tulum & diving...

picture this...
our bus from tulum back to the hotel runs a little
long, so ben changes on the bus, i take off all my
jewelry and get my suit out of my bag (we knew
ahead of time that we might run late so we packed
our stuff for our 1 o'clock dive and brought it along
to tulum)and as soon as the bus came to a stop at
our lobby, ben and i tore off running to the dive
shop! we made it! this would be our last opportunity
to dive before we flew home and we didn't want to miss
it! more on that later....

so, we get up early, we are supposed to get to the
lobby at like 8:30 for the bus trip to tulum.
we have to pick up others on the way and change
buses. there were about 30 of us, i'd say, total.
our guide for tulum is at the front of the bus and
starts in on the history of the mayan culture so that
by the time we arrive (30-40 minutes) we are up to speed
on what to do, what to expect and what not to TOUCH!

pretty cool, actually. i think i will snoop around
and get some books on the mayan culture and learn more.

our guide told us it would be hot and that there would
be little shade and he wasn't kidding! we would go from
shade to shade and stop while he would tell us more
about the structures and the area that we stood upon.
glad we brought all the water!...dry and hot!!








eventually we made it down to the beach, which of course
was gorgeous and breezy! i took a lot of photos down there
and most of us took off our shoes and waded in.
some folks brought bathing suits but there were no towels
or showers there so we opted to not bring suits.
however, matt never saw the wave coming and he was crouching
to take a photo of olivia and just got soaked!!!





















well, back to the bus...there was a guy there by the exit
with a huge barrel of ice cold waters on ice...i quickly
bought 3 for the group! we were dying and out of water!
felt awesome!

back to the diving portion of the day...
ben and i actually felt a little nervous this time.
not sure why but i think that just because we had
to rush, it made us a little uneasy. it's nice to
get there, get your stuff on leisurely and get
instruction, relax and go to the boat. this was
not the case. all went well in any case and we were
grateful for having the opportunity to get the last
dive in to complete our course.
i ran into roberto from our first dive and discovered
that he would not be taking us out this time...bummer!

jaimie (james) did and he was our theory instructor so
that was fine...we knew him too.
jaimie assured us that we were not late and to relax
and get our equipment so we did. met the folks we
would be diving with (a family with 2 certified divers
and their sons who for this would be their first dive.
that's good, more experience down there with us...good! :)

we head out to our spot, throw in the buey and flip
over the side of the boad and head to the rope for
our decent. the first time, i only got 1/2 way down
before i realized that i couldn't fully equalize and
roberto sent me back up to the boat so i was praying
that this dive would be different, especially because
that would leave ben down there alone...i didn't want
that to be the case.

well, i got to the end of the rope and looked at ben
and he pointed down to show me that i had indeed gotten
all the way down!! yay!! i wanted to do the 'ol "thumbs
up" sign, but in diving that means "go up" and so i
opted for a fist pump and "knuckle bump" instead!

wow, what an experience! underwater, swimming, breathing
communicating with signals...quiet, beautiful, peaceful,
i could go on and on...God's done a great job down there
as well (not that i ever doubted it...i've just never
seen it!!!).

i never thought i would ever scuba dive....i hated
snorkeling! you have to try it, there is no comparison!
do the little freebie poolside on your next vacation,
you will be amazed at how easy and relaxing it really is!

when jen gets me the disc of the images she shot of
us in our gear, i'll post them.

i went back the next morning and picked up our dvd of
the dive and my certification card and ran into
roberto (he is soooo beautiful!...italian...blue eyes!
yeeeeoooow!) and he asked how it went and i was just
joy filled to tell him that i was able to get down
and how amazing it was and all due to his wonderful
instruction (he did the pool portion and the first
dive with us)...the he gave me the 'ol italian kiss
kiss on both cheeks... jenny said, "you should have
turned really quick!" tee hee...i didn't, i'm a good
girl.
back to the pool to meet up with everyone and celebrate!

