The sun sets on our last day in Cancun

I just love the way the sun looks on the water.

Our last night we walked over to La Isla, the outdoor mall, and found a restaraunt called the Blu, and ate dinner right here by the water.

The seating was all outside on the deck.

And yes, after dinner, we went back to Chocolate City for that messy cup one more time. We all shared the messy cup and the chocolate shake. We knew once we got back home, the sweets would disappear again so we made the most of it:)

There was a fountain in the middle of the mall that had a light show as well. There was also live music here and several street performers throughout. Elli was very afraid of the skeleton on the motorcycle that would pretend to be a statue then move just as people walked by. He scared many people which would make us laugh, but not Elli. She did finally wave at him from a distance the last night. We had such a great time on vacation. We will miss this [place but hope to make it back sometime.

Our sand marks

I started making sand marks a couple of vacations ago with our feet in the sand. It was such a good picture and memory, I decided to keep it up whenever we go to the beach. So here in Cancun with the 6 foot wall heading down to the beach, we wrote our name.

Then, we did our feet in the sand. Brent, Elli, Lori. Our feet look like they are lifted above the sand, but really they are imprinted. Must be the angle of the sun.

Thursday held lots of activites!

We went over to feed the iguanas. They were curious and wary all at the same time. Eventually, they came and ate the fruit off the sticks. I took a turn while holding Elli as well.

At the top of the Mayan Temple right next to our resort. It was neat to see how they constructed their buildings. I cannot believe it is still standing.

We practiced making towel animals. Here we are holding our monkeys. We also made swans, bunnies and turtles. Cute and fun:) Elli was telling us all how to do it and helping when she could.

Finally a day at the beach without getting pelted with sand. We really enjoyed playing in the ocean. It was also so beautiful! I could not get over the colors of the water and the sky. So pretty.

This picture was taken from the bridge at our resort. The pool is directly behind us and as you can see, it looks like it goes right into the ocean. We loved this huge pool, even though it was cold:) I am wearing my Cancun hat because my head got burnt on my first day. Ouch! I forgot to bring my hat with me, so I bought a nice little souvenier.

Wednesday had just as much fun

Our resort had a kids club where they have activities all day long. On Wednesday, they had a parent's night out. We left Elli there for a party while we went to dinner. Elli had a lot of fun painting, eating pizza, watching the bunnies and watching a movie. (she was crying when I picked her up though because it was a movie where the dogs get separeted from their mommies and she was sad). Other than that, she had a great 2 hour party and we enjoyed a delicious dinner of seafood at Aioli. Elli took this picture for us.

Elli made fiends with everyone including the cleaning ladies. She talked with them and on Wednesay, they left her this little surprise, a towel elephant:)

Seriously playing with her characters. Daddy joined in too. It was a chilly day with 27 mile per hour winds, so we swam in the hot tub. It wasn't too warm and many families were in there with their kids:)

This dessert is called Messy Cup, from Chocolate City. We ate this dessert twice:) The cup is filled with vanilla ice cream and cool whip. The cup is coated with chocolate syrup, caramel, peanut butter and pecans. As you can see it is very messy and very delicious.

The many faces of Elli

The water here feels so cold. I think that is partly because the pools are so huge!!! One of the pools is warmer than the others though, so we swim there. The kiddy pool is also nice and warm.

Elli wanted to sit on the round seats. I put her up there and she looked at the server and said, "'Hola." Crazy little girl:)

Posing is a new thing for Elli. She even practices some of her new faces out on me. She had people laughing during this minature photo shoot by the stairs. Here are a couple of the shots.

My goodness! Do you think she pays attention to advertisements on the walls of stores? I certainly am not the one teaching her how to pose this way. I promise:)

I cannot believe how social Elli is. She talks to everyone she sees and makes friends with all the kids around. She is as sweet as can be to others, except for when she is hungry or sleepy:) People will stop us to say how pretty and sweet she is. I think everyone here knows her name and she waves at people as if she is employed and gets paid to be nice. The grandparents here love it and converse with her. The parents here love that she entertains their kids so they can relax. It has been very fun to say the least!

