Week 1 in Mexico: Puerto Vallarta to Melaque

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We left Hawaii a week ago today (I wrote this on the 20th, took awhile to get uploaded).  It was a busy week before we left,  getting rid of all our stuff in a 2 bedroom apartment and our car.  Now all of our things fit into a few backpacks and a surfboard bag.

It was a long flight from Hawaii to San Diego.  Nev did good even though he did not sleep which was a good thing since we had to spend the night in the airport.  We found a little spot to lay down and spend the night.  We made Nev a little bed and I think he actually got a pretty good night sleep.  We woke early as the airport got busy again.  We had to go back through security then we had some breakfast while we waited for our flight.  By the time we got on the plane Nev was pretty tired so he fell asleep right after the plane took off and slept the entire flight.  We had to wake him to get off the plane.

Nev at the airport (HNL) waiting for our plane

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta on the afternoon of July 13^th.  We needed a taxi to our hotel and we got wrangled  in to going to a “time share” presentation the following day (they don’t call them timeshares anymore they have a new name for them).  Anyway we got a free ride to our hotel, then they picked us up the next day and took us to their “resort”.  They fed us, gave us a tour of the place and the best part was Micah and I got free massages.  It took all day it seemed.  The 90 mins we were supposed to spend with them took 3 hours!  Then they tried to get us to do another one the next day……. It was just too much! But, I think one could make a whole vacation out of visiting these places with all the things they want to give you just to check out there places.

We stayed in PV for 3 nights at the Hotel Posada Roger.  It was a pretty nice little place in Old Town PV.  It had a swimming pool which Nev loved!  And lots of Mexicans were staying there so we got to practice our Spanish and play with the kids.  Nev is definitely starting to really enjoy playing in the water. 

Hotel Pool.  We were the only white people there.

Looking down at the hotel courtyard

Puerto Vallarta Sunset

Dinner at a taco stand.  Mmmm!

Walking across the suspension bridge in PV

Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream

The Taco vender right outside our hotel.  Great for midnight snacks ;)

PV was nice but we were ready to get outtof the city.  We took a first class bus to Melaque which is a smaller town.  We stayed there for 3 nights at Posados Patos.   Micah took an adventure to go surfing.  I don’t think there was much surf but he got in the water at least.  Nev made a friend, Oswaldo, so we spent a lot of time playing with him.  I felt sad to have to say goodbye to him.  He is a really good little kid (6 anos). 

Oswaldo

Not too bad of a place to have your morning cafe

Nev's first Mexican Playdate

Dinner on the beach in Melaque

Happy Boy!

We are definitely behind schedule.  We spent more time in PV then we had anticipated.  It has been hard to adjust to the time change, 5 hours earlier than Hawaii.  I think we are pretty close to being adjusted but it is still pretty hard for Nev to get to sleep.

First class buses are a pretty nice way to travel

Now we are back on the bus heading south to Manzanillo where we will try to figure out the second class buses in order to get to a small beach town that has surf.

1 Week! The countdown begins............

In one week from today our family (Mama, Papa and Guapo who is currently 2.5 years old) are setting off on our 5 month adventure that will take us from Hawaii to Mexico to Ecuador and all that is in between.  When we arrive in Puerto Vallarta we will have just shy of 2 months to make our way to Mindo, Ecuador where we will spend 3 months managing the Las Tangaras Nature Reserve.  Other than these few dates and locations there is no set itenerary.  We plan to travel pretty cheaply and travel by bus the whole way, except for the likely flight from somewhere in Central America to South America.   I am sure the pace of our travel will depend a lot on the surfing conditions in Mexico (Papa) and the mood of our 2.5 year old.  Preferably we will get to someplace cool and spend a few days there before we move on, limiting the number of times we have to spend long days on the bus which I can only imagine will make for a cranky kiddo.
So this is the begining to a new adventure for us.  I  by to be able to access the internet often to update the blog about our adventures as we go.  Follow along suscribing to this blog and get updated as we go!


This map shows where we are starting from and where we will be flying to and where we need to be in September.  I will add our destinations as we go.


View Hawaii to Ecuador in a larger map

The Bishop Museum and Sesame Street

The Bishop museum is a wonderful museum on O'ahu that includes exhibits on polynesian culture and also has science exhibits that the kids enjoy.  We purchased a family membership because it was such a great deal and we have been to the museum several times now.  Nev really enjoys the science discovery center where they have a "active" volcano and lava tubes to crawl in. Unfortunately I do not have to many pictures of the museum.

Sliding down a lavval tube with Grandma

They also have rotating exhibits and currently the Sesame Street Body Exhibit is there.  I think we have been there 3 or 4 times now! It is pretty cool and teaches about your body and health, excercise, and eating well.  The interactive exhibits are really fun for the kids.  Nev loves the "Grocery Store!"

