Phat Tuesday...on Friday

We were in Mexico for the kick off of Lent and I missed Fat Tuesday.  I like Fat Tuesday because I get a chance to play with cajun foods.  So yesterday we had friends over for dinner and I cooked up a storm!  For the kids, I made a homemade baked macaroni and cheese with ham.  I have lots of recipes but decided to experiment and used Martha Stewart's and it was YUMMY.  I also made a pan of brownies and the kids had brownie sundaes.

For the adults, I made jambalaya, corn muffins, a salad of mixed greens, peppers, heirloom tomatoes and avocados.  For dessert, banana cream pie.  I was telling our friends about having found the jambalaya recipe in Men's Health magazine (my sister actually found it and passed it on), when he told me of a clam bake recipe he tried recently...also from Men's Health.  Who knew Men's Health was a bastion of  excellent recipes.  I may have to trade in my  Epicurious magazine for Men's Health...but then I'd also be subject to more info that I really care to know about a man's prostate.

So, we fed the kids, ate a yummy meal, did a little hot tubbing, ran down town to a local bar for a quick game of pool and back home with the promise of banana cream pie.  But no one was up for it, so we postponed the pie to this morning.  After TWO pots of coffee ( Key West's Baby's Private Buzz....last legal high in America), we had breakfast burritos and banana cream pie.  The REAL breakfast of champions.

Then...I planted myself on the sofa.  I may move.  I may not. I can do that because I'm Phat! 

ring Ring RING....

We (read I) switched the family (well, all but the boy...his contract isn't up until June) over to Verizon on Sunday and our phones arrived yesterday.  It was a deal too good to pass up.  The phone I researched thoroughly and coveted, the Samsung Alias 2, was not only the cheapest I have ever seen it ($30) it was buy one get one free.  I added my oldest daughter to our plan and she also received her first phone, the Samsung Intensity (that one was free too).  She was very excited to get it although she was initially a little envious of my phone, she quickly embraced hers.

So, I have a new toy.  I took our phones to the Verizon store last night to have the contact information transferred and while they were able to easily transfer my info, they were not able to transfer my husband's.  Guess what he'll be doing today?

Now, I just have to figure out how to get all my ring tones back without having to leverage off Beanie (but leveraging Beanie is NOT off the table...ahem).  I happened to like my ring tones.  I like knowing when my husband calls, I don't have to look at the phone to see who the call is from, that he is the only caller who rings to "You Shook Me All Night Long".  Or when my children call from home and I hear "Sweet Child O'Mine", I am free to ignore the call.  Ahem.  My son hasn't been pleased with his ring tone, expressing to me that he wants ANYTHING but " Soulja Boy".   He did say ANYTHING.  I love it when a door is wide open. Heh, heh, heh.  I haven't even thought about what to make my daughter's.

So...I'm off to read the manual, which is thicker than most of the novels I'm reading.  Oh, and I need to find some cool accessories.  Amazon.com...here I come!

Swingin', Tarzan Style!

My husband and I have been to Playa del Carmen 3 times before this trip.  Each time we have added to our experience by trying new things, and each time we will return to some of our favorite haunts.

A particular favorite watering hole of ours is Pez Vela...aka the Swingin' bar.  Known for its swings that hang from around the bar.  So, it's both an adult AND child's playground.  See for yourself.

 

No...the beer is not theirs.  That's ours.  We needed it.

 

Surprise, Surprise...

I tried to plan this vacation 2 years ago and had issues with getting commitments from people.  When I finally had to give up, we decided when we planned this vacation, we'd do it on our own but we would let everyone know when we were going and where we were staying.  If they chose to be there at the same time, then all the better.  My sister and her boyfriend decided to join us.


One night, we were at Sr. Frogs (ONLY because it was raining) and I swear, one of the waiters looked just like my husband's cousin's husband.  He wasn't.  At the hotel another guest reminded me of one of the neighbors who live close to my ILs cabin.  It wasn't him either.  It seemed like everywhere I went,  people looked familiar to me.


So, on Tuesday morning as we were just settling into our beach chairs, I really shouldn't have been surprised when I glanced over my shoulder and saw a couple who looked like my in laws...walking towards us.  I glanced again and it WAS my in laws walking towards us.  They had planned their trip to overlap with ours so that they could surprise us.  And surprise us they did.


They were staying at a different hotel but we managed to spend a little time with them, which only added to our Mexican experience.  Because, you know...paradise really is meant to be shared.

