sunbaked, for once
Cora, Henry and I are on vacation, for the first time in what feels like forever. And by vacation, I mean a trip entirely for the purpose of R&R; not to attend a wedding or a funeral, or to visit family, or to spend a holiday with said family. Just the three of us, getting sunburnt and eating nachos by the pool. We are in Cabo San Lucas, which is hopelessly infested by American tourists, mostly either of the highly-tanned older variety (i.e. at least two generations ahead of us, calm down Mom) or the younger, breast-augmented variety. Happily, it still manages to feel, look, and smell like Mexico, and we are having a splendid time, notwithstanding all the obnoxiousness. By luck and fortunate family connections we are staying at a hotel (Capella Pedregal, if anyone’s interested) that is several shelves higher than the one on which we live… I have the unfortunate feeling that this may be one of those experiences, like flying first class, that is going to cause a lot of future discontent with my regular life and mode of travel. We are enjoying the heck out of it while it lasts.
Anyway, here are a list of things that have caused this vacation to be superlatively awesome, just in case we forget:
1. Whale watching from our deck. Seriously, and lots of them. The guest services people brought us a pair of ginormous binoculars right after we arrived, which has helped tremendously.
2. Sleeping in, and not waking up thinking, “What time is it? Am I supposed to be at work?”
3. Large, deep bathtub. And nice-smelling bubbles to go with.
4. Cora has spent more time naked than clothed, and has started doing this hilarious panicked dance, complete with screaming and flailing limbs, when she needs to poop, being mostly potty trained but terrified of pooping on big potties.
5. Watching the aforementioned naked Cora climbing in and out and in and out, etc, of the plunge pool on our deck. It’s a little deeper than I’d like it to be, but the water is the temperature of tepid bathwater and it has a nice wide shelf inside that she loves cruising around.
6. Cora and Henry motor boating around the pool. She’s learning how to blow bubbles and usually ends up with a big mouthful of water. If anyone has any tips on how to teach a 2-year-old how to swim, send them on along.
7. The following exchange between Henry and Cora, who are both nursing their first sunburns of the year:
Henry: “Can I ride on your shoulders, Cora?”
Cora: “No, Papa. I had a sunbuwn on my showdews.”
(very regretfully, with head tilted to the side) Cora: “I’m sowwy Papa.”
8. Room service. Chocolate ice cream at bedtime while watching soccer on TV.
8a. Complimentary fresh chips and guacamole, accompanied by two bottles of beer, delivered to the room at 4:15 every afternoon.
9. Cora informing the meeter/greeter people out at the front of the hotel, nearly every day, “I yike Mexico.”
10. The crazy/freaky long tunnel, dug out of the stone hillside, and lit by lanterns and chandeliers that forms the entrance to the resort and which immediately transported us from reality to feeling like we were in a Zorro movie.
11. Tiny, sweet black kitten hanging out at the gigantic gates in front of the tunnel. Cora and I are both in love, and would like to take her home and teach her English. Henry just rolls his eyes, as usual. He’s not a cat person, which I think may be one of his more serious character flaws. Fortunately, Cora has not inherited his pessimism regarding cats.
12. The weather. Warm, breezy, and not a cloud in the sky. I can not really believe that it’s still 40 degrees and raining in Portland.
Anyway, I should stop, lest it seem like I am gloating. We have 2 days left, and then back to reality, which will hopefully not be too hard to cope with. I think one of the nicer things about vacation, whether it is a soaring success or completely sucks in some way, is that it is generally nice to return home to your kitchen and bed and get the laundry done, make a meal list for the week, and get back to business.
