MEXICO

This is our second trip to Rocky Point with this large group of friends from mostly Thatcher.  We were all so excited to get away from regular life and to spend some time relaxing on the beach.

Hunter was so cute and he used sea shells to write our last name and the year in the sand.  We decided this would be one of our new traditions.  Hunter did it for several other families!  Great idea Hunter!

Oh My Goodness!  Look at my beautiful daughters! These two sure love each other!

Whoa where's the rest of Hunter? 

It would not be a real trip to the beach without burying someone.  I think Silvio had a little too much fun covering Hunter with sand......he may have been tempted to cover Hunter's whole face!

Love that Italian boys smile!

Silvio speared a sting ray!

Gavin Rogers...........I know A LOT of people that might be tempted to cover this kids face with sand. Hahaha........just kidding we love this kid and all his energy!

Kiersten and Callie had such a fun week together!

What do two dancers do on the beach?

Hello they DANCE!  

These two pretty much thought one the tide went out that it was natures dance floor!

They had all kind of fun!

Ella we are learning is a FISH!!!

And the beach is no different..........she loved being in the water and waves.

The only hard part is that there are a lot of sting rays so it kind of scares me to have her out there too much.

I love our trips to Mexico!  It is so nice to just spend time chilling on the beach playing in the sand.  It never gets old for our kids and honestly it never gets old for me.

Someone started a sand war.....better watch out....

And just so you know, Gavin, the kid far right in the picture isn't dead in the water.  

This is what brothers do and Silvio is defiantly just one of our kids at this point.  We are so excited he asked to extend his stay with us!

Look at Silvio's arms, don't they look disfigured in this picture?

Ella really got some attention this trip and boy did she eat it up!

She just chilled with Mike.

Since Jenny was jamming songs from Mays dance recital these kids had no choice but to get out and dance.

It was so fun to watch them rocking the sand!

Of course then the older kids had to rock the floor, I mean sand!

Love that my boys know how to dance and aren't shy in the least degree!

Ella enjoyed her moroccos and being spoiled by Shay and

We were all super excited that Spencer and Mani decided to join us in Mexico!  Spencer got in on the sting ray spearing!

Just looking at these pictures gives me the heebie-jeebies!

I hope I never join the "I've been stung by a sting ray" club!

Part of the fun of Rocky Point is getting your hair braided.  Then you don't have to do your hair for the rest of the trip or until the braids come out.

These ladies really can braid.  Look how tight the braid is

These two cutest decided to be twiners!

Kiersten 13, Callie 11

Grant sure loved playing in the sand.  Whats great about Rocky Point is that the tide goes WAY out about mid afternoon.  So that leaves lots of time to enjoy and explore what the ocean has left behind.

I think Mr. Grant has found something!

Yep a sand crab!

Grant had so much fun with this crab!  And yes for all you tree huggers, it lived to be caught another day by someone else!  

Thanks to Justin Mack the kids got to ride a jet ski in the ocean!  Everyone was pretty excited that Justin brought his ski.  Looks like Silvio was pretty happy about that!   He really likes jet skiing from being with us!  

Another great thing about the beach at Rocky Point is that it is perfect for Skim boarding!  Kiersten seriously got good at it.  

Callie, Logan and Kiersten

Logan was super good at skim boarding!  He has amazingly good balance and coordination.

Kiersten lookin' good out there!

It was fun to have Mani and Spencer join us for a week of fun on the beach!

We were highly entertained by Mani's try at skim boarding!

Spencer got good at it!

I have to say I just love Jenny Rogers!

What treasured memories Kiersten is making with the owner of her dance studio and one of her most favorite dance teachers!  These three did cartwheels all down the beach and of course I took pictures!

Way to go Callie!

Love these girls!

They seriously had the best week hanging out with each other!

I love this sweet girl of mine and I really loved spending the week on the beach with her!

Grant and Conner Mack

Two buddies!  Grant pretty much became part of the Mack family this week.  We really had a blast with Justin and Heather Mack and their kids!!  In fact all the way home we talked about how we can't wait till next year!  Now that's when you know you've had a wonderful trip!

Ella has her daddy right where she wants him......

wrapped around her little finger!

Hunter was the Sting Ray Killer!

One afternoon he killed 24 sting ray in about 2 hours.  Cool but hmmmm scary to thing that is how populated the water is with sting rays!  Hunter was in heaven of course!  He gave all the sting ray to some locals who said they make soup out of the meat.  They were happy to get all those sting rays.

We love all the sea creatures!

Gavin caught this large crab and from the look on his face I'd say he was pretty happy about catching it!  He has such an adorable smile, that kid!

I love this smile of Ella's!  This is what she does when you tell her to say cheese!

Chicken Bone (a.k.a. Lexi Mack) and Ella Jane

Perfect day for Ella......

the beach, ocean, her own beach chair and and oreo!

We love the adventure of Rocky Point!  Going with this large group of people who know all the great places to eat is a huge plus.  The churro stand is the bomb!

Ella sure loved to play with Chicken Bone!

Ella loved the water and it's nice that the water is warm to play in!

