the island of Las Calitas and the crazy boat ride back

on the 5th day of our Puerto Vallarta experience, we traveled to the island (peninsula more) of Las Calitas. it was SO AMAZING!!! it's seriously this secluded place that hasn't been penetrated by hotels, high rises or ridiculous amounts of tourism. justin screamed at me to hand him my camera so he could get this picture of this prehistoric looking thing that was just hangin out in the tree.

then he proceeded to take this lovely picture. hey, at least we won't drown, right :) me and the jamer (jamie)

gary and katie on the boatLas Calitas-this area is where we got to go scuba diving. i've only ever been snuba diving (air tanks are on rafts floating on top of the water), since in most places you need to be certified to go scuba diving. for some reason (hey, well it is Mexico if you know what i mean) you didn't need to be certified. it was super cool! while waiting to get in the water was miserable because it was 85 plus degrees and you have a giant metal air tank that weighs close to 40lbs strapped to the back of you, actually swimming around down there was great. you feel completely weightless; it's actually really peaceful. justin and i found an eel, which was neat and then jamie and i got to hold a puffer fish. so funny because the fish got all puffed up and was frantically flapping it's fins,but couldn't go anywhere. poor thing.

doesn't get much better than this :)

shimmy?

the boat ride back was quite the eventaunt julie, justin, me and jamie...then uncle jeff over in the corner sleepingthe moms having funso attractivehe stole my glasses and then put his on me...so, why was the boat ride back quite the event? well, it started with me, justin and betsy getting volunteered to dance in front of the whole boat. the result of too many margaritas? no, i'm totally kidding. it's just us being our crazy selves. i have a video i'll post later.

and from there the dance party just continued :)

even on to the next boat, where we formed our own circle and rocked out haha good times

mas adventures de pureto vallarta

as all our family vacations go, we all have to come back tired (yes we need a vacation from our vacations), but i wouldn't want it any other way. monday, tuesday and wednesday were spent snorkeling out by a small island, ziplining and repelling down water falls and checking out things around the town.
we took a boat out to a small island to snorkel, which was pretty cool except for these little needle like pricks that came at your skin when you were in the water. at first i thought it was just me because i couldn't see anything stinging me on my skin, but then i hear an over-dramatic scream from none other than justin. we later looked it up online to find that these stings were not figments of our imagination, but a small creature known as sea-lice, which are actually jelly fish larva. they are harmless, but they just hurt like heck for a minute or two. anyways, once you swam thought the part where the sea-lice resided, the snorkeling was quite lovely and there was a cave that you could swim through to get to a little enclosed beach, where there were more caves that were enclosed. pretty awesome! the ride back on the boat must have been uneventful, or we were just tired, because justin, katie and i all fell asleep. we must have been pretty dead asleep too, since i didn't wake up upon being poked in the face by gary and justin didn't wake up when katie climbed onto his back and fell asleep there. haha
katie likes to "honk" people (thats what she calls it). we have some nice hair here. oh, that's another thing, justin's hair is so long that it is in his face all the time, but it's not quite long enough to put it all back in a pony tail, so all week he kept having me put it up in a half pony tail for him. i think he stole like four or five of my hair ties...haha


that night we had dinner out and we ate on the beach. it was simply beautiful minus the bugs attacking my legs and the insane humidity

tuesday's high adventure was zipling through the jungle! too bad we didn't get any pics of that, but they didn't allow cameras, since we were going to get wet.

uncle jeff, aunt julie and justin in the jeep

these pics were from the jeep ride up the mountain that reminded me of the indiana jones ride at disneyland. the jeep took us to a stable, where we got on mules and rode the rest of the way up to a trail, which we hiked and eventually to the zipline trail that was complete with repelling as well.

betsy and jenna in the jeep

me and jamie

so, i've done ziplining before in Costa Rica, but i've never ziplined down diagonally into a river. it was so cool! you start like you would a normal zipline, but the incline is almost straight down instead of horizontal and instead of braking and landing on the platform, you let the water stop you and you kind of cannonball. super cool! we also got to repel down a water fall, which was amazing and then later we had to repel off of a platform that was just hanging above the river below. so basically you have nothing to put your feet on and are just hanging in the middle of the jungle. like i said, never a dull moment.

