Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Sick day for Ouest. Still no fever, but the nose and cough are enough to keep her down. Once again she was begging to go to bed hours before her bedtime. So to bed she went. Hopefully we can keep Lowe from catching it. I didn’t feel like I even saw Lowe today. I swear he slept the whole day away. Lazy little bum.

Aside from wiping Ouest’s nose we didn’t do diddly today. Some days it seems all you think about is getting through the hours. Today was one of those.

02-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
I went out to the boat this morning to meet with the lady who is building our dodger. Just going out to the boat these days is no small undertaking. Ouest was still sick so I took off before she woke up leaving Ali to wrangle the two of them all morning. It’s about an hour ride on two buses to get from Centro to the boat. It’s really only about ten miles, but the bus seems to make a stop about twice per block to pick up and drop off passengers.

Anyway I got out to the boat, took off the mainsail and tossed it in the garbage along with the jib, and then waited, and waited. I finally went up to the office and gave the lady a call. Turns out she had e-mailed about twenty minutes after I left to let me know she was sick and had to cancel on me. So in five hours away from home I managed about fifteen minutes worth of boat work.

Not much new out at the boat. I brought the camera along, but a boat in a slip is not very photogenic. The camera stayed in the case. I’m really looking forward to getting this thing out cruising properly.

This is what happens when Ouest is a little sick and I don’t feel like saying no to her. Strawberry pajama shirt, some random toy chest white ribbon tied around her head, backpack, doll, and ball. The locals thought she was preciosa. That’s the word they use when they really want to emphasize just how cute she is. Not bonita, not muy linda, but preciosa. Yes, precious indeed. Another word they use all the time is princesa. Princess. If I know this little princess at all I think she would actually take offense to that name.

Something that’s happened quite a bit these past couple of weeks, which I find quite endearing and indicative of just what a small town feel Puerto Vallarta still maintains, is locals approaching me and Ouest to ask if my wife has had the baby yet, and what it is, and was it big. Yep, they even want to know how much he weighed. These are people like the lady with the cute little girl named Camila who sells trinkets outside the front door of the cathedral, the shoe shiner in the plaza with two kids of her own who like to commandeer Ouest’s toys, and the guy who sells newspapers spread out across the park bench. Vallarta is a small enough place that a family of gringos walking around town for a few weeks can actually meet a few locals and be recognized by a bunch more. Now if I could just get the idiot in the tequila shop to look me in the face once and register the fact that I am not interested in a free taste at ten a.m. with my one-year-old daughter in tow I’d be a happy man.

03-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Went for a walk today and finally realized that the silly looking “lighthouse” just a block away is actually a free overlook. Pretty nice views, and lots of really scary stairs for Ouest to want to climb up and down, over and over again.

04-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We took a walk today that ended up on the beach downtown where the fisherman bring their catch ashore and the pelicans hang out to take advantage of that. It is not a beach for swimming. Though you wouldn’t have known that watching Ouest. I had my back turned and when I turned around she was ripping her shoes off in order to run right in. The girl loves the water. So much so that her beautiful blonde hair now has an ever so slight green tint to it. The result of too much time in chlorinated pools and not enough time in the ocean. We’re working on remedying that situation in the next couple weeks.

What’s Lowe up to? I’ll be honest, tiny babies are pretty boring. They’re cute and they make sweet little noises, but really all Lowe does is sleep and eat. He seems happy enough, and I’m sure the next few months will absolutely fly past, so I’m trying to remind myself to just enjoy the little man for what he is right now, an amazing little me. Hopefully with a better nose.

05-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.

06-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We are a family of cranky, bleary-eyed, hacking, sickos. Ouest got this cold a week ago, a cough and a runny nose, but otherwise just fine. Of course you can’t just avoid your child, so it wasn’t long before I caught it, then Lowe, and now possibly Ali. Not a lot of fun around here.

