Huatulco, Mexico

I successfully finished the first part of my blog for this destination and now I must continue, such a busy month!  After Teresa and Dan left we had a week to ourselves before my sister and her family arrived.  The condo we are staying at is a wonderful place to meet new people, mainly Canadians it seems, but we had the privilege of meeting a new family when they moved in for 10 days.  They live and work in Mexico City but are actually originally from Albania.  We quickly made friends with this family who were so similar to us and who were so fun to be around.  They had two kids, 6 &10, so it was nice for our kids to spend time with other kids! We spent a lot of time together and we enjoyed tagging along while they took us to their favorite places here in Huatulco.  They have been coming to this area for the past 8 years, twice a year, so they had a few new places to go to.  Our first day trip was with them to a local beach called Playa Conejo, local meaning that is where the locals go, not a beach where tourists know to go to.  It is just off the main road that takes you to the adults only hotel Secrets.  There is a bit of a hike down the hillside and then a walk along the beach that is front of the fancy hotel but down on the other side is a clearing and that is the public beach.  It is tucked in behind some rocks so the water is calm and the snorkeling is great. We enjoyed the day with them there and the kids had a blast catching crabs and building some crab castles in the sand.  So creative!

We ended up going to this beach a few times with them and again later in the month with my Mom and Joe when they arrived.  Such a beautiful, calm beach and it is one that is not ever busy. Our next trip with them was to Playa San Agustin, the little fishing village with an amazing beach is about 30 min drive from our condo.  We all piled into their car and off we went!!  The drive there is a very dusty, bumpy windy road, typical road back in Saskatchewan, so no big deal to us but to many, it is quite the topic of conversation! lol We made our way to Era's and Ari's favorite restaurant which is way off to the left side where most tourists don't go to because all of the tours and cabs take the people in a different way.  Nice for us because the beach was not very busy for the longest time but then a few local families showed up which doesn't bother me one bit!  I have realized on this trip that we are definitely a family that seeks out the locals and the places that they go.  Our experiences in these countries I believe have been enhanced greatly due to that fact.  I love being around them and hearing the Spanish conversations and watching their traditions so much, we have a lot to learn from them in many ways. To be honest, nothing is worse than being by some tourists and having to listen to them complain about the most trivial things!  Not all do, but we have heard a lot in our months abroad. So crazy and disheartening to hear others complain and to see so many people feel so entitled. Doesn't seem to sink in to some that when they are visiting another country they should respect the people in it and their way of life. Sorry, just my rant and take on things!!  We had a great day at Augustin and we let the kids talk us into going on a Banana Boat ride around the bay, super fun actually!

 As December 25th grew closer and closer the kids were losing their minds with excitement, they really do love Christmas!  Things were very different for us this year but we tried to make things memorable and somewhat traditional.  We bought and decorated a little tree from the grocery store and we hung up lights and stockings.  Our little condo looked pretty festive and our Elf, Scout Kazoo even showed up here in Mexico!!

Doug and Ari wheeled and dealed with the Dreams hotel and we ended up getting day passes for the hotel on Christmas Eve.  We were able to go at 12 noon to start our day of indulgment!! We enjoyed the lunch buffet, afternoon of swimming, Kids Club, free unlimited drinks, evening dinner and then Christmas show put on by their entertainment staff.  It was a great get away day for all of us, Dreams is a very big and beautiful hotel, not our style of a place but we loved that we shared it with our friends and we all had fun! Nate and Emilia even got pulled up onto the stage to be apart of the show!

Christmas Day was a wonderful day full of fun, laughter, FaceTime sessions back home to loved ones and the beach!!  Kids were up by 6:30 and we had everything opened by 6:45, haha short morning!!  Christmas to us is about family and even though we didn't spend the day with any of our extended family we were together and we loved every minute of it! The boys were very happy because we gave them money for Christmas and they were allowed to buy skateboards, they have wanted them for so long and we finally caved!! There is a ton of places for them to ride here and it is all paved and flat, they have been riding daily and are getting quite good and comfortable on the boards! Getting ready for the Kimberley kate park when we get home!

When we were here for the first time in 2013 we stayed at the Binniguenda All Inclusive hotel and we quickly made friends with a few of the dancers that were on staff there.  Over the years we have stayed in contact with them through FaceBook/Messenger and when we came back in 2014 we spent a lot of time with them off the resort.  There are just some people in this world you connect with and we sure did with Josh, Claudia and Miseal.  Such wonderful people!!  We were thrilled to hear that while we were in Huatulco this time Josh would be back visiting family, he has since left the hotel and is working on cruise ships.  We had a wonderful night with Josh catching up and sharing some good laughs. What a guy!!  We are so thankful to know him! :)

