Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Christmas in Mexico
We've been back from Mexico a week now and it seems like a lot longer. Coming back to lots of snow and now rain and flooding makes our Mexico sunshine seem so far away.
Our trip to Mexico is mostly told through story rather than pictures(although we still have a fair amount of pictures). The original plan was to go to Guayabitos(an hour north of Puerto Vallarta) over Christmas with our friends Ray and Ginny and their girls as we had done on previous trips to Mexico. They were scheduled to leave from Seattle on Sunday morning the 21st. With the major snow storm that hit the northwest, their flight was cancelled. With the holidays in full swing, all the other flights were fully booked as well, leaving them unable to go on their holiday. We were updated of their plight before we left Vancouver Sunday evening and perhaps hoping our flight would be cancelled too. It had been snowing all day on Sunday and we were at least expecting a delay. Our flight was delayed 2 hours to 7pm. We finally boarded at 7pm. YVR was constantly opening and closing the runway, trying to keep up with the snow clearing. It was a mostly futile effort for most flights as they waited on the tarmac for many hours to eventually have their flights cancelled as crews 'timed out' after reaching their maximum hours of waiting to leave. After waiting 3 hours in the plane Delta wanted to cancel our fight was well. With people trying to get somewhere for Christmas our pilot asked for a 30 minute delay. I was convinced our flight was going to be cancelled too. To our surprise after 30 minutes YVR opened the runway, but we had to wait for 3 planes to de-ice including a 747 before we could go. At midnight our flight finally left for Salt Lake after waiting 5 hours in the plane. Amazingly our kids did really well and eventually fell asleep during the flight.
Here is Aaron waiting to board the plane in YVR.
We landed in salt Lake City at 3am local time. We finally made it to our hotel and sleep at 4am. Wake up time was 7am to catch the bus at 8 to go back to the airport for our flight to Mexico.
Kyle at the Salt Lake City airport
We finally landed in Puerto Vallarta and arranged for a taxi to take us on the hour journey north. Kyle fell asleep in the taxi and Aaron got sick a few times and threw up on Shelby. I was in the front:-) When we arrived we checked out the pool and the beach. Dinner soon followed and with a good rest that night.
Kyle at the beach in Guayabitos
A nearby memorial
Kyle and his flying dragon, which he first called a unicorn. Aaron got a crocodile.
On Christmas Day the 'snowbirds' had collected gifts for the kids of the beach vendors. They invited us to watch the distribution of the gifts. It seemed to be a small way in which they could give back to the comunity that that live in part time as well.
Not sure how she feels about the Mickey Mouse hat and pirate scarf...
Our trip to Mexico is mostly told through story rather than pictures(although we still have a fair amount of pictures). The original plan was to go to Guayabitos(an hour north of Puerto Vallarta) over Christmas with our friends Ray and Ginny and their girls as we had done on previous trips to Mexico. They were scheduled to leave from Seattle on Sunday morning the 21st. With the major snow storm that hit the northwest, their flight was cancelled. With the holidays in full swing, all the other flights were fully booked as well, leaving them unable to go on their holiday. We were updated of their plight before we left Vancouver Sunday evening and perhaps hoping our flight would be cancelled too. It had been snowing all day on Sunday and we were at least expecting a delay. Our flight was delayed 2 hours to 7pm. We finally boarded at 7pm. YVR was constantly opening and closing the runway, trying to keep up with the snow clearing. It was a mostly futile effort for most flights as they waited on the tarmac for many hours to eventually have their flights cancelled as crews 'timed out' after reaching their maximum hours of waiting to leave. After waiting 3 hours in the plane Delta wanted to cancel our fight was well. With people trying to get somewhere for Christmas our pilot asked for a 30 minute delay. I was convinced our flight was going to be cancelled too. To our surprise after 30 minutes YVR opened the runway, but we had to wait for 3 planes to de-ice including a 747 before we could go. At midnight our flight finally left for Salt Lake after waiting 5 hours in the plane. Amazingly our kids did really well and eventually fell asleep during the flight.
Here is Aaron waiting to board the plane in YVR.
We landed in salt Lake City at 3am local time. We finally made it to our hotel and sleep at 4am. Wake up time was 7am to catch the bus at 8 to go back to the airport for our flight to Mexico.