I ordered engine parts today. A bunch of miscellaneous stuff that needs replacing before we go anywhere. Back a couple of months ago the exhaust manifold got a rust hole in it. My quick fix at the time was to patch it up with JB Weld and hope for the best. I caught some flak for that little jerry-rig, but it held up just fine. And today when I asked about replacing that part I was told it cost twenty-five hundred dollars. So yeah, that five dollar epoxy job is looking better and better. Anyway, he told me to take it to a machine shop and they would more than likely be able to fix it up good enough so that’s what I’ll do when I get to tearing apart the engine again.

We get a few mosquitoes in the condo every day that Ali and I diligently hunt down and kill. Ouest couldn’t figure out what we were doing so we told her we were clapping the mosquitoes. So what does she do now? She goes to the places that she’s seen us clapping the mozzies and she claps away. And look out when she sees an actual mosquito. That guy gets a rousing round of applause from her.

Dr. Seuss’s ABC includes googoo goggles for the G. Immediately upon reaching F Ouest begins to anxiously scramble around looking for her swimming goggles. Once they are on we can proceed.

07-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
All around boring day in our house so I guess I’ll just say Happy 14th Birthday to our favorite niece in the whole world. You are now officially old enough to baby-sit your cousins. So what do you say Lea, can you get down here Friday night? I believe babysitters are earning about ten pesos an hour in Mexico these days. Come on.

08-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
This morning Ouest and I were up early and on the bus headed for the dentist. Yes, the dentist. A few weeks back Ouest fell on the steps of the pool and hit her mouth on the edge. It hurt, but didn’t seem that bad. A couple drops of blood and two perfectly placed tears on the cheeks and she was back on her feet. It wasn’t until two weeks or so later that we started to notice her top front tooth looking a little discolored. A few days after that it was gray. And just like that it was dead.

So we went to a dentist today to see if there was anything that could be done about it. I had already talked to a local dentist who basically told me there wasn’t anything other than possibly a root canal, and we would need a specialist for that. The internet also told us there wasn’t much to be done. So today we just went out to confirm that.

We found this dentist online with a great reputation from hundreds of Norte Americanos, mainly Canucks. The plan was for me to get a cleaning to get Ouest comfortable and then have them take a look at Ouest. She seemed to like the place just fine right up until I laid down in the chair. Then she broke down. She did not like her papa in that chair one bit. Sweet little girl. I’d all but given up and just sat on the chair talking with the Mexican dentist (through the dentist’s office manager) about Ouest. After about fifteen minutes Ouest suddenly started motioning for me to lay down in the chair. The office assistant girl had been talking and playing with her and apparently she was feeling good about things now.

So I got my teeth cleaned. Just like back home except for the price of twenty-eight bucks. After about thirty minutes I sat up in the chair and in came Ouest with a big old smile on her face holding the girl’s hand. We all sat around talking a bit more about Ouest and then they said what they really needed to do was get an x-ray. Nobody expected this to go over well, but when they brought out the little plastic film piece she needed to clamp down on in her mouth she opened right up, bit down, and sat on my lap just as still as could be. The first one didn’t work out so we even managed to do it a second time. No charge at all for those.

Anyway, what it came down to was that her tooth wasn’t fractured, which is good, but that most likely there wouldn’t be anything they could do about bringing it back to life. The nerve is dead. And normally what they do is drill a small hole in the back of the tooth and scrape out the dead stuff to be sure it doesn’t get infected. To do that would require a pediatric dentist. So we’re now in the process of setting up a consultation with one of those.

It’s such a bummer because she has the most beautiful smile, but right now it just looks like we don’t take care of her teeth. We know it is only a baby tooth, but can’t imagine leaving her tooth, her front tooth, looking like that for the next four or five years. I’d hate for her to become self conscious about it, which she inevitably would as she gets older. So we’ll figure something out I’m sure, but it’s just another one of those things. One of those “issues” that anybody who has ever had kids has had to deal with.

On top of the tooth problem the bigger problem around here has been our health. Ouest is old enough that a cough and runny nose doesn’t slow her down much or cause her too many problems. Lowe on the other hand is just a wee bitty thing, and he’s been suffering the past couple of days. Ali brought him in to the doctor today. Bronchitis. Or at least an early stage of it. Not cool at all. So we’ve got medications for both the kids and instructions to get them in for x-rays if things aren’t better by Monday. On the plus side, Lowe is up to the nine pound mark. Growing like a weed.

