Monday, June 23, 2014

Mexico 2104 Part 3 - by the pictures

Just a few of my favorite pictures from Mexico 2014

By the pool...

fruity drinks at 4 every day.

they come in all sizes and strengths...

"Cannonball!"

Falling with Style

Hot Yoga with Leela.

 
The Flying Squirrel, I believe.



At the beach...

Finding Hermit Crabs

Balancing Rocks (Ned's Favorite)

Our Daily Dip

Surf's up

Shredding it.

Digging Holes for Fun



Snorkeling at Los Arcos

Swimming in a swarm of Angel Fish...

"This is awesome!" yelled David. 

The Blue Footed Boobies...they exist!



The sunsets...




That ain't no halo

Attempt at Todd and Cait's next Romance Novel cover photo... not so romantic after the first kid!

That's better!

That ain't no spray on tan

Some sugar for the matriarch

Bonsai.




Fun with hats...


Christmas Card 2014?

How about this one?

Here's looking at you.

She wears it better than her old man.

Would this make YOU smile?




Saturday, June 21, 2014

Mexico - Part 2

Day 1. Sunday.

So humid I didn't realize it was raining until it was RAINING.

While mapping out runs from our Mexican house I noticed there was a track about a mile past the Malecon (the beautiful, Pacific Coast strollway through downtown Puerto Villarta). EVERY run I planned went down the Malecon. It is dotted with statues and sand sculptures and the amazing balancing rocks and people. All the people that are awake before seven (and there's a surprising amount).



So I was running down the Malecon, past the Malecon to the track. I stepped onto the track (I'm not a track guy) and there were lots of people running around the track. There seemed to be rules about what lanes you were allowed to be on depending on how muscular you were. I picked a middle lane and figured I could be nudged one way or the other if necessary.

I eventually started to wonder if this was something more than just a bunch of Sunday runners. I asked a friendly looking guy and he pointed me to another friendly looking guy who spoke better English, I assumed, and he told me they were about to run a 5k and 10k for the hospital.

I was about six miles in at that point and was only planning to run 10 that day, but when was the next time I was going to be in Mexico for a race? I decided to hangout in the pack and see what happened. I knew if I got toward the front I'd probably run too fast and hurt myself.

The gun went off and I clipped along trying to decide whether to run a 5k or 10k. I decided if I was in the top 10 for the 10k by the time the 5k finished I would keep on running. I was 12th at the turn. I ran anyway and finished 8th! Not too shabby for a renegade who had already run seven plus and wasn't racing. Every time I passed someone I said, "Don't worry. I'm not really running." I'm not sure if that translated.

The highlight was shaking Kosaror Cheru's hand. He finished in 31 minutes. (Did I mention it was POURING RAIN?) Pretty impressive. As he is Kenyan, I told him "Habari Yako" which put such a smile on his face, I knew we were about to become friends. He asked ME for a photo!



Turns out "Sammy" Cheru lives in Guadalajara where he trains full time. He's running his first marathon in a month. I'm sure he will do great. Look out for him in the future. The Kenyan Mexican is en fuego!

After we took the above picture, I tried to talk myself into a t-shirt from the race organizers. One person sent me to another person who sent me back to the first person - all for a white, see-through 50/50 t-shirt. I finally gave up, ran home and ate a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit.







Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Mexico Part 1

I'm in the middle of Oonie Koonie Cha, week 1. If you don't know what that means, click Oonie Koonie Cha and find out.

So in the next week I want to post at least two, hopefully three, maybe four posts about our Mexico trip before writing about our adventures at OKC Camp.

Highlight Number 1 for me was watching Dave Dave learn to swim.

Here is Dave Dave in his puddle jumper at the beginning of the week.

















Here is Dave Dave jumping off the wall in his puddle jumper at the beginning of the week.

















Dave Dave stinking loves that puddle jumper. I wasn't sure if we were ever going to get it off him. Fortunately, a little peer pressure from his cousin Wyatt was able to do for Dave Dave what persuasion from his parents could not.


















He did it!

He swam!

Great job Dave Dave!