19. January 2009 by ilanamong.

This is my last day. We leave very early tomorrow morning. I hope to lie on the beach all day, maybe taking a break to play BINGO. Then later we will go into town to have one last taco dinner and maybe do a little shopping. I’m sad to go back home where it is freezing cold and I have to go to school, but I will be happy to see my dog Bear.

Goodbye Mexico. See you next year!

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19. January 2009 by ilanamong.

Hola!!!!!!!  This morning we woke up and I spent an hour out of my beach time to do social studies homework- what fun- NOT!!!! My mom and my brother went down to the beach leaving my dad and me doing homework and eating snacks. When we got down there it was 11 o’clock already. After about half an hour my dad and I went for a walk and decided to pick up lunch. We walked for about an hour going this way and that. We went into a grocery store and got soda and beer for the football game.  Then we went and got super pollo chicken for lunch. When we got back to the hotel, there was a big parrot in the lobby. I said Hola and he said Hola back. I danced and then he danced. He was really pretty.

We ate lunch and my dad and brother hid away from the world in our hotel room to watch the Eagles game. It’s too bad they lost. My mom and I sat on the beach, putting globs of suntan lotion on. We went into the ocean and swam out really far. Later I went into the pool by myself and played water volley ball with some adults and a kid named Davis.  It was all fun. Alex came because the Eagles were losing and they fumbled the ball and he couldn’t watch any more. After everybody left, Alex, my mom and I played until 5:30. We went out to dinner at this place that was a favorite of all the hotels. It’s called café de olla. My parent didn’t like it, but my fajitas were delicious. After dinner we came home and did math homework. Now I’m right here on the bed writing my blog.

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18. January 2009 by ilanamong.

Good morning Mexico! Today we laid and played on the beach for most of the day. We did the water volley ball passes and got to 101 passes!!!!!!!!!!! That was just Alex, my dad, and me.  My mom and I went into the ocean really deep and saw a lot of fish. We kept on swimming out where I couldn’t touch the bottom until I got water in my eye and had to swim back to shore. We had lunch on the beach and then went out to town. We looked around at things and almost bought an eagles poncho for my dad and brother- It was 400 pesos though. For dinner we went to a little place on the public beach in town that had seafood. I had a large shrimp cocktail, Alex has shrimp and garlic, my mom had a whole fish, and my dad had a chicken breast. After dinner I had to go to the bathroom and the only place to go was the public bathroom. It was just as bad as a port a potty. Ooooh. Then we went, got ice cream, and took a taxi home. Tonight we got to go night swimming! That was so much fun because it was me and Alex and a couple other men over at the swim up bar. We jumped in the water, and had races. It was a blast!

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18. January 2009 by ilanamong.

Beach Time!! The pool and the beach is pretty much all we did today. I collected white shiny shells in the ocean and I got pieces of a really cool shiny electric blue one. We ate lunch at a food court. Alex had burger king- what a surprise that my parents even let him have it. My parents and I shared an order of tacos and quesadillas.  We did homework too. What kind of vacation is a vacation with homework? Boo! Tonight for dinner we went to this tiny restaurant. Alex had spaghetti- I think he was tired of Mexican food today. My mom had mole chicken, my dad had grilled beef, and I had chicken tacos. Everything was very delicious! At the restaurant there was an adorable cat that looked like he was black and white, but had been washed and bleached, so it was a light grey and white. She was very sweet and it tickled when she would run in between my legs. I really want to go night swimming, but we always get home so late we can’t.

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15. January 2009 by ilanamong.

This morning we got up and ready and out to the beach as usual. We went to paint ceramics. I picked a really cool fish and Alex picked a frog. We were done in about an hour. Then we made sand animals on the beach. I made a lizard and a turtle and Alex made a whale. For the rest of the day we sat on the beach. When the activity director called water volley ball we went to go and play. There was three all adult games before we had a chance to play. I was on a team with my dad and Alex was on a team with a kid Alex and I made friends with named Dalton. Alex and Dalton won- that stinks. Then we played another game and this time another adult wanted to play with us. Alex and the other adult were on a team and my dad, Dalton and I were on a team. We won that game- oh yeah! For dinner we went to a restaurant called Fajita Republic. Our fajitas were amazingly tasty. Now we’re watching the fireworks again.

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15. January 2009 by ilanamong.

Today we went on a horseback riding tour.  On the taxi ride there, I looked out my window and I saw and elephant!  There was an elephant, two camels, and a bunch of black ponies.  When I looked closer, I saw that it was a circus.  The horse that they assigned me was named Tamarindo.  Alex’s horse’s name was confetti.  On the trails, we saw lizards and beautiful trees – it was like an untouched land.  We went up the mountain and I was the leader.  I saw a baby deer standing right on the trail we were on.  It was so close that if my arms were double-size, I could have touched it.  We walked and trotted and cantered along the cliff sides until we reached a waterfall at the top.  When we got to the waterfall, it was beautiful and, since we were the only family on the ride, Alex took a pee right in the pool of water.  Then we went back down the mountain, walking, trotting, and cantering some more.  When we reached the bottom, lunch was waiting for us at a small, open-air restaurant.  We had nachos, Mexican rice, quesadillas, and beef.  At the end of the day, we sat on the balcony and watched the sunset – again.  Later tonight we’ll see the fireworks from the pirate ship – again.  Paradise!

