Iguanas Can't Climb (and Other Stories from Mexico)

We happened to be lucky enough to head to Mexico for spring break, mostly by virtue of the fact that my in-laws have a timeshare there and they seem to like spending time with us (or at least the girls!) enough to want to invite us along on their vacation. :) We had an absolute blast and enjoyed every minute of the trip, which stands in sharp contrast to our last vacation to Mexico (when Sadie was 2 and Ella 4). I am absolutely loving these ages. I didn't do the newborn thing very well, but I have totally got 5 and 7 covered!

Perspective is a funny thing. The girls were excellent on the plane. And I spent the entire trip marveling about how good they have gotten with the whole traveling thing. However, as we were walking from our gate to customs (and utilizing the mechanical sidewalk to boot, which begs the question: What exactly is the point of that? It moves more slowly than I can walk.), we were alongside this guy who had been across the aisle from me on the plane. He looked at me sympathetically and said something like, "Don't worry. It's not too long before they get to be this age. (points to sullen teenager)" But seriously? You can keep your sullen teenager. I'd freeze my kids at 5 and 7 if I could. It's funny though because I always assume parents of newborns feel frenzied and exhausted and overwhelmed, but some people really enjoy the newborn thing, so you never can tell, right?

Anyhow, I suggested that Ella keep a journal while we were on vacation--a task she warmed to immediately. So rather than bore you with my blow by blow, I've gotten permission from Ella to share her journal entries here. Note that I have corrected the spelling in a lot of places because that's just what I do. It would take me an hour to type this if I tried to leave her spelling intact. The bracketed notes are mine. Enjoy!

3-26-11 Saturday (this was our travel day)
I am going to get picked up by grandma and grandpa's friend. I got picked up and now I have to wait in a billion million jillion lines. We finally get their [there] and we wait at our airplane's gate and we get on the plane and were off!

[Editor's note: I am amused to note that Ella went back after the fact and added some entries because I hadn't seen this one before.]

3-27-11 Sunday
Today I went to the pool and I got to have lunch there. Out there was an egwana [iguana] and it climbed on my chair and it scared me so now I try to stay away from it. I got to go on a raft. It had lines on it. My mom was on it. I snuck up on her in the water. She got all wet.

[Editor's note: Apparently they don't use punctuation in the first grade. I added it for your convenience. Also, she only tells part of the iguana story. First, it ended up under my chair. Some little boy tried to warn me that it was there, but I didn't hear what he was saying, jumped out of my chair, and stepped right on the iguana. Of course I screamed. You would have too. The girls were FREAKING out at this point. So I naturally told them that iguanas can't climb so they'd stop crying and eat their lunches. They insisted on moving a few feet away to the poolside lounge chairs. Not five seconds later, the iguana follows them over there and climbs up nearly in Ella's lap. Guess whose mom lied about iguanas not knowing how to climb?]

3-28-11 Monday
Today I am going to the beach for my sister's birthday. So be qite [quiet?]. Shhhhh!!
[written in different color ink several hours later] My sister loved the surprise. After that, we went to the pool. My mom said she was going to pee on me. [Oh, lovely. But it's true. I did say that. I was just kidding. Crap. I am just now remembering that Ella shared this journal with her class. Oops.]

3-29-11 Tuesday
Tuesday I went downtown and I got some suveaners [souvenirs] and I got pizza for lunch. I went to my grandma and grandpa's hotel room for dinner. We slept over. Before we went to bed, we got to go for a drink [nonalcoholic] in a tall tower. It was like the lighthouse. [Editor's note: Actually, it WAS a lighthouse. And she left out the part about how Dean and I also went up there for a drink that night and how I nearly cried trying to walk down the stairs afterward because there were spaces between the steps and it was all exposed and stuff.]

3-30-11 Wednesday
Today I got to paint some pottery. My sister painted a tucan and I painted a dolfin [dolphin]
pensel [pencil] holder. I won bingo and won my sister a hat because I already had a hat. It was a red hat. We both had red hats.

[Editor's note: She leaves out the part about how she won a hat on Sunday, and Sadie was all pouty and covetous because she really really wanted a hat. So Ella made it her mission to win Bingo and get another hat.]

3-31-11 Thursday
I am just hanging around because on Friday I am going on a boat to Las Caletas. It is a boat where you ride to an island [it's not really an island] and there is a zipline and a parakeet and a monkey and a bridge that swings. So I am going to go to the pool and pick up my pottery. It will be shiny.

[Later that same day]
I got my pottery and it looks awesome. It has little fish on it and it has a lot of lines on it. I am going to get ice cream in a little bit. I played Mexican bingo today, and I lost but it was okay because I already had a hat but I got three points anyway.

4-1-11 Friday
Today, I rode on a boat to a beach. It was fun. I got to go to a beach but it was more than a beach. It had a place where you could zip line. I got to go kiaking [kyaking]. It was fun. I dug a big hole at the beach. It was very deep. I saw some rocks. They were big and there were a lot of snails on them. I also saw a hermit crab. After that I went to a place where you get to holed [hold] a monkey and a parrot. I held the monkey first. I had it in my arms first then it went on my head. Then I held the parrot and he kissed me. When we were done and then we went home.

4-2-11 Saturday
Today I am leaving Mexsuco [Mexico]. I am on the plane right now. And that's the end of my trip to Mexico.