The Little Mermaid

After talking to other hotel guests, we decided to take the kids on a snorkling tour through the hotel.  It was only about 2 hour long and the boat took off from the hotel and went just up the coast about 15 minutes to a small reef.  We figured that the kids would handle it fine, although I had some serious concerns with Beanie.  She's a good swimmer but has never snorkled and I wasn't sure if she might not be able to handle it.

So, we go out in the dive style boat, get our gear on and follow the "dive master" into the water.  *I* was a bit concerned as the waves over the reef seemed too big to handle snorkling, but I found quickly how wrong I was.  The husband hung back with Beanie helping her become acquainted with the whole snorkling process and before we knew it, she was off and swimming...like a pro.  He passed her off to me and I spent the last half of the tour listening to her squeal underwater while frantically pointing at all the different fish, the sea urchins, the schools of fish, the unexpected colors...  PLUS the dive master would lead us in one direction and she'd be off in a completely different direction.  I swear, that child is fearless.  She took to snorkling, like a mermaid to water.

 

Breakfast of Champions

I love breakfast in Mexico.  I normally don't eat breakfast when I'm home...yes, I know, that's not healthy.  But in Mexico, I LOVE it.  And this week was no exception.

The hotel where we stayed was an all inclusive.  I've stayed at all inclusives before and in the food department, they're usually just OK.  This buffet wasn't really any different, but it required one to think outside the box.  For me, that meant a HUGE platter of fresh fruit which included: cantaloupe, honey dew, watermelon, pineapple, banana, grapes...and on a couple of occasions, they put out kiwi and grapefruit.  They also had papaya (which I DO NOT like) and mango (which I do, but they left the skin on and I was lazy).  So...plate full of fruit.  Then I toddled over to the cooler and removed a container of plain yogurt.  Next to the yogurt were several containers with granola, pepitas, sunflower seeds, raisins, coconut and flax seed and I would make a mixture of the granola, raisins, coconut and flax seed in a small bowl.

Back at the table, I would spoon the yogurt over the fruit, and top with the granola mixture and spend 15 minutes in fruit heaven.  Occasionally, I'd grab a couple pieces of wheat toast, but the fruit was definitely the star of my breakfast.

Normally I'm an eggs girl.  My absolute favorite being, warmed flour tortillas filled with scrambled eggs and bacon and topped with fresh salsa.  All were available at the buffet but you had to move around to find it all.  A little like a scavenger hunt.  Oh, but the prize was worth it!

Now that we're back to reality, I want to know...who is going to cut up all that fresh fruit for me on a daily basis?

¡Ay, Caramba!

That was my thought as we landed back in Minneapolis, after a week of paradise in Mexico.  Since last week was President's Day, we decided to take a break from the "lovely" Minnesota winter and take the kids to Playa del Carmen a week of sun, sea and siesta!  That meant us pulling the kids from school for 4 days vs 5.  We left last Saturday in what was a somewhat auspicious beginning.

Our flight was set to leave at 10am and we were there well in advance of the 2 hours recommended, only to be greeted with a check in line that stretched from here to Nebraska!  Note to self...when given the opportunity to check in online...DO IT!  The line, while long, moved quickly and we made it to check in with JUST enough time to race through security to our gate...only to have to wait as the plane was being readied for the trip.  So we were about an hour and a half late taking off, which was no big deal.  We were on our way to MEXICO!

We arrived in Cancun about an hour late and needed to take a bus from the flight line to the terminal were a mass of humanity greeted us at immigration.  Seriously.  I have NEVER seen anything like that in all my concert going, black Friday battling, crowd pushing days.  EVER.  It wouldn't have been bad if there was some rhyme or reason to how these travelers were to get through this mass of people, but there wasn't.  After standing for about 10 minutes without moving, we moved to another spot.  Only to find that there WAS a spot where people eventually funneled into a maze of roped off lines.  BUT..this funneled two separate masses into one line in two different spots.  And if you were not in one of those two spots, woe be unto you.

You can call me Woe.

We finally made it into a roped area only to have (according to a line stander) airport security come and take down the ropes that held people back, causing a rush of people who in effect "budged" in front of all the others who had been standing not moving for an hour and a half (not that I was counting...ahem).  So, it took us almost 2 hours JUST to get through immigration.  Luckily, customs was quick and easy and we were soon on our way to our hotel...just a short hop, skip and an hour drive away.

Luckily, our driver aimed to please...and he stopped so we could grab "refreshments".

Our adventure had begun, somewhat unexpectedly, but I decided to look at it optimistically...things could only get better.  And they did!