Spur of the Moment Vacation

Last Sunday (August 17th) at around eight o'clock JD's phone rang. Some of our friends, Jared and Melanie were calling to invite us to go to Mexico! JD and I were really excited, and then they said they wanted to leave Tuesday morning around five!!!! Tuesday? Around 5? Thats only a little more than 24 hours!!!! We discussed reasons not to go: No time, its a long drive, and of course, the dreaded money issue. But we wanted to go so bad! (Well I wanted to go so bad, and JD didn't want to dissapoint me- kudos to the husband!) So, after much deliberation, we decided to go! Monday was filled with frenzied laundry and panicked packing, but we made it into Jared's black Ford Tuesday Morning and everything went according to plan.............Until we got about halfway inbetween Phoenix and Yuma. We're just driving down the road when Melanie turns to Jared and says all this is about 1.5 seconds, "Jared, I didn't grab the keys! The keys to the beach house! I didn't get them! No, I'm not kidding!!!!! Did you grab them? Please tell me you grabbed them?!?!?!?!?!?" Jared didn't grab them. So we pull over, debate on whether we should just go home and after many MANY phone calls we had it all worked out. We called a locksmith to get into Melanie's car, to get the keys to the beach house out of the console. Then, Jared's angel of a sister-in-law took the keys into Jared's office to be overnight UPS-ed to a hotel we would be staying at in San Diego. It took some work, but I am SO glad we didn't have to turn around!

We got to our hotel in San Diego (by the way, thanks to Annette for finding us a good deal and doing all the internet leg work while we were stuck in the truck) and it was so funny because Morgan immediately goes over to the phone. She picked up a pencil and note pad, held the phone to her ear with her shoulder, and started playing secretary. I swear, the kid is a sponge. I promise you these pictures are not posed, she just started doing this all on her own.

After we hung out in the hotel for a bit, we decided to go down to this place called Seaport Village. It was free and looked entertaining, so it won 2 thumbs up. It was such a cute, quaint little area along the marina. All the buildings were the old craftsman style, there were entertainers doing their thing on the sidewalks, and seeing all the yachts and sail boats was way fun too.

Morgan LOVED the birds, whether it was a talking Macaw or just a plain old Seagull, she was off and running when she saw one. We posed by this cool Pirate guy, and were supposed to make pirate faces, but I think I'm the only one who actually did.

The keys came by 10:30 the next morning, so we all jumped back into the truck and crossed the border. I was surprised at how the Mexican Border Guard didn't even get down from his tall stool to check us out. He just said, "Passe" in a bored voice and waved us in. Mexico is so crazy. I just can't imagine living how some of those people do. Their homes are so small...so unfinished. Some of the homes looked like they were built more to house animals than people. It made me so grateful for what I have and for all the work JD does to give our family what he does. If you ever start to feel like you are getting the wrong end of the stick in this life, visit a border town. No joke.

We got to the beach house and it was.....not quite what I was expecting. It was free, so I can't complain, and we had a blast. BUT, the guy who owns it has Alzheimers, so I guess he stopped paying the maids, so there were spiders everywhere and two cockroaches in our bed. I felt like we were roughing it. Ha, I guess I am just a spoiled white girl. The other problem was somebody had stolen the pipe connecting the gas to the house because it was copper. They just kinked off the pipe where they cut it. Nice. So we had no gas: No warm showers, no oven, no stove. We definately had a mexican experience!

I became even more of a spoiled white girl the next day! We hung out on the beach all day. I got to lay out and relax and do all those things I always wished I could. JD and I played in the waves together, we boogie boarded and just goofed off. These dolphins came by within 50 feet of us and jumped through the waves! That night, we went to dinner at this little restaraunt called La Fonda. It was so nice! It was candlelit and we were serenaded and the best part? DANCING!!! JD even got up and danced with me and Morgan to that song," I can't help falling in love with you" It was just like all the movies. I absolutely LOVED it.

Even without the gas and with the bugs, we had so much fun I'd do it again in a second! We spent hours on the beach every day. JD and Jared boogie boarded and played in our kayak while Morgan and I usually played on the beach. She LOVED digging in the sand. Jared and JD dug out this cool hole in the sand to make a small kiddie pool for her.

Have I ever mentioned what a great Dad JD is? He played with Morgan so much. He played in the sand, in the house, in the water. They had so many good times together. I just loved watching them. So great. Good Dad Indeed.

We went to Ensenada for a day to do the market bartering thing. THAT was fun. I loved it. Even though we walked away with a hammock we have no place to hang, it was still way fun. We also got sunglasses for JD, a dress for Morgan, bracelets and a necklace for me, and a cool hat. Oh yeah, we got Morgan some marracas too.

It was all the most fun I've had in a long time. My Dad and Mom pitched in and gave us our Christmas gift early by paying for most of it. That was awesome because it actually allowed JD to enjoy himself and not think about how much money we were spending. We got back across the border with no problems, and nobody even tried to steal my blue eyed blonde haired babe. Going someplace fun within the next 48 hours? Let us know, we're up for it!!!!!