1/2 the blackowiak family was there! ben's best
friend, chris and his dad and sister carly (whose
sr. portraits i did last summer)..that was fun.
we all had dinner together at the steak house
where i actually purchased a bottle of wine so that
we didn't have to suffer anymore with the stuff that
they pour from the carafe (no one is certain what that
stuff is!) but the wine we got was really yummy!!!
dinner was terrific!
chris stayed in our room that last night.
he wanted ben to stay the week with them but it
was not in the cards!

sorry this is such a long one today, there was just
a lot to tell and it's hard to say good bye to a
great vacation! I got to live it twice! we've been
back a week already!

i'm putting together an album for my sister of this
trip. it will be like a wedding album. i'm anxious
to get it started. i just need a few images from
jenny and some from pete's camera as well.

for my birthday tomorrow, just send money...
i'm going to go out & buy a bunch of scuba gear!

have a fabulous "maundy thursday"!

scuba sue....out!

snow??? are you kidding!?

picture this...
the wrens are singing, the cardinals are chiming
in as well, the sun is FINALLY out and what else
do i wake up to???? snow.
not much, but snow nonetheless. yuck.
just mother nature's way of pointing out who's boss!

highs in the 30's this week...yay!!! i love it here
in minnesota! i was hoping that by friday, for
my birthday, the temp might be the year i was born...
sadly, the temp won't even reach my age!

okay...on to the dolphins...
this was our 2nd to the last day of the trip.
we packed swimming with the dolphins in with a
quicky trip into the the town of playa del carmen.



first the bus trip to "delphinus", just north of where
we were staying. and it was a large van enough for
all 10 of us. matt, tony & i sat this one out.
someone had to take video and photos, right?!
well we got there and it looked a little like
a dolphin farm to me... a corral area and a large
circular dock with stations where they would take
each group to enter the water via some stairs.



first a little video presentation showing the groups
what they will experience and mention of all the
things that you can purchase to help you remember
your encounter with the dolphins!! $$$$$$$$$ :)




so everyone gets suited up with the proper PFD



and off you go, following your guide holding high
your group # on a stick! (so as not to get lost)

then everyone in the group enters the water and you
await instruction from the trainer.

each group had a visit by the dolphins and they
got to dance, splash & yes even sing with the dolphin!

next was pretty cool, each member of the group had
the opportunity of doing what they refer to as a
"foot push" where you lay flat in the water with your
arms out and your feet spread shoulder width apart
and 2 dolphins come up behind you and put their
nose to the arch of your foot and push you across the
arena and the force hoists you up, out of the water.
here's pete...



olivia...



anne...



ben...



and even amanda!!!



emily was not interested in doing it so she stayed
back on the stairs and fed the dolphins and helped
with the hand signals..that was fine with her!



then the whole group goes out to the middle of the
water and the dolphins jump right over head!!




off to the showers to change then select some images
to purchase. there were photographers all over the
place on the docks. the wouldn't let me on the dock
but they ALL wanted my camera!!! :)

back to the hotel for a bite and a nap so we could
stay late in playa and have some fun..
first stop, the mimi! (of course) to introduce everyone
to nedi and then we hit 5th avenue to shop, eat and
drink (not necessarily in that order!)



we went to "don emilione's" and they made a table for
us right away and all 10 of us had dinner. i found
some mariachi's on the street and had them come inside
and play for the group!



the girls decided that the dolphins were no big deal so
they could tackle a couple of silly iguanas!!!




i paid the guy 10 bucks to take as many photos as i wanted.
pretty nice really. i must have taken about 20. i don't
know how many jenny took! :) we got our money's worth for sure!
everyone bought a little something and i helped tony purchase
some earrings for a friend back home by speaking spanish and
haggling a bit.
anne said "i'm not going to buy anything without you!" cuz
i made sure she got ALL of her change back!!!
sometimes they see the all inclusive bracelet and think that
you are stupid! not me! not my first time!

more music on the street...amanda & olivia danced!




back to the hotel for a tequila night cap and off to bed!



tomorrow....tulum!!! and more diving!!!

i'll be staying at my sister's the 1st week in may
while they travel to st. lucia for pete's work.
poor things.....i mean anne & pete, not amanda & emily!!!

twins win!!!

picture this...
the minnesota twins won their home opener
last night against the orioles.
oh, side bar... burt blyleven & i share
the same birthday! he used to play for the
minnesota twins and now does announcing (and
swearing) on tv & radio! he does a countdown
to his birthday everyday! "cirlce me bert!
we have the same birthday!" 3 more days, bert!
our birthday is this friday which means
that my driver's license expires too...crap!
i'd better get on that!


vacation day #5 in mexico...
a day of beauty and beautiful beaches!
we started the day by going to the salon
on site for emily & amanda's braiding appointment.




amanda did a 1/2 head (1 hour)...



emily had her whole head done (over 2 hours).



ben got into the fun too...



i think victor felt sorry for ben so he gave
ben a nice back massage!



i hit the internet down the sidewalk to zip off my
only blog of the week...



and of course photographed the hair event!
it took a long time but victor and ana did
a terrific job!
now anne just had to remember to slather the
sunscreen on those precious heads!





