The Dowells: June 2010

6.29.2010

Mexico 2010

We are back safe and sound from our Mexican getaway! We arrived on Friday morning- shortly before Tropical Storm Alex.... Boooooo! But we still had an awesome time, and wouldn't have changed a thing! The only big bummer of it all was that our Scuba trip was canceled (obviously)- but other than that, a few gusts of wind and a drop of rain or two won't hold The Dowells back! :) Here is the day by day breakdown of the trip- get ready for the picture bombardment of the century. I am debilitatingly indecisive, and choosing pictures to represent a vacation is the ultimate challenge.

Day 1: Vive Mexico!

Taking off! El Dorado Seaside, here we come!

One of several Federale checkpoints on the drive from Cancun Airport to the hotel. Complete with pulled-over car, pacing officers, and machine guns.

Large iguana greeting us upon arrival.

Casey caught a starfish after 3 steps on the beach! Totally random, yet picture worthy.

My view of the Caribbean sea, when my nose was not buried in "Life of Pi".

Dinner Night 1- This all inclusive deal is sweet.

Day 2: Tropical Storm Alex rolls in. Scuba is canceled. We just lounge around under shelter most of the day. Fine by us!

Dinner Night 2- we made friends (actually been hanging with them from the start- we sat in front of them on the bus ride)! This is Jeromy and Emmy from Lincoln, NE. They're on their honeymoon!

Day 3: Tulum (Mayan Ruins) & Spa Afternoon- My FAVORITE day of the trip!

This cracked me up- the panchos are hilarious!

Mayan city on the sea- I stood here for a good 25 minutes in admiration (and therefore Casey stood here for a good 25 minutes. He was pretty concerned about me being blown over the cliff into the water- since I'm not that agile/coordinated/athletic/etc qualities that might help a person prevent a personal tragedy like that.)

Tulum

In the middle of Alex- the good camera was protected in Casey's back pocket and the waterproof disposable came out. The quality sucks- plus the weather sucks. Bad combo for photography! These waves were pounding the cliff- it was pretty amazing, actually.

Posing at Tulum

Cracks. Me. Up! Emily says I look like a conehead....

Look at that storm!

Going through a Mayan hallway- they were tiny people, let me tell you!

This building was so cool- if you look at the top left corner of the bottom floor, you can see a man's face. Mostly his chin and mouth.

Ohhhh, Alex, throwing a tantrum and bending palm trees.

The sun poked out for a bit!!! Reading with Emmy in a hut....

....while the guys played volleyball. During my massage they played soccer. Casey's still sore!

Dinner Night 3- Delicious, endless sushi!!!!

Day 4: Check out day. The sun came and went, but we basked in what we could get!

Hoping it looks like this when we're pulling away so it's not TOO depressing!

Casey in a hut. Hut hut.

Cliche beach/ocean picure- a must have.

At the bar! That's honestly just a plain 'ole Coke. I'm getting so old- I hardly drank any of the mixed drinks I was so greedily looking forward to. "I can taste the liquor!" Beer and wine were about it for this old prude.

Lunch before check out. I love this picture of Casey!

Arriba!

Walking down the path to the lobby to checkout. As big of a bummer as it was to leave, we sure missed Ada Bug- and couldn't wait to get home to hug her, kiss her, snuggle her, and shower her with ridiculous Mexican toys and t-shirts!

21 Month Book Worm

Here is Ada reading! OK, she is obviously not literate, but she loves to "read" books that she already has parts memorized of... or can figure out what they are saying. And she knows about 20 books by name-She requests certain books to read at naptime and bedtime, and usually reads to herself for about an hour in her bed before falling asleep. It's probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. This is kind of a long video, but I couldn't cut any of it out! (And, I have a really cute video of Ada and Grandma reading this book, too, but it's on my phone and can't upload it to blogger! D'oh!)

Library Group?

This is Ada at Library Group last week. She was completely uninterested in the story about dinosaurs. And not well versed in the group song and dance (nor was I). So this is how she bides her time instead of participating....

I promise to try to get a good video of her *actually* participating in Library Group on my real video camera (instead of my phone) that I can upload rather than sharing it from Facebook so that everyone can see it- because it really is the cutest darn thing you ever did see!

*Obviously, we are back from Mexico! I will post about it ASAP- but I'm waiting to get the photos back from the disposable camera- since we were in the middle of Tropical Storm Alex for much of the time, we needed something more waterproof than our Canon! We still had a blast, though, so I can't wait to blog!*

6.23.2010

Party at Olivia Atlee's!

We are switching play date locations each week, and Monday we went to Olivia (and Caitlin) Atlee's... let me tell you, those Atlee girls have the SET UP over there!!! I definitely want a huge game room in our next house for a central gathering location- it was so much fun sitting on their big couches watching the girls play together. Caitlin also has something else I'm dying for now... a bad a$$ camera! I've said for months I want a camera with internet access for easy sharing for Christmas this year, but after seeing these pictures that Caitlin took (many more, but these are the cute ones of The Bug!)- I'm changing my mind! Here are some adorable pictures- I LoVe SuMmEr!!!