Alex' 2nd Kindergarten Graduation

We made it!! We did it!! We survived!! We stuck with it!! Looking back I would do it all over again. If you have read previous posts about our public school experiences, you can appreciate this one. If you haven't read them, please do.

So, Alex graduated yet again, from kindergarten. One time in the US and one time in Mexico. She attended kindergarten here a second time for language reasons. Graduation is a big deal here. Ozzy remembers talk of the kid's "graduation outfits" all the way back in November. Throughout the year, Ozzy and I both attended many meetings with and without translator help. Ozzy attended some where he was the only man there while the moms spent an hour or so discussing dress "color" options.

So the big day was July 5. And I was actually off work. A little because of my transfer to Atlanta and a little because July 4 was in the middle of the week. Anyway, I am so glad that I did not miss this graduation.

So the seating was at 11:30 or in Mexico time, 12:30. Alex took her seat, and Ozzy and I wandered around wondering what was going on. Just before it started a friend of ours, Sergio and his wife Yohana approached us and wanted to walk Alex to get her diploma. Unkown to us this is a tradition, that the God Parents or relative walk the child up to gather their diploma.

We had no idea that this was going to happen and were so grateful to Sergio and Yohana. First reason being that Alex would have walked alone up to receive her diploma because we simply didn't know what tradition was and secondly because Sergio and Yohana thought about this even before the graduation and wanted to act as Alex's God Parents. They even came prepared with a customary gift they presented to Alex when her name was called. Sergio and his family all were born and raised in Sayulita, so they are obviously very local for many generations. We have surfed with him, traveled with him and like him and his family very much. Actually, Sergio's nephew, Enrique, is amigos with Trace and also graduated this day. When Enrique was crowned King for the primavera celebration, Alex and Trace rode with him in his float/truck for the parade. Check out the "Spring Pageant and Parade" blog post in March.

In between the diplomas the kids all sang a song and Maestra walked around with the microphone. She chose to put it up to Alex to sing into. So, just imagine, the only tall, blond, American, in a Mexico public school belting out a song into a microphone in "perfect" spanish in front of more than one hundred locals, who probably thought back on November that this family will never last in this school. I was so proud of Alex. I was also proud our family for staying in this school, sticking with our goal even though it was so tough at times, especially for me. I just wanted to give up sometimes. Ozzy and I would also like to think that many of the parents of the school saw how hard we tried, how we did what was expected, participated, how we didn't give up. Many now say "hola" to us on the street and around town with huge smiles. The moms would give important information to Ozzy, on their own free will, to help him figure out what he needed to do or not do. In a way, they looked out for him and he would always be so excited when he would tell me about a certain mom stopping him to tell him this or that.

After the diplomas the kids all did a dance and Alex danced with Fernando. I think he used to give Alex and Trace a hard time when they first started school, but they all became friends.

If you couldn't guess the pictures below with the yellow gown are graduation from Park City one year ago and the ones with the Pink gown are from Mexico last week.

So ends a small chapter in our "Adventure". In only six weeks or so Alex and Trace will be off to school again. For now, summer camp and lots of surfing to stay cool.

Jolyn Swimwear

I never thought that finding the "perfect" bathing suit was anything that I would ever need to think about. But I did, to both. A friend told me about the bathing suit brand Jolyn, and honestly I will never own another brand of bathing suit. I waited to write a post about the Jolyn suit because I wanted to really test drive it and give it an honest 9 month test drive. So here are the results:

The Joyn is made for performance but still has a very nice cut. If you are into any water sports, swimming, surfing, scuba diving, windsurfing, water skiing, paddling, river rafting, diving, etc then the Jolyn is perfect for you.

The Jolyn stays put! I have gotten completely hammered in the waves thinking that I would come out naked but the Jolyn stayed exactly where it should be, to my relief.

The material is bomber. I have two suits and wear them all the time and neither one has stretched, faded or shown any wear, as the rest of my clothes are literally falling apart from the weather here. And, the Jolyn does not sag in the butt, you know what I mean.

A 41 year old woman with two kids can still wear it.

The Jolyn is also very reasonably priced at about $60 for a complete suit.

The company is small and therefore very personable and aims to please.

I LOVE my Jolyn Swimsuits! and want to share my awesome find with everyone, so spread the word. Click on our affiliate link to visit their site.