this day we decided to venture down the beach
to the right (south) and sit down there.
this hotel property is owned by the same
company as ours and we are allowed to sit and
eat there as well. this beach was less rocky
and the waves were nice too. so we set up
camp there for the afternoon.



ben and jenny worked on their "tulum" in the sand...



anne & tony rented wave runners for a half hour
at 4:30 and the clouds came in (no rain tho'!)
so we packed up and went to watch from the dock
and greet them at the beach when they finished.



got a shot of all of us together before we got ready
for dinner at the sea food restaurant.



another shot of tequila (and a cigar!) yuck!
pete felt he should buy us all a monte cristo..



and that closes day 5 in playa.
tomorrow....swimming with the dolphins!! :)

(more rain here in minnesota! haven't seen the sun
since i was in mexico!)

dean, call gary if you get the e-mail about the
usc graduation plans.

jacquie, where are you?

gerrick, glad to hear about your personal best
golf score. we hope to get out soon and chase the
little white ball around!! :)

back to life, back to reality...

picture this...
another monday.
but in that it's april, i'll let this one go!
the sun is higher in the sky, the cardinals
are singing up a storm, my tulips are coming up,
the grass is beginning to green up...it's spring!
thank God, it's spring!

well, where was i?
i think i'm up to day 4.
in that emily had gotten too much sun the day
before we thought it might be fun to try an
indoor project, so we headed off to the
building that offered some painting.
even tony and ben got into it!



(meanwhile, pete was off getting fully certified
in scuba with classes, videos, tests & dives)

i spent over an hour painting my little box.
bright colors...methodically chosen accents,
i was pretty proud of my little creation!
then, the guy running the operation takes them
and goes over them with the black again to
be sure that all the lines are clean and it
looked even better!



i went back over there to see how it was going
and this guy added HAIR to my sun! and made the
eyebrows thicker...it now looks like a cross
between freida and eddie munster! what the @*(^$#@!!
he totally changed the look of my piece!



and he says to me... "is okay?" and i'm like,
"no!...no, it's not okay!" but what am i going to
do? sit and do it over?????? of course not.
so, what you see is what you get.
anne thought i was over reacting...was i???

here's olivia and amanda in a hammock...



hi jen...you are getting sooo tan!



dinner at the italian spot...



the show that night was a battle of the sexes.
the kids collected as many balloons as they could
afterwards!







pete, tony & i stopped off for a shot of tequila..
pete had purchased a nice bottle of tequila at the
tequilaria in the hotel so that we could stop off
and enjoy a night cap before turning in each night.
they kept in in the freezer for him and attached this note...
(no tocar = no touch!)






off to the room for more "fan games"!
this time tony & jenny joined us for the fun!

april fools!

picture this...
today is tim & laurie's 24th wedding anniversary.
happy anniversary you two!


so, now i'm on to our 3rd day on vacation...
on this day we had arranged for our theory
class on scuba diving at 8 am. then pool
practical application, then our 1 o'clock
dive. pretty exciting!
this meant that anne & jenny would spend the
first half of the day with the girls while
pete, matt, tony, ben & i got educated in
"self~contained~underwater~breathing~apparatus".

jaime (james) was our theory instructor and
roberto would be our pool & dive instructor.
james is from england and roberto is from italy.

jenny came and took photos with her camera so i
don't have any yet, but i'll get them from here
soon. ben has the video...he wanted to share
it with his dad this weekend.

emily and i got up and went to matt & jenn's
room to see if jenn still wanted to join us for
an early morning walk, so jenn & olivia, ben,
emily & i headed down to the beach.
found a bright pink jelly fish...



we saved some bread from dinner the night before
so that we could feed the fish in the morning...



emily got too much sun the day before...



here she is in her t-shirt for more protection...



and here's amanda...



ben & emily at the meeting place before we gathered
for dinner at the "bahli hai" restaurant




our chef making a volcano out of onion rings!



and pete and emily after dinner...



there were 4 specialty restaurants that you had to make
reservations for and you could only eat at each one, once.
steak (santa fe), italian (capri), seafood (?) and a
benny hana type place (bahli hai). all pretty good.
however, if you wanted some "real wine" you had to pay
extra...dumb. either BE an all inclusive or NOT!

oh, we couldn't sit together this night either.
anne, jenny, olivia & amanda ate at one table at 6,
and the rest of us ate at another table at 7.
that was they only way they could get us all in.

that's it for now...
i'll cover the next day tomorrow.