 December 27th is day we had been counting down to for a long time, it was the day my sister arrived here in Huatulco!!!  YAH!!!  We couldn't wait to see Jamee, Dan and my niece Rayna!!  We have missed them so much and FaceTime just wasn't cutting it anymore.  The Huatulco area in Mexico was new to them and we were sure hoping they liked it here as much as we do.  We sat at their hotel for over an hour waiting for their arrival, the wait was killing the kids! The hotel management at Las Brisas had given us permission to be in the hotel daily while they were there, to spend time with them from 1:00 - 6:00. We were very thankful for that!! Once they arrived we had a quick visit and hugs all around but we didn't stay long.  We left to let them settle in and rest up, travel days are long and tiring!  The next morning we had plans for them to make their way to our condo and we would hit the beach and show them around. We walked down to the Santa Cruz beach which is just a couple of blocks from us, bought some tacos out of the back of a truck and then we spent some time on the beach visiting while they soaked up some sun! We also had to take them to our favorite ice cream shop here in Santa Cruz, Jamee was thrilled to find a orange popsicle with Vodka in it!! YUM!!

That night we did the walk into La Crucecita for dinner and to show them around the town, we even tried out some food cart goodies!  To get there we took the walkway that was created to make it easier to walk into the town from Santa Cruz. I think with the cruise ships coming in, it was a great idea to help the tourists to get around easier. I believe the plan is to put markets and some stores along the walk way one day.  Such a beautiful view from the top, one direction is the ocean and the other is the mountains. They have even built in slides for the kid in you along the way!  Worth the walk, just be aware of the time of day you go, there is no shade and the heat will kill you!!

We took Jamee and Dan to La Entegra so they could check out the snorkelling there and experience a local beach.  We arrived early and enjoyed the morning before it got busy and did it ever get busy! WOW!!  We have never been here over the Christmas break and New Years and it is a totally different place.  Buses and buses of people pull into the area during the holidays but one thing we realized is that they don't get up early and head out.  So, if we go early enough we get quiet beaches for a bit and then we head home once the mass of people show up. It was an experience for all of us that day and we were able to see some great fish snorkeling and the kids got to take Rayna into the cave they had found. While we were there we ran into our fisher friend Santiago and he offered to water taxi us home, so that was cool to get home by boat. The kids even came home with tattoos!!

Every Saturday for the month of December there is a Farmer's Market in the square in Santa Cruz, which is just down the street from us.  Great place to get local produce, organic products, a massage(Doug's favorite for only $20) and the best part we discovered, is to see puppies!!  There is local organization here where they go out and rescue cats and dogs who are strays.  Some are on the streets and some are out in the dump where they scrummage through piles of garbage for food. They catch them, neuter them, and give them all of their shots.  Their goal is to get them adopted out, there has been a lot of puppies going to Canada from here! Roberto is the name of the guy who runs and organizes this foundation, he is one big hearted man!  He own a hotel here (Delphinus Inn) and he houses all of the animals he rescues there until he can find homes for them.  He also goes out twice a day to water and feed the dogs at the dump.  The food is given to him by two restaurants in La Crucecita, they save their scraps and send it with him when he comes by every day at 5:15. We have since gone out with him and I will share the details of our adventure with him in my next blog.  Very eye opening and good to see such caring people out there! The puppies at the market were a hit and we were asked if we would like to come to his hotel to play with the puppies in the park across the street when we can, they want the puppies to be socialized as much as possible so they can hopefully be adopted.  No twisting the kids arms on that request!!  They love those puppies and are more than willing to help out, we have been going every other day now to spend time with them.

Dec 31st was another exciting day for us, my Mom and Joe were arriving in Mexico and going to spend 10 days with us in our condo. YAH!! We surprised them at the airport when they arrived, pretty amazing to see them as they walked through those doors! It was so awesome because my sister was still here and staying at Las Brisas for a few more days so we got some time all together.  We had some busy days ahead, so much we wanted to do, yet you want to let them relax a bit too. It was so awesome having my sisters hotel to use as well, we spent a few afternoons over there utilizing their hotels facilities. Pretty incredible to have 3 beaches, multiple pools, sports equipment and a secret snorkelling beach at our finger tips for a few days. Such luxury!!
Even though we didn't party or even stay up until midnight I loved that we spent New Year's Eve together here in Mexico!!

I still have much to write about and to share in our Huatulco destination, but I will end this one now with the next blog being in the new year. Cheers to 2016!!  It was been an amazing year for us! We have had so many changes, so many adventures and so much love and laughter.  We feel so blessed and thankful for this life we live and for the opportunities we have taken a hold of.  We live with no regrets! We have made a lot of hard decisions this year and not all of it has been easy to do, but we did it. We know we only live once and we decided a long time ago to power through and make our dreams come true.  We are not getting any younger and our kids are growing up so fast.  This is the time and we needed to embrace this gift of life!! We are so excited for the new year and we await the adventure it brings us, bring it on 2017!!  We are all safe, happy and our hearts are full!!

Love from the Steel family!!!!

XXXXX