Carson

Kid could have fun anywhere.
He uses his imagination and enjoys every minute
whether he's swimming, reading, watching TV, playing video or other games, or building with Legos.
He's full in.

He has probably fit himself into our new environment, culture and lifestyle better than all of us.

with the stick he found in the ocean 3 weeks ago...he takes it everywhere and it has become 'eveything'

Leigh

Daily.

Every wave.

A challenge she accepts.

She can boogie board for hours and when she's done, 

she body surfs or dives into the waves.

Jesse

Jesse is definitely hanging in there. 
He was afraid of the roar of the surf at first but he adapted to it and doesn't stand by the screen door at night trying to figure out what that sound is anymore.

There are too many steps for him to even consider tackling to actually get to the waves though

He watches the other dogs here in Mexico.
(surprisingly stereotypically...A LOT of Chihuahuas...)
He gives gentle tail wags and friendly sniffs but doesn't play much anymore.
He ignores their yipping.

He is content and settled; retired.
He is the elder statesman of perros.

Bryce

 Sometimes I forget that Bryce has made a lot of sacrifices to be here in Mexico.

Sometimes I remember and forget to tell him that I am grateful.

He spent the 1st couple of weeks moving all of our stuff here from Chula Vista.

He crossed the border everyday, finding the best way to go, waiting hours at a time, alone.

He then would have to load everything into the car by himself, and wait with it through inspection 

to bring it back into Mexico; so we would have what we needed.

He now leaves every morning before any of us are even awake to go to work.

we are lucky that we can enjoy just 'hanging out at the beach' all day.

he comes home tired, after driving back across the border to home.

The kids and I have it easy because he works hard.

I love you babe, thanks.

Tide Pools and 'crabbing'

So, last night at sunset, we went down to the beach and investigated the tide pools a little.
This is one of the kids favorite activities.
They are amazed at the sheer volume of crabs that are in and around the areas.
There are dozens of tide pools formed along the rocky outcrops of the Baja coast.

Today, we went back down this morning when the tide was really low and crawled around trying to see as much as possible.

I got some really good shots of some of the crabs,

 along with the rows of anemones lining the pools.

There are a multitude of snails and mussels also residing in the pools.

There is always a new adventure there!


The kids also decided to check out the hermit crab 'hotel' that has formed in a pool that is farther in towards the shore.  Real hermit crabs in their natural environment...hmm, none of them have those fluorescent shells you see in the boardwalk shops...

x

Happy Father's Day!

We spent the day doing a bunch of different things around Rosarito today.

We went down town and shopped in el ciudad de centro.

Mexicans are high on 'World Cup' right now....and the vendors support that.

(Schools were even closed early on the day Mexico played..;)

Handmade jewelry abounds

Kids loved this woman who made the name bracelets right in front of them

Leigh is still pushing for a dog.  Our friend Donna is more than encouraging that obsession

 We went with some friends to Pemex Beach after a quick lunch.

It was a fabulous afternoon!  Waves were huge today!  There was one point that

the beach guard pulled everyone out because of dangerous conditions.

Beach vendors offer all sorts of goods

HUGE waves today!!

 We finished up the evening at Charley's Taqueria...the best fish tacos in the area..

The owner Jaime is a great guy, very outgoing and friendly

Bryce's first full day at the zoo is tomorrow!

Ollie's

Kids and Ollie

Tonight we went to Ollies brick oven pizza.
It's a great little restaurant just 5.5km south of us on the free road.

Ollie is a dog.  He hangs out at the restaurant.  (no health code violations south of the border...)
The Baja Explorers says it best:

Sometimes things are very different in Baja.  For instance, one of the best restaurants in the world is located in Rosarito and is "owned" by a dog.  Ollie is a Portugese Water Dog and his restaurant, Ollie's Brick Oven Pizza, was just awarded TripAdvisor.com's 2013 Certificate of Excellence.  No, I'm not kidding. This prestigious award, places Ollie's Brick Oven Pizza in the top-performing 10% of all businesses worldwide on TripAdvisor, is given to businesses that consistently earn high ratings from TripAdvisor travelers.
Señor Sabrosisimo is well familiar with pizza.  He has enjoyed pizza at many of the top pizza restaurants in the US in cities famous for pizza such as New York and Chicago. Hands down, Ollie's is the best pizza.  Most ingredients are imported.  The cheese is special for pizza and made not to burn at the high temperatures found in a wood-fired oven, the flour is imported from Italy, as is the oven itself, it was imported from Italy.
Ollie's handmakes all of their salads and dressings, and desserts.  You will notice the quality the first time you visit.
The ambiance is modern and cozy.  Built in a rustic building that is over 100 years old, you will find free WiFi and starting in June 2013, airconditioning and heating for the hot summer nights or cool winter evenings.

suckin on limes

Ollies

as with everywhere in Mexico, street vendors selling their wares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunting

The other day we went down to the marketplace in downtown Rosarito (a WHOLE other post) and the kids got to practice their Spanish and bargaining talents.

Carson was able to negotiate a handmade bow and arrow set from one vendor and has been playing with it non-stop ever since.

As you can see, we are still in the throes of unpacking...

Seafood

The Baja coast is famous for it's seafood.
There is a whole town devoted to lobster restaurants.
Puerto Nuevo is home to scores of home cooked and fresh caught lobster dishes
There are some restaurants that actually started as a private home; wives of fisherman would cook of dishes to tout their daily catch.
There are a large amount of fisherman who daily fish directly from the shores.
The simplicity of this profession is amazing.
Some of the fishermen arrive early and fish throughout the tides changing most of the day.

There are men who keep to themselves but are always friendly and welcoming to the kids checking out their poles and tackle.

Hmm... thats new {GUEST POST from Leigh B}

Hi I'm Leigh, I'm doing a guest post. I have done something new; move to Mexico.  I love it here, its never hot like my old home in AZ USA, but its also hard in some ways, it's very hard to communicate, we're learning;  but its always worth it to live on the beach.

a lovely morning 

 The house we are renting is very nice and neat.  I also have to share a room with my brother, its hard to sleep with him in our room, he snores, (we all snore in my family I've found) but we make the best of it, we also made a fort

our fort


so I guess its all well