Dia de Mia Vol. 2 No. 22: Mexico, Part II -- The Grandparents (aka The Calvalry) Arrive, or Mia Meets Cozumel!

So we said, "Hasta luego," to all our pals on the mainland and took a rough (and I mean rough) ferry ride to Cozumel. Mommy almost lost her breakfast.

Through a soaking wait in the rain and a blind and hydroplaning cab ride, we got to the Iberostar close to Punta Sur (South Point) on Cozumel. We found Grandpa and Grandma waiting for us in the lobby.











Although we left friends and a beautiful place just hours before, we had family and a new beautiful place to cheer us up. The best thing about the Iberostar (besides the awesome quality and variation at the buffets)? The birds! Like the beach shower at the Royal Catalonia Tulum, Mia had to spend at least a little time each day checking out the Peacocks (that really act a lot like dogs) and the Flamingos (that act a lot like Flamingos I think).










Being four days into the week away from civilization, Mia started to miss some of the comforts of home. She spent a little time each day (by her own demand) strapped into her car seat, reading.

Another funny thing that occurred on this trip: Necessity's teaching. Because it was incredibly difficult to keep sippy cups and baby silverware clean, Mia learned to use a straw, grown up utensils and how to eat ice. And, due to a highchair strike, she also learned to sit in grown up chairs and eat. It was all pretty amazing to us and really fun to watch.

Grandma and Grandpa really enjoyed their alone time with Mia and she really enjoyed her time with them. This was a welcome relief to Mommy and Daddy, as Mia gave the last couple of sitters some h-e-double-hockey-sticks. And we got to go SCUBA diving for the first time in a couple of years, which was awesome. Iberostar, being so close to the southern tip of Cozumel allowed us easy access to some reefs that when we used to stay in town were difficult to reach. We had a great time and, we think, so did the Grandparents and Mia in their bonding time. The evidence is that at first, Mia was pretty shy around both Grandma and Grandpa. And by the third day, she was waving hello to them in the morning and making complete rounds with hugs and kisses. It probably didn't hurt that they showered Mia with gifts: cute new clothes, beach toys, books, and cookies and cake, but it was great to see that the family bond persists despite the miles between DC and Phoenix.











On our last day, since we needed 24 hours top side before flying, we decided to rent a car and cruise around the island. We took Mia and Grandpa and Grandma to one our favorite joints -- the Bob Marley Bar on Punta Sur. The B. Marley Bar is located on one of the most picturesque beaches in Cozumel and is always rocking some Bob over the sound system. We can't think of a better place to sit in a hammock, and have some conversation over a Sol or two. Mia danced to the music and loved swinging in the hammock.










On our driving tour, we also managed to make it to the San Gervasio ruins for the first time. It was hot, hot, hot, but the hike around the ruins was well worth it. The ruins are a holy site dedicated to the Mayan Fertility Goddess Ixchel. Hmmmm......










Here are some shots near our bungalow of Mia just being pretty on our last evening.


















As all good things must come to an end, so did our vacation. Mia loved the layout of the Cozumel airport where she watched the jets from up close. Below she's checking out the police dog walk across the tarmac. She actually called this one a "dog" rather than "woof".










After another almost 12 hour travel day, we finally got home to own beds in our own dog smelling house. Although we were sad to leave Mexico again, we were pretty happy and relieved to be home. Plus, we have an upcoming visit from Abi and cousin, Bernadette this week to look forward to!

See the last post for links to all the pictures of our trip.

Dia de Mia Vol. 2 No. 21: Mexico, Part I --The Maya Riviera, or The Wedding of Andrew and Jackie, or Welcome to Mexico, Mia!

We have Jackie and Andrew to thank for this great Mexican adventure. For if it wasn't for them getting hitched in the Mexican Riviera, we would have never dared a trip to one of our favorite places so soon in Mia's life (mostly because she has so much gear that we have to lug around!)

We have to admit, we were more than a little nervous about the whole trip (maybe it was mainly Daddy that was worried). Unlike a week ago, see Vol. 2, No. 20, Mia had suffered a couple of nightmares and was now totally freaked out by sleep. On top of that, she was getting pretty shy around strangers and folks she didn't know that well. In all of this awareness of herself and her surroundings she was gaining at an alarming rate, we guess it was just a matter of time before the fear factor kicked in. Oh yeah, and she now has a firm grasp of the word, "No".