Kyle at the Salt Lake City airport
We finally landed in Puerto Vallarta and arranged for a taxi to take us on the hour journey north. Kyle fell asleep in the taxi and Aaron got sick a few times and threw up on Shelby. I was in the front:-) When we arrived we checked out the pool and the beach. Dinner soon followed and with a good rest that night.
Kyle at the beach in Guayabitos
A nearby memorial
Kyle and his flying dragon, which he first called a unicorn. Aaron got a crocodile.
On Christmas Day the 'snowbirds' had collected gifts for the kids of the beach vendors. They invited us to watch the distribution of the gifts. It seemed to be a small way in which they could give back to the comunity that that live in part time as well.
Not sure how she feels about the Mickey Mouse hat and pirate scarf...
For us Christmas seemed almost like any other day, althought the kids were surprised to see that Santa brought them a small gift when they awoke on Christmas morning!
Aaron's class at school had collected some supplies for us to give to the kids in the poor rural areas. We had planned to distribute these while we were down there. Things changed when our contact Viky broke her ankle. It took 2 tries to figure out where she lived, but we eventually found her. She was grateful for the contribution and recorded everything we brought, so she can distribute it later. She gave us a tour of her dispensary and explained what she does in the rural communities.
Aaron and Kyle were invited to play soccer on the beach. Aaron was into it and Kyle was confused and a bit small for this game.
As a thank-you Viky took us on her 'magic jeep' to a hot springs nearby with her niece and boyfriend and her grandson. Our family crammed in the back, luckily they took the roof off as I was getting a little claustraphobic. I didn't really like the metal bar staring at me either, but we made it safely!
The hot springs were nice, the kids enjoyed it as well.
After Christmas in Guayabitos the Mexican tourists came out in full force and the beach was full everyday.
The pool at the hotel
We decided for our last 2 nights to spend it in Puerto Vallarta. We booked at the Holiday Inn. At first it was a bit of an adjustment because in Guayabitos we were the only gringos in our hotel the last few days and at the Holiday Inn we were part of the majority again.
At night we went downtown Puerto Vallart by the bus(the local way) and checked out the sights and sounds.
At the hotel we enjoyed the beach and the pool...
The boys loved the kids pool especially the slide, I am sure they went down a 100 times!
Backwards even!
The hotel by day...
and by night.
When we first arrived on our trip we were feeling kind of bummed that our friends couldn't make it. As we got connected with some people and started to make the vacation our own we ended up having a great trip and by the end we didn't want to come home!
Now it's 2009 and we'll se what this year brings...
Aaron and Kyle were invited to play soccer on the beach. Aaron was into it and Kyle was confused and a bit small for this game.
As a thank-you Viky took us on her 'magic jeep' to a hot springs nearby with her niece and boyfriend and her grandson. Our family crammed in the back, luckily they took the roof off as I was getting a little claustraphobic. I didn't really like the metal bar staring at me either, but we made it safely!
The hot springs were nice, the kids enjoyed it as well.
After Christmas in Guayabitos the Mexican tourists came out in full force and the beach was full everyday.
When the kids get tired, they look to dady to carry them, one is ok, but both makes me tired pretty quickly!
The pool at the hotel
We decided for our last 2 nights to spend it in Puerto Vallarta. We booked at the Holiday Inn. At first it was a bit of an adjustment because in Guayabitos we were the only gringos in our hotel the last few days and at the Holiday Inn we were part of the majority again.
At night we went downtown Puerto Vallart by the bus(the local way) and checked out the sights and sounds.
At the hotel we enjoyed the beach and the pool...
The boys loved the kids pool especially the slide, I am sure they went down a 100 times!
Backwards even!
We found out that my uncle and his family would be in town the last night we would be there. We got together for dinner at the same restaurant we went for Shelby's 30th birthday, El Andariego. It was great to catch up with them as some of my cousins I had not seen in a while.
A view of the Holiday Inn from the beach...
The hotel by day...
and by night.
When we first arrived on our trip we were feeling kind of bummed that our friends couldn't make it. As we got connected with some people and started to make the vacation our own we ended up having a great trip and by the end we didn't want to come home!
Now it's 2009 and we'll se what this year brings...
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