December 25

 Feliz Navidad!Weather this morning is overcast and muggy, very nice. What’s not nice- the cacophony of screeching birds that have taken up residence on our roof. They are beautiful, don’t get me wrong but if I had a slingshot or a rock or an AK47 this would be a different conversation. Nevertheless, we woke up in paradise….the kids are sleeping and we are enjoying a coffee and a game of crib. Yesterday was an adventure, off to the beach club (soon to be our favourite location) for ceviche and beer. We made our reservations for tonight- lobster and a band, it promises to be a great night. Then our lovely driver picked us up and off to the cenotes we go. Just getting settled into our drive and we take a right and we are there. Honestly, if I could throw a rock, hit a bird, it would fall at the cenote. Again, not condoning the killing of birds……Naturally our first stop was at the tequila bar, a shot, bought a bottle, Suzie and Darian bought hats and then to the cenotes. 4 of them and they were pretty cool also, considering it is Christmas Eve, it wasn’t that busy. 

I have to give a quick update on our bird situation, we now have a woodpecker, joyously pounding on the metal downspout on our neighbours deck. Really is music to the ears. We also have a resident squirrel, that is roughly the size of a chihuahua. He appears to be quite industrious and I believe may be building a semi-detached bungalow in the area with a fully stocked pantry. Ryan commented that he was big enough to run a Huskavarna. 

Back to the cenotes, again, lots of fun and they were followed by lunch. I can only assume it was delicious but we all covered the pulled pork tacos in enough hot sauce and jalapeños to kill and parasite they may be living in us. I fear for all of our mornings. This leads me to another concern - the shortage of toilet paper. Not currently an issue but if my jalapeño/hot sauce prediction comes to fruition then we could be Code Red. Stay tuned…

Anyway, home last night where we played poker until after midnight. Suzie is keeping a running total of what everyone owes because we are currently lacking change. Full disclosure, I owe everyone. I cannot win a bloody hand. So between poker, cenotes, tips, cervezas, tequila and drivers I am bleeding money. 

Okay, Merry Christmas everyone! My family has never been so excited to see a Christmas morning. Not because we are on vacation, or to unwrap gifts, nope. I promised them that as of Christmas Day we could listen to music other than Christmas music. That’s all they could talk about last night. So I took my last opportunity to saturate the air with Michael Buble, Celion Dion, Mariah Carey, Burl Ives and Boney M all night. Might sneak a couple more in today.