Luckily in Atlanta, the gate agent assigned us to the last row of the plane so that we could have all four seats to ourselves! What a perfect way to travel. Mia got very excited by all the water that she saw during the descent into Cozumel. We flew into Cozumel, waited in line to get through customs (Mia just sat on the floor and read books), then caught a cab to the ferry to take us to Playa del Carmen on the mainland. After many hours of traveling (by car, shuttle, feet, plane, train, feet, plane, cab, feet, boat, feet and more feet, and cab again) we finally arrived at the Royal Catalonia Tulum... and boy were we happy (and tired, and hot)! Through about 11 hours of travel, Mia was a total trooper. Totally awesome, to say the least. The trip was hard, but really couldn't have been better.

The resort was wonderful! Mia had so much fun running up and down the jungle covered walkways that seemed endless. She loved the fountain in the middle of the swimming pool, the iguanas, the enormous lobby, all you can eat buffet and the beach of course. Her favorite attraction was the shower in between the beach and the pool (where people wash sand off of their feet). She could have played there for hours. Mia certainly enjoyed all the attention from all of Jackie and Andrew's friends and family. She was so happy that she even took her naps pool/beach side. What a great way to relax!

























When it got just a little too warm, Mia enjoyed resting in our cool hotel room. She often enjoyed coloring and really liked the fancy animal towel displays on our bed. Here she is seen making an elephant sound for our elephant towel friend.


Finally, the wedding day arrived. We had been waiting for this event for many months. Mommy went off to help Jackie get ready (she was a bridesmaid) and daddy took care of Mia (this typically included sitting at the bar with a Dos Equis and a leche frio con straw). When the wedding got underway, we were pretty surprised at all the strangers who came to watch the show (literally 50 -100 strange people jammed around the pulpit, or whatever you call it on a beach. Europeans we think, maybe thinking they were witnessing celebs? Who knows.). Anyway, it was beautiful despite the weirdos. Perfect weather, perfect location, and a short, sweet ceremony, followed by a lively reception with some hilarious speeches and dancing. It was great to witness Jackie and Andrew making official what we always knew was inevitable.




















As we said, Mia had a surprisingly good time with all the folks she knew a little less than her Mom and Dad. One of her favorites was Layla. She is a beautiful little girl, the daughter of Earl and Jes. She was nice enough to share her Chex Mix with Mia one day. Here they are at the dinner table:











And of course it was great to see Matt and Sallie Kate bond with Mia. They did so much bonding on the last night (caught on film below) it had us wondering if they might be thinking about raising the average test scores in this country by adding their own spawn to the population soon.











Needless to say, it was really tough to say goodbye to all our friends (some we would see again in Maryland soon, luckily, but others are living way out west). It was an awesome time and we can only thank A&J for including us, Mia and all.

Luckily, there was another leg of the trip to look forward to. Stay tuned for Mexico, Part II......

Meanwhile, check out ALL the pics from this week here and here. (Actually a little arbitrarily binned, as you'll see).

Dia de Mia Vol. 2 No. 20: Cruise control

This was a week sandwiched in between fourth of July and our Mexico trip. So we basically did some resting, relatively speaking. We started off the week with an incredibly fun outing to the pool with Owen, Elaine, and Allen. We tried out the charcoal grills for the first time and fired up some fajitas. It was a great success -- evidence shown below: a couple of happy customers and Mia thanks Mommy.





















Old Texas friends Andrew and Claire were in town looking for new digs and used our place as a home base. They were pretty busy and frazzled out looking for a place to live and a daycare for their son, Luke. So no photographic evidence of their visit. I am happy to report though that they did find a place and it is a doable walk away through the back yard woods. We're looking forward to having our old friends so close and for Mia to be able to get to know Luke.

Mia was in a really good place this week as far as development goes. She's learning new words every day (including, "I love you,") and, this week anyway, went to sleep at bedtime all on her own, she wasn't cutting any teeth, and was generally very happy -- you could say it was good week to Mia's Mom and Dad. See below for some of the mellow week's activities: casting princess spells in the garden, playing with her balloon, and reading on the new dog beds (the most comfortable place in the house).














We ended our "mellow" week with a couple of big events: 1.) a Woodmoor Beer Appreciation Society (WBAS) event at our house. The theme was Summer Specialty Brews. It was a great time. Mommy received her official membership certificate -- pretty exciting stuff. And check out all the neighborhood girls. Doesn't anyone have boys around here?











And 2.) A Nats game. It was a scorcher and the Nats lost. Again. We still had a great time.











Next week, off to Mexico!