Spring Break in Boise 09

After playing in the 43 degree very cold tennis class with grandpa here in Boise on Thursday, Michelle played her new song "Love At Home" It was a rendition that she played in Sacrament Meeting the week before.

The Woodlands

I can't believe another week has passed since we were in The Woodlands enjoying the wonderful weather and having fun with our Texas grand kids. We followed up our excursion to Rebeccas with another week in The Woodlands (Houston. TX) with Shelly and Doran and family. We aren't sure if we aged or got younger with all the fun things we did with them! Grandpa (Dick) played tennis twice a day with the older three children, Ryan, Malia and Gavin.

We had a great time playing games, putting puzzles together, playing tennis, having magic shows, painting rooms, visiting the Blue Bell Factory (Ice Cream), swinging in the big long swings from the tall trees in their back yard and enjoying the wonderful weather.
Dick and Gavin made a challenge bet about hitting the tennis ball in to the basket. Gavin had to pay Dick a 25ç for each basket he got and was going into debt, when Gavin hit the basket in one shot! Bingo! Gavin stuck it rich with a $10 bill! We all took a shot at it and found it wasn't as easy as it looked.

This is the sign the kids made and greeted us in the middle of the street when we arrived the first night. We ran through the sign and then taped it back together to take the pictures. Guess we will have to make it back again in June to see the kid's progress with their tennis. They improved greatly during the week. Ryan won a gold medal this week playing against 20 other schools. Malia plans to add to her two gold medals on Saturday in another tournament. Good luck, kids!!

Longmont, Colorado

We had a wonderful few days with Kevin, Rebecca and little Jadeyn. It was so fun to get to know him and play for a while. The weather was wonderful and we went for several walks in the neighborhood. They are a cute family and Jadeyn is the center of all our attention. He is so cute. We almost had him taking his first steps alone, but missed it by about 3 days. Look on Rebecca's blog to see the first steps. Thank you Kevin and Rebecca for wonderful visit to Longmont. Oh! I am now wearing contacts again, thanks to Dr. C. and loving it! He is a great doctor!

Kevin, Rebecca & Jadeyn

Nightly Entertainment

Each night we attended another show at one of the Palaces Resorts. The Moon Palace had the best ones. We saw "Michael Jackson" and during the show, it began to pour rain. Most people began to run for cover because it was an outside stage. When he kept preforming, most of us came back and danced with him as the rain fell. He was pretty good and it was a blast to be a part of the show!


There was a circus with two amazing talented muscular guys that did incredible climbing up poles with only their arms while their bodies were extended perpendicular to the upright pole. A cute little dog dressed as an elephant was limp as a rag on the floor until his owner picked him up and pretended to wind him up like toy and he would preform, walk, or dance, then fall the the floor again like he was unwound. He jumped for joy when his act was over and the suit was taken off. The other little dog was dressed as a woman and twirled around.

Xcaret

Xcaret is a great place to learn about the Mexican and Mayan Culture unveiling their roots, customs, traditions, cultural, and natural richness. The underground rivers, beaches, flora and fauna has really got the show going. It was all presented in a beautiful natural setting.




Here are a few of the animals we especially enjoyed, the aquarium with great fish and coral displays, the turtle sanctuary where we saw everything from the hatching to the old, huge guys in ponds.






The jaguars were especially fun to see. They were just over a deep ravine from us, so you felt up close and personal with them. They were beautiful.







There was a large flock of flamingos in all varying colors of coral. We were trying to tell if color indicated their sex? Do any of you know?

The Stingrays glided so beautifully through the water that I had to make a quick video of them. Hope it works so you can see the movement.

Fantastic Food

Every restaurant has fantastic displays of their food. We ate at the Brazilian, Mexican, Italian, International, Steak House, and Japanese Grill. These are a few of the concoctions we ate. Their coconut ice cream was the best ever. It was hand churned every day at the hotels. Our group took home our share of it around our waist, too!

We had a dish called Paella, which included every seafood, rice, vegetables, and spices. Jerry had it every day they cooked it on the patio! I had some form of Mexican food every day and could still eat it!

Chichen Itza

We had a great trip to Chichen Itza for the day. This is the LDS guide, Able who was very good. If you look closely in his glasses, you will see the four of us leaning against the wall while he talked. I wondered if he thought I was crazy focusing in on him while he talked, but he never said anything. Lots more ruins have been uncovered since our last visit. It was a exciting trip home, as Jerry got on the OLD road home. So after many "topas" (speed bumps) and getting lost in the city of Cancun, we made it home. Jerry was awesome as he put up with 3 backseat drives telling him where to go. Great memories of a fun trip!