Casa de Sirena in Puerto Penasco

The view of the ocean from our back porch

For Gracie's 7th birthday this past year, and to celebrate that Ryan paid off his dental school student loan!!!!!!, we rented a house on the beach in Rocky Pointe, Mexico for a week.  

We were secluded from the commotion of the city of Puerto Penasco, and had our own little beach oasis.

Early each morning I put on a jacket and took my bag and walked the shore finding beautiful shells.

This is one of the first shells Kjerst found, so it was a big deal!

The ocean was far to cold for me to venture in, but it didn't keep these brave souls from getting fully submersed.

They had so much fun!!  Next time I am bringing a wetsuit.  I think that will keep me warm!

Look at grammy taking a wave like a pro!  She grew up on the beach in CA!

Here "My Little One"  is frozen but thrilled with the Ocean.

Ryan and Gracie

The boys!

Jace didn't love the freezing ocean, but still he got in a few times!!

I got wet up to my ankles!!

I can't believe she is 7!!

Here's my birthday girl!!!  We bought this cake in town at Walmart.  It was not very good.  The food in Mexico is a lot different from the states.

Here's what a typical morning looked like.  Hugs and pancakes--great way to start anyday!

Lots of hugs!

Birthday cake for breakfast?!!

Kjersti is a little Momma.  She brought her Bitty Baby to love and tend on this trip.

Ryan brought board games to play in the evenings.

Gracie--taking her turn at Suspend

The sand was warm and cozy!!! So why not have your sisters bury you completely?!  Of course their timing was not great, it was moments before we were supposed to go into town for dinner!  So we had to wait for Christopher Robin to take a shower to get all that sticky, itchy, stuff off!

My favorite trio!!

A little nap in the sun!  Kjersti is a Mommas girl!  My other two have been Daddy's kids.

Beautiful ocean and darling kids.  Jace is in his famous squat.

He can sit like this for hours.  

He loved making dams for the waves to break.

He was mesmerized by the rhythm of the water. 

We found so many gorgeous shells

and a dead sea turtle!

My precious "Little One"

Grammy and Gracie were ocean buddies!

Morning group photo

My two Jills!!

                             I think they are crazy about each other!!!!

While we were there is wasn't uncommon for local residents to come and offer us goods for sale.  This nice woman and her husband offered corn braids and fresh fruit.  How could anyone resist that!!

Gracie was sooo excited to get her hair braided--but halfway through, I thought she would call it quits.  She said it was very painful.

She toughed it out and was thrilled with how it turned out!!

After watching Gracie suffer through, I was surprised that Kersti went through with it.

Half way through, I could tell she was miserable, but as they say, no pain no gain.

Pretty, darn, cute!! 

The fruit that Ernesto fed us while the girls were getting beauty torture by his wife was AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS.  I am not kidding.  I thought fruit was only that good when you got to heaven. The mangos were to die for!!!--if they are in heaven that is.

I couldn't talk Christopher Robin into getting his hair braided, but he sure was happy to inhale a bunch of fruit!

At the front of the home we rented was this lovely courtyard.  This is where all the hair braiding took place.

                    On the roof was this beautiful viewing area.

Here we are all packed up, reluctantly taking our last look at the beautiful Sea of Cortez before heading back to the "land that I love. "

When we hit Phoenix, we stopped at Build a Bear for my Gracie Girl!  Thats what she had wanted for her bday present from us.

Jace decided to get a new pet too.

She is not excited at all!

It was a T-rex - bought with his hard earned chore money.  

All in all it was a wonderful trip.  I have to say, we were so thrilled to cross the border back into the USA!!!   It is a beloved country.   Going to Mexico was a good experience for my children, to see how other people live.  Ryan and I were a bit nervous the whole time we were there.  We had no cell phone coverage once we crossed the border, no road side assist, if we had car trouble, and I'm not sure how I would feel taking my kids to the hospital there if they got hurt on the beach. I made Ryan pack a very sophisticated first aid kit--and told him he had to keep us all alive until we crossed back into the USA! and he DID!!