Life is good today...

There is a country song on the radio that became the theme song for our vacation. These are the words:
I've got my toes in the water
My [bum] in the sand
Not a worry in the world
A cold drink in my hand
Life is good today
Yeah, life is good today.



A quick shout out once again to Russ for working so hard for our family and earning this fabulous trip for our family. Here he is getting recognized as one of the top 7 service managers in North America who earned this vacation.

Russ' performance in this contest is based on the performance of his employees. He has some great men that work for him. Many of them worked their booties off during this contest, yet only two others from Russ plant earned the trip. Meet John and Tracy...


I am so grateful for these guys who make Russ' job easier (most of the time). Also a shout out to Mike who was 36th in the RSR contest- the top 35 RSR's got to go. We were absolutely heart broken for him. And also to Kurt. This is the first time in like 13 years he didn't earn the vacation, but he finished just behind Mike. Thanks guys! Our family truly appreciates your hard work!



We flew to Puerto Vallarta on Thursday. The kids were very excited for the flights. We flew to Phoenix, had an hour lay over, then flew on to Puerto Vallarta. We flew with one of Russ' co-workers (John) and his wife (Marissa). When we walked off of the plane in Mexico we were engulfed in warm temperatures, slight humidity, and lots of sunshine. I knew I had arrived in heaven. We were all so happy to be on the ground and on our way to the resort. Here we are in the airport.

A tour bus picked us up at the airport and shuttled us to the resort, Paradise Village. We got checked in, given our "all-inclusive" bracelets, and escorted to our condo. We had a small kitchen, two bedrooms with king size beds, two full baths, a huge living area, and a double balcony that over-looked the ocean. It was incredible.
There were basically three restaurants we could eat at. One of the three restaurants hosted a buffet each night with a theme (ie. BBQ, Italian, Neptune (fish), Tropical, etc.). We could eat from the buffet or order from the menu. Each restaurant was located right on the beach with a view of the ocean. The boys ordered rib-eye steaks (we are talking huge-cover the entire plate-steaks) three of the nights. They were in absolute bliss. I was able to have some type of fish everyday... I, too, was in bliss. We had omelets made fresh to order every morning as well as waffles and pancakes, oatmeal, doughnuts, muffins, mexican breakfast casserols, bacon, sausage, yogurt, hashbrowns, salsas and guacomole. They had the greatest fresh fruit juices and all kinds of fresh diced fruit (watermelon, papaya, honeydew, cantaloupe, and pineapple that was to die for). In the afternoon we were served lunch while lying out on the beach or lying by the pool. The staff was so attentive and we felt like royalty. The food was fantastic and I think we each gained about ten pounds.
We also made the mistake of introducing the kids to virgin pina coladas, strawberry daiquiris and our new found favorite- virgin Miami Vices (a mixture of pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris). The kids each drank at least three a day. Gracie's drink of choice was Shirley Temples. Every time we looked at Grant he had some kind of fruity drink in his hand. By the look of some of the pictures of him you would think some of his drinks were alcoholic.

We played in the ocean every morning while the tide was in. Boogie boarding was by far the favorite activity. We had free boogie board rentals each day and we made the most of that. The kids had rashes on their stomaches from the first day of boogie boarding, until their mom taught them to wear their compression shirts. After that you could hardly get them out of the waves. Russ took his two co-workers out on boogie boards the first morning we were there. They were having a hard time catching the hang of it. They kept going out further and further for the bigger waves. Next thing we knew, they were caught and were being pulled out and unable to get in. An Alsco employee from San Diego who is a big surfer helped John in, but poor Tracy had to be rescued on a jet ski. I don't think they liked boogie boarding... we never saw them near the ocean, except to eat, again. Gracie loved playing in the sand and looking for sea shells. I was impressed by her enthusiasm for boogie boarding as well. At first she didn't want to try, but once she did we could hardly get her off of it. I loved to listen to her as she would just giggle the entire ride to shore.

When the tide would go out, we would move to the pool. The pools were amazing. They had huge crocodile water slides, under water caves, perfect temperature water, wading areas, and an enormous hot tub. Little Gracie can finally swim. She has been able to for some time now, but panics very easily. She always insisted on wearing a life jacket, which was great by me because I didn't have to worry about her drowning. However, after spending so much time in the water on this trip, she is very confident and swimming like a fish. She loved the pool and the slides and floating around on her raft, but spent most of her time relaxing in the "hot pool", or jacuzzi.

By our condo they had some caged tigers and parrots. I couldn't believe how close you could get to the animals. The kids thought that was pretty cool. They also liked all of the vegetation around the place, palm trees with coconuts, banana trees, beautiful flowers, etc. They were fascinated by how lush it was. I guess when you grow up in the desert, you would find those things amazing.

It was an amazing vacation. One we will never forget. I don't think the kids thought about school one time. Nor did I think of work. I think this is what heaven will be like.
Thanks Dad! We had the time of our lives. Viva Mexico!!!!