Thumbs Up Thursday - Cabo Edition

 

I'm a big believer in recommendations when it comes to traveling.  In light of our recent vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Thumbs Up Thursday is dedicated to our top experiences from the trip.

Thumbs Up to The Office.  We were in Cabo the week that The Office opened up for business after a month long holiday - it was packed so we didn't get to spend as much time there as we'd have liked but we still made it a stop.  The Office is perfect for daytime, beach cocktails, a little pre-dinner fun or post-dinner festivities.

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Thumbs Up to Mi Casa.  We were warned by the locals that Mi Casa was too touristy but I disagree.  Okay, okay.  Yes they had mariachis, yes they had an amazing gift shop where everything was overpriced, yes the decorations were super festive and mucho Mexican but it set the right tone for a great evening.  Their traditional Mexican plates were muy delicioso and I was a fan.  And yes, we paid the mariachis to sing for us...Guantanamera...Guajira Guantanamera....Guantanamerrrrraaaaaa!  I realize I would scoff at anyone in San Antonio that did this but when in Rome, right?

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Thumbs Up to Captain Bob and Day Sail Cabo.  We hired Captain Bob and his crew for an afternoon and it was a great choice.  They supplied all beverages, lunch, snorkeling and a personalized water front tour of Cabo for a great price.  Captain Bob is FULL of information (maybe a little too much on occasion) but we loved seeing all of the houses of the famous people as we sailed past on the boat.  He got up close to Los Arcos and the sea lions too!

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Thumbs Up to Sunset Da Mona Lisa.  The food was tasty (not my favorite meal of the trip) but it was the views that made this dining experience spectacular!  We were set high on a cliff overlooking the ocean and the surfers with a flawless view of the sunset.  Pretty amazing.

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Thumbs Up to Edith's.  This restaurant is a must do and was most definitely my favorite dining experience of the trip.  The ambiance was both festive and romantic, the food was wonderful and their service was five star!  Get one of the flaming desserts - The Mexican Coffee was perfecto - its totally worth the show in and of itself.

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Thumbs Up to The Pink Kitty.  While I might not recommend The Pink Kitty for everyone, if you are looking to cut loose on the dance floor one night, head here.  I will admit that we were the first ones in the club (we might not be as young and hip as we use to be) and the place was in full swing when we headed out the door for our beds (they were calling our names) and we were probably the only ones in there that had children (at least who were legitimately born) but we owned that dance floor while we were there and sweated up a storm!

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Thumbs Up to The Spa at The One and Only.  Holy cow...or should I say Santa Vaca!  This was a total treat and definitely worth the splurge.  I had a pregnancy massage (of course) and it was fab!  Go early, enjoy the amenities and plan to go have lunch by the pool overlooking the ocean.  I could have gone back every day!

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Thumbs Up to Chris and Courtney Williams!  They planned all of the details for the entire group and are THE best trip planners/vacation buddies around.  Many thanks for all of your hard work on an excellent trip!

Honey Hijacking - Harper's Vacation

While we were in Cabo, Harper got to spend her vacation with Honey and Grandy.  Hence, another edition of Honey Hijacking: 

Observations of keeping a 14 month old…

Brooke & Jared were able to get away for a much needed vacation.  Grandy and I were fortunate enough to be the ones to keep Harper during their get away.  While it was oh so much fun, I now am ready for a much needed vacation!  Where is my ticket to Cabo, pleeeaaase?!?!?

Having raised two children 20 months apart, I thought I was an old pro at babying.  But having grown older and wiser with age, I now find that I have some new profound observations for all of you PIOW readers.

Harper has often been described  as rather timid, sweet and, at times, the word “tame” has been said of her.   Observation #1: There is no such a thing as a “tame toddler”.   I believe this term is an oxymoron!

Harper is a tiny thing, I’m not sure she is yet in the 10^th percentile in weight.   Why?  I DO NOT KNOW!  I do know now.  While this child eats like a Velociraptor, she’s a little human disposal, I was never sure why she wasn’t putting on weight?   What I now know is that the darling angel poops like a baby elephant.  

Observation #2:  Once a gagger, always a gagger!  It still does me in to change those poopy diapers - always has, always will.