Welcome Benjamin!

Our adventure in Hawaii will soon be coming to an end (more on that later) so I am going to try to make a mad dash to catch up on this blog so that I can start blogging about our new adventure.  If you don't already know what it is I will leave you in suspense for now.

Anyway, this post is not even about Hawaii.  This story takes place in California where Nev and I traveled to to meet the newest member of our family Benji!  We spent a couple of weeks there witht the family and we had a wonderful time.

Nev on the plane

This was also the first flight we have done with Nev getting his very own seat on the plane.  What a difference that makes!

Nev and his Uncle

We spent a lot of time with Nev's cousins and boys will be boys so there was A LOT of wrestling going on.  Nev also really enjoyed spending time with the little baby.  He kept asking to "pet" the baby.

Such a sweat baby!



While we were in California we also got to make a trip to the snow.  Nev and I had a good time throwing snow balls and making the tiniest snow man ever.

Nev also got to visit Grandpa at his work and pet and feed the horses carrots.



We also went to the train museum and the zoo.  It was a wonderful trip!

Catching up and The Children's Discovery Cneter

It has been awhile since I last posted (I feel like I say that in every post) and I need to catch up.......
I have been spending most of my free computer time on my 365 project.  Here is a link to it if you want to have a look at what I have been up to: http://365project.org/jaimeratchford/365

I have been going through my picture files on my computer trying to clean them up and organize them.  This is a daunting task; I have a lot of pictures and they are not well organized and I have a tendency to not want to delete pictures even when I have so many of the same thing or ones that are not very good.  Anyway, going through my pictures made me realize I have a lot of posts to catch up on.  So here is the first of more to come:

The Children's Discovery Center, Honolulu, HI
Nev and I made a trip to the children's discovery center back in February.  We had been to the one in Portland which was pretty impressive and the one in Honolulu is just as good if not better!
It has 3 stories of interactive exhibits for the kids and is good for children of a wide age group.  This included a lot of role playing exhibits and toys.  Nev enjoyed playign fireman and driving the fire truck.

There is a train area with a toy train which was hard to get him away from.

 There is a big reading room with an Giant chair.  Nev was getting cozy with all the stuffed animals

 There is also alot of exhibits that are realated to Hawaii.  One floor is dedicated to it.  This includes things like the pineapple plantation, flying,  and shipping boats.  Nev and his friend enjoyed working in the pineapple plantation, picking the pineapples.

 The one section I really like was exhibits of some of the many cultures of the people who live in Hawaii.  Nev and his friend enjoyed driving the world travel bus. 

     All in all it was really fun for him.  I hope to get back there again soon!

Honolulu Zoo

We took a trip to the Honolulu Zoo a couple of weeks ago.  I tried to arrange an outing with the toddler meetup group I am part of but only one other mom and baby showed up.  This was OK with me.  I like a smaller group over a large one.  I feel like I get to know the mom and kid better.



 We had a lot of fun! I had wanted to go because I heard there was a new elephant exhibit there and Nev loves elephants.  I had heard some poor reviews for the zoo so I wasn't expecting much but it turned out a lot better than expected.  I am even planning to make more trips back there because there was still a lot there we didn't see and it was not to expensive to go.

Next time we go we will head for the keiki zoo which has a petting zoo that we did not make it to this time.  The zoo also has a nice play area with a playground.

This picture below was my photo for the day in my 365 project.  Here is a link to my page if you are interested. http://365project.org/jaimeratchford/365



An Update

Nev is becoming such a big boy these days and has had many transitions in his life lately.  We have been teaching him about the potty for a long time now.  We have had a potty for him around since he was about a year and a half.  I had no hopes in him using it that young but I just thought it would be a good idea to have one around and talk about it early on so that it wouldn't become this new thing all of a sudden.  For that last few months he has been consistently peeing in the potty at home and we have been working on it when we are out of the house too.  Lately he has been pooping in the potty and today he did it all by himself! Twice!!

These are very exciting times!

 Nev has also moved into a "big boy bed".  Really it is just his crib with the side off and we put up a rail so he won't fall out but the main idea is that he can get in and out of it on his own.  It has been a bit of a challenge keeping him in his bed but he is getting the hang of it even though he is waking up a little too early.  He seems to be very proud of his big boy bed and likes being able to get in and out of it by himself.

These days Nev's favorite thing to do is play with his train.  He also likes stacking blocks and building things which is a big step up from just wanting to knock everything down.  He is talking up a storm these days and blows me away every day with his increasing vocabulary and the complexity of his "sentences".  He also loves to sing and is even starting to make up his own songs to the tune of songs he knows.  It's pretty cute!