Acapulco

The same day the summer program was over, we took a trip to Acapulco.  Chinito and Margarita were unable to go, but the girls came along on this adventure, along with their grandma Dona Mari and her other daughter Chayo, her husband Urbano and their 2 children.  We had a packed SUV.
 We arrived quite late to Acapulco, so we just went to bed that night.  Maya still had a bit of a fever, so the following day, instead of hanging out with the Ocampo girls and the rest of their family, we stayed at our hotel, in case Maya got sick again.  I didn't want to make their family stop their fun at the beach, so they could take us back to the hotel.  Plus traffic is awful in Acapulco, so I didn't want them driving us back and forth.
We had a great day, just the 3 of us.  The hotel was right in front of the beach.  We even had our own roped off area for the hotel guests.  We enjoyed a yummy breakfast and then the kids swam and played in the sand all day long.  I didn't have too much cash with me, our funds were running low...so we ate fruits from the million vendors that walk by the beach all day long selling stuff.  It was the best treat for the kids, they loved eating fruits.  Acapulco was quite hot, so we had lots of fruits and drinks.
I think Arden and Maya were starting to miss home, in a way...or foods from home, because while we were in Acapulco, all they wanted to eat were hot dogs. Luckily, we had a Oxxo (it's like a Seven Eleven) across the street from the hotel, and that's where we ate dinner.

Freshest catch ever!

We were lucky enough, on the following day, being Sunday, to hang out with Dona Mari's extended family and get treated like royalty.  They rented a tent (you can rent a tent area by the beach for the day and order food to be brought over to you) and it was a party.  I met all so many of Margarita's extended family.  It was one of the cousin's birthday, so half way through the day, a mariachi showed up to serenade the birthday girl.  She was truly surprised and pleased with her husband's gift to her.

Party guests

More family members

Hanging out with Margarita's family was so much fun.  We got fed so much food.  I was kind of sad my kids only wanted to eat hot dogs, and I wouldn't get my fill of sea food.  However, this generous and welcoming family, treated us like we were part of their family and I got fed so much food.  The fishes were delicious and I really enjoyed eating algae.  When you put chile and lime juice to any food, it'll taste good in my book.  Even after I was completely full, they still tried feeding me more food.

Mariachi band

Later, that night, after showers and some relaxing, the Dona Mari and family picked us up from the hotel, so we could go see the 'clavistas'...cliff divers.  We arrived kind of late, so I only saw one diver and from very far away. After the clavistas, Urbano took us to the mercado to eat a late dinner.  For us, it was late, like 10:30 or 11PM, but for Mexican's that's it's late, but not that late.  We were so tired, we went back to the hotel and crashed.
The following morning, we hit the Oxxo for more hot dogs and snacks for our trip back home.  We stocked up, since I was going to use my credit card, since my cash non-existent.

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My attempt at doing Maya's hair

At the Clavistas

Of course we didn't head home right away, Urbano took us to another beach, where the kids had a lot of fun.  Arden loved exploring the rocks and looking for sea life.  Maya was happy to play with her friends.  I was glad it was kind of cloudy and not as hot.  Later, the kids washed up and packed ourselves in the SUV to head back home.  We had a couple of minor mishaps on our way home.  First, Urbano and I had agreed to split the cost of the trip.  He would pay for the toll fees, which are ridiculously expensive and I would pay for gas.  On our way to Acapulco, I paid for the gas with my credit card and on the way back, I gave Urbano my card to pay for the gas.  The machine wouldn't take my card.  I was so embarrassed and worried that perhaps someone had hacked into my account and had maxed out my card.  Once we got home, I called my credit card company and it turns out the gas station's machine wasn't working properly, but I felt bad Urbano had to pay for the gas. I ended up paying him later, but I didn't know if he needed that money right away.  We were also lucky he had some cash on hand.

So photogenic!

Brother and sister

Exploring the rocks

The second mishap was when we were on the road back home and it was drizzling and Urbano of course was driving fast. The suburban started to hydroplane as we were approaching an accident on the road.  It appears those two vehicles had also hydroplaned at the same spot we hydroplaned, but one of them ended up hitting the side wall and the other car hit that car and the woman getting out of the first car.  I didn't see the woman getting hit, but I did feel the suburban losing control.  I grabbed my children and just hoped we wouldn't die.  Luckily, Urbano had pretty good control of the car and we were fine.  He's a crazy driver, but a good one. I was so glad to get home in one piece.  It was a fun weekend, but next time we go to Mexico, I don't think I'd like to visit Acapulco again.  The beaches were too full of people.  We were practically touching elbows in the water.  The beach was dirty.  We were practically swimming in trash.  It was fun and I can check it off my bucket list.

Loving the sea life