Una Vida Hermosa

Bottom row: Toudy (Maggie's father), Maher (Maggie's uncle), Samia (Maggie's aunt), Kaden (Bassam and Ana's oldest), and Suma (Maggie's mom)

Sutton was a dream baby being incredibly patient through hours and hours of sit down meals. She was quite adventurous with her meals and tried almost as many foods as we did, which is quite impressive considering that she has yet to get any teeth.

Mealtime meant dividing and conquering...usually Drue with Salem and Maggie with Sutton. How will we ever manage when we get out-numbered?!?! Drue wins the award for most patient father of the year. He didn't complain even once despite Salem's requests to 'go potty' during every single meal.

Maggie felt adventurous and decided to try escargot for the first time...anything is palatable if drenched in a rich garlic butter sauce. Drue's adventurous eating consisted of trying some eggplant...which he only did because he was challenged by Maggie's father. Toudy agreed to try the escargot if Drue tried the eggplant. They both determined that the foods were better than expected. I wonder if that means we can stop cooking an alternative vegetable for Drue when we're having eggplant for dinner?

The four of us on our first formal evening. The girls loved being on the ship. Salem quickly learned the way to all of her favorite spots one of which was a dome within the casino where she could go yell "Hola" and listen to the echo of her voice (Drue's so creative with entertaining the girls).

There isn't a story behind this picture. I just had to share this great picture of my handsome husband.

Salem was excited to return to our cabin every evening so that she could meet her new towel animal friend. Maggie attended a class to learn how to create all the animals so that the girls can continue to enjoy our towels at home.

We have to thank Brandan and Becky for turning us onto Sandra Boynton books years ago when Sophie was a baby. Her books are family favorites, especially Blue Hat Green Hat which had to make the trip with us and continues to get lots of laughs and giggles no matter how many times we read it.

The first port we visited was Cabo San Lucas. This picture is of some of the many sea lions lounging on the rocks in the Sea of Cortez. We took a boat ride that toured us around the popular sites in Cancun and got to see some amazing nature.

Salem and Kaden took turns getting buried in the sand by Drue. I think Salem still has sand in nooks and cranies after this fun afternoon on the beach.

This is a picture of Maggie's mom and aunt getting reeled in after parasailing. It took some convincing to get them to go, but they both had a wonderful time even though they did get dunked in the water twice.

Our next port-of-call was Mazatlan where we spent a magical day horseback riding on the beach at Stone Island. The area of the beach we rode on was pristine...nothing but untouched gorgeous beach on one side, and lush green coconut groves on the other.

Salem was too young to go on the full ride with us, but the guides were kind enough to take her on a short guided ride which she absolutely loved!

The horseback riding wiped out Drue and Salem so they found a nice shaded hammock on the beach and drifted off for a much deserved nap.

Our last port-of-call was Puerta Vallarta. There are many beautiful areas of this great city, but we have to admit that the highlight of Puerta Vallarta for us was the 90 minute couples massage on the beach.

The girls had a great time playing in the pool and at the playground while we got our massages.

5 Things We're Thankful For Today:
1. The opportunity to enjoy a wonderful, fun, exciting vacation together as a family.
2. Our big comfortable bed. While we really enjoy travelling, it's always nice to come home to our own bed. Drue's cousin Aaron built us a beautiful bed when we built our house.
3. Princesses (this is Salem's contribution to the list today). Maggie considers herself a bit of a tomboy so she's not sure where Salem's obsession with princesses is coming from...it must be nature not nurture, right?!?!
4. The rain (we're trying our best here to have a positive attitude). All the recent rain has made the view outside our windows incredibly green and beautiful.
5. Long weekends. It's so nice to go to bed on a Sunday evening excited about yet another day that we get to spend together playing and having fun.

Wise (or mostly silly) Words From a 2 Year Old
"Ohhh...look Papa and Mommy...I see fish in the water and they are saying to me 'Hi Salem...come play with us' ." Salem had great fun watching the fish in the water in Cabo San Lucas.