Not our finest day.

10-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ouest wakes up these days and the first words we hear come out of her mouth are, “Papa. Papa?” Man can she warm my heart. Especially as it is after seven in the morning when she gets up. Any earlier and those same two words can make me cringe.

Everyone is still sick around here. The only one that concerns us is Lowe. He’s been having a tough time, especially after feedings when the coughing seems to kick in to high gear and often ends with his meal coming back up. And my God does he have the most heart-wrenching little cry when he finally catches his breath after a coughing fit. Like a kitten caught in a chimney. He’s sleeping good tonight though and seems like he might finally be turning the corner like the rest of us.

11-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ten years ago this morning I walked out of the shower and past the bedroom door with my eyes turned out into the living room where the television was on. The World Trade Center’s North Tower was burning. I was drawn out onto the couch where I watched as a plane flew across the screen and slammed into the South Tower. In that moment it all became very clear what was happening.

Ali was already at work that morning on the ninety-sixth floor of the Sears Tower. The Sears Tower was three blocks away, and if I peeled back the bedroom curtains I could see the windows behind which Ali would be sitting. I called her up and asked her to leave. She didn’t. Not at first. Without a television I think it was hard for her and her coworkers to realize just how serious this was. After another phone call or two from me she finally relented and came home. That early in the unfolding drama I don’t think anybody knew where the next plane would hit, but I don’t think it was a stretch to imagine it being the Sears Tower, so it was a relief when she walked in the door. I never made it to work; the Chicago Board of Trade closed along with the rest of the financial markets.

We spent that day much like the rest of America I imagine, in front of the television. Sick in our hearts. Every generation has at least one day that they’ll never forget the details of, and for us it’s this one.

Ten years on and our lives have changed dramatically. No more hot shot trader living the American dream. Now I’m just another washed up sailor trying to scrounge up the dough for a new set of sails. Actually the sails order goes in tomorrow. I’ll talk more about that when we get them in a month or so. Today was just another Puerto Vallarta day walking around town, eating, and swimming. It’s not a bad gig.

We worked on Lowe’s passport picture today. There is nothing easy about getting a decent picture of an infant. Eyes open, face forward, no shadows, no hands holding their heads up, just a perfect adult picture of a kid with no neck muscles.

12-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ouest and I went out to the boat this morning to meet the lady who is building the dodger and just generally check on things. Ouest was thrilled to be aboard and quickly tore through the house pulling out every toy and book that had been left behind. She didn’t want to leave when the time came.

In the afternoon another cruising family came over for a visit. Two girls, 5 and 7, for Ouest to look at in amazement. She did really well following them around, sharing all of her toys without complaint, and just generally enjoying the company of two girls so much bigger than herself. It was fun to watch and we all had a good time talking about what life aboard has in store for all of us.

13-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ali and I were fumbling around trying to give Lowe a bath today while at the same time watering the plants on the patio with Ouest. We finished the plants and told Ouest no more water, we were done and needed to take care of Lowe. Ouest broke down in sobs and screaming, and then it dawned on us, or on Ali first, “Why do we care? She can keep watering the plants. She isn’t hurting anything.”

Sometimes we need to take a moment, step back, and not say “no” for no good reason. Not that we shower her with no’s all day long, but it is still something worth reminding ourselves now and again.

Note: the US dollar is up a good ten percent versus the peso in just the past couple of weeks. Tacos that used to cost eighty-five cents now cost seventy-seven. Hooray!

13-Sep-2011 twenty-one months ouest, one month lowe

Lowe and Ouest,

I can hardly believe that a month has gone by already, though sometimes it feels as if we’ve been a family of four all along. We welcomed Lowe to the family exactly twenty months after welcoming Ouest. It hardly seems possible that less than two years ago we had no kids.

