Christmas at the Zolman house

This is the first Christmas Day that we’ve spent at our house since we got married. It was also the first year that Vada really cared about Christmas. An she really, really cared this year.

Vada picked out and baked cookies for Santa and his reindeers. She added a chocolate kiss for Santa’s cookies and made plain peanut butter cookies for the reindeer.

 

She watched the NORAD Santa Tracker all evening.

She was pretty stoked to get a thank you note from Santa in the morning.

Jamie was also pretty stoked about opening presents too…

It was a pretty big day for someone that loves princesses.

After we opened gifts Vada got on FaceTime to tell everyone about her gifts.

 

And the day ended with chocolate ice cream. It was pretty much a Make-A-Wish day for V.

 

“Quiet” Time

You never know what you’re going to find when you open Vada’s room after quiet time. Typically though it’s utter chaos.

Pink puffball

Vada and I met Toban at his office at the end of the day for a casual holiday gathering. They have giant bean bags around the office which Vada loves to jump into. It was PJ day at preschool so she is wearing pink ballerina pajamas which in combination with the fluffy white bean bag is girly girl heaven to Vada.

We even put up stockings this year!

This girl is loving Christmas…

Vada’s big adventure

During our stay in Mexico we were very satisfied to just lounge by the pool and the ocean but we did decide to venture out on an excursion one day. We booked a beach hideaway trip with a local tour guide to Las Caletas. Because it is a private cove, the only way in and out is by boat. Once on the beach you can snorkel, kayak, paddle board, etc.

 

We chose this tour though because it specializes in kids adventures. Vada was able to interact with monkeys and hold a (giant!) snake, ride a donkey up the cliff side, and then zip-line back down! Vada did awesome doing everything by herself. She probably would not have done it all if we had been with her.

 

On the boat ride out they were selling add-on adventures. They asked us if we wanted to have a Sea Lion encounter and Vada immediately said yes. Toban and Vada were able to spend about 20 minutes in a swimming pool with Jenny the Sea Lion. Her nickname is Princess. We paid for two sea lion kisses, but Vada wasn’t totally sold on a kiss after seeing Jenny get a little too frisky with her dad’s ear during his kiss, so Carmen was able to get a kiss from Jenny too.

 

Sea Lions are a pretty bizarre animal up close.

Our Thanksgiving was better than yours…

For Thanksgiving we took our first trip to Mexico! We went to an area on the Pacific coast known as the Riviera Nayarit and stayed in a beachfront home in Bucerias named Casa Dos Palmas.

 

The casa is a tight cluster of 3 homes with the same owner right on the beach. They are connected via gardens and then share a single swimming pool that overlooks the ocean. We were the only people staying there so we only shared the property with the iguanas. The house is located in a quiet area between resorts so we never had anyone within 100 yards of us on the beach. It was truly a quiet retreat.

As soon as we arrived we headed out to the beach to catch the last hours of daylight and the sunset. Vada was not certain of us going in the ocean the first day but each day she ventured out more and more. We spent our time alternating between the ocean and the pool. Vada started out the week in a lifejacket in the pool and by the end of the stay was swimming with just pool noodles.

Our first night we headed out walking up the beach to see if we could get dinner at a nearby hotel resort. We stumbled upon a large group having a Thanksgiving dinner by a resort pool and they invited us to join them. Honestly we were looking forward to having carnitas tacos for Thanksgiving dinner but it seemed like too good of a story to pass up. So we shared a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (even Pumpkin Pie) with a group of expats from Detroit and their Mexican friends on the beach.

Another night we arranged for the Casa’s local manager to have a traditional Mexican dinner cooked for us at the casa. She grilled freshly caught Mahi Mahi and served it with a green sauce that she warned was spicy!

We’re pretty confident that this was the start of a new holiday tradition. It was a really great trip.

We’re back from Mexico…

Pictures and stories coming when we adjust back to work and the temperature!

Play !

A playground near our house just re-opened after getting a total overhaul. We have had sunny (but cold) weather to go play on the weekends.