wednesday we made our way into town for some shopping and to look around. one guy came up to me and just put five bracelets on my arm, trying to sell them to me for $20 each. i kept saying over and over that i didn't have any money and i was sorry, but he just kept lowering the price. my family just keep walking, but i was stuck cause i had the bracelets on my arm. luckily justin saw what was happening and walked back and asks how much. by this time the man had lowered the price to $5 each and so justin points to one and gives him a five dollar bill. then i manage to hand him back the other four bracelets and we run before he can get a necklace out of his pocket he is trying to sell for $90. we weren't trying to be rude, but there was no other way to make him go away. good deal though, and after i figured out how to get it off my wrist, i handed justin the bracelet, since i was assuming he bought it for seppi. it got better the rest of the day though, after i was more prepared for something like that. they all try to sell you something. it's crazy, but that is how they make their living, which is part of the reason i think i have such a hard time just saying no.

we enjoyed a lovely lunch at a place in town after shopping at the Bazaar or Mexican Flea Market...pretty cool place.

viva mexico!

well, if i thought it was hot here, it was nothing compared to the blistering 90 degree plus days and nothing below 85 degree nights of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. not to mention the insane humidity! seriously, you walk outside and in 30 seconds (i'm not exaggerating) you are wet with sweat. but, apart from the heat, the trip was amazingly fun! the whole fam was jam packed in one house with some pretty cool features. like a tree in the middle of the open entry way. the house had 3 main levels (technically 4, but that was only a level to enter the house). pretty cool house. and looking down at the beach from the other direction. amazing views!

our tree. so, up that stair case was the front door/entry way, where there was another staircase that led up to two bedrooms (one for my aunt and uncle and the other for Justin). the door in the picture leads to the dining/living/kitchen. to the right of that door, was a gate that opened onto the patio where the pool was (the entire house was open air except for the bedrooms and kitchen/living room areas, which thankfully had AC)

Jenna, Jamie and Betsy in the pool Jamie dunking Betsy and Jenna. go Jamie! :)

too much love for me...i think i'm gonna puke. haha

spider! spider! spider! seriously one of the most disgusting things ever! there was a spider just like this one in Jamie and Jenna's room. i heard a scream from Jenna and went to go investigate. it was gigantic and black and thoroughly gross, so i had no problem smashing it. Jamie handed me a shoe and i hit it hard dead on. but, when the shoe came in contact with it, it only smashed the bulge of the spider and hundreds of little tiny spiders came pouring out of it all over the floor. it was like a sci-fi movie or something. after that we just got the bug spray.
.

speaking of bug spray...this was my leg after playing beach volleyball for a couple hours as the sun went down. i woke up the next morning with more bug bites on my body than i've ever had in my life...put together! i looked diseased and it itched SO BAD! so, i'm gonna now have malaria: great.
more stories of my adventures to come! :)