Lowe, you’ve been everything we hoped you would be during your first month, namely, the exact opposite of your screaming sister during the same time period. You’re laid back, fairly forgiving of our parenting, and best of all, your cry is wimpy. We love you for all of that and more. We welcome you to the family and can not wait to watch you grow up and to share in all the amazing experiences you are going to have as you do.

You had a tough birth. Somehow, despite being delivered by c-section, you still didn’t want to come out. It was a struggle and you gave me a mighty big scare while the docs acted like it was no big deal. Whatever the case it was a big deal to me and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything sweeter than that first cry out of your mouth.

Ouest, you’ve been a grade A champ this month. You took to being a big sister straight away. You kiss Lowe constantly. You kiss him and then promptly wipe your mouth, but still, a kiss is a kiss, and I hope you’ll always kiss him and wipe your mouth. You don’t seem the least bit perplexed by the fact that there is this new stranger in the house taking up the majority of your mama’s time. You’ve really been amazing with the whole thing. You’re an incredibly sweet, loving, funny, free-spirited, adventurous little girl and we couldn’t possibly love you any more.

The two of you are going to make a great team.

14-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
I’m starting to see why so many families wait three years between kids. It’s the diapers. Seriously that has to be the reason. We fill up a garbage bag a day (sorry planet earth), and it does not smell pretty. The thought of this many diapers on a boat is pretty horrifying. What were we thinking? Of course once on the boat I suppose the two of them, or at least one of them for now, can be free to roam, well, freely.

Anyway, just a thought that’s been coursing through my head today. We’re off to Sayulita in a couple of days for another month and then back to the boat for what will hopefully only be a couple weeks or so before sailing season in Mexico kicks in to gear. We’ve had enough of marinas and really want to see this boat at anchor.

Slow gear. That’s the cruising plan this season. Ali and I have told ourselves repeatedly that we’re going to take it easy. Find a nice bay and actually stay for a few days/weeks. No more of our normal itchy feet selves needing to move on and see what’s around the corner after a night on the hook. No sir. This is the new us. We’re going to be content. Yep. Just chillin’. Uh-huh. We’ll see.

15-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
This morning Ouest and I went down to the plaza to watch the singing of the National Anthem by a big group of school children and a few soldiers. Independence Day is tomorrow, but the festivities kick in late tonight which is when the President, or Mayor in the case of Puerto Vallarta, will ring the bell in the town square and call out, “Viva Mexico!” re-enacting Hidalgo’s famous cry. The beginning of the end for the Spaniards.

I took Ouest with me to get a haircut today. Not her, me. It’d been about a decade since I last paid somebody to cut my hair, but it’s been growing for like nine months now and was pretty out of control so I thought it might be best to pay someone. Ali’s expertise lies in chopping my hair down to two inches all the way around.

So I walked in to this peluqueria I had seen down the street from us that looked like a good and proper barber shop. I pushed the door open and two old guys immediately jumped up and flicked the light on. I plopped Ouest down in an empty barber chair and took up residence in the seat next to her.

When I arrived my hair was as long as it has been since the seventh grade, though I wasn’t quite sure what the heck I was doing with it. I’ve worn a hat every day for probably the last six months because it was just so ridiculous looking. The main problem, if you can call it that when you are a 37-year-old man, is that I have entirely too much hair. Thick, thick hair. Meaning one giant poof was living on top of my head.

Anyway, the barber was about seventy years old with beautifully coifed white hair and perfectly pressed shirt and pants. The other guy was equally so as he brought over the drink menu and asked me what I would like, “On the house.” I ordered a beer and sat back while Ouest looked on in amazement, unsure just what the hell was about to happen.

So this perfectly presented man asked me what I wanted done and I indicated I just wanted a little taken off the ends, but that what I was really looking for was some thinning out. He grabbed the top of my head and said, “Too much hair.” Yes, I agreed. He then grabbed his scissors and comb, grabbed my hair about mid-length and cut. So much for a trim.

I walked in to this barber shop looking like I might own a surf board and walked out looking like I must own a Toyota Camry. Unemployed beach bum to branch bank manager. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised; there was just no way this upstanding citizen was going to let me walk out of his shop looking anything less than ready to make an appearance before a judge.

