Where Have I Been?

Just a bit of a break from the blogging...a little too long of a break.

Let's see if we can recap the last few months. We went back to the US in the summer to visit family and friends and had a great time catching up. We even road tripped it up to PA to see my Grandma (Great Grandma Ruth to the kids) for her 90th birthday! I hope to be as active at 90 as she is!

The kids and I stayed in the US for a month while Vaughan returned to Mexico after a few weeks. One month is much too long for trying to pack later. My parents had WAY too much time to get things for the kids that I had no room in the suitcases for.

Back to Mexico and we have changed Connor to the Waldorf school that Avery has been going to. Ak Lu'um is a great school set 3/4 of a mile into the jungle. Connor's old school was good but double digit addition and subtraction along with fractions for Kindergarten was a bit much for me. He is loving the school and having a great time learning! Many times when they are playing games or on a nature walk he thinks it is all fun and has no idea he is learning. Got to love that! Avery loves that her big bro is going to "her school" which is rally cute.

We have not been to the beach much, just busy living and working. Things are still really slow here. Slow is normal for September but when you have had 3 or 4 months of really slow before it then things just get really hard. A number of restaurants and businesses have closed for the next few months or had to shut down altogether. We are all looking forward to November when things usually pick up. We know it is going to be slower than High Season from last year but it will be better than it is now. Just got to get through it!

We decided with some friends of ours to take a trip to Valladolid and Chichen Itza for the Fall Equinox. We got there and headed to the market to get some lunch. Real local food, tacos and Jimica! While we were at the market it started to pour. By the time we left the rain had stopped but the streets were full of puddles which Connor had a great time splashing in.

Back at the hotel we had a drink while waiting for our other 2 friends. Once they got there we all wandered around town taking photos and enjoying the cloud cover.

Back at the hotel we all gathered around the pool and had some wine and car-food munchies that we had brought.

Dinner time came around and Avery did not feel so well. Gave her some meds and soup and then headed up to bed. The next morning she still was not feeling well. We decided we would eat breakfast and then head back to Playa while the rest of the group went to Chichen Itza. I have to say that we were worried. Avery's body temp would not come down and she had a rash on her upper body. We drove right to the doctors office where they took care of her right away. Scarlet Fever/strep throat...yuck! Here she is showing off the classic scarlet fever "strawberry" tongue.

Two days of rest and medication and she was back to her old punk rock self. Turns out no one saw the Kuklakan snake shadow at Chichen Itza because it was too cloudy...maybe next year!

Looking forward: We have lots of races going on in the Riviera Maya! I am so excited! Connor is going to participate in a Youth Bike Competition in Cancun on Oct 4. Then, the following weekend, my friend Stephanie and I are doing a 10K at the Cancun airport. Then Xel-Ha is hosting a sprint triathlon on Nov 8 and December 4 is the 6K, 1/2 Marathon and Marathon in Cancun. I am hoping to do to 1/2 Marathon but we shall see!