I did ask Elli what Jesus sees when he looks at her heart so she does not get too focused on the fact that everyone says she is pretty. She said, "Jesus sees life." Praise the Lord!

Dolphins and a mariachi band!

We went to Oceano which is the restaurant at our resort and had the best mexican food ever tonight. It was a buffet of deliciousness! During dinner this band played music for us. Elli was very excited about dancing, that is until they came to our table to play for us. They even came back and played the chicken dance. Oh well.

She just gets so worn out from all the playing. Dinner is almost done but it takes the people here FOREVER to bring a check. Brent told me I was too uptight, but last night for example, we finished our dinner at 7:10 and finally had the bill paid at 7:45. Too long to wait in my opinion, especially with a sleepy girl who is tired of waiting too:)

The exit from the aquarium takes you through the gift shop, of course. So, after such an amazing show of dolphins, we walked out with this pink one. I think she is excited?

We took lots of video of the dolphin show, but the pictures just didn't turn out too well. These dolphins were so fun to watch. I got a little choked up watching them and even thought I might cry. I don't know why watching dolphons did that to me. I think maybe it was the fact that they seemed so excited to perform? They did lots of cool tricks and at the end, they all posed for us on the platform. One of them had her mouth open like she was smiling. Yes, tears to my eyes! Elli loved it too and wanted to hug them afterwards. True to her sweet self.

Dinner, friends, and the aquarium

The sun is setting behind us as we wait for the dolphin show outside the aquarium. It is beautiful. Notice Elli's new little Mexican dress purchased at the market today in Playa Del Carmen. I am wet because I was splashed by a shark while I was petting it.

Elli saw the jelly fish first, but was enjoying checking out all the fish. She was so excited to find things in the tanks, like a seek-and-find game:)

This is the result of waking up at 6:12 in the morning and spending a big day shopping and playing. She slept the whole way home.

Brent's cousin Carolyn and her husband Ray and daughter Adalai were on vacation here in Cancun as well. They leave tomorrow but wanted to meet up. So, we rented a car and met them in Playa Del Carmen for a day of eating and shopping. Adalai and Elli played well together, even though both had their shy moments. Elli took on her usual mothering and Adalai was fairly compliant:) They enjoyed playing in the sand on the beach, running ahead of us to look at shops, and generally getting into things. Ben and Jerry's ice cream was a highlight as well as each getting to pick out a 3-D puzzle. Fun day.

Last night we ate at J.C.Captains Steak and Seafood. I had lobster tacos and Brent had grouper. Both dishes were very good. The restaurant looked like a grass hut and was on the lagoon. They gave a mosquito repellant a tad too late for me:) Elli put on a show, though quietly like we asked, and won over the folks around us. One couple just fell in love with her and kept talking to her. After dinner, we went into Cancun and went to Burger King since Eli refused to eat any of our meals for dinner. We did get some of the culture of the town though and had fun with our rental car for 24 hours:) Late night, early morning.

The Westin Lagunamar, Cancun Feb 27-March 5

The Westin Lagunamar from the ocean.

On the beach. There is a 6 foot drop from the upper beach, to the ocean. There are places to get down, but it is strange. We found lots of shells too.

We are standing right in front of our resort. Such a pretty place. There are grass huts all over the beach line for poeple to sit under when the sun gets to be too much. You know I won't be caught under one of these:) Too much sun?

Check out that face. She is carzy! The pools are infinity pools which makes it look like they go right into the ocean. Love the look of that. Elli was confused when we were swimming in it. She thought we were going into the ocean too:)

We arrived Sat at 1:00ish. It was beautiful outside, but oh so windy. We were freezing! Elli was awake all day doing well on the planes, except for her ears didn't pop and she cried a little during the landing. She finally fell asleep after an unpleasant and long wiat to simply get out of the airport! She slept in my arms through the check in time and woke up when I laid her on the bed, of course. So we went straight to the pool and froze because of the wind. We ate a yummy italian dinner and all went to bed at 8:00 Cancun time. Elli did however wake up this morning at 6:40. Today though is very warm, little to no wind, and the vacation begins...

