Re-entry into busy world

We returned late Monday night from our amazing trip to San Pancho, Mexico. We went with 3 other families and had a total of 18 people in our party. It was our neighbor's 40th birthday celebration and I think he was immensely pleased that he had such a good crew surrounding him for 7 days straight.

San Pancho is about one hour north of Puerta Vallarta and 20 minutes north of Sayulita. There is little to no tourism in San Pancho which is absolutely lovely from a peace and zen point of view. There is one hotel in San Pancho called the Costa Azul but it is not a high rise or luxury resort by any means. We rented two houses, one high up on the hill and the other was right on the beach which was a perfect home base for body surfing and ocean swimming.

Delaney did great for most of the trip, save for a few meltdowns when she didn't want to stop playing in the pool or playing with the big kids. She sort of learned to swim a bit as she could jump in and get across a small pool without swallowing much water. I think she is actually close to being able to pull herself up for breaths, because she definitely has the movement thing down.

Both of our kids slept pretty bad for the trip which made it not exactly a restful vacation, but we'll take it. Kevin and I were lamenting the days when vacations were actually vacations. When you have little kids it seems like taking them out of their environment almost makes life more difficult, so how can that be called vacation? They didn't eat as well, sleep as well, and we were very homebound at the house because of napping attempts. Thank goodness there was one other family with young kids so we all got to sit by the pool and chat with each other.

Garrett cut his first two teeth while in Mexico and has two more on top coming through. He was fussier than normal as a result of this and the lack of sleep but all in all he was still a great little boy.

Our travel day returning was a complete nightmare as we had two children in simultaneous meltdowns regularly throughout the day. Picture massive tantrums in immigration lines, on public restroom floors, you name it. We were very glad to be home and I think we have decided that we will be car-bound for all vacations in the next year. I think it's just a time in our lives when it might be easier to stay close to home and not venture too far away. My friend Lara calls this "lowering expectations".

Now I am getting ready to face four of the busiest weeks I have ever encountered. Kev's parents are coming into town in a few days, Kev has a trip to China coming up and I have major projects due in all of my classes. But on April 27, most of the misery ends and my summer starts. It can't come soon enough!

I plan to post some San Pancho pics soon. :)