Kookaburra sits on an old gum tree.....

We are home from a one week vacation to Acapulco, thanks to Dave's cousin, Chip, for inviting us! But wait, aren't kookaburra's from Australia, you ask? Well, of course they are! Yet, here in Acapulco, Mexico, we had an expensive dinner at Kookaburra's restaurant and they had 3 of these big birds in a cage.

Isn't he cute!

Chip, Pris, Bob, Me, Dave, Janet, Vonda and Dave

Very pricey dinner, bottled water of course, FABULOUS VIEW with NO glass window to look through! The view was really spectacular when the sun was setting.

We saw 12 of these traveling in a row the opposite direction from us and ALL had their semi-automatic rifles drawn! Just a bit unnerving. The drug wars are a concern and evidently there was an election happening in a couple of days and that might be why they were out in force.

This is part of the view from our deck. 

And here is the view to the left.

This is another view from our deck of the huge pool and the smaller (and warmer) one up and on the right side.

We ate many of our meals at this poolside restaurant. Food was OK but expensive. Must be because of the location. Tourism is down in Mexico because of the drug killings, so maybe they should think about lowering some prices!

This is the town of Puerto Marquez. Shops on the left and eating spots on the right, opening to the beach.

Five of us went for a 5 hour sightseeing, swimming, fishing adventure in this boat, with local fellow, Victor, as our guide.

Torre Blanca is where we stayed. We were in the right tower, with the best views! To the left is the town of Puerto Marquez.

We were lucky in that we saw whales breeching the water and dolphins swimming next to our boat. That usually doesn't happen when Victor takes people out, so we felt very fortunate!

We saw all sorts of houses and condominiums built in precarious places. Good thing they don't have lots of earthquakes in Acapulco!

Here are those crazy cliff divers!

Doesn't this look inviting?

All in all, it was a wonderfully relaxing week!

New Year Floral Centerpiece

This morning was our monthly garden club meeting and I was in charge of our luncheon and also made the food table centerpiece. I meant to take photos of Nam Kim's wonderful Korean centerpieces for the member tables but didn't have time to do that before we adjourned. I thought it would be fitting to remind each of us that we are beginning a new year, hence my theme! I had fun making it and took cuttings from my yard and purchased a bouquet of flowers from Safeway to incorporate into the design. Yellow food coloring in water kind of looks like champagne.By the way, the champagne glass is available from Michael's Crafts and it is BIG!

January 2011 Ten on Ten

I thought it would be a good day to meet Shauna and her girls at the Children's Museum at Factoria Mall. Who thought to check and see whether it was open on Mondays? Not either one of us, so after Saben, Annika and I found out it was closed, we waited for Shauna and her girls to show up, and they wanted to know....

"What are we going to do now?"

Ready, Set, Go......It's time to work off some energy.

"Why run when we can crawl?"

"What museum? This is fun."

 

"I'm pooped!"

 Grandpa and Saben flying around Vietnam where Mommy & Daddy are visiting.

Chocolate (Nutella) on her Ciabatta roll...Oh dear....what will mommy say?

 Life is a puzzle sometimes especially for princesses....

 Looks like the Ducks are headed for a "quack-up" in that yellow footwear!

 Fingerless Gloves. My latest EASY knitting project.

Mini Shauna

 Jill, you were right! How did you remember that Shauna was dressed in the same blue dress for the OLD family photo we have hanging in the hall?! It seems pretty clear looking at the two pictures together that Hailey is really her mother's daughter! Although Shauna has brown eyes and Hailey's eyes are blue.

What a trip down memory lane it is to look at such an old photo of Dave's side of the family. Guess I should scan the other half of the family! Can you tell that photo is from 1981? The family has grown quite a bit since then!!

 

 

Look at Jason's goofy smile!