5th birthday tradition

So it looks like we have a 5th birthday tradition in our house.  Spend it on a boat, in a foreign country.  You may remember Schmoo's 5th birthday, which was spent aboard the Norweigan Star cruise liner with Nana, with a stop at Ketchikan, Alaska on her actual birthday.  I seem to recall her being not particularly enjoyable.....she and Bean whined the entire walk from the cruise boat into town and didn't seem interested in the horse drawn trolley ride we took around town.  She did find happiness in the evening "birthday party" at the kids club and did like the room decorations and cake.

It only seems fitting that on Bean's 5th birthday, we find ourselves in a different foreign land - Mexico.  We managed to spend the afternoon of his birthday on a large fishing boat, cruising around the Mazatlan bay, thanks to Grandma Lady's expert tour planning.  Both children were very enjoyable.  They loved being on the boat.  They loved seeing the little rock island that housed a family of sea lions, who I swore barked their own rendition of Happy Birthday to Bean on our way back.  Most exciting was the whales that we got to see (another similarity to Schmoo's birthday).  One that actually leapt out of the water at one point.  They loved watching the boat hand feed fish to the seagulls and pelicans off the end of the boat as we cruised back to shore. It only seemed fitting that we had to wait for the Princess cruiseship to leave the harbour before we returned at sunset.  It was a fantastic day....well other than me breaking my toe in the morning on the cement staircase in our condo....but whatever.

Grandma Lady had us all dressed up for the day too, with our very own St Patrick's Day t-shirts and shamrock beads.  We danced our way back home in the back of a pickup truck (don't worry Nana, there were sides to it...it's how everyone travels down here), to some fantastic 80s tunes.  We all had our own individual cakes to celebrate the big day too!

I can't actually believe that Bean is five already.  The long days have suddenly become short years.  Our baby boy that threw us for a loop five years ago is suddenly a little boy, full of personality.  He's not a baby anymore, but it sure warms my heart that he will still automatically crawl into my lap if I'm sitting on the floor, or he needs his 6-minute Mama snuggle at night to fall asleep, or he still demands his Mama if he's startled, frustrated or scared.  He's growing up too fast.....my requests for kisses are now considered first and often only on the cheek, if received at all. He'll probably be in school 5 full days a week in September in kindergarten, so my time is numbered.  I'm holding onto every walk on the beach with his little hand in mine right now.

On another note....we had a great "all-inclusive" experience today.  Grandma Lady lined us all up with a day pass to the brand new all-inclusive resort down the road - the Riu Emerald Bay.  We arrived promptly at 9am for our 9am-5pm poolside experience. We were sure to eat as much as possible from the mammoth buffets at breakfast and lunch (another similarity to our cruise ship experience 2 years ago).  And then we spent all day in the swimming pools. Schmoo and Bean were insatiable. Luckily the kids pool, completed with 4 little waterslides, was safe enough for them to go in without immediate attention, so the grown ups didn't spend the entire time in the pool.  All three of us managed to get a little bit of time with our respective novels.  Bean has developed some great confidence with his life jacket on this trip, so he really enjoyed swimming around in the deep pools too.  We sadly returned our towels and had our wristbands removed at 5pm and wandered back along the beach to our cozy condo.  It was a great day, but it will be nice to move at our own pace again tomorrow!