Good-bye Birthday Party

No, it was not Elli's birthday, but Meredith had several candles so each little girl got their chance to blow out the candle on their piece of cake. This was a Strawberry Shortcake party which brought back many memories of my childhood. Funny how things come back around:)

Eileen helped Meredith blow out her candle after the traditional Happy Birthday song. What a fun day.

Elli went to Meredith's birthday party which took place the day before they would be moving to Alabama. Elli will miss her friend. She has asked several times why Meredith had to move, and wonders why she will not be at church anymore. We will keep in touch though with pictures and facebook thanks to the age of technology:) Thank you for sharing your big day with us Meredith!

Too cute for words

Last night Brent prayed for dinner. When he was finished, Elli said, "Oh no. We forgot to pray for the food. Jesus, thank you for our food. Amen. Whew, that was a close one!"

This morning, we were talking about Jesus and how he forgives our sins and other things (this is a fairly common conversation with Elli). I asked her why Jesus came, and she said to die for our sins. I asked her if he was still dead and she told me that he was not dead, but that he raised from the dead and is in heaven. Then she told me she would like to die anytime because then she could be with Jesus. I of course didn't like the thought of her dying, but she has the right perspective. Then, she said Jesus could do everything because he is God. I asked if she could do everything. She told me "no" but that she could do yoga and a flip over. I guess those things count for something?

Elli's first "Have a friend spend the night" Night

One of the most exciting things was the two of these girls getting a bath in our big tub!

Settling in for the night. They went to bed at about 9:20 and fell asleep at about 10:00. Not too bad for two giggly girls:)

Breakfast of eggs and a bagel with cinamon. Yummy! Elli is a hugger so she couldn't help giving Lily hugs all night and all day. (except when they were fighting over a toy. these two often act like sisters with their arguments)

It wouldn't be a sleep-over without a princess movie. When Lily saw that Elli had a new movie, The Swan Princess, (from my parents for Valentines Day) she really wanted to watch it. When the movie was over, Elli said to Lily during the song for the credits, "Lily, this is our song. Want to dance?" They were both dressed in tutus and proceeded to do ballet all over the house! It was a very fun night and the girls did quite well. hey want to do it again, but Lily said she wants to stay two nights. We'll see:)

All Dressed Up

We were all dressed up for the Valentine's Dinner at church and wanted a picture. We had already come ustairs to get Elli in bed, but since the camera was easy to set up on the dresser with the timer, we got our picture here. So fun to have a reason to get dressed up!

Elli wanted a picture of just the girls. She was being so sweet!

Just can't get enough of those snow playing pictures

We discovered that icy snow makes even the front yard slope a great sledding spot.

At least this time when she fell down she was smiling!

Fergi got in on the fun too. She was getting some kisses from Elli.

Snow Ice Cream

I need a tip on how to keep the snow out of her gloves when she plays. Any ideas?

The dumping of the snow to turn it into ice cream.

The eating of the snow ice cream!

We have discovered a new treat. Several friends have talked about making snow ice cream so Elli and I looked it up on the computer and made some of our own. We couldn't resist the chocolate syrup on top. How delicious!

A Trip in the Snow

Inside the restaurant after dinner.

And outside. Look at the snow:)

Lance and Lana posing in the snow.

Elli loves to eat snow as I have mentioned before. She loved being able to stick her tongue out and catch the snow flakes.

And here we are in the snow. I canceled class for tomorrow morning because I am a little nervous to drive in all this snow by myself, so Elli and I will be playing lots more in this white stuff!

We all wanted to get out and about, even in the 6+ inches of snow. So, we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Surprise, no wait!