Mexico Trip - Sayulita

Oh boy, did we need this vacation.  We planned it for many months and were excited.  But both kids passports expired in May so we went to the library to have all the documents submitted and paid to have the renewal expedited.  But with less than two weeks before our trip, we still didn't have the passports.  That kicked off one of the most frustrating, anxiety-inducing periods of my life.  It involved calling the National Passport Center multiple times, with each call requiring a two - three hour hold.  One morning I woke up at 5am to call, and still was on hold for almost an hour.  I scoured Reddit message boards for advice and contacted my state Senator's office to file paperwork to assist us.  There was sleep lost, tears shed and hope fading.  We made the decision not to cancel or change any of our reservations in hopes that the universe would allow this to work out.  And then, with less than 48 hour before our flight, we received the passports.  Oh happy day!  I had found out the day before that they had shipped and the weight lifted off my shoulders was indescribably.  

So when we had to wake up super early on Sunday (6/4) for our flight to Puerto Vallarta, it felt like a privilege and a dream.  After an easy flight, we took a cab about an hour north to the little beach town of Sayulita.  I used to visit Puerto Vallarta with my dad in my late teens and early 20s.  We visited Sayulita on a day trip, along with other beaches to the north.  But in the years since, Sayulita has become a popular little beach town with amazing food and a fair number of tourists.  We stayed at an Airbnb on the north side of town, away from some of the hustle and bustle of downtown, but still just an easy walk to amazing food and shopping.  

Our home away from home was very unique.  The upstairs and downstairs living spaces were open air, including the kitchen.  The bedrooms were enclosed with locking doors, attached bathrooms and (thankfully) air conditioning.  The best part? It was just steps to the beach. 

The best part? It was just steps to the beach. 

Heading out in search of some dinner on the first night. 

Saw this beautiful mural on a morning walk. 

Leo absolutely loved being in the ocean.  He spent every moment he could in there.  Including a sunset swim at the end of our first full day. 

Tuesday we took a boat to Marietas Islands to do some snorkeling.  

Unfortunately, after these pictures I got seasick and stayed that way for a while.  Part of the outing was a sit down lunch at a restaurant back in Sayulita.  The waitress took one look at me and said "I'll bring you a box".  I sipped on a Sprite and felt slightly more human.  Not a highlight for me.  

Dinner was fun though.  We ate at this tropical outdoor....well, shack.  

Dessert was ice cream tacos from the cutest little food trailer.  

Wednesday, Tom and the kids took a surf lesson with Chimio.  I follow him on Instagram.  

Here they are getting some instruction on land.  

Then it was off to conquer the ocean.  

I had so much fun watching them because they were doing really well and it seemed like they were having a good time. 

Here's a video of Serafina. 

Here's Tom.

And Leo. 

Successful surfers finishing up. 

Thursday I made my family walk to Playa de Los Muertos.  It's a beach right next to a cemetery.  I thought it was one I had visited a long time ago, but it wasn't.  It was lovely, but small and the walk there was pretty hot. 

We got a good view of Sayulita on the way. 

Almost there.  I loved this, of course. 

This beach was a more protected cove so there weren't really any waves.  Leo preferred the more exciting beach by our Airbnb. 

My gorgeous girl in a gorgeous spot. 

We stopped by the colorful town square on our way back so we could get tacos from our favorite place, but it was closed.  

Tom found a different favorite taco place for dinner that night.  

Frida and Diego bench. 

Ahhh, colorful Sayulita.  

This is about the time Serafina was sick of my picture taking.  

Giving me a smile because we were in line for gelato. 

Here's Tom having a final cup of coffee on Friday morning before we left Sayulita.  He loved being just steps from this spectacular spot, even though none of us really loved the "outdoor" living of the house.  We would absolutely go back, but probably pick a place with walls.  

