Sorry it's taken me a week to get these up, but like usual things are crazy around here. Cabo was great - although relaxing doesn't really come to mind or the word vacation when looking back. Traveling with two little ones is a little different than sitting by the pool all day (wish I could have done that), but the girls had a blast and playing all day did wear them out by night time. Bella loved making sandcastles on the beach and jumping in the water. The water was too rough to actually get in, but we would lift her at the end of the wave and then drop her down into the water...although if we had let go...the current was still extremely strong she would have gone too. She also loved the pool; however, thought she could just swim with no help so it was a challenge to keep a hold on her. She's doing great in her swimming lessons but still has a long way to go before she can go on her own. Gabby loved playing (and eating) the sand. She loved splashing the water in the bucket we filled up and putting sand in it. She also loved the pool and know it won't take her long once she's in lessons next year. She had no desire to be in her floaty and wanted to be out doing ring-around-the-rosie or motorboat. We had to be careful because she loved dunking her head in the water on her own. Both girls loved "jumping" in from the side and going under...they were two little fish. Although they loved the beach and the pool we really only went down once a day in the morning...and didn't really care about staying long. By the time we left Gabby fell asleep on the way back to the room everyday.
Tuesday the boys went fishing and we hung out at the hotel. It was the first day the water got really rough and it didn't stop. Papa and Nana had made a trip to Wal-Mart, so the girls had plenty to do with play dough and bubbles...and of course we brought Mama Mia for an everyday sing-a-long (as a side note: one night when Bella was watching it on the computer it had ended and was back at the extra features menu which plays a song but then has a long pause. Bella was singing along and every time it would pause she would tap the computer and say come on and it would start again and she would start singing and then it would pause and she would tap again. It was so funny because she thought she was the one starting the music by tapping it instead of realizing it was just a pause and would start again without the tap or commentary from her).
Bella and Gabby both got deemed princesses by the bellmen and it made me laugh at how many compliments I got on how well behaved and wonderful the girls were (I just kept thinking you must have missed the tantrum a few minutes ago). Wednesday Ryan watched Gabby and the rest of us went to watch Chad and Steph parasail. Bella did great on the boat (except for the potty accident on my lap, but really where was she supposed to go).
Thursday we went and saw the dolphins. Chad, Steph and I got in and swam, danced and kissed them. We weren't sure but at the end they let Bella get in with Papa and Nana to pet one and get a picture. We were on the opposite side of the pool (which was freezing) so I headed over because our trainer had told me to go over and get her, but the lady on that side said it could only be with mom and dad (which made no sense anyway). Anyway as I headed over, Bella got so excited (and instead of listening to mommy not to run), she came running and hoping under the rope and fell back and hit her head...which lead to a bunch of crying. They were in a hurry before the next group so she was still shaken up when she got in the water so I think she was a little more scared...so afterwards Mom said Bella didn't like it, but when I asked Bella she was so excited she got to see one that close and kept talking about the dolphin..although you can tell by the pictures she was not enjoying it at the time. Then of course we hit the gift shop and came home with a little aquarium for Gabby and a pink dolphin (which has since been added to the friends in bed - Teddy, George, Pillow, Puppy, & Shamu) and dolphin purse for Bella, which she acquired pesos from papa and Ryrie.
Friday was our last pool day and the waves were probably about 7-8 feet. They were huge. There was no dunking the girls that morning, and after about 10 minutes Bella was ready for the pool. Saturday we came home. The girls did great on the plane. Bella watched Mama Mia and Gabby slept.
Other funny things that happened was that Bella started calling Gabby - Gaba. She is still doing it. When I called her Gaba this morning, Bella quickly corrected me that I was to call her Gabby and she was going to call her Gaba. Bella has become quite the talker. She starts when she wakes up and doesn't stop. She has increased her vocabulary so much it amazes me at the length of her sentences now. She also picked up on the Spanish very fast. By the end of the trip she was telling strangers hola without any prompting.
