the airport.  And then again when we hopped into our own van and waved goodbye to Mom and Dad.  What a wonderful week we all had together!  I wish we could do it more often!

Beach party

I would like to start this post with a picture of our adorable niece Cora, who has been deprived of flashing shoes by her mother, who thinks that they are "tacky." Well, hopefully after seeing the pure joy experience by Cora as she wore Evie's (extremely large) flashing shoes out and about my sister will reconsider!  This girl needs flashing shoes (and probably has some already if I know her Lala)!

 

Lucky for Jim, sea sickness stops when you get back in the harbor, so after a shower and some grub we were set for the wild and crazy Cabo beach party!  Whoop!  Lucky for us, what happens in Cabo, stays in Cabo (until I put the videos of our really awesome dancing onto this blog).  Yes, we did the Macarena.

As usual, we started the evening off with the kids.  Millie, who naps, was in great form and loving life and dancing on the sand in her stylish boy sandals from Wal-Mart.  Evie, who doesn't nap, was exhausted from a day of swimming, so was barely able to stand upright by the time we got to the beach party.  The great thing about the beach is that there are beach chairs galore on which to deposit your sleeping child while you are imbibing and doing silly dancing to "The Best Rock and Roll Band in Cabo."

Slow dancing with The Shug:

As usual, things were very sophisticated in our little corner of the beach party. 

Millie tried her first Marshmallow...and didn't like it!  (Evie missed out because she was already asleep at this point).

"The Best Rock and Roll Band in Cabo" was actually a lot of fun. And they got better and better with every margarita I drank!

We might not be able to dance very well, but we still have a good time!

Jim sings along while Kate does some weird jump in the picture move in the background (which apparently has an official name).

Unfortunately, since I took these pictures, my dance face was not caught on film, but Jim's sure was!  Andy looks like he's contemplating running away...and Kate was the life of the party!  If anyone should embrace flashing shoes, she should!! 

Cora Sassafrass:

Stay tuned for some funny dance videos whenever I get around to putting them on YouTube. But for now, I leave you with this happy family photo. We should always go to Cabo!

Evie's new do

When I was a girl, I used to cut the hair of my Barbies.  With their homemade, stapled together dresses and their unfortunate haircuts, they ended up looking somewhat like scarecrows who had been attacked by birds and had most of their hair pulled out or chewed off. Later in life, my sister asked me to even her hair out...and then had to go to the hairdresser to get it fixed.  With all of this history, you would think that I would know better than to attempt a haircut on my children.  The problem is that I had experienced some luck, having twice cut Millie's hair into a bob and having trimmed Evie's hair and bangs with success.  But last night I went too far.  It was supposed to be a bangs trim followed by a tiny tidying of her straggly and tangled hair, but she kept moving and Millie kept trying to get the scissors and then Evie started crying and I just hacked her beautiful hair off in a desperate attempt to get it over with.  Horrified, I immediately burst into tears, which obviously didn't help the situation.  Poor Evie was crying that she wanted her hair long. I was crying because I didn't mean to do it and MIllie was crying because I still wouldn't give her the scissors.  

This morning I briefly contemplated trying to even Evie's hair out, but then I came to my senses (plus, she firmly told me "NO MOMMY. I DON'T WANT YOU TO CUT MY HAIR ANYMORE.") and made her an appointment at Yuhei (http://www.yuhei.co.uk/), a Japanese hair salon in Hampstead, which had been recommended by one of my friends.  Yuhei, had some very cool shoes on and settled Millie down with some paper and crayons (which she proceeded to dump on the floor and scatter all over the salon).

                          

Then he set Evie up with Kay, who was very sweet and worked her magic on Evie's hair.  Evie was thrilled to get to sit in a special chair (pictured here with her butchered hair and Kay):

She got a very nice shampoo with special Japanese hair products and giggled through the whole wash (unlike when I wash her hair. You would think I was torturing her.):

Then she sat quietly and happily in the chair, while Kay clipped her hair up and started to cut:

Millie was fascinated by the Japanese hair straightening that was going on in another chair.  All of the stylists were very patient and sweet with her and I did my best to minimize the destruction she was causing. Mostly she was VERY good...especially if I kept feeding her.

Meanwhile, Evie was getting the finishing touches before having her hair blown dry with a pink hairdryer. 

Here she is with her bob (and a mouth full of rice cakes), doing some coloring before leaving the salon (because if Millie gets to color then Evie does, too).  Kay straightened her hair, but Evie, who is proud of her curls, went straight to the bathroom sink at home and put some water on her hair to make it curly.  And now that I'm over the shock of her short hair (but not quite over the guilt that I caused the short hair), I can say that she still looks as adorable as ever.  Maybe even cuter!  I solemnly swear that I won't be attempting any more hair cuts during my lifetime.  Not even on Barbies.

A Most Unfortunate Fishing Excursion

It is inevitable that when you go someplace with vast ocean all around, men will want to go fishing.  Dad chartered a boat and all the men got up during the pre-dawn hours, took their dramamine, slathered on their sunscreen, and headed out for what they hoped would be a fun filled day of fishing, beer drinking and male bonding.  As I was not there for the all male deep sea fishing trip, I will share the story told to me by Jim.

It was a beautiful and warm morning in the Cabo marina and despite having been up very early, Dad, Andy, Will and Jim were in good spirits.  They clambered aboard their trusty, chartered vessel and headed into the Pacific. Will was looking a little pale, but that was mostly because of his very thick sunscreen.

The boat crew were cheerful and helpful and seemed competent, if a little crusty.

In the East, a beautiful sunrise and the hulking figure of a gigantic new cruise ship (maybe the Disney Cruise!!???).  All was well.  The men breathed in the beauty of the morning and felt the rolling ocean beneath them.

A fishing ship was beset by seagulls.

And then, about 8 miles out, things got a little choppy.

Suddenly, it wasn't just the sea that was rolling.  Jim realized that he was going to toss his cookies...imminently.  So he headed down below to vomit into the boat toilet, which had recently been filled by the urine of the captain and left unflushed.  Obviously, Jim would have preferred not to vomit into someone else's urine, so he flushed the toilet using a pedal system.  This only resulted in all of the urine flying out of the toilet and into Jim's face...which also unleashed the contents of his stomach.  Looking and feeling like a wet noodle, Jim decided to lie down in the bottom of the boat, which even I know you're not supposed to do when you are sea sick.

Above deck, things were not going so well for Will, who also was feeling a bit unsettled by the rough seas.  Because the toilet was now clogged with Jim's vomit, Will was forced to throw up over the side of the boat.

In the midst of his misery, he got a bite!  There was no option but to stop throwing up and reel in the fish.

The fish fought a good fight, tugging and pulling down and back, jumping out of the water in a desperate attempt to free itself from the hook.

But in the end, the men won and Will caught a 10 foot Marlin, which he threw back into the sea (because Will isn't really the type to put his fish on the wall of his house).

After all the excitement, he went back to throwing up.  Who could blame him, really?

Down below, Jim missed the other highlight of the fishing trip when a humpback whale jumped out of the water.  Poor Jim.

Spared the horrors of sea sickness, Andy and Dad remained happy throughout (but still didn't want to eat their Mexican lunches).

It was with great relief, that they decided to end their fishing adventures early and head back to the marina, where they were greeted by many a pelican.

Back at the homestead, having recovered from his rough morning and taken a shower, Jim fascinated us all with his woeful tale of fishing.  I sure am glad I didn't go!