nos gusta la playa

 our family is seriously blessed to be spending the last week of january in sunny mexico.  this is our first time at an all inclusive resort and we may be hooked.  no cooking, no cleaning, no driving... our only real responsibility is looking after the boys in the water.  and all that really entails is putting their lifejackets on.

zeke has been a bit more cautious in the water than ty, but after a few days of coaxing he is starting to enjoy it.  we had the opposite problem with ty at this age... he would run right into the surf and get tumbled by the waves, get up and do it again.  again, thank god for life jackets.

a sandy beach is my favourite place to practice tai chi.  zeke was watching me and started copying the form.  so cute.  tough to stay focused.

 ty's main motivation for this trip was to bury daddy in the sand, and bury me he did.  it was funny to sensorily experience his methods; in an eerily similar manner to kylie's cleaning or organization tactics, ty would put a few handfuls of sand on my leg, then my chest, then my other leg, then my chest again, then my arms for a while and so on.  very different from my systematic approach, but it got the job done.

rising from my sandy camouflage was quite the event.  it felt good too.

back in the hotel room we have developed a good system for getting the boys cleaned up and in bed.  ty wasn't angry here, he is just making faces.  zeke on the other hand is wearing his natural expression.

 we have reached a fun stage where both of the boys can enjoy the same stories.

 zeke has even started enjoying them on his own.

 in the evenings after dinner we have dance parties to wind down.  sounds counterproductive, but it seems to work.

the food at the resort is fantastic and hugely varied (ignore the pictured sugar cookie and fruit loops).  the staff at the resort seem to genuinely love kids and our kids love them back.  again it has been interesting to observe the differences between ty and zeke.  ty loves everyone, and mexicans are no exception.  he is good at saying "gracias" and "uno mas por favor" and is happy to engage with everyone, including random people on the beach, and particularly the pretty hostesses.  zeke on the other hand is typically very stoic, stonily staring down anyone trying to make him smile.  the locals however have won him over: today at breakfast he said his first fully pronounced word "peekaboo" (if that counts as a word) while pointing to our waiter, who was letting other patrons' cappuccinos get cold while he stuck his head above a wall and waved.  tonight he was clearly in love with a waitress at the restaurant.  she wasn't our server, but kept coming over to touch his cheeks and give him shoulder rubs.  he got all doe eyed and clearly wanted to give her a kiss.  he has never acted that way with anyone but his parents.  maybe he feels kinship with their dark complexions.  maybe he just likes their beautiful eyes.  regardless its amazing to watch.

sometimes we have a little downtime out of the sun.

taking silly self portraits is ty's new hobby.  if he takes about 30 a day he may one day catch up to his mother.  good thing hard drives are getting bigger.

tonight we went out for dinner at a fancy restaurant.  they required shoes and long pants!  things started off a little shaky with about 12 different glass goblets on the table, but once we got most of those cleared off and the serving staff started working their magic (see above) the boys actually sat still and (mostly) quiet in their chairs for just over 2 hours!  thank goodness, b/c there was a wedding party right beside us and there was a distinct possibility our kids would cry through their entire wedding banquet and possibly throw chocolate cake or ketchup on the bride's dress.

we have 2.5 more days before we fly home.  luckily its supposed to be sunny in chilliwack when we arrive.  not ready to leave yet.  we have some more relaxing to do, and a lot more food to eat!
nos amora la playa!