Of course Bella loved having everyone around and so did Gabby. One day her and Ryan got into a debate going back and forth. It was so funny and she was so serious. Ryan would say something like well I'm going to do something and Bella would reply that no she was going to do it plus something else...they went back and forth for about 10 minutes and then Ryan said something like when he was little he did such and such and Bella promptly told him that no he hadn't and that she had done that first before him...which made us all start laughing hysterically. We kept trying to think what Ryan had said in the end for her to reply that way but I think we were all laughing too hard to remember.
There were these great big jacuzzi tubs in all the rooms. One afternoon I thought it would be fun to have a giant bubble bath with the girls, so I put in the bubbles and turned on the jets. Well not much happened and Gabby was getting tired so I started to let the water out. Well the jets worked by a knob that turned and I couldn't get them turned off. So as the water got lower the jets sprayed more - which finally gave us bubbles, but at the same time was hitting the window with water and flooding the hotel floor. So I thought I'd put more water back in, but the water filled the tub through the jets which made it even worse. So I yell for dad who was cooking dinner in the other room, and he came in trying to turn them off. I was laughing so hard by that point - really what else could I do. Holding on to Gabby while Bella was trying to help get everything turned off. Luckily the the floor was all tile and we got it soaked up, but I wish someone had the video camera on because it was funny even if dad didn't think so.
Finally, Bella needed to be in a bubble wrap. Every day she hurt herself. I really don't know how we didn't end up going to the hospital at least once. Monday she was walking and completely missed the fact there were 4 stairs to go down to the sitting area in the room and she rolled down them not gracefully. Tuesday we were in the shower and she slipped and hit the seat with her back. Wednesday, she was getting out of the shower and I wrapped her in a towel and of course told her to stand still - which of course she started jumping around and fell and smacked her chin on the tile. It bruised instantly and I'm not sure how she didn't split her chin open. Thursday she slipped and hit her head at the dolphins. Friday was accident free, but Saturday morning it was Gabby's turn and she decided it would be fun to climb out of the high chair and fall onto the floor. I heard a thump, then Bella saying Gabby fell and then a little cry.
Okay I'm sure you can tell we had a great time and were entertained non-stop by both girls. Sorry this was so long, but I had to write down most of what I remembered so I can scrapbook it 20 years when I may have some extra time. I have a few other pictures of the girls from this week - Bella is into dancing with everyone especially Gaba! We head to Indy next weekend so I'll try and post them before then since I'll have a lot more after that from Autie's graduation and Gabby's party.
The other big news of the week was Bella got her big girl bed. Mommy can actually lay down with her now. The first night was pretty rough but she got through it and now goes to sleep with all her friends. We finally got her toys put back tonight, so I'm hoping by the end of the week the house will be back to some sort of order.
She is a BIG fan of the mirror (big surprise)
Bella new word for the week has been "everybody". She has been so funny. She came out Tuesday night from her room naked and yelled "Come on everybody lets get in the shower". Then Wednesday Gabby and I picked her up and she announced "Hey everybody it's mommy and gabby". The other thing she loves to do is make lists. She'll walk around and ask everyone what they need. Monday she was helping Nana and Papa make a list for their trip, and every day in the car she makes a shopping list (which mommy always asks her to put sanity on in the hopes that I may find it again one day), she says "ok, now what else do we need?", "what else", "ok what else"...she just doesn't stop until we get to school. She's so helpful and talks constantly. Tonight we were reorganizing the toys (yes I know they'll be a mess by tomorrow morning) and she said "ok mommy what else do you think we should put in my room". It was so cute and she's growing up too fast.
Here are a few other pictures from before our trip to the mall...Papa and Gabby.
Thanks Nana for such a fun trip to the mall!!! 
Bella's doing so well in swim lessons. Yesterday her teacher had her dip her head in to pick up rings...well today she went completely under to pick up the sticks.
Bella loves her new pink soccer ball. She had Gabby and I rolling it to her and George.
