Hola......I am back.....

I can't believe it is October already and this weekend is our Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. Families will be gathering over the weekend to celebrate and enjoy each others company.

I feel so far behind. As you know hubby and I and the girls all went to Mexico at the end of September. What a fun filled exciting week it was.

Many stories and 700 pictures later, we made it home in one piece, well sort of. Hubby got some fabulous photos. We did everything from parasailing to snorkeling and horseback riding on an isolated island where we jump and swam in the falls to riding the zip line in the rain forest hundreds of feet above the ground. Photos and stories to follow.

I wanted to get a start on my posts last week about our holiday adventures but I came back with a terrible cold/flu which I am now just getting over and poor hubby is laid up on the couch.

I think I will do the post about our vacation in parts, as there are a few stories to tell and many many photos.....so here we go .....

Part 1:

As there were 5 of us and all of our luggage to get to the airport we decided the best thing to do was to get a cab....but cabs weren't big enough so hubby decided to rent us a limo.....and what a limo it was...nothing like riding to the airport in style. We arrive and I am amazed at how smoothly things went with registering and getting through security. Being there early gave us time to view a lot of the airport. Vancouver international airport is one of the most beautiful airports I have ever been in. They have spent millions on cosmetic upgrade and have endeavoured to capture the Westcoast culture and style

This is a picture of hubby and the girls standing in front of an aquarium in the airport, it is one of the most beautiful aquariums I have ever seen it is full of fish and sea life which are indigenous to the westcoast. Although the girls and hubby are all smiles we are all very tired it was a very early start to a long day. Note the large coffee cup hubby is holding.

We finally arrive at our condo, our suite is on the top floor just behind the palm tree on the left of the photo. It was extremely muggy, humidity was 95% temperature was in the 80's.

Here is are a couple of photos from our roof top pool and patio......

Our first evening in Mexico was spent walking the streets of downtown Peurto Vallarta and the old town, getting our bearings. Our tummies were starting to growl so part of our venture was to try and find somewhere to have a bite to eat.

We found this place just on the out skirts of the Flea Market up above the road the sounds of the local vender's trying to sell their products was heard from the balcony where we sat to have dinner....the owner as it turns out was Canadian....to funny we come all the ways to Mexico to have Mexican food and we walk into a restaurant owned by a Canadian. It didn't matter by this point as we were hungry and thirsty.....the girls were anxious to taste their first Mexican margarita....

Our evening didn't end here....we walked and walked some more.....up the boardwalk taking in the local culture and sites. The girls were just amazed. We finally made it back to our suite and settled in. Day 2 our first full day in Peurto Vallarta we decided that we wanted to check out the beach and activities. Hubby wanted to investigate the cost and of doing some deep sea fishing...he was on a mission to catch himself a big fish!

So there we were walking along the beach the girls and I when we came across these two guys who tried to sell us on going parasailing. I was not keen, but my eldest and middle daughter most certainly were.....so parasailing it was.......

Those photos are all of the preparation, the take off the up in the air the coming in and the landing....she loved it......she convinced the rest of us to go up....so I will just show you a few of us going up and landing.......

Here's eldest daughter preparing to go up......

There she is way up in the air.....

Her landing.......and of course.......

Happy mom her daughters have landed safely........they then talked me into trying it.......So here I am getting strapped into the harness.....dear god what am I thinking.......

There I go.........

And here I am landing......

and I think my expression on my face says it all.......after me my youngest ventured up....she was very hesitant at first but boy she was all smiles when she landed......

It was a great start to our day.......from there we walked further down the beach.....checked out some more sights and then opted to sit at a beach palapa and have a cervesa and just enjoy. One would think this would be enough for one day. But no, after our day at the beach we went back to the condo to clean up and prepare for dinner. That evening we decided we wanted to try one of the beach restaurants and that is what we did.

We had just settle at our table and were ordering when we noticed a lot of commotion on the beach....people were running into the water screaming.......then it was determined that someone was drowning.....a local had got a rope and a few of them ran into the water wrapped the rope around the victim and dragged him in.......again lots of commotion.....hubby starts to urge me to go see what I can do....I told him there were enough people there they didn't need me......well.....he continues ....I get up.....make my way over.......the shouting and kaos is crazy.....they are all speaking Spanish....I try to let them know who I am that I know CPR is there anything I can do.....I make my way in....and kneel down beside the person......I check for a pulse....weak but there.....he is blue....his eyes are rolling back......the other man who didn't speak English is helping as well.....I perform CPR......pulse becomes stronger.......he needs oxygen.....I am hoping someone has called for the ambulance......security arrives and starts on crowd control....meanwhile we get the person into the recovery position....the waves come crashing in.....we get soaked.....the man and I and then others lift the person farther from the waters edge.....at this time.....the lifeguards and others arrive.......I opt to step back......the language barrier was an issue and I thought it best I let them take care of things from there.....the sirens from the ambulance were heard and I was thankful for that. I make my way back to our table.....soaked and covered in sand......trembling.......I couldn't believe what I had just experienced......little did I know that this was the beginning of a week of adventures yet to come........