Spring Break in Mexico

Washington's covid restrictions have really made us eager to visit ANYWHERE that doesn't require masks.  Thanks to Austin and Darcy again (Darcy's dad in particular) we were able to go to Mexico.  He owns a couple of condos in Puerto Penasco.  So we flew to Phoenix, stayed one night, then drove the four hours. The border crossing was easy and the drive was part of a safety corridor.  The condo complex was really nice and had security everywhere.  All around the common areas and even along the beach.  You had to have a resort bracelet to be on the property.  The resort and beach were beautiful.  

We went into the city to eat dinner the first night... Driving in Mexico is terrifying.  The area wasn't bad, it wasn't scary that way.  It was scary because roads aren't marked, stop signs are infrequent and often hard to see and it seems like no rules apply!  

We spent most of our time at the pool and on the beach. It really was beautiful.  Just the warmth and sunshine we needed to give us a break from the dreary grey skies.  

This is a HUGE photo dump... In no particular order.  Good luck!

We tried snorkeling, unfortunately the jet skis and boats all rode right over the top of the reef so it wasn't safe to go out to it.

The infinity pool was a really cool space. It even had a swim up bar where we were able to get soda and virgin daiquiris (kind of like strawberry slushies).

The best sunset of the trip.  The tide went WAY out (400ish yards) so you could see the reef and huge pools would be left on the very flat beach.

Kayda and I had a great time photographing it.  It was stunning.

We were getting Beckett introduced to hermit crabs, they were everywhere.  Kayda, Dillon and Carson had a blast.  They tried really hard to get Beckett to be comfortable with all the critters.

Dad, Austin, Landon and Dillon went golfing two days.

Carson decided to join in on the water aerobics they did during the day.

Austin and Tucker are on the right.  They all went for a ride on the banana boat pulled behind a boat.

We explored the reef tide pools.  It was strange not to see sea anemones and starfish everywhere.  

We heard another family yelling about an octopus so Carson and I hustled over. It was just a baby, Carson wasn't interested in holding it...

Another trip on the banana boat.

The water was gorgeous

We all decided to do the henna tattoos.  They lasted less than a week but the kids had fun. 

One of the many tiny hermit crabs

I guess they were working on a cruise ship doc so they were creating a jetty out of huge pier blocks.  The project fell through but the remnants were a lot of fun to climb on.

Dillon and Landon were entertained by a crab for a while 

Here's the whole crew!  Tucker, Beckett, Darcy, Austin, Landon, and of course us.

We crossed the border coming home at the perfect time.  It took two minutes to get through.  

Beverly Beach State Park

Our annual trip with our "summer friends" was to Oregon this year.  We're glad we had that planned since so much of Washington was forcibly shut down.  It was chilly, so of course we had to dress warmer than I like to in the summer. Fortunately we only had to get a new wetsuit for Dillon so the kids could enjoy the ocean.

We went to look for critters at devil's punchbowl again.  I appreciate so much that my kids have such a sense of adventure and curiosity.  They didn't hesitate to clamber all over the rocks and look in every nook and cranny.  Then of course they would pick up any crabs and touch the anemones.  We had to work a little to get Ryan and Ethan interested.

Ozzi loved exploring the rocks and followed us anywhere we went.

The beach is too far to walk with any swim stuff so the kids usually rode in the back of their truck. They loved it.

Daddy and Rene have their bromance joke.  They always have to do something like they're gay dad's raising kids alone. I didn't catch their shenanigans this year though.

We went into town and took a whale watching tour.  It was not what I expected.  Did we see a whale? Yes. One whale, the same whale, all we did was follow it down the coast for 45 minutes.  We saw it frequently, it never did anything exciting and we ended up seasick.  I actually talked to a crew member that used to captain the ship (he's retired now and was just helping out that day). I learned more from him than the tour guide that just kept saying "there she blows".  Apparently they can tell the whales apart based on scarring.  They have whales there that don't migrate, they live there year round.  I believe it was around 7 of them.  He described the rock shelves that push the food up along the bluffs so that's where the whales like to hang out.  

Can't go to the Oregon coast without going on quad rides!  We had such a good time when we went with Grandma and Papa H that we HAD to go again.  It was neat to see the kids' confidence levels change since they've been riding at home.

We actually went out to the beach this time.  It was Kayda's favorite place to ride.  We thoroughly enjoyed racing and doing donuts in the sand. It's definitely an easier ride since you can get stuck in the soft dunes fairly easily.

Dad crashed.

Went up to Thor's well again. It didn't disappoint.  Unfortunately, since you're there at high tide, there aren't any tide pools.  However, we saw whales.  They were hanging out just off the coast.  Didn't need to go on that whale tour after all.

We had a couple fires on the beach as we really enjoy them. 

We were hoping to see the tide come in and put out our fire. It took too long so we had to deal with it before we left the beach.

It's impossible for my boys to be near a hill or rocks and NOT climb around.