The beach and a few pelicans

The sun streaming down on your face, the sand squishing between your toes, the waves crashing on the shore, the palm trees swaying in the slight breeze... as close to paradise as I have ever been.

I love this picture of my sister Jodi and Dad.  I thought they were discussing something serious.  When I came upon them, they were just chit chatting about the beautiful beach.

 

My brother Daryl was the only one of us to swim in the ocean.  I had my swim suit on, but I didn't go swimming.  I really enjoyed wading and letting the waves crash up against me.  That was good enough for me.

The buildings were so colorful, so bright.

I just love how the beach is set inside the mountain. It's a perfect little cove.

There is a restaurant on the right side of this island.  We never made it out there.  My mom is not a fan of water or boats.  We thought it would be so cool to go exploring the island, but definitely not at night!  It is eerie dark at night, you can't even see the island from the shore.

He he!  I love the expression on this pelican.  It's almost like it has a sly grin.

Oh man, I was so engrossed in the pelicans!  They were so much fun to watch.  I so wish my kids could have been there.  The pelicans let you get within a couple of feet from them, then they start walking away as they keep an eye on ya.  There were seafood vendors on the beach.  You pick out your shrimp or fish, they load up kabobs and stick em on the grill while you wait!  The "excess" gets thrown to the pelicans.  You always knew where the seafood vendors were... look for the hoard of pelicans.  In this picture they are grabbling for a bite.

This one looks like he's coming right for me!  They will knick you with their wings when they fly in.  We got hit a few times and boy does it sting!

Okay, the feeding frenzy is over... time to go back to the ocean.

This lucky pelican was able to grab some seafood!  Look at that other one just standing there patiently watching and waiting for a chance to grab a bite.  Yeah, I know it's gross.  Jodi already told me that.  But I thought it was cool how their neck swelled up when they got a bite.  That's why I needed my kids.  I know they would have thought it was cool too.

A perfect landing and even a beak full...

Fish for lunch... check out that tail sticking out of that beak.

Don't they just make the cutest little tracks...

Up close and personal

I love the cross on this mountain.  Can you see it in the picture?  It's right smack dab in the middle.  Almost every single village you come across will have a memorial like this.  This one was actually closed for remodeling so we didn't get to walk up to it.  But as you travel the mountain up to the cross, you will come across the 13 stations of the Catholic faith.  How neat to be on the beach-- as you glance over toward the mountain and see the cross.  What a sweet reminder of God loving us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us.  Not only was I surrounded in God's beauty, but I had a neat reminder any time I looked up the hill.

For a perfect ending to our afternoon on the beach, we had a little fresh fruit.  Now when I say fresh fruit, I mean FRESH!  I have never tasted any fruit so tender, so sweet as the fruit we had in Mexico.  My, I miss it sooooo much already!  The vendor carved out the inside of the pineapple.  Crushed it with some ice and put it back in.  Then he added whatever fruit we wanted.  Jodi chose coconut.  I chose watermelon and oranges.  Two straws, two spoons  and we were set!  Delicious!

"Farmer Man" enjoying a pineapple chunk that was carved out of the middle of our drink.  Dad wore that John Deere hat (that Rich gave him) everywhere we went.  The Mexicans, Americans and Canadians alike were calling him the farmer man.  "Hey farmer man, how you doing?"  Dad would just wave and smile.  I think he rather liked all the attention he received.  Don't you just love this picture?

We ended this day with a trip to the pizzeria.  Unless you've been there, you have no idea how nice it is to sit in an open restaurant on a beautiful moon lit night.  I was trying to steal a picture of that sweet fire-brick oven that was cooking our pizza.  They saw what I was doing and had me come up by them.  He said "Your pizza, your pizza."  They posed with our pizza.  Too funny!  Yum, it was so good!

I'm grateful for the reminder lesson that I learned on this day.  Even in the vastness of the creation, God chose me.  He created me and loves me even though I am so undeserving of His love.