martes, el 31 de diciembre de 2013

Buen Fin de Año!!!

The Van-Arnolds made it through a wacky last day of 2013, all of us in one piece!!

How is this for wacky? Max was awake at 6am an then started his siesta at 11am after having been awake for the normal 5 hour period. He was then awake at noon and after a thermal nuclear meltdown that lasted 45 minutes and MANY attempts at trying to get him back to sleep...we gave up and he stayed awake the rest of the día.

We did not want to cancel our Fin de Año Mojon plans, hello...it is a tradition...but there was definitely some walking on eggs shells a few times as Max's emotional state became quite fragile as the day wore on.

The GREAT news was that we made it through a very successful Mojon afternoon which included some playa time, la cena of oh so yummy camarones, a bonfire and of course, the fuegos artificiales, the fireworks.

The trip to and from the playa was a-ok and Max passed out cold, with his Momma, at 915pm. Score!!

The casa is finally cleaned up and we now it is our turn. And then we will see if we can stay awake long enough to watch the movie I bought, James Bond in Skyfall.

All of today's fotos will be posted mañana...come back and visit!!

Have a great New Year's Eve y Feliz Año Nuevo!!

Marco, Bexico y Max

lunes, el 30 de diciembre de 2013

Spotted prowling around hotel lobbies, sultry Max.

Buenos tardes!! With the familia headed out to one of the Palaces, with Max waving his Canadian y Mexican banderas from the bici, I will take this tranquilo time and start jotting down some notes from the día.

Early start...no surprise there, but curious why we had some 630am and 7am success and we are back to 5am and 530am. Hmmmm.

Usual early morning rutina, with Bex hanging con Max until 630am and then Poppa taking over. We had some tranquilo time and then off for a 2 hour plus prowl. Home for the huge desayunos and then some more tranquilo time before leche y siesta time.

I got in on some of the siesta time and post siesta, we all had some comida. I was then off to el gimnasio and then back here to the casa. The familia had a swim in the CP alberca and are now on the road.

Pretty straight forward día.

Onto the fotos.

Yes, it may be early morning, but not too early to check his stock portfolio!!

Happy with what he saw, Max and Hombre Araña are ready to prowl.

Well, now they are ready.

Pleased with himself for making the boys at the gate laugh, el Mayor starts his prowl.

And then quickly changes tactics on his pasa hunt.

Wonder from whom he gets the mouth gaping open look?

Prowl fotos.

Chinos are looking good Señor Max!!

Max wants a foto of the palomas, Max gets a foto of the palomas.

Oh yes, we lost Spiderman on our prowl. But after much back tracking, he was found at the papeleria, stationary store. Here, Spidey is hanging out at Poopie Loopie.

About to be rescued by Max.

Who looks a little concerned about the situation!!

Look who I bumped into as they were headed out to the Palace!! Bex and the bandera waving Mayor of Huatulco!!

As now found on our kitchen cupboard door. Max's teeth brushing star chart!! Only started today and he already has 2 stars...and no cavities!! Score!!

Misc tid-bits...we were on the AM prowl, passing the Corona truck as it was being unloaded. A Mexicano, en ingles, asks Max what his name was. The otro hombre, guy who works for Corona and doing all of the unloading, tells the hombre that his name is Max. Of course he did.

I made a pit stop into the doctor's oficina due to some crazy rash on my arm. Any who...I get into the waiting room, where everyone is always polite about who is next etc...no line jumping here.

It looks like a 20 minute wait and as I settle in a Dutchman from the CP says hola. We met him and his familia last year...nice peeps.

He leaves and then a senora starts chatting me up, starting the conversation with "¿tu es el padre de Max?". Of course she did.

We chatted for 10 minutes, with everyone in the waiting room looking and listening in as we worked through mi español. I knew things were going ok when they all smiled when I told a joke.