Ouest sat transfixed, and quiet, right up until he busted out the blow dryer. Yes, the blow dryer. She freaked out before he’d even flicked the switch. Somehow we both got through that, but before I could leave he strapped some sort of giant vibrating box to his hand and proceeded to massage my shoulders, arms, and chest. That shut Ouest up I can assure you, and also left me feeling a little bit dirty.

I left my hat off for the walk home just because I wanted to see the look on Ali’s face. When I walked in the door she looked up at me and simply said, “What happened?”

And this is where I should insert the picture that we didn’t take.

16-Sep-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Last night I went down to the main plaza at eleven to watch the mayor give a rousing rendition of Hidalgo’s speech. The speech that sparked a revolution. Fortunately for Mexico the mayor of Puerto Vallarta wasn’t the one giving that speech back in 1810 because the poor guys voice just didn’t want to cooperate. He tried to yell out the speech in an authoritative voice, but instead his voice kept cracking. The crowd laughed every time. You had to feel sorry for the guy. But he kept going, and when he finally got to, “Viva Vallarta! Viva Mexico!” the crowd chanted along with him and bailed him out.

This morning we walked down the block and joined the throngs for their Independence Day Parade. It consisted mainly of groups of school children who were supposed to be marching, but had apparently grown bored with that and were mostly just walking down the street. But there were also school bands, an occasional beauty queen, narco officers in full gear, and a charro, a cowboy, or two thrown in to spice things up. Ouest liked seeing all the little kids, but she really liked her orange icy.

17-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
We packed up and moved today, up the coast to Sayulita. We love Puerto Vallarta but it was time for a change of scenery, and a dip in the ocean instead of the pool.

Our place is a little studio condo with a fantastic view of the ocean and the town’s main surf break. It’s a ten minute walk into the center of town, which with two kids means more like forty-five minutes, and that’s with me carrying Ouest half way. Man do kids lollygag. In a good way. Oooooh, a coconut. Oooooh, flowers. Oooooh, a mud puddle. Oooooh, dog poop.

Sayulita is super busy for the big holiday weekend. All the well to do from Guadalajara on holiday. By Monday it’ll be empty again, explaining why our favorite burrito place is closed for the summer.

We had ourselves some guacamole and fish tacos for dinner, a major favorite in this family. Nothing makes me happier than watching Ouest scarf this meal down. And tonight she also became the designated guacamole server. What a girl.

18-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
First day in Sayulita in a while. To try and beat the heat we headed to the beach early this morning. Ouest and I had a good swim, played in the sand, and basically had all the fun while Ali struggled to get Lowe comfortable. Even before ten a.m. it was pretty darn hot, and staying out of the sun, even with an umbrella, was a chore. We’re definitely going to have to work on our beach going technique. It’s not easy with two kids, much less one this young. We’ll work it out.

19-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
One of those hot summer days here in Mexico. We’re trying to hit the beach early, but it’s not easy rustling everyone up in the morning, and by the time we hit the sand it is too hot for tiny toes. But as long as there is wet sand Ouest is a happy girl. She absolutely loves the water. Today we were two blocks away from the beach when we told her to look up. She focused down the street, saw the waves, and instantly broke into her happy dance. But first we had to hit up a street taco stand which she promptly devoured. No surprise there, but what was surprising to me was that at this stand tacos were only ten pesos. Same as in Vallarta. And I thought everything cost more in Sayulita.

So we swam while Ali and Lowe walked around town a bit, hung out in the shade, and then rustled us up a couple beers and a jugo for Ouest. Home for showers and naps, and then back out for a late lunner. Home for showers and bed. We could shower all day long here. Just leave it running and take turns circling back through every few minutes. It didn’t help that our air conditioner stopped working in the afternoon. Ninety plus degrees inside. But we’re in Mexico, oh sweet Mexico, and even though it was after eight o’clock the manager of this place had the air-con guy out in fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes after that we had cold air and each body in the house drifted off one after the other.