On your board ;)

A Visitor

Looked up from finishing some concrete samples the other day to find this guy having a siesta just a foot or so from my nose.

Interesting that he showed up soon after we started fostering a kitten.

Chacala

This past weekend was our first "weekend getaway" since we have moved here. And what a great weekend it turned out to be. We went to an area called Chacala about 1 hour north of Sayulita with six other families. It turned out to be about 14 adults and 13 kids ranging in age from 3 to 13. We rented three houses, two of which shared a swimming pool.

Chacala actually has a great surf break that you have to take a boat to get to. So we rented a boat pretty much for the weekend. A group went out to surf Friday night which sounded like a nightmare. After a night of eating, drinking and hanging out


another group went out Saturday at 7 am. The second group went out at around 9 am. The boat driver was just doing shuttles back and forth for us. Taking us out, bringing us in. It was great! Ozzy went out Friday night (he can explain how much fun that was) and he went out again first shift on Saturday morning (he can tell you how much fun that was) I went out second shift Saturday morning and it was awesome. Large, gentle waves, with power to pick you up and take you along for the ride without closing on top of you. It was a left break. I have never surfed a left which scared me a little because if I didn't turn it left I was going to end up in a heap of rocks. I talk like I know what I am taking about and I do a little I am a very beginner surfer and have a lot to learn. But these waves were so much fun and I caught some pretty awesome waves.
Not only was the surfing great but the company was great as well. The kids had such a good time. The had their buddies right there in the same house, a private pool and another few pools at the beach club.

I honestly missed my kids because I did see them most of the weekend. Don't worry, there was always an adult watching the kids, but they wanted nothing to do with mom and dad. They had a blast and all weekend I just kept thinking how lucky they are to have this opportunity, these friends.

The first night Trace stayed up until 11 pm partying. Played hard on Saturday and Sunday. Alex played super hard as well and actually on Saturday she crawled out of the pool and said "I'm done" and wanted to take a nap. Which they both did. They were dragging Sunday and totally crashed in no time on the way home.

Thank you all for such a great weekend. We will miss you for the next month or so and look forward to another amazing trip when you return.

Sayulita Post Construction

Most of the winter our small town was totally torn up with building materials piled up all over, jack hammers hammering, mud, closed streets and sidewalks etc. We are very happy to say that just about all of the construction is over, town has been cleaned up and Sayulita's facelift looks pretty damn good. A new entrance to town, new sidewalks, pedestrian areas, new palm trees, new paint have given Sayulita a fresh new look. Some like it, some don't. What do you think?

International Surfing Day

Trace turns five!

Last Friday Trace turned five. It was our first Mexican Birthday so we wanted to celebrate with a little Mexican tradition and have Trace's and our friends for a fiesta and celebration. Trace insisted on only three friends and no piñata. Whatever! We all spent a day in Vallarta shopping for food to feed about 30, as well as a Cars cake and cookies so Trace could take them to school. Thursday night our wonderful landlords, Vadja and Slava,
brought Trace an amazing red velvet cake made by a local here in Sayulita. This was a serious cake and oh so delicious. We are still eating it. On Friday Trace took the cookies to school and Maestra had him hand one out to each child and every child gave Trace a hug for his birthday. After school he came home and opened his gifts. He got his own paddle for paddle boarding,
one that is light enough for him, and a skateboard, which he has been wanting since he saw his friend Enrique riding one a while ago.
He was psyched and immediately took it out back to learn to ride and has since gotten pretty good. Alex loves it too and now wants one.
We laid low Friday night to get ready for the big celebration on Saturday and of course dug into that red velvet cake. At about 3 am Trace came and got in bed with me mumbling something that I could understand and then promptly threw up all over himself, the bed and me. And guess what color it was? Ozzy cleaned the mess while I cleaned Trace and myself and put Trace back in his bed. We changed our sheets, put in a load of laundry and went back to sleep. About 30 minutes later Trace comes back into our room crying with red throw up all over his front and back. Awesome. So another shower, etc etc.
He ended up with a stomach bug, it was not the cake, so we had to cancel the party. Bummer!! I really don't think he was too upset but we sure were.
Luckily we have plans this weekend with most of the same people that were invited to the party, so I froze all of the food and will be able to use it this weekend.



