September-October

Catch-up blogs can be overwhelming, so I'll try to keep it simple. We've had a fun month since Siena turned one. At the end of September we got to travel to Cancun, Mexico and celebrate Dave and Alissa's 6-year anniversary with them at the Westin Lagunamar Resort. The Foresters had a tough time getting there, because little Sydney hadn't gotten a passport (a birth certificate and both parents used to suffice). They cruised from Fresno to LA at 95 mph, sweet talked both airline and passport-issuing agents, ran out of gas, and did it all on very little sleep. All this to say that Shiloh, Siena and I unexpectedly spent 24 hours in Cancun without our hosts, but, thankfully, they arrived Saturday afternoon fully prepared to RELAX. (Keeping it simple is going to be tricky, I can tell.)



Siena was a champ on the planes - slept almost all of every leg. Each way we had a 3+ hour layover in Atlanta (yes, Cancun is almost that far east!) and here are Shiloh and Siena, passing the time in an airport nook.



Aaah, finally made it! Here are two VERY happy travelers.



A view from one pool, looking back at the entrance to the hotel. Turn 180 degrees and you see...



... us, at the edge of the infinity pool. If you stand farther back from us you can't see any sand and the pool seems to extend forever into el oceano.



We spent a lot of time at the pool and beach, but one eventful outing was taking the local bus downtown to Super WalMart for some groceries. 7 pesos = almost 50 cents apiece



Our trip was successful! Once inside we spent almost two hours picking out fruit (large selection), meat, cheese (viva manchego!), milk (unrefrigerated and boxed), etc. When Alissa and I arrived at the front of our check-out line (the boys were entertaining the girls on a kermit car ride), we were given a dirty look by the attendant. I tried to explain, "estamos juntos" as she looked concerned by our two full carts. Then she said something that I understood as "express line." Oops. She took us anyway but was not amused when Shiloh came over later and said something about "oh, we thought you meant ten BAGS, not dies ITEMS!" (Or something like that in Spanish.) To our credit, the line was VERY poorly marked. ;)



The trip home was considerably more crowded and expensive, but a taxi was required to hold us and all of our bounty.



This shot is only slightly misleading. Though the boys had access to the TV 24 hours a day, they actually watched very little, and even indulged their ladies by watching Pride and Prejudice with them one night. Our men trump Mr. Darcy any day! (And don't get me wrong, I understand just how high of a praise that is. :) )



Inspired by her friend Sydney, Siena got very close to officially walking on our trip. She would often take 5-6 steps to bridge a span of ground - usually that separated her from whoever the closest person with food was.



Other highlights included petting a shark and a sting ray...



...visiting an aquarium...



...watching a VERY cool dolphin show...



...seeing some old Mayan ruins (from afar) on Isla Mujeres (because we'd rather put our pesos towards more helado (ice cream) - it was SO hot!)...



...exploring Isla Mujeres by golf cart...



...swimming while waiting for our food at El Tiburon restaurant...



...releasing baby turtles into the ocean at night (and having Dave take a flash picture to capture Alissa's excitement, even though it was prohibited)...



...eating out at Italiani's...



...watching Sydney eat, and much, much more. Thank you Foresters for such a wonderful vacation!


We arrived home on a Thursday night, Shiloh worked on Friday, and then we headed down to Atherton to see my parents and pick up Ruby. Saturday night around 11pm, Siena seemed to get a hang of the whole walking thing.



Then it was back to Davis to settle back into normal life. Normal life includes...



...going on walks with the cousins...



..."mowing" out back with mommy and avoiding Ruby's playful tackles...



...dancing, eating, dropping things, and proclaiming, "uh-oh"...



...working on my photography business...



...having friends over (Luke Steidlemayer stopped by when he was in town, which actually happened before we left, I think)...



...visiting Impossible Acres' pumpkin patch and petting zoo...



Luke petting goats



Shay holding a bunny



Siena sharing chips...



...with Zeke and Elena in the wagon

And that brings us up to last weekend when we went out to the Morgans' vineyard for a Western/Cowboy/Show/Music/Dinner/Fun event that they hosted there. It was a lot of fun!



Simple? Not so much. But who's life is simple?