At last the beach....

Day 2 began at 8am with the family heading down to the beach. Collin and Sydney enjoyed the boogie boards that they found in the condo. They really miss Logan and Dresden in this activity, though.

(The picture below was actually taken later in the day in the pool. The kids wanted to swim in an afternoon downpour which felt very nice to all of us. Jay and I watched them from our balcony.)

Funny thing about Sydney: As happy as she looks splashing around in these photos, she was equally as grumpy on the way home. We have discovered her most hated thing in life: sand in her shoes. She chose to walk BAREFOOTED the whole way back to the condo, through filthy, steaming-hot streets rather than wear her water shoes home. Gross! Tomorrow we'll try flip-flops instead.

TALES FROM PDC, DAY ONE oops UNO

As we all recover from the travel day, DAY 1 brought us frustration with the AC unit going out. Not that is was a big deal. However, it did take the local handyman (Miguel) about 6 hours to complete the work. A blown fuse was the culprit. Miguel lived in Minnesota for 18 years, but didn't pick up English very well. He was a really nice guy. We felt really bad for him on the roof most of the day in the heat and humidity. The AC breakdown gave us all the chance to rest, read, and relax.

Sydney completed 115 pages in her school bridge workbook that we got just in case she got bored. (She is having a blast in Mexico.) Collin taught her how to subtract and add double-digit numbers. Collin finished the 4th book of Percy Jackson on the airplane and started book number 5 today.

We got groceries from Mega-Mart(this seems uneventful, but there was actually a happening that we will blog about later). We also walked down to check out the beach, WOW! We also had our first real meal since arriving in Mexico. It was at El Fogon. Oooohhhh was it good! The pork came right off of the spit. It was so good! It included cooked cactus, limes, radishes, hot sauce, chips and 2 beverages for about 140 pesos or $12 including tip. We also stopped at the Paleteria Polar, in English, ICE CREAM SHOP! I don't know what they put in their ice cream but it is addictive. We ended up getting it twice in one day. Of course, it was only 87 degrees with 97 percent humidity. You better eat the ice cream quickly before it melts. The constant sweating takes some time to get used to.

The swimming pool is just perfect. It is a lot like Grandma Jo's but has a bridge that the kids really like. We hit the pool twice today!

We've Arrived!!!

After a very long day travel we finally made it to the condo in Playa del Carmen!!! The kids really did travel well though we heard how bored they were and the question "How much longer will it be?" over and over again.

It seemed to the kids like we were standing in line and waiting all day long. Waiting to check in, waiting to go through security, waiting to get on the plane... (And that was all before we even left Salt Lake!) Then there was all the waiting on the plane to get to Phoenix and during the 4 hour flight to Cancun and getting through customs and immigration and for the shuttle and to get the car and then, the best part of all, waiting in line at (of all places) Wal-Mart because we were starving and almost out of gas - since they didn't give us a full tank at the rental car place and the banks were closed and we hadn't changed any currency yet!

After the long day of travel, our first meal in Mexico did not consist of delicious Mexican cuisine but rather frozen boxes of Red Baron pepperoni pizza, Coca-cola and Cookie Crisp for dessert. The kids were happy, though.

BELOW: Jay trying to look happy our first morning in Playa. He loves the tropics as long as it is air-conditioned . Unfortunately the AC in the living room qluit working. We slept well since the bedrooms have their own (well-working) AC units. Poor Miguel from the Vimex property management company, however, has been working on it for the last few hours (up on the roof where it is even hotter for much of it). The kids slept better and longer than I have ever seen!

Our car for the month is a Dodge Atos. Ever heard of it? Us neither. Amazingly enough, though, it fit all our luggage. Good thing we didn't check any bags. The kids are having to learn how to roll down and roll up car windows - a completely new experience for them.

Collin's green belt testing in Taekwondo

Collin earned his junior green belt last month in Taekwondo. Unfortunately Jay and I couldn't be there for his testing since we were finishing up our open water certification for scuba (yeh!!!). However Nana, Papa, Grandma Jo and Sydney were able to go and support him. Papa even got to hold the board for him to demonstrate his breaking technique. Great job, Collin!!!

