FRIDAY THIS & THAT- MAYA RIVERIA PHOTO OVERLOAD!

 This is the

'real us'!

No time to edit and make the pictures purty-

Here we go-

On the way there I gave my 

daughter a diamond shamrock 

bracelet that she loved.

All 5 of us wear the plain round 

beaded bracelets.

I never take mine off.

They were a Christmas gift

from Tara to all of us

to keep us all connected.

I will take you from night one arrival

thru to transport home.

These are sifted out of 

HUNDREDS of pictures!

The lush beauty here is like

entering another world.

Immediately, stress floated away

on the breeze that swayed the 

palms that surrounded us

A beautiful lobby welcomed us-

                                               

We had 3 casistas for 5 of us

in this beautiful all-inclusive resort.

All 3 of ours faced the ocean

and the pool and were next

to each other.

                 The three girls shared one casista.

Tara & I each had our own.

However, Alana (Lulu), chose to sleep

with Tara and dress and hang out 

with the other two girls

in their casita during the daytime.

The first night after dinner everyone was tired.

We all went to our casitas but Alana

wanted a piece of chocolate cake and

coffee delivered (11pm or so).

Room service runs 24 hours a day at no charge.

Before the cake and coffee arrived,

Alana fell asleep and was dreaming of the days to come.

Coffee was delivered to the room each morning

at 6:30 (our time request).

The casistas were lovely.

Each one had an indoor shower and a private outdoor shower

plus a whirlpool tub

and a private patio with table/chairs and a huge lounger.

I will tell you that we dressed 

for dinner every night.

AND~thanks to the girls pre-planning

each night had a 'theme' color.

I think Alana fostered that idea.

Let me also tell you that

my hair products 

DID NOT WORK

in the humidity.

I could have applied for a clown job

and not needed a wig while working.

I do not like my picture taken

but it happened several times anyway.

Please be advised that I am

standing next to 4 girls

that wear anything from a 

Size 2 to a Size 4.

I am 5'6" so you know how tall

these beauties are.

Yeah---I kinda felt like a lumberjack!

On the night of the Fiesta

It was colorful clothing.

We also had a green night~

A blue night~

And, to combat the blue night

we had a pink night....of course we did-

from pale pink to vibrant hues.

There was a black night

And after the 'old lady' went back to her casista

the lovelies went out to dance

There was a white night.

That night -

We went to a Chef's table and watched

as they prepared food.

Alana had a chance to work with the chef there

but I can't find the picture of the video.

There was time to laze by the beach one day

"Mom- We need a credit card to buy some

goggles so we can see the fish at the drop off".

The word "drop-off" scared me to craziness

so I was hoping Mom didn't have her credit card.

Well $75!!! later-they looked like this!

They wore those goggles for at least 10 minutes.

Not bad for $7.50 a minute...lol...

2 of them were too scared to go 

to the "drop off"-lol

Of course, they could also be used to look 

at one's feet in the pool, right?

Most days were spent at the pool~

Some time was spent reading.

I read 4 books while we were there.

There was a huge 'bed' swing 

by the pool with a swim up bar.

The girls hung out on this almost every day.

One day we all sat on it and played games.

Someone might have cheated but 

I'm not sure.

Some randomness~

And just as it had welcomed us in,

we met at the lobby once again

This time to take transport to

the airport.

There a plane waited

to whisk us to Atlanta, GA.

From there,

Tara, Maria, Julia and I 

headed home to Green Bay-

and our sweet Lulu (Alana)

headed to Charleston.

While I loved the vacation,

it was also nice to get home

to sleep in my own bed.

I have another adventure upcoming

but you can bet I won't have

almost a thousand pictures

(YES-Close to a 1000 pictures of vacay

thanks to all my grandgirls)

to share with you.

Meanwhile,

Have a wonderful weekend.

Smile at someone you don't know.

Or if you're feeling like an old hippie

give them the peace sign.

Ummmm....just remember...

Use TWO fingers cuz using ONE finger

can get you in a whole lotta trouble.

Don't ask me how I know that...

m...kay?