We found out today that people born in Puerto Vallarta have a nickname for themselves, pata salada. Salty feet, even though pata is a leg. So Ouest and Lowe are a couple of salty feet. Seems pretty fitting.

19-Sep-2011 bumfuzzle.
A whole new set of sails are underway for Bumfuzzle. We got a lot of advice on sails, and in the end decided to go with an overseas sail maker. Rolly Tasker in Thailand. I’ve read nothing but good reviews from happy customers so hopefully we’ll soon join their ranks. For just a bit more than we could have expected to pay for just a mainsail in the States we are getting a mainsail with sailbag and lazy jacks, a jib, and a yankee. The headsails will have sunbrella UV protection for the roller furlers and the yankee will be a nice bright color to make the pictures pop. Total cost, $6285 shipped to our door. Only hangup I have with the whole thing is Mexican Customs, though in theory we shouldn’t have a problem since we’re essentially a yacht in transit. We’ll see. We’ve never had problems with the authorities before so I doubt this will be any different.

Anyway, I’m pretty excited. The mainsail bag and lazy jacks will be exactly like on our last boat. I loved them. The sail just dropped right down, I zipped the bag up, and we were done. They’ll look nice, and best of all I suppose, they may even sail nice. Actually I was impressed with how the boat sailed coming down Baja, and that was with absolute crap for sails. So I’m sure new sails are going to be a massive improvement.

All this talk of sails reminds me of Lowe’s name had he been a girl. Vela Bleu. Pronounced Vay-la. It means sail in Spanish.

20-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
It’s funny, on Saturday I’d never seen Sayulita so busy, by Tuesday it was a ghost town. All the Mexicans have gone home after the Independence Day Holiday, and the gringos won’t arrive for another month or two, so for now it’s just us and a few locals.

We had a great morning at the beach after a few meltdowns from Ouest along the way. One of those days where nothing we do seems to be what she was wanting and it sends her right over the edge into what can only be described as the most terrible thing ever. But distractions like the beach get her over whatever the problem was quickly enough.

There is a spigot on the side of a building along the beach that spits water down from the second floor into the street. This is where we get our morning rinse.

Then after all the fun on the beach we moseyed through town to a sidewalk taco stand spilling into the street where we devoured fish tacos that must rank in our top three all time. Possibly even vying for top spot. I have already declared us regulars.

This condo of ours has been an adventure the first few days. Ali had a cockroach run across her foot in the shower on day one. Funny thing about that is that pre-travel years we would have freaked out at the sight, but nowadays, after a quick scream, Ali just grabs some toilet paper and smashes those suckers. The two spiders the size of Lowe’s head fell to me to handle. And then there was the scorpion we found in our bed this morning. He did not appreciate being rousted from his spot in the folds of the sheet. This place may be a bit less hermetically sealed than we would like. It’s rainy season in the jungle though, and despite all the bugs, it isn’t our worst place ever.

A few doors down from us is this abandoned house. We’ve seen it on every trip and it is by far our favorite house in Sayulita. We often joke about buying this place and fixing it up. The mansion. We could park an Airstream in the front yard and spend a couple of years doing all those things you see people do on HGTV, or on Home Depot commercials.

21-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
Today Ali concluded that Puerto Vallarta is home, while Sayulita is a vacation. It’s hard for a beach town not to feel like a vacation. I don’t know how anybody could ever get any work done in a place like this. Not that I’ve got any work to do, but if I did, I couldn’t. Of course Vallarta is a beach town too, but it’s more a beach city where there is enough hustle and bustle to keep you moving. In Sayulita I could easily just slip into alcoholism while my skin turned a shade of brown never intended for someone of Scotch-Irish decent.

Ouest is her mother. Already. She has the same compulsive cleaning and straightening behavior as Alison. She can walk into a room and immediately discern if something has been moved. If it has she will march right over and put it where it belongs. Or at least where she last saw us put it. I’m in trouble.