Observation #3:  Going to the grocery store is so much more fun with a little person sitting in your shopping cart!  Not only do countless unexpected strangers stop and want to chat and play (which made me feel like a puffed up Blow Fish) but have you ever realized what fun music HEB plays?  Harper and I (okay so it was just me) were strolling through the frozen food section where I was singing, dancing/swerving our cart back and forth to Cher’s “I’ve Got You Babe” like it was karaoke night at some brightly lit bar.  Then Lionel Richie’s “Dancing on the Ceiling” came on right in the detergent isle and even Harper was dancing in her seat!  HEB may never be the same.  

Observation #4:  Realizing that you have a shopping cart full of groceries as well as Harper sitting right along in that shopping cart.   You walk up to your car, the sudden realization hits you, “How in the world am I going to make this transfer happen?”  So here I am in 99° heat, with one foot under the shopping cart wheel so it wouldn’t roll away from me, one hand on Harper, so she would stay put and my free hand madly stuffing groceries into the trunk of my car!  On top of that, I then had to haul that dumb cart all the way back to a cart station, unload Harper, load her up, buckle her in...it makes me sweat just thinking about it!  What happened to those old “old pro” babying days that I so prided myself in?  I solemnly promise from here after to never again pass by a young mother without waiting to take her shopping cart back for her.

Observation #5:  Taking that adorable little 14 month old on daily adventures. We decided getting Harper out of the house to work off some energy would be a good idea.  So one day we rode the zoo train--twice.  The next day it was off to Kiddie Park, riding all the rides multiple times...planes, boats, cars, carousels (I do believe we had more fun than Harper).  Sunday was spent at the park, climbing over everything in site with billions of other children towering over Harper.  Her favorite activity was swinging and swinging and swinging!  Here’s my profound observation, all the aforementioned activity doesn't ensure that that precious little worn out baby doll will sleep any longer than one short hour once she’s finally home.  What it does ensure is that you will be absolutely wiped out and certain to be in bed by 8:00 p.m.

Observation #6:  When you're lying in bed first thing in the morning with Miss Priss and she flings that sweet soft little body into yours and puts her little head on your chest, wraps her arms around your neck and (in Harper’s case) opens her mouth as wide as possible to give you the biggest kisses she can--well then you know your heart has just melted right down to the tips of your toes.  You know that you would do absolutely anything in the world to make that little girl’s life as happy and safe as possible.  You know right then that when people say being a grandparent is the best thing in the world, that it’s a fact.

Finally, Observation #7:  The morning comes when you wake up and the house is quite.  Your time is all yours to do whatever, whenever, however you want and instead of breathing a sigh of relief...all you want to do is scoop up that precious bundle of joy and watch her make you laugh and love like every moment is better than the next.

Tired yes, ready to do it all again absolutely...Harper, where are you?!?!?

Love you to pieces,

Honey

A Little Vaca

 

Okay, sorry for the long hiatus but I think my mind has still been in vacation mode this week.  But we're back.

We took a trip to Cabo with six of our dear friends and had an amazing time!  A little sun, a little spa for the girls, a little golf for the boys, a little dancing, some great meals, a few cocktails (virgin for me, of course), a day on the boat with Captain Bob, searching for purples, hanging out with Moustie, Preggo & DJ Rainbow and lots of laughs with good friends was totally what the Meabons needed.  And Harps got to have a vacation of her own with Honey and Grandy.

Here's a few of my favorite pictures from our time away:

Let the fun begin!

Off to the Spa

Totally relaxed at The One & Only Spa

Golfing with a view

Group Shot

 Dinner at Sunset Da Mona Lisa

Yes, that would be a baby bump that popped up while we were gone

A day on the boar

with Captain Bob

Plenty of time by the pool 

Dirty Monkeys

Miami Vices

Showing off our tans on our last night

 

Alive and Kicking

Yes, we are alive.  Jared and I have been on a much needed vacation and now that we're back, I'm totally playing catch up.  So I promise a couple of full posts - one on Harper's vacation at Camp Boswell and one on our vacation to Cabo San Lucas.  Just let me catch my breath first!

On another note, Numero Dos is definitely doing somersaults en mi estomago.  I starting feeling it 15 weeks and at 16 weeks, I can definitely claim it to be baby movement.  Amazing how much faster it comes along with pregnancy #2!  We got all of our test results back for Downs, Trisomy 18 and spina bifida and everything came back negative so we continue to get good news.  I'm also quickly growing out of my clothes and sporting one heck of a belly.  I'm just about ready for this to look like a baby belly and not a beer belly - ugh.  We head back to the perinatologist a week from Friday and we should be able to tell you if Harper will have a little brother or little sister.  For now, we're just calling it Harper's broster.