Daffodil babies

Anneke is five and Ben is two! And now that Ben is two he will tell you this himself!

This is the first year we did not take Official Birthday Portraits.  We've just been so busy! That's not going to get better, is it? But here they are on the beach, just a few days shy of their birthdays.  Dave will photoshop the chocolate crumb off of Ben's face.  It's from the chocolate mouse we bought at the crazy Mexican supermarket. Then again, I almost want to leave it on--good memories.

Doesn't she look like a big girl? Almost a month later she's still wearing her entry bracelet to the snorkeling lagoon we visited.

Now that she's five, this will be the last of this type of photo we'll publish. I'm not sure I won't go ahead and  take it down. It's just so cute! Opinions? Be honest. I'm asking.

We did document the making of the chocolate ribbons for the amazing chocolate cake Dave makes.

I think the tradition for Ben is that I make his, or that we experiment with different cakes.  Last year it was a Caramel Cake, which was good.  This year I made a Tres Leches cake, and Dios mio! Que rico!

Trip Report/Someone please teach this lady how to make a slideshow

Pictures from Akumal! In no particular order because, after five years, I remain mystified by Blogger.

Our friend Anna-Lisa joined us a few days into the trip, and we had such a great time. Anneke has a new friend in my old friend.  She is such a seasoned traveler that we had no problem meshing our distinctly different travel styles.  Her style involves naps.  Our style involves a toddler.

The blob of sunscreen on the lens turned this mermaid castle into a mermaid smoking volcano.  Artful, no?

Naty's loncheria in the pueblo had the best bbq chicken I have ever eaten, served for here or to go with a side of rice, beans, and salsa for $10. 

Meanwhile, the place we stayed has a swanky restaurant on the first floor.  Swanky but casual.

Here was our view. The snorkeling was amazing. The layout meant a perfect flow from pool-palapa-ocean (cold beer/mango nectar juice box), then repeat.

Must include the inside of the grocery store we love, which has tres leches cake in bulk and this crazy merry-go-round.  are you taking notes, Fred Meyer?

Spent an afternoon at a beach club on Xpu-ha beach with the buckets of beers, ceviche, palapas, etc.

Spent that same morning swimming in Cenote Azul with these guys. 

Spent our last afternoon eating Texas bbq at Casa Cenote.  Said Cenote empties out at this beach, and, if you want, you can scuba from the cenote through the opening out in to the ocean.

We were not scuba diving.  We were drinking blue margaritas and virgin daiquiris.

                              But Anneke and I did paddle around in a kayak in the cenote.

Very happy dorks

We went to Mexico! I can't wait to post more pics, plus more pics from the kids' March double-fantasy-madness birthdays. But we haven't really finished unpacking, and we got back a week ago. So it's gonna take a while. Here we are on Xpu-ha beach in the so-called Mayan Riviera. We had a fantastic time. Photo courtesy of our travel buddy, The Ferocious Reader, also known as Tia Margarita.

 

Marsha Marsha Marsha!

But what about the other one? What's his name--Bert? Sven? You mean Ben? Oh, Ben's great. More later on his love of elephants and all things Brown Bear, Brown Bear. For now, here's a picture of him with chest hair, enjoying a little ice cream.

No digging, because there's a fish.

Well, Anneke had her first Death, and thank God it was a fish. Betta, also known as "Fishy," joined our household circa...spring, 2012? And left us on MLK Day, 2013. He died of accidental causes, specifically: cousin shenanigans, as perpetrated while parents blithely/delusionally allowed four small children to run wild upstairs while the grown-ups had their fun. There were tears. There were denials and confessions. There was a blue Betta fish, quietly panting at the bottom of his bowl until he panted no more. Fish pant, right? I can't believe how sad I was about a damn betta fish. Really, it was so hard to see how sad Anneke was about said damn Betta. But Betta went out in style. Anneke requested he be placed in a plastic bag, so he wouldn't get dirty, and then in a box.

Anneke dug Betta's grave. 

She made a sign that said, "No digging, because there's a fish," with a picture of a fish.

Laurie, the manager for our remodel, is lovely.  She dug out an extra glass tile for the grave--beautiful pale blue.  We talked about Fishy, and we sang a song.  Anneke cried a lot. Laurie said something about the fishy going back to the universe.  This lead to many, many questions.  My priest friend Phil sent along some helpful theological support for fishy being in Heaven. More questions.  We finished up with hot tea and cocoa on the good china, as dictated in this book.  For a few days after she visited Fishy's grave.  Now she has an air plant, given to her by Laurie, and she wants a red betta. Big sigh.  Glad it was just a damn fish.

Princess then and now

I snapped these pics with my phone the other day of my big, almost-five-year-old girl.  Just found out the date of preschool graduation! What? I guess it would be ridiculous for her to stay there another year, right? Right? Here she is, finally with enough hair to braid and pin up: Anneke's hairstylist used to live in Holland, and I think she loves making Anneke look as much the part of the little Dutch girl as she can.

And here she is in same dress, almost exactly three years ago.  I don't know what to say--I'm so glad she still loves dress-up! I'm so glad my big girl is still little! My heart hurts in a good way just thinking about it.

Mamas, don't letcher babies grow up to be wedding singers

Our guy, getting ready to sing the heck out of some "Panis Angelicus."