hot hot hot

wow...it's really been almost 2 weeks since i posted! i've been so busy lately...it just feels like summer is flying by and i'm not quite ready for all of this. the whole thought of college is just a bit overwhelming at the moment.
on a brighter note, although i have been busy, it's been mostly with fun things. i recently got back in touch with jenna zimmerman and we have been playing tennis, which is good. always glad to get a new hitting buddy. :) i've been working a bit still at hofts hut. i only work satuday and sunday nights, which is nice. i actually don't really mind it. most of the customers are really nice and when it is slow i get the opportunity to do one of my favorite things: people watch. for some reason i find it fascinating haha. there also are some regulars that come in, two of the most unique/interesting is this big guy that comes in every night around 7:30 to get either 2 or 3 cups of coffee. no one knows why and he doesn't talk...except if you charge him for more than one coffee. then he will give you a speech and trust me, you do not want a speech by this guy given to you; he is a bit terrifying. as long as you simply get him his coffee and charge him for one only, he is quite...calm and always gives the hostess a tip for getting him his coffee. another person i find to be interesting is a homeless guy who comes in just to sit down and read the paper or stand by the bakery case. he never says anything to anyone, but always seems really happy. the other night, when it was slow, i offered him a muffin, saying that i would pay for it, but all he wanted was something to drink, which i was happy to give him and then he just thanked me smiling and walked out. other people aren't so willing to be pleasant and we do get the occasional custom or that sends me back to the back to get her just the right pie...first it was peach then it was peach and ollaliberry, then the crust was too broken, then the pies weren't full enough and finally they were too expensive and she wanted a small pie that was too full. all in all i think i made about 6-7 trips back to the back for one lady.
anyways, that's about it for my job...real fascinating stuff i know.
lets see...what else has been happening.
i went to the beach last week with my cousin and we saw a sea lion! we were swimming out a little ways from the beach and it just came out of nowhere and swam right by us. it was seriously maybe 10-15ft away. kristi screamed and jumped in my arms, because you know, if in the oh so likely event that it tried to attack us, i would be completely capable of fight hing off this 500lb monstrosity. i just thought it was super cool! haha
i also went to the midnight showing of harry potter, cause julie wanted me to go with her...i fell asleep haha and went to a BBQ at cortes' house yesterday, where i must have popped 5 balloons, while trying to make lea a balloon animal...sad. :)
today i went to a kick boxing class with my mom and betsy, which was fun and super intense. seriously great workout! after, i took katie in the pool. she now jumps in off the step by herself with noodles and kicks her way around the pool...it's really cute. i'll have to take a video and put it up. cracks me up
i also got my hair cut today...shorter than i ever have had it. but, i like it; much easier to manage with this hot weather.
well, as you can tell, my life is super interesting right now.
i leave on sunday for mexico with my family. so excited to see the utah gang. hopefully i'll have lots of pictures. i'll try and post before i leave again. maybe about something semi-entertaining :)

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

amazing place! i could totally live here...if i could ever afford it haha. it's just about as expensive as CA

they love there buffalo out there. oh, and i learned that a buffalo and a bison are the same thing...bison is just it's scientific name.

ski fence! cool

katie and her water glass full of toys...typical

yeah...you know those dress up station they have in museums for little kids...well i guess we just haven't lost the little kids inside us yet haha

even gary wanted to join in on the fun...more like my mom held him down while betsy tied it to his head and i snapped the picture :)

horse carriage ride through Jackson Hole. oh, and i have to put a picture up of the license plate i bought...its so cool! it's a Wyoming license plate from 1984 and it's yellow and brown, but somewhere along the road (no pun intended) got splattered with black paint. i love it!

oh the signs we came across...yay for the grand tetons!

what an amazing place!

katie's favorite part...the park that was across the street from the place we stayed: The Rusty Parrot...what a name haha

look at the hair! haha cute girl!

gettin' ready to rain...and me being artsy

speaking of rain, i have a story. so, after this pic was taken, it did start pouring rain and since everything in Jackson is walking distance, we were just walking alsog when the heavens decided to open up. gary, betsy and katie were ahead and my mom and i were waiting to run across the st. under another awning thing when someone says "hey, do you go to Westmont?!" i looked around at the guy who had spoken to me and then i remembered i was wearing a Westmont t-shirt. i told him that i would be a freshmen there next year and much to my surprise he goes "me too!". small world. i mean, of all the places to meet someone going to school with you next year on a street corner in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (especially a school in so cal). he was from dallas texas and we talked for a little while.

my parents enjoy coloring...it calms them. haha they both look so concentrated.

well, it was an amazing trip! i'm so glad i got to go!

River Rafting

sore arms

teeth chattering

2nd degree sunburn

does the fun never end?

that was on the back of a t-shirt...i thought it was funny...mostly because it was true haha amazingly i didn't fall out of the boat, but did get stuck in the front of the boat (aka the part that gets tidal waves) both trips...actually i volunteered when no one else in our group would
we rafted the Snake River along the white water section, which contains mostly class 4 and 5 rapids. betsy and i got to go twice because gary stayed with katie one day and my mom the next

most of these pics are from our first trip, where we didn't get as wet. must have been cause we had john thomas on our boat...sorry inside joke. we had some people from Mississippi on our raft and the mother kept talking about her son (john thomas) in the third person even though he was right there...not only did she just call him john though, it was always john thomas.

this is from the second trip...where we hit a rock head on and then plunged under a wave where i thought we were going to flip...awesome and so stinkin' cold! haha

great times :)