Paradisus

Paradisus is decorated in an Aztec style. The buildings are all thatched roof and there are no walls in the main buildings. They do have fabric panels that can come down if it rains. It did rain one day for about 15 minutes.

There were many of these around the grounds, all different. I really liked this ones poncho and jewlery.

This was one of the seating areas for one of the restaurants. The walkway in the background went all the way out to the pool. All of the main areas were surrounded by water. We wondered how many people fall into the water after having a few. Paradisus is an all-inclusive resort and there were people that didn't seem to recognize when they had enough.

These little huts were great because when we were ready for some sun you could pull them from under the huts. We were glad there was plenty of shade as the sun was really hot. I really like the way the grass shows which way the breeze is going. The sand is fine white sand and there was a machine that looked like a lawnmower that came through several times a day picking up the seaweed. I expected to fine seashells, but there weren't any.

The swim up pool bar was really fun. I took this picture about 7 AM in the morning before walking on the beach. Later in the day it was much busier.

The cement chairs under the pavillion were great fun, we got drinks from the bar and then went and sat on one of those. On the right are more cement chairs which is also where the bar is. On Saturday night there was a wedding reception in the white dome in the background, the wedding had been on the beach at sunset.
I took this picture near the white wedding dome. Here is another row of the cement chairs in the pool. They were so fun and they were really warm from the sun so when you sat on them you had to wet them down but the warmth from them felt wonderful.

Next up....a request for a picture of Kate's hair do. She won't put it on Facebook but I think she looks really cute. She is going to be in Thoroughally Modern Millie next week, as Lucille who is Millie's friend. All the "modern" girls got their hair bobbed, so cute!

Mexico

This is the airport in Cancun, Mexico. The airport looks like it's out of the 70's. They have three luggage belts, but strangely they only use one. There was so much luggage on the belt that they announced that they won't be putting any more luggage on until people start taking some off. The resourceful American started rearranging the luggage so there were empty spots on the belt and they started it back up. Mic and Steve went in and fought the crowd while Lizi and I stood talking.
Once we got our luggage we went over to stand in the customs line. This was a pretty efficient system, they just looked at our passports and asked where we were staying. While on the airplane we were asked to fill out immigration forms, which we did. They wanted to know if you were carrying any firearms, illegal substances or more than $10,000. Then in BIG letter that said were to declare if we had any fresh fruits or plants we were not going to be allowed to bring them into Mexico. I guess the other stuff was negotiable.

We started peeling off our layers of clothes as it was about 80 degrees in the airport and about 85 degrees outside. That's when Mic told me I wasan't allowed to complain about being hot.

When we got on the bus we saw this;
The sign below it said that if the bus entered water or caught on fire to use it to break the window. The bus only had two speeds, fast and slamming on the brakes. The drive took the speed bumps so quickly that you came right out of your seat. It only took about 30 minutes and we arrived at Paradisus.

Up next, a tour of Paradisus.....Until later

Teenager no more!

It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years and this baby turned into a man. Mic and I spent the day in Kalamazoo taking Jack to lunch and a trip to Meijer for groceries. He's such a wonderful young man, I'm really lucky to have had him in my life. He's always brought such joy and fun.

This is me 20 years ago February 28. The really fun part is that Mom and I were in Florida over that time period and we stayed in the same house we stayed in for that visit. Thanks Jo! It's weird to think that it was only two weeks later that I had him. All 9 lbs. 6 oz. of him.
Here's to the next 20 years!
(Tomarrow I start blogging my travel adventures). Until later, Karen

The view is great - the internet, not so much!

I'm back from Mexico and am now in the Florida Keys with Mom. Having quite a time with the internet. Probably the fact that I'm at the Marathon Public Library on their wireless.

Blogger won't allow me to download any pictures to my blog. It says "could not contact Blogger.com" and I have no idea what that means. Mic is not here to help, now what?

I'll try again tomarrow.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Look what I got for my birthday! After seeing an infomercial for the mini burger maker my kids thought that's what I needed, and I did! I made burgers for dinner tonight and they were great fun. They were smaller than I though they would be, but they were so fun.

Christmas Flood

Last week we got an incredible amount of snow. Then on Friday it started raining and the temp went up to 50 degrees on Saturday. All combined it made a huge amount of water and the stream in the back yard became a river. Saturday the stream flooded over to combine with the lake and overnight it rose to an all time high. We only have around 5 foot of grass showing in the back yard before it would start to flow into the downstairs garage. Sunday morning and into the afternoon several of the neighbors were filling bags with sand to hold the water back. They were not on as high a ground as we are. Several had water in their downstairs despite their efforts. Mic and #1 and #3 went out and helped sandbag. They had a great workout and the best part was delivering the sandbags with the pickup truck. We are praying for dry weather.

Right now it appears that the water not rising so hopefully it will receed as the night goes on. Our floating dock left the dyke and started floating until it hit the huge ice chunk that is still on the lake.

I really like the first picture beause I can't believe how close the water is. The only part of the picnic table you can see is the top. We're lucky that didn't start floating away too. I like the second on because it looks like the bridge to nowhere.

This is the view to the left of our back yard from the deck. You can see our floating dock between the trees in the neighbors yard. Mic is going to take the kayak and go get it tomarrow.

Niagara Falls!

Mic and I watched "The Bucket List" movie a few months ago. When the movie was done we talked about some things that were on our lists. One of them on mine was to see Niagara Falls.

This weekend Mic made that happen for me. It was beautiful and breath taking. Watching the water rushing over the falls and feeling that mist mezmorized me. I stood there for quite a while watching the water fall and swirl. There is a walk that over looks the falls that we walked twice. I really enjoyed seeing the many nationalities that were represented and listening to the variety of languages that were spoken. We were foreigners too,as we were on the Canadian side of the falls. The US side of the falls does not have as good a view,the Canadians definately got the better end of that deal.

We took the "Maid of the Mist" boat trip that takes you close to the falls. It was a great, but wet trip. They give everyone blue rain coats (that resemble dry cleaner bags) to wear during the trip. Thank goodness for the blue coats, you get wet when you get over by the falls. It's like a very heavy mist. I kept my hood off and faced the falls relishing the mist covering my face. The roar of the falls was an amazing sound and the power of the water is awe inspiring.