After 10 minutos, a couple more senoras came in and they too wanted to get in on the conversations. A bunch of old gallinas, old hens, we were chatting it up. They were smart peeps...they knew Canada was it's own country, but were interested that it had provinces and only one that was truly French and two that are "officially" bilingual.

Twenty minutes were up and I was into see the doctor. Good news...no need for amputations and she gave me a prescription (lol...there is no such thing as a prescription here) for some crema y tabletas and ta-da...it actually looks and feels a lot better. Heck, I should have done this 10 days ago!!

With only one day left until Fin de Año, we scored on some fuegos artificiales, fireworks!! And not the home made type that leave you spending hours cleaning the playa on New Years Day!! Oh mañana, it will be fun!!

As for the rest of the día, the familia returned from a muy tranquilo time at the Palace..no otro niños...huh? We had a quick dinner and I was blessed with a post-cena prowl con the lil'man. We went to Gabriel the Owls and Max put on his best show, wowing the peeps by being able to count to 10 en español, and singing the alphabet en ingles!!

Home for tina time and as I type, round 1 of bedtime is under way. Stay tuned for the Harry the Hormiga update!!

That's all mis amigos. Have a Buen Fin de Año...and a safe one too.

Hasta mañana.

Marco, Bexico y Max

domingo, el 29 de diciembre de 2013

Now THAT is a portrait!!

Buenos tardes!! First note of the día...last night we had the coldest noche in 3 years!! We dipped down to a very chilly 22,5 grados....brrrr.

Currently 230pm and with the familia out at La Bocana...another play date...Bubba has the couch and the TV all to himself. Hola hola to the Seahawks game...and my 2nd to last freezer cold MGD!!

Max "wacky" Van was at it again!! Up at 2am for a panale y ropa change...the niño might have 2 bladders...and then up again at 5am. Bex managed to get him back to sleep and I had just woken up when they rolled out of the bedroom at 645am.

Bex was pooped...I don't think I even saw her crawl back into bed!! Poppa took over and we were in for a sorpresa...surprise. Max was hambre, hungry, and wanted to eat desayunos at 7am. Huh? That has NEVER happened, nunca.

Into the highchair he went and he ate all of his fruta and then we got ourselves ready and started the prowl.

The town is full of Mexicans on vacation...I have never seen it this busy. We did our usual domingo prowl, including a pit stop to check out the peeps in the "big house", the iglesia.

And after striking out on our pan, we pit stopped in Los Portales and decided it was the perfect place for a lil'desayunos for the boys.

Max was hungry and super well behaved and we chowed down on some huevos, pan tostado, tocino y frijoles con quesillo.

We came home for some tranquilo time and madre got up shortly after. Hola hola to familia swim time!!  And after a cold night, what was the temperature in the alberca like? Brrrrrrr. But we all had fun and then it was back in for some pre-siesta tranquilo time.

Some leche followed by a good siesta and when we were up again, it was onto our comida.

And as quick as that...the familia was out the door and you are all caught up.

Onto the fotos.

What? A pit stop antes the prowl? Oh Max!!

A little loving for the poste.

Max spots his stoner amigo on the balcony above him.

And then on the camioneta, points out the water slide we went down a few days ago.

Found throughout el estado de Oaxaca...the arbol de ropa.

Most locals have very small casas, thus the decorations de Navidad head out to the patio.

Spotted parked in front of the iglesia.

With protection from the Virgen....well, at least I think it is The Virgen de Guadalupe.

Poppa...where are my huevos?

 Ahhhh...desayunos.

Excuse me, move along.

Sometimes you just need to use your manos!!

Pre-siesta swim...check out the flowing locks on the lil'man.

Dos mop haired hombres!!

Ok, off to putter around and watch the rest of the game. Will finish this up esta noche.

Hasta pronto!!

Buenos noches. All is good here in Huatulco!! Bex y Max headed to La Bocana and had a great time, even though Bex could swear it was another episode of Housewives of Huatulco being filmed...so dramatic these peeps can be!!