Yesterday I was outside calling, “Hector!” to try and get the attention of the property manager who is always wandering around somewhere nearby. Ouest quickly took to the game and would walk out on the patio, look over the edge, and yell out, “Hec-Tor!” or at least something very close with two syllables. She was still doing it today.

I suppose it was only a matter of time. Today we found Ouest with her doll pressed to her naked chest. She was breastfeeding. Not only that, but when she finished she lifted the doll up to her shoulder and made a burping noise. She was quite proud of herself. I wonder if she is old enough to babysit.

What else is Ouest up to? She is a really keen photographer. When she sees me pull out the camera she likes to get her little pink camera out as well. That part is cute and all, but the best part is watching her squat down low to frame her shots just right. She is so damn cute.

Lowe continues to be a dream baby. He is a happy camper, laid back, and content as long as he gets fed immediately upon waking. Don’t try and withhold on him or he’ll let you have it. But really he is just happy to eat and then spend the rest of his day sleeping on Ali’s chest.

23-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
The morning walk to town. The deserted beach. Fish tacos. And a hot afternoon spent lounging around the house.

24-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
We met up with friends of ours today, fellow cruisers, who have also been spending a good chunk of the summer off the boat. We met up over at their place then gathered the 250 pounds of gear necessary for an afternoon at the beach with a one, seven, twenty-one, and sixty-month old in tow. When we got down there we ran into some friends of theirs who are traveling through on their way to Costa Rica with their kids in a van. As we walked up the guy took one look at us and yelled out, “Bumfuzzle!”

The funny part was not running into Bum friends this way, but was the look on our other friend’s face. She isn’t really the blog type, so found it utterly amazing that this would happen. To Ali and I it’s just another shining example of what a small fraternity the travelers world is.

These people had family down with more kids, and before I knew what was happening there were babies and boobs everywhere. A veritable beach breastfeeding frenzy erupted. Good times.

25-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
Lowe has been a dream overall, but lately he’s been challenging us a little more at night. Around six-thirty you’d swear he was just about to go to sleep for the night, but then we look at the clock again and it is nine-thirty and he’s still hanging on, fighting the good fight. Ali gets the brunt of it as I’ve got the far easier of the two children as far as going to bed seems to be concerned. Once down he sleeps until about midnight before getting hungry again, then goes ’til four. After that it is a crap shoot. Five-thirty seems to be the norm. Though we fight him tooth and nail on that one right up until Ouest calls out, “Papa!” at seven-thirty. And that is our night for now. With a baby it is sure to be completely different in a week.

Hurricane Hilary tracked north the past few days along the coast of Mexico but fortunately has taken a hard left turn and won’t be anywhere near us. So far so good this season. We’re in the hurricane belt here in Vallarta, though they don’t see big ones here very often. Despite being boat owners with a boat in hurricane areas for a total of three seasons, the other two back in Florida, we’ve never had so much as a wind gust come our way. Our timing is impeccable.

26-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
Aunt Katy is here! I hope she is ready to carry around 30+ pounds of extra weight for the next week, because Ouest is not going to give her a moments peace.

As much as we try to avoid it, it’s simply inevitable, that when we have visitors coming they end up lugging a load of crap along specifically for us. Bum friends send us a lot of thoughtful gifts, and with Lowe coming along a few weeks ago we got a big pile of clothes for him today. We also order a ton of stuff that it is just plain easier to get back home. Easier and cheaper. New “business” cards came along. We’ve gone through thousands of these things on our travels. We’ve had cards for the catamaran, cards for the Porsche, cards for the bus, and now cards for this boat as well. It’d be fun to know where all of those cards ended up. Littering trash heaps around the world. Ali’s new necklace arrived bearing the names of her children just in case I need a reminder. And best of all, for me anyway, a new camera lens.

Ouest and I drove down to the airport to pick up Katy. Ouest loves the airport because she knows when we are there two things are going to happen. One, we are going to share an arroz con leche, rice pudding, from one of the small restaurants there that just happens to make a very good one. And two, somebody she loves is going to walk through the sliding glass doors if she can just hold in her excitement long enough. Today we stood at the glass and repeated, “Katy, where are you?” until she had pretty much nailed Katy’s name. When she finally walked through the doors Ouest went straight into her arms.

