Hanging' with the fam

We spent two afternoons at the home of our Uncle Mario and Aunt Ericka (Mario is Ricardo's dad's brother). They have two lovely daughters, Valeria and Mariana. Diego and Alexia had a blast with their aunties!


Ricardo, Ricardo and Mario


The kids enjoying popcorn out of ice cream containers. Diego loved that pink motorcycle!

The play on the slide had an innocent beginning, but ended up being silly and wild.

Grandpa Ricardo with his niece and grandson

A very proud grandfather with his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The handsome Lopez men

The cute girls :)

Ericka was busy being a gracious hostess and we didn't get many pictures of her. Here is a quick shot we took before heading out. Notice Alexia on Valeria's lap. Valeria loved carrying her around and she was so sweet with her.

Costa Del Sol

We returned from Costa Azul on Sunday and on Monday we headed to Costa Del Sol (Coast of the sun). We stayed at the beautiful condo of our dear friends, Ricardo and Ana and their 2-yr old daughter, Ariana. We had a fabulous time and the kids would have stayed there for months if we would've let them.



This is the view from the breakfast table in the condo


The kids heading down the hall, ready to hit the pool


Alexia and Ariana playing rings in the pool



The following pictures are from an amazing boat trip. We hung out at the pool all morning (picture above) and at 11am we headed out in the boat.
Ricardo (Vega) was the captain and took us on a fabulous adventure

After touring around the area and enjoying God's magnificent creation, we anchored the boat and went for the swim along the shore. Yes, ALL of these people were on the boat!

OK, this was the HIGHLIGHT! We anchored the boat near this "ranchito" and waded to the ladder (notice to the right of the ranchito, there is a ladder). As you can tell from Diego (blue hat and life jacket), the water was not deep at all.

Inside the ranchito there were tables, hammocks and a kitchen

The sweet owner brought around a tray full of freshly caught fish and let us take a pick...


...about an hour later we were all served with amazing fried fish and tortillas. Alexia devoured my fish, Diego wouldn't' touch it.

While the food was cooking, the kids played in the sand. The tide was slowly going out so more and more sand emerged.

So yes, our "gringo" child is the only one with a hat and life jacket. Hey, he was out on this sandbar unattended and it gave me a sense of security knowing he had it on. Also, he has pale skin and that hat kept him that way. Ricardo gives me a hard time every time he sees this pictures, but I still think it's adorable :)

We arrived back to the dock around 4pm, showered and headed back to the city (a little over an hour away). We put the kids to bed and headed back out again to have dinner with some dear friends. All of the guys in this picture are childhood friends of Ricardo.

We stayed at a hotel the whole time were in the city. Ricardo's father was extremely generous and babysat for us EVERY night of our stay there. He would come over to the hotel at least 30 minutes before bed time to play with the kids. We would put the kids to bed and then Grandpa would sit in the adjoining room, watching TV and having his meal while Ricardo and I went out. This was such a precious gift for us because it allowed us to see a lot more friends. THANK YOU Grandpa!!

Costa Azul

The first weekend we were in El Salvador, we headed to a beach called Costa Azul (Blue Coast) with Ricardo's father, brother and sister in law. We were only there for one night, but it was such a paradise that we felt like we were there for days and days. We arrived around 2pm on Saturday and went directly to the pool. Diego and Alexia were ecstatic to be at the pool, next to the ocean and in the arms of their loved ones. The whole time we were there we just hung out in the pool, walked on the beach, ate delicious food and relaxed.
I will let the pictures share the delights of the weekend:



Costa Azul is about 1.5 hours from San Salvador. Diego was mesmerized during the ride, seeing tons of coconut trees and spectacular volcanoes in the distance


Diego kept asking why so many people are allowed to be in the back of pick-up trucks in El Salvador!

This dirt road led us to the beach. It was very BUMPY!

Alexia and Tia Dani ready to hit the pool within minutes of arriving at the house

PARADISE!

Diego swimming with Grandpa

Diego was nervous during their first ride on the four-wheeler. After he got over his initial fear, he wanted to go on it over and over again.

Diego and Tio Robi cruisin' along the beach

This pool is awesome because it has several different levels, making it a blast for kids

Alexia, on the other hand, was not nervous at all and loved the four-wheeler from the very second she sat down

Monkeying around on the hammocks. There were three hammocks next to each other and they ran from hammock to hammock, swinging away...

The following pictures are from us enjoying the evening and the spectacular sunset:

A family ride on the four-wheeler.

Enjoying delicious ceviche and raw oysters

Goodbye Costa Azul!

We're back!

We returned late last night from El Salvador. We had an absolutely wonderful 11 days away. There are many pictures to share and stories to tell, but just wanted to post a couple of highlights. In the coming days I will try to do several posts with different stories/pictures from our trip. Ricardo's mom arrives tomorrow for a week long visit so we are looking forward to that and will surely be busy with her!

Alexia with Tia Dani (our sister in law)

Diego with Tio Robi

Ricardo's dad ("grandpa")

Ricardo's grandfather ("Abue")

A family ride on the "moto" at the beach



Afternoon coffee with special friends

Playing with Auntie Valeria and Auntie Mariana

My high school girlfriends and all of our children (with two more on the way)