Feliz Navidad

Whew.  Santa knew where we were after all.  Also, he knew that we only had so much space in our suitcases, so he arranged to have most of the presents delivered to San Francisco.

It also appears that Santa was willing to consume Forza Soya, if you look at the center of the table.

Other than the gifts from Santa, and the closure of some shops and restaurants, it was pretty easy to lose track of what day it was.  The sun comes up, breakfast is consumed, we go to and from the beach in various combinations at various intervals...somewhere in there, I got a massage, was talked into stand-up paddleboarding, consumed the most delicious hibiscus agua fresca ever, and failed to consume the oddest variant of a michelada ever,  with Chamoy sauce and tamarind-and-chile paste coated straw.  I tried, really I did, but pickled-fruit-flavored beer is just not a taste I've managed to acquire. 

We were staying near the sea turtle camp, which has shown absolutely no sign of life every time we've walked by and tried to make sense of the rows of dated sticks in the sand.  So of course there was no interest - except for Gangi - when I said, "Who wants to go see if the turtles are hatching tonight?"

Their loss.

I now know how to tell when something is going to happen at Turtle Camp:  listen for what could be a large wedding on the beach about 30 minutes before sunset, approach the crowd, and realize the cheers and camera flashes are for a bunch of tiny turtles.

We do leave the beach, believe or not.  Our favorite coffee spot - the Northside Cafe, home of the Golden Latte - is also nice for breakfast, including some ridiculously oversized pancakes.

- and we played by the pool

- shopped a bit around town

- read books and colored

- and befriended some of the locals

In retrospect, we may have overstayed a bit.  After Christmas, tour buses started arriving daily, bringing loads of day trippers from Guadalajara.  The weather turned, and even got a little rainy.  I got sick - and the next night, when I was starting to feel better, Daddy got sick after he went to bed.

We decided to go out for the morning and let him get some rest.  First stop, the crazy bridge over the Sayulita River.

It doesn't look like much, but last year the only option to cross at Avenue del Palmar was accepting a ride in the back of a pickup truck.

Then there was the much begged for breakfast at Chocobanana.  Brennan was treated to a milkshake there last year - a consolation prize for surviving a GI bug, or not going horseback riding, or both - so he's been talking it up to Lucie ever since.

This is what happens when they say, "Nooo we want our OWN milkshakes, we don't want to split":

We went to visit the horses by the river, bought Daddy some ginger ale, enjoyed strolling home, and grabbed some fresh OJ along the way.

And then our last day arrived.  Since there is typically one flight a day - or less - per airline, we generally find ourselves sort of hanging around, with a little too much time to be packed up and ready for our ride, but not enough time to really do much else.  At least the sun had returned - 

so we played in the pool -

swung in the rooftop hammock -

- finished up our leftovers

- and grudgingly allowed Mommy to corral everyone into an annual family photo.

I know it's a chore, but I think this may be only photo from 2015 that has all 4 of us together. Someday, someone will thank me for this.  Probably it will be me, thanking myself, but I'm OK with that.

Goodbye Beach - we'll miss you, and the sun, the tacos, the horses, the free time, and wearing flip-flops every day!  (...but we're already thinking about a trip in 2016)

Our flight home was uneventful, Roux was happy to see us, and guess what?  Santa did stop by the house after all!