Hunter and Colter killing sting rays together

Kiersten is going to teach Ella young how to skim board.  Nice photobomb Callie!

Oh Yeah Baby........ The Mango Man!

We love all the locals that come down the beach selling stuff and the Mango Man is one of our favorites.  There are several Mango Men so that works out pretty good too!

Little lime juice and salt.........perfection!

We went to Cholla Beach again this year to find more sand dollars.  Unfortunately because the tide was way high this trip, even though we went at what was low tide for that day, we couldn't find any sand dollars.  We were in about 2 feet of water where we should have been just on beach.  So it turned in to a crab hunt!

Silvio got in on the action and caught a few crabs!

We all had fun and thats what really matters.  I was a little bummed because I wanted Silvio to be able to find some sand dollars because he has never done that before.

Ella can find fun where ever she is...........even in a shoe basket.

The Epic banana boat ride!

Heather and I had so much fun last year.....hahaha.....we decided we weren't quite up for more of that kind of fun this year.  I guess we were in the mood for getting the largest wedgie you could imagine.  But this group was so ready!!!

I am pretty sure Mani was crying before she even got on the boat!

Hope everyone makes it back to shore!  Every one got thrown off at some point and watching them from the beach was great!  Next year I'll join in the fun........every other year for a banana boat ride is enough for me :)

Man I love this boy!

By the time we left Mexico all our kids looked like they were natives to Mexico!

We were excited to join the Smith's for a night on a pirate ship cruise.

The pirate captain

They played musical chairs with the little kids on the ship and that was fun!

Ella thought the music and dance floor were especially made for her!  It was pretty adorable!

Logan rocked the dance floor with these ladies.....

And man he was eating it up!!!

They seriously LOVED him and if he wasn't dancing they would pull his arm and get him out dancing with them.  They were taking selfies with him all night!  They copied his dance moves and everything!

We don't think we'll do this pirate cruise every year by any means but it was fun.  The highlight for sure was the 100 plus dolphins we saw!!!  That was totally AWESOME!

Logan honestly danced the night away!  These ladies were in love with him!  I am worried for what he will be like when he is a teenager because he is already such a ladies man!!

We all love Mani!

Kiersten and I had a great time making fun of people.........hahaha Just Kidding!  We aren't rude like that we were watching the boys cram into a hug group picture with a bunch of strangers, that's what I am pointing at.

Kiersten and I two stepping.

We were told the pirate cruise included dinner so I wouldn't let the kids eat before.  Well yeah it DID NOT include dinner so needless to say we were all starving by the time we got off that ship!  And I know it's probably nautical to have a burger while in Mexico, surrounded by delicious Mexican food, but it is what sounded good so we hit Burger House.

While in Rocky Point Ella might have developed an addiction to Mexican coke.  She seriously would not let Justin take this bottle out of her mouth.  It was hilarious!

The Burger House did not disappoint..........it was delicious!!!

It wouldn't be a trip to Rocky Point without several, okay I mean daily trips to Thrifty.

Our boys are weirdos eating ice cream cones with spoons........Grant here and even Logan in the back ground is using a spoon.  It should be against our rules or something.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream...........my favorite treat at Thrifty!

Ella was pretty happy to get her own this trip to the ice cream shop!!!

It was so funny to watch her eat her ice cream because she insisted on having the spoon but always used her hand to get the ice cream.

Took at trip to the Dirt Mall to get Mexico treasures!  Quite the crew we have here!!

Another picture of Hunter, Our Sting Ray Slayer!!!

Lexi, Suzi, Kiersten, Callie, Hunter and Logan

Chicken Bone is quite the little ham............ her nickname should have been Ham Bone, not chicken.

The boys sure enjoyed getting the crap beat out of them on the tub.  Justin Mack was such a good sport and took them on such long rides!

Oh how I love Ella's bikini ruffle bottom!!!  Thanks Aunt Tif!

Suzi, Kiersten and Callie

Nice beach art by the girls!

Such a cute couple!

The girls also got turns on the tube.  Kiersten gave Justin Mack the best nickname ever.  We now call him, "The Party."  Because Kiersten told him where ever he goes it's like a party so "He IS The Party!"  Heather about died when Kiersten said that.

I love this man of mine!!!

He had such a great time on this trip!  He of course loved his long afternoon naps with Ella Jane and he even seemed to enjoy socializing with everyone.  Even Kiersten noticed how much more social Justin was.  So nice to see him feeling good and happy!

Ella Jane sure loved her big Italian brother and I think Silvio is smitten by her too!!!

Daddy's Girl

Actually Ella is a pretty big mommas girl and I love it for the most part.

Kiersten was so proud of herself for spearing a sting ray!!!  

Silvio speared several sting rays during the week.  From that smile I'd say he enjoyed every minute of it!

Love this family of mine!

It was such a fun trip!  We are so glad Silvio got to extend his stay and come with us to Mexico.  Everyone commented on how he fits right in with our family!  We sure got lucky in the exchange student department.  If we ever do it again, Silvio will be hard to top.  But I'm sure you love them each just like your own kids.