30 Days of Memories: Day 5

Back to Mexico with this picture. I made the kids go out on the balcony overlooking the pool so I could get a good "last day" picture of them. We were all rested and relaxed, but ready to head home. Being on vacation can be a lot of work sometimes.

We went to Mexico shortly after a hurricane had hit Puerto Vallarta and they were still in the clean-up repair stages. The condo's crew worked tirelessly to get the pool repaired. It re-opened about midway through our stay, but I loved the color of the tile so much I stole a piece. When we got home, I took the tile to the paint counter at our hardware store and had them mix up a gallon for my bedroom.

30 Days of Memories: Day 2

Day 1

Yes, I know the glass is broken, I'll get it replaced eventually.

My parents had a time-share condo in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and would take yearly trips. One year, must have been 2002-ish, we were finally able to join them. Things were ugly tight for us when the kids were little, but I was able to save up enough to buy airfare (thankfully it was fairly cheap at the time). Digger saved all of his money from working for Mom and Bill to buy his own airfare, something I believe he's still very proud of. After all, not every 11 year old can say they paid their own way to Mexico.

It was a wonderful week, one I'm very thankful for, because the kids had the opportunity to leave the U.S. In a perfect world, we would have traveled all over the place, but this was the only trip out of the country I could afford to take them on. Mom and Bill having the time-share didn't hurt either, since all I had to pay for was airfare and some spending money.

This particular photo was taken on a "private beach" - you know, the ones owned by every party ship in the area - after lunch. I'm surprised Digger has any semblance of a smile because the poor kid was chaffed. The dang mesh liner of his swim trunks about drew blood on our hike. I think he was just happy to not be walking any more.