Anyway, Happy Birthday Trace Man! We love you!

Luckily he got well enough so we could live our Pacifico commercial on Sunday for Father's Day.

Now this is paradise!

Finally! The Corona, eh, Pacifico commercial. For Father's Day at least.

The End of A Long Chapter

5/16/2012
Ozzy and the kids have been in Mexico since October and haven't left. I have been back and forth able to visit friends, work and enjoy some of the pleasures of the USA. And now I am leaving Salt Lake and Park City. Ozzy said "bye" in October, now it is my turn. When we made the decision to move to Mexico it was a hard one because we have a street full of the most amazing neighbors. We lived on a cul-de-sac that we have joked about making a gated community for just the seven houses. We are all around the same age, have mostly the same interests, the others are kind of insane when it comes to running, biking and skiing. On weekends after the day of whatever activity we would all find ourselves in the street talking, throwing balls for the dogs, kids playing and it usually turned into a BBQ at someone's house. A great group of people with no drama, competition, etc.. These last two weeks the neighbors proved how incredible they are. One of the group learned that he had cancer and was immediately in the hospital having heart surgery. Since the couple has no family in town the neighbors took charge. They didn't miss a beat. They were on for 24 hours every day either at the hospital during surgery, spending the night, talking to doctors, babysitting their children, emailing updates constantly, finding humor in certain situations, I could go on. Ozzy and I immediately felt guilty for not being there. I, at the very least was able to watch their daughters for two days to allow the others to sleep in, rest, bike. And I had my one last BBQ for a while. It was awesome to be together with the neighbors again. I was sitting with one of the girls watching a movie and watching everyone around the table talking about the hospital, laughing about certain situations of the last week and bonding and knowing that Corrie and Christian are in great hands.


Driving down the airport that morning for the last time and signing in for my last trip in Salt Lake....... It hasn't hit me yet. But I am fully aware of what and who I am leaving.



6/11/2012
So that wasn't actually the last time. I went back to SLC early last week to sell Ozzy's truck. I landed at 7 pm and was gone again by 1 pm the next day. This was the last time I stayed with my wonderful friend Carrie. (Thank you so much Carrie and Drew for letting my crash at your house for eight months. It was so nice to have a "home" to come to between trips and to be back under your roof, eating the most delicious food, drinking too much wine, laughing, talking and staying up too late.). Carrie is the reason I went to SLC in the first place. We met at Delta training, moved to NYC together, she moved back to SLC after three months and I came a month later. I lived with her for five years until I met Ozzy. Carrie went on to become a pilot with SkyWest and will hopefully circle back around and become a pilot with Delta. If so, there will be a huge chance that she will be back in ATL with me where it all started in the first place, 16 years ago, when we were obviously much younger, without husbands and children, free spirits just living and having fun. I must say though that she and I are still free spirits still living and having fun.

I also want to thank Kristin and Erin and Tyson as well for their hospitality, beds, dinner, too much wine and friendship.

It was much harder leaving this time. Probably because I boarded a plane from SLC, my home, my friends, my favorite base, comfort, familiarity, beauty, to Atlanta, the worlds busiest airport, obviously crowded, unknown hole, stinky hotels, airport food and no Carrie and Drew to hang out with. I have a lot to learn being in a huge international base. My safe SLC bubble has been popped. I think it will be good for me. A few good things I have already discovered is the ease at which I can manipulate my schedule, there is a doctor and pharmacy at the Delta headquarters compound, and a bus that runs from the airport to the compound and back every 15 minutes. This was huge for me as I had a horrible sinus infection and needed immediate relief but had no knowledge of Atlanta or transportation to get anywhere. I solely depend on public transportation now and it is kind of nice. You don't have to put gas in a car, look for a parking spot, fix a car, pay car insurance. There is a lot more sitting around and waiting though but it is not bad. And now I don't have to go through my car and all of my Tupperware bins getting clothes, uniforms, shoes, etc, and pack, unpack, pack, unpack. I now pack everything I need for my one to two weeks in my bag and that is it.

So, one chapter ends and the next chapter is being written.

Family

For whatever reason we don't seem to get photos of all four of us together. This one was sent to us by friends, Mark and Brenda.