Any who...a fun time and then home and straight into la cena and then a quick Madonna dance party for Max y Poppa, FT con Oma y Opa and as I type, round one of bedtime is under way.

A busy week coming up. A few trips to Mojon and that means cooking ahead of time, packing for BC (I finally found the one pair of jeans I own...and have not worn for 2 years), NYE of course, and on sábado I need to get the truck ready for the paint job it is receiving on it's bumper and rust proofing in the box. Phew.

So...hasta mañana and enjoy your lunes.

Marco, Bexico y Max

sábado, el 28 de diciembre de 2013

Yes, yes I did wake up at 5am...and stayed awake too.

Buenos noches!! It was a looooong day, but it was a fun one!! Yes, there was a 5am wake up, and after a panale y playera pit stop, Max and Poppa slumbered for another hour, and then it was video time.

Usual AM rutina of prowl and desayunos, with some added emotions during breakfast. Who knows what a 2 year old niño is thinking? He did not want his jugo o fruta and then started crying when I started making him his huevos.

I pulled him out of his chair...no luck. I put him on the counter next to me as I scrambled the huevos, and the lil'man was in heaven. And when we were all done, the eggs were gone, the queso was gone, the fruta was gone and 1/2 the jugo was. Who knows what a 2 year old is thinking? Not me!!

Some tranquilo time and due to the early morning, it was off to leche y siesta time. Poppa joined in on the siesta action and after the boys woke up some 2 hours later, it was time for our comida.

Post comida, Bex had us set up and off to Mojon we went....but not with out some fireworks!! Por que? The lil'man wanted to drive the camioneta verde, yup, drive it. While parked, we gave him 2 minutes at the wheel and then loaded him back into his silla...and the end of the world occurred right there and then.

Some distraction techniques worked on and off, but even as we drove down the dirt road to the playa, Max was mumbling "drive truck". Upon arrival, he had his 10 minutos behind the wheel and then we could start our afternoon.

Lots of oceano time today!! Olas chico and Max y Bex spent almost an hour in the agua.

Dinner was a lot of work...but it was a success. Yummy chili y garlic bread!!

As the sun set, we packed up and then headed home for a go go go tina time, clean up time and then bed time.

How was bed time? Some more fire works...this time because the lil'man was pooped out from the full day of go go go.

Bex had her 30 minutos and Max waited for his Poppa to come in, and 15 minutos later...lights out. Phew.

Onto the fotos.

Glasses on? Check.

Quick pose for Poppa? Check.

Score a few fotos before we really start the prowl? Check.

And with a Gene Simmons salute, we are off onto our prowl.

Not sure what sueño, dream, Max had last night, but pre-prowl, all he kept talking about was "autobus...drive". So...we managed to walk onto 2 turismo buses, and this bus which transports trabajadores to the hotels.

And you think Max sometimes has a serious look on his face? Check out this driver, who was smiling until I asked him if I could take his foto.

Poppa, tired.

Pit stop series.

The search for la rana, frog, continues.

Pit stop at the restaurante next to Los Portales, for our pan y agua.

We had to leave our normal spot as one of the senoritas there was nagging Max for a choque, knuckles, and he was not into it. She got on our nerves!! Ja ja ja

I do whatever (almost) it takes to get Max to eat his desayunos!! Today, it was allowing him to wear his casco...doph.

Onto Mojon and moments after landing, and prying Max out of the camioneta, the playtime has begun.

Olas chico today.

Perfect for a lil'surfing.

Surf expressions...no explanations needed.

Max's new juguete, my chair. He played with it for 30 minutos...and only "almost" broke his neck once!!

I am free!!!

Shrinkage!!

Time to lavo los manos.

And back to the beach chair!!

Ok, you are all caught up. Wish us luck for a long night's sleep!!

Mañana? Futbol domingo and we will see what else comes our way.

Hasta mañana.

Marco, Bexico y Max