Mexico part one

So we decided to leave for our trip right after church (it gets out at 4:00). I was in charge of Sharing time and KaeLynn brought me over the visual aids she used in her same sharing time. Man was I grateful for that. They were awesome. When church finished our car was all packed up and ready to go. We changed our clothes and were on the road in 30 minutes. It was awesome. Cortney and I have never made the drive to Arizona (I have a million times but not as an adult). We drove and drove. The older boys went promptly to sleep and slept the whole way without even a peep. Henry on the other hand just sat there saying "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom" over and over again. It was driving me crazy. He wasn't horrible but he wasn't that great either. He wanted me sitting in the chair next to him and then he would be just fine. I don't usually cater so much to my babies but since he was so out of it and it was in the middle of the night I gave in to him. We finally made it to Joey's parents house in Phoenix at 3 in the morning. Once we got there Henry was giddy with excitment and wouldn't go to sleep until 4:40 am. It was one of the longest nights of my life. Not a great way to start off a vacation.

Then next morning I was up around 8 (7 arizona time) I wasn't thrilled with my 3 hours of sleep. Cali and I took all of our kids over to her sister Natalie's house so that Cortney could sleep in. He slept past 1:00 I couldn't believe it.

Once he woke up Natalie watched our kids while we met Cannon and Tiff (Joey's cousins) at a restaurant called Gecko Grill. Cannon ordered a shrimp burro for me and it was ABSOLUTELY to die for. Filled with shrimp, cream cheese, pineapple...and a delicious green sauce. Cort got a carne asada quesodilla...filled with avocado. Yum.

Once we were home the boys all left to a Diamondback's game. It was a little too long for Rob, but the next day he thought it was the funnest thing ever. They even got on the jumbotron 3 times. I was glad for them to go.

Two really horrible pictures of the boys at the game.

Cortney realized he didn't pack any shorts (of course...he is the worst packer ever...he had tons of fishing stuff, wetsuits, and stuff like that but no clothes). I went to walmart and picked him up a pair of shorts. Funny guy.

Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early and made our way to Rocky Point. The drive was beautiful...and felt totally safe. I was a little nervous because I have done tons of border crossings in my life...however this one was super low key. We didn't even have to get out of the car. Cali and Joey however got the red light and their car was searched but it was still really easy.

We got to the house around 1:30, and Jeff and Jen got started making lunch (delish). Then we suited up and headed down the ocean. Oh my the ocean...where do I even start??

The beach in Puerto Penasco is so awesome. Shallow, with little waves. The water is clean, and turquoise. Every day the tide comes in and out twice. So at times the water would be up to the stairs at the back of the house, and then 6 hours later it would be 300 yards out. When the water would go out it would create tide pools...tide pools filled with shells. They would be about 6 inches to a foot deep and would warm up from the sun. It was awesome. The babies and the big kids would play in them for hours. Almost all of the kids found full sand dollars...like the kind you buy in a store. I have never been to a beach with this many shells.

Here are the kids playing in the late afternoon of the first day. The tide was coming in and leaving them "stranded" on little islands. They loved it.

For dinner we had Taco salad, with strawberries. Yum. All of the food was so good.

Then we went into town to shop for our meals. I couldn't stop smiling. I love Mexico, and it's people so much. It was all so familiar to me.

The house we stayed in had 5 beautiful bedrooms with their own baths. Ours was one of the best I think because it was so quiet and secluded. We all slept SO good the whole time including Henry.

Cortney took 800 amazing pictures so this post is going to come in stages and be very long. That is it for part one.