Collin loves Taekwondo and has developed an interest in Korean culture and language. He also has a newfound interest in ALL things Portuguese, too. Who knows where that came from?! We are happy to see, though, that he has interest in learning about different cultures and people. He likes to imagine all the possibilities of where he might serve a mission someday. Funny thing is, he will probably end up serving in Detroit.

Scandinavian Days 2010

As is customary over Memorial Day weekend, we headed down south to Ephraim to celebrate Scandinavian Days and Grandpa Bill's birthday. The celebration begins in the morning with the small-town parade down Main Street. The kids get to compete with their cousins and other little ones lined up on the street in grabbing and stuffing as much candy as they can into their bags. This is perhaps the highlight of the holiday for them. After sneaking and eating as much candy as they can on the way back to Grandpa and Grandma's, they then spend the rest of the afternoon on a sugar-induced "high". Running and playing with their cousins in the corral, throwing rocks into the ditch and riding four-wheelers through the hills and town, watching the birds, especially the hummingbirds eat out of Grandma's bird feeder and, of course, as if they hadn't had enough sugar, eating cupcakes and other treats Grandma Ellen bought for them is how it typically goes. The bonus this year: we did make it to town to check out the booths and somehow managed to avoid the carnival for once. The negative: someone thought the kids needed snow cones! I mean, really. How much sugar does a kid need anyway?!

This year, since Collin and Dresden are both eight and in scouts now, we added the activity of shooting the BB gun to the list of must-do's. The boys are both absolutely certain that learning to shoot a gun is a requirement of being a "real" scout and would not want to be held back in their training. Jay, Larry and I had just as much fun shooting the gun.

Grandma Jo 's Visit

We just said goodbye to Joan this week. She came to stay with us for 10 days which probably seemed like a long time for her but was a very short trip for Collin and Sydney. We wish she lived much, much closer.

The kids especially LOVED sleeping in and catching the bus on the weekdays instead of having to go to the sitters so early with Mom and Dad. They loved coming home from school and having Grandma there ready to play games with them all night. And they loved making endless origami projects (literally a whole ream of paper's worth) and bead jewelry and going out to eat almost every night with her. She is amazing! Thanks for everything, Joan. We miss you!

We got to celebrated her birthday with her a couple of early. Aren't they precious!!!

The Wonderful Witches of Oz

Sydney got her first opportunity to perform on stage in front of hundreds of people as Mayor Mousietoes and a Munchkin in the Up With Kids! production of The Wonderful Witches of Oz. She did a fabulous job, performed all of her lines perfectly and didn't even experience a little stage fright. She has caught the acting bug and can't wait to start working on next years performance.

One of Sydney's best friends, Emily, who is moving to China in a couple of weeks. We are so sad!

The entire Draper cast:

Sydney as "Mayor Mousietoes" and a good friend from school, Willow as "Twiggy".


"Mean 'ole Nessie. THAT WICKED OLD WITCH!"
After the performance, Sydney received flowers from Mom, Dad and Grandma Jo.

Sydney's Lines

LEGO's

Collin's favorite past time lately is building with LEGO's. And, because he has done such a great job in school in all subjects this year, he earned his choice of a LEGO set at the store. After much deliberation, he chose this set that makes three different houses. He built the first one that night after getting back from the store.

Proudly showing off his handy work.

Piano Lessons

Sydney has decided she wants to learn to play the piano like me. And, since I play, everyone figures, shouldn't I be able to teacher her to play? Well I wish it were that easy. Sydney and I don't always see eye-to-eye on how she should be taught but we have (more or less) committed to it and hopefully we will see some great progress soon!

Pinewood Derby Time

Collin has loved being able to go to cub scouts this year. He has looked forward to being able to make his first Pinewood Derby car and race it with his friends all year long. Unfortunately Grandma Rudel passed away in March and we were in Colorado during the Derby. He was still pretty proud of work and already has plans for next year's car. He LOVES sharks, can you tell?