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15. January 2009 by ilanamong.

Today was a very lazy day of sitting around on the beach and jumping into the pool to cool ourselves down. Alex and I built a super sandcastle.  The sandcastle that we made had a bridge and guard towers and a wall surrounding it.  We bought lunch at Super Pollo and brought it back to the hotel to eat.  Super Pollo is a take-out rotisserie chicken place, like Boston Market, but it tasted different and had different sides (like tortillas, salsa, and chili peppers).  Later we went to dinner at our favorite taco place, which we found out is called Pepe’s Tacos.  In all, it was a lazy day.

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14. January 2009 by ilanamong.

Today we went kayaking. I shared a kayak with my dad and my mom and Alex were on a kayak together. We were hoping to go on the kayaks early in the morning so we could see dolphins, but the man that sets up kayaking rides and other activities came late, so we went out at 11 o clock for an hour. It was beautiful out there in the middle of the ocean as we paddled away. My brother got seasick and he wasn’t happy until we had a race and he and my mom won. Alex says he will never go kayaking again.

We didn’t do much of anything but lay on the beach. We ate a lunch of tacos on the beach and my brother and dad went into the pool. I didn’t feel up to the pool so much.

After watching another beautiful sunset and having drinks and snacks on our balcony, we took a taxi to the city for dinner. We had the taxi driver drop us off at the beginning of the Malecon. The Malecon is a long sidewalk like a boardwalk that is next to the ocean that runs through town. Every night local people and visitors walk along the Malecon with their kids and dogs. People perform dances, magic shows, and play musical instruments. On the beach, people are building really huge sand sculptures for tips. There are also a lot of stores and food stalls.

We ate a small dinner at the food stalls because we had so many snacks. First, we got a big cup of corn with crema (crème) and cheese in it. It sounds disgusting, but it was really good. They cook the ears of corn on a bbq and then scrape them into a cup and put different toppings on them. Next we walked down to Vicki’s tamales and had some pork and chicken tamale. I wasn’t sure I liked tamales, but it turns out that I do. It is different meat wrapped in a corn batter and you can add sauces on top. I was still a little hungry so I got to beef tacos with beans from the taco stand next to Vicki’s. Finally, we were all pretty full but we wanted something sweet, so we got a chocolate crepe from the crepe stand. They spread some batter on a round hot plate and it became a really thin pancake that they spread chocolate and crème inside and folded up. It was really hot, but also very good.

Then we came home and saw the pirate ship and our nightly display of fireworks right outside our window and went to sleep.

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12. January 2009 by ilanamong.

Today we slept late and got to the beach at ten thirty. We took a walk along the ocean. The big waves came up and splashed us and got the skirt I was wearing over my bathing suit soaking wet. We walked and collected the prettiest rocks we could find. Alex, my brother, was only looking for rocks that he could skip across the water. When we reached a canal, we ran across it, getting soaking wet. Alex fell and rolled in the strong current. We kept on walking next to the canal and once in a while our feet would sink straight into the quick sand up to our knees. It was fun falling down and trying to get back up again.

After the walk, we went out to lunch at a small taco joint. We had mole and pork tacos and some quesadillas. They were very delicious. After lunch we hung out and relaxed on the warm beach. A few hours later we looked at the activities list and it said water volley ball at four pm. At four the net wasn’t up. Instead our family played all together without a net. We decided to work as a team and try to get to one hundred hits without the ball touching the water in a row. It was harder than we thought so we shortened it to our previous high score of twenty five. When we got to thirty three we got out of the pool and got ready and dressed. Now we’re going to the cliff side restaurant.

We just got back from our fancy dinner at a restaurant on the cliffs above the city of Puerto Vallarta. They made my parents a salad at the table with a raw egg—Yuck! I was supposed to have chicken, but they gave me fish instead. Luckily, it was very tasty. For dessert, I had a big piece of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. My mom, dad, and brother had flambéed bananas—that’s bananas on fire. It was awesome to see them cook it at our table with lots of fire. But, I didn’t want to taste them and my brother didn’t like them. After dinner, a mariachi band played some songs and they called me up to the stage to play the maraca with them. It was a lot of fun. Later, they came to each table and played a special song just for us. I don’t know what the song was, but I got to play along with the maraca again.

Now we are back at the hotel getting ready for bed. The pirate ship that lights the fireworks just came by again and we had another beautiful fireworks display. I hope we have this every night.

Even though I will write every day, we don’t have internet access all the time, so I can only post every couple of days. I hope you understand.

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11. January 2009 by ilanamong.

This morning I woke up got dressed and ready and went into our hotels hallway. I’m on a special floor where they serve food to you right outside your door. They also have tables were you can sit and eat and a sofa with a flat screen television. We ate a breakfast of frosted flakes [ zucaritas], fresh fruit, and freshly squeezed orange juice. We went on the beach and ate snacks such as nachos. In the ocean there was a dead snake or eel. We’re not sure which one. We went out to dinner at a small outdoor taco place. We ordered every single taco on the menu. They were yummy. We went shopping and got my brother Alex a wrestling mask. When we got home we saw fireworks right in front of us. They were huge and colorful.  Tonight we can’t get to sleep because all we can hear is loud music.

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