We stopped at the store on the way home and whenever Ouest lost track of Katy for even one second she’d blurt out, “K-D!”

Anyway, we’re all happy to have her here with us for the next few days as Ouest could certainly use a new play partner on the beach.

Lowe really doesn’t cry this much. Only when he is hungry really, which is the reason so many pictures of him crying are taken by Mama.

27-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
This morning we drove out to show Katy the boat and to stop in at the embassy and get Lowe’s paperwork turned in for his U.S. citizenship. We basically had to prove that he was ours, that he was born here, and that Ali and I have lived in the U.S. at some point in our lives. None of this proved too difficult so in a month we should have another American in the family.

At the boat I found one of our three new fenders gone. Completely gone, line and all. The obvious answer would be that I tied a shoddy knot, but I’m 100% certain that isn’t the case. There is just no way that knot could have undone itself. I don’t know what the problem has been at this marina, but we’ve had more issues than we’ve ever had anywhere else.

Aside from that the boat is just fine. The bilge is dry and the woodwork is dry. That’s all we can really ask for. The outside of the boat, despite being mostly covered by tarps is still filthy and showing the effects of the weather. It’s going to take a good long cleaning to get Bumfuzzle looking decent again. I don’t think I’d be too eager to buy a boat that had been sitting in Mexico for more than one summer.

Lowe was also introduced to his floating home for the first time. He didn’t care, all he wanted to do was eat.

After our hectic early morning we didn’t do a darn thing in the afternoon. Maybe tomorrow we’ll give Katy a break and let her sink her feet in the sand.

28-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
Sigh-ooh-lee-taaaaaaaaah.

29-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
We have to constantly remind Ouest not to color on anything but paper. Not because she intentionally goes off and does it, but because her mind just seems to wander sometimes. We also have to remind her that we are just pretending to eat those Play-Doh pancakes and bacon. So while walking down the street here she gets very vocal about graffiti. She points at it, shakes her head, and we agree with her, “That’s right, we don’t color on the walls, only on paper.” I would love to see her actually stumble across some teenager in the act so I could watch her wag her little finger at him.

Someone appears to have cleaned up the property at our Sayulita dream mansion. I guess we’re going to have to move on from that little dream.

Ouest is going through this phase right now in which she likes to pack all of her belongings in really tightly around her, basically making a big pile of toys that she sits in the middle of. It’s quite amusing watching just how serious she gets about the project.

Another morning on the beach, and another afternoon at home. With kids this young it is hard to motivate ourselves to go out more than once a day. Each outing requires too much prep time so that by the time we decide we should head out it is too late anyway.

Ouest brought a book over to me today specifically to show me that there were two tiny little sailboats in the distant background of a picture.

30-Sep-2011 our life. daily. sayulita, mexico.
Walking around town today and hanging out in the plaza we decided to get a family photo. With Katy along we thought this would be quick and easy. At least easier than balancing the camera somewhere, setting the timer, and running into the frame. Of course nothing is every as easy as it appears. I made the fatal error of trying to take Ouest’s hat off of her head. Outside! What, am I crazy? This is the girl who immediately upon setting foot outside the door begins tapping the top of her head and plants her feet firmly. Anyway, we eventually cooled down, got the hat back on, wiped the tears away and got a picture or two with a clear majority of the family not crying.

Then in the afternoon we headed down to the nearest beach bar for refreshments and a little sand in our pants. Ali has been having heart attacks lately because the waves have been a bit big and I’ve had to keep a close eye on the water to judge where the breaks would be so Ouest and I wouldn’t get caught at the bottom of a breaker. I’m sure it looks a lot worse from shore.

A bit after the kids were in bed for the night there was a releasing of baby turtles just down the hill from us. Katy and I walked down just in time to watch the last dozen or so try and make their way to the water. Poor things have a rough start to life and it is only going to get worse for them from here. Only something like one in a thousand of these will grow to be old enough for Ouest and Lowe to snorkel with.