Ol' Mexico

Catching a 6am flight to ol' Mexico requires letting your littles stay in their pajamas for the first leg to San Fran. It was Jody's idea to bring the Bob and I think I told him, on several occasions, that he was a genius. That thing was a pack mule!! We toted all our crap, and kept the kids in comfortable confinement, in quite the organized fashion {We love you BOB}.

By days end we were exhausted but oh so happy to be taking in this amazing view.....with drink in hand....and loving on our Duvall side of the family. Vacation with littles can sometimes hinder your photo taking abilities, but believe you me.....there was no shortage of pool time, fruity beverages, afternoon siestas and yummy Mexican food.

Several evenings the grandparents did us a huge solid and let us sneak away for some quiet dinners.
The first night out we had sushi....in Mexico....it was surprisingly good and the company was even better.

Our second evening will live in infamy FOREVER! Let's just say that it involved this drink.....known as the "Bulldog"...

and the owner of the place inappropriately grinding on you while singing a naughty song. We all found it incredibly entertaining and awkward at the same time....... 

especially when he sang the song to both my brother-in-laws.

I was skeptical about the mixed drink + beer combo, but it was surprisingly good. Cheers!!

Cute couple sequence......we love these people....

and these people! {Andrew.....natural smile for the win}

{Love that guy!}

The restaurant is covered in school flags and writing on the walls is encouraged. I can only imagine what the place is like during spring break and I'm sure the owner gets maximum hip action {Yikes!}.

Repen' our Alma maters....

The last time the whole Duvall/Shier group was in Mexico was 5 long years ago. Since that time, our crew has added 4 more grand kids and a whole new level of loudness. We met at the beach, the last night, to get some family photos.

Great shot.....

great shot....

fat chance!!

Our faces say it all.....Harrison was like the Tasmanian Devil out there, just buzzing around & kicking up sand. 

I do love that I got some sweet pictures of Jody and Grace.....

seriously.....we tried

We spent our evenings hanging together and either laughing at the kids antics or playing referee. The little cousins loved their big cousins.....Harrison always wanted to know where "his boys" were.  

And before I forget.....we fed brother chocolate donuts every morning. He was in Mexican heaven!

We loved you Cabo......until we meet again!!

Big thanks to my mother & father-in-law for making this happen.......nailed it!!!

Then we had a party

When babies turn 1 you have a party .... it's an unspoken rule that I tried to ignore. A couple weeks before Grace's birthday I had nothing planned, except a little family bbq, and was happy with that decision. All was good, until we went to our neighbors 1st b-day bash, and I realized I wasn't planning a party because it was a difficult task....but because I was being lazy. Our friends are easy, laid back and don't require a big production, so I put on my big girl panties and we threw our girl a party. Guess what? It was so much fun! 

Isn't that just how life goes sometimes? We drag our feet or "don't feel" like doing things {heaven forbid we actually have to interact with others} but once we are there, in the moment, we are so glad we got off our butts and made ourselves available. I'm the worst! I digress, it sometimes just feels like such work to get out of my yoga pants :)

Back to the FUN party - 

We had a pool party {without water}and the kids didn't mind one bit. There were lots of little ones and a few wild toddlers. We mixed in neighbors, play group friends, lots of community group folks and everyone mingled and kid wrangled together.....it was a beautiful thing. I grossly underestimated the number of deviled eggs my friends would consume {noted for next year} but I made up for it in the beer & cupcake department. 

And now.....overkill in the "pictures of sister eating a cupcake" department

hmm....I have an idea

genius!