Celebration of Learning "Badge"

Since Leo's school is in its inaugural year, they are still figuring out programs and events.  The principal and staff are all very enthusiastic since they are paving their own way.  When the principal announced there was an opportunity to earn a "badge" (a type of award), I encouraged Leo to participate. One way to earn a badge was to demonstrate how he had learned a new skill.  He wasn't sure what he could do for the project, but I thought it was pretty obvious he could show how he learned saxophone this year.  

He was up for it and made two videos demonstrating his saxophone skills that he submitted as part of his application.  

All the kids that participated had stations set up at the Celebration of Learning.  It was similar to a science fair where people could wander around and look at all the different projects. 

Here's Tom at Leo's station. 

Then all the kids were awarded; some went for several "badges".  We were pretty startled at how poorly the Vice Principal pronounced "Mirrione" and you can hear Tom muttering on the video.  Ha!

 

In addition to the certificate, each kid got this nifty polo shirt with the school logo.  I wonder if he'll ever wear it again. 

Spring Concert

 Wow, wow, wow.  The high school band performed their spring concert and I was blown away by Leo.  He switched to the baritone sax, which is a big instrument.  He doesn't drag it back and forth to school much, so it just stays in the band room.  I haven't heard him play in a while and he did awesome.  He also took his electric guitar to play a solo and completely tore it up.  So awesome. 

Tom was unfortunately on a work trip to Las Vegas, but I took lots of video for him. Leo decided to wear a tie and I found one of Tom's Jerry Garcia designed ties.  Then I had to watch a YouTube video to learn how to to tie it. Of course, we had to take some photos. 

I can be a little nutty about getting a good seat, but hey, I want an unobstructed view of my kid! Especially when I need to document the whole thing for his dad who was super bummed to miss it. He did have his Nana and his sister in the audience though. 

There were only 15 kids on stage, which is a pretty small group for a school band.  But since it's a new school, everything is still pretty small. 

I'm just going to include some favorites here.  This is the Abba song Dancing Queen.  They performed this without a backing track. 

Leo felt pretty inspired by this Bruno Mars song. 

"Who ya gonna call?"

But my favorite part was Leo's solo. There was a pretty fantastic piano soloist who played a complicated, surreal piece of music, but Leo followed it with this amazing rocking solo of both Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.  Bold choices, but he pulled it off! 

They closed the show with Don't Stop Believin', which was a little rough but still very enjoyable because these kids have worked so hard this school year.  I couldn't stop smiling the whole show. 

Last two dance competitions of the season

 Last weekend Serafina's team participated in the Showbiz dance competition.  We haven't done that one before and I doubt we'll do it again.  It was held in the dark, back corner of the convention center and it felt very low budget. In fact, they didn't even have a tap judge so none of the tap routines were awarded prizes.  That's not great. Serafina's teams did do some winning. Here she is accepting one of the awards. 

Here she is looking gorgeous and sassy in Show Jazz. 

Going hard in Senior Hip Hop crew.  This costume is a bit wacky, but this is one of my favorites to watch them perform. 

Their teacher posted some pictures of them celebrating in class. 

This weekend was Heat convention and competition.  It was a much better experience, but still exhausting. 

Show Jazz competed on Friday night and won very big. 

 

Saturday was a long day in the hotel with classes all morning and competition all evening.  I did a lot of running around to fetch dinner and round up dancers for routines.  I love seeing her with her teammates though.  Such sweet bonds between these kids. 

Ballroom was her last routine of the night so I had her take a picture before changing out of her costume. 

It was a bit of a bittersweet night though.  They will perform these routines one last time at recital, but that is definitely different than competition.  It's also Stella's last season (for now) on the competition team.  She'll still be at the studio for technique classes.  Serafina and Stella have been on teams together the last three seasons and Stella was Serafina's first real friend on the competitive team. She is pure joy and light.  I adore her.  It won't be quite the same next year without her in the dressing room. 

Middle School Open House

 Serafina was annoyed that I made her miss dance class to go to her school's Open House, but I'm glad we did.  Her school's campus is still so new and impressive, and her friends are incredibly sweet.  

Bonus...excellent churros from the food truck 

Here she is with Bella and Sidney. 

A couple of examples of her classwork.