Good Bye Mexico!!!!

We Wont Forget You Mexico

Newest Unicorn In Her Herd

After collecting stuffed unicorns for almost nine-years, there aren't very many unicorns that Brooke doesn't already have in her herd ( that are stuffed anyways ). On our last night in Mexico we watched a man blowing glass into all kinds of figurines. It was about 10pm at night, and we still had to pack some and get ready to get on a bus to the airport at 2am. Even though Brooke was exhausted, she was not too exhausted to go back to the room and get her money to buy a glass unicorn as a souvenir. She fell in love with the dainty little unicorn, unlike any unicorn that she has ever had, and she was really happy to take it home and remember her Christmas in Mexico with the Turanos......

                         Having fun on trips can be exhausting too, can't you tell it's time to go home?

Cup Cake Cafe

             One of Brooke's and my most favorite things about our resort that we stayed at in Mexico, was the all inclusive cupcake cafe! I got caught taking Brooke and Will there right after breakfast on our first day at the resort. Now come on...who cares if it's 10 am and we were supposed to be going to the lobby to get new wrist bands? We got the new wrist bands, and saw this when we got lost trying to find the beach! How can you pass up this kind of a shop while on vacation?!!

The funny part was I turned myself in when I saw Kevin and Aunt Doreen ( his sister ) walking past the shop, I ran our the door and said, " Hi! "....and of course Kevin called me a "little weasel" for taking the kids there in the morning and for the first time on the trip without him!

Don't send me wandering around Mexico alone if you don't want me to find fun things without you ;)
I always find my way to sweets....Grandma Turano says she thinks my blood must taste like sugar...
I bet she is right! ;)

The Turano Name

                                    These two Turano boys - Will 4yrs  and Dominic 19 yrs
                            are responsible for keeping the Turano name or line from William Leonard Turano
                   alive! When Dominic found out the we were having a baby boy, and that he
      would no longer be the ONLY male grandchild of the Turano family, he was very happy!
Dominic is very sweet and caring to his little cousin Will. In the summer when Dominic came to visit his Uncle Kevin in Texas, Dominic even babysat Will and Brooke for the time I was at work! It was a treat for Brooke and Will since Dominic is very good young with kids, just like his Dad - Uncle Leonard.

Nothing Like Flying A Kite On The Beach

Brooke Enjoyed Playing Volley Ball With Her Older Cousins

Will Showed His Love For Christ on Christmas

Sitting at nice restaurants while adults talk and talk for seven days in a row can be a challenge for a four-year old little boy Will. Brooke enjoys sitting with her older cousins and listening in on teenage talk, so mostly at our nightly dinners in Mexico, Brooke sat with Alaina, Lydia, Lexi, Dominic and Sophi.


On Christmas night we ate at the Asiana and Will was especially behaved and sweet that night at the restaurant. I saved the paper that him and I worked on while on the trip because I wanted to take a picture of it, but some where among the travel it got lost.

On Christmas day Will carried around a pass-a-long card with Jesus on it with him for about three hours that afternoon and extending until Christmas night. It was really sweet that he was thinking of the Savior on Christmas as he just happened to find the card while  pretending to read scriptures earlier that day. Will happily showed all of his family members his card of Jesus proudly that day.

When we got to the restaurant Will bent the picture of Jesus at the bottom all on his own so that it could be propped up in front of him while he ate. When coloring with crayons Will asked me; " Can you help me write a letter to everyone? " I said, " Okay, what do you want it to say? " He started to dictate the sweetest letter to me as I wrote for him.

Will said, " Merry Christmas, everything is going to be fine. We are going to have lots of fun playing at the beach. Listen to the golden plates everyday. Don't worry there is going to be enough playing and playing stuff and playgrounds for everyone.  Merry Christmas."

This is exactly what Will said himself. It was so cute. He then proceeded to take this paper around the table with him and show it to every family member at the table. After he let everyone read it he sat down and began to play nicely again with his chopsticks.

Below is a collaboration of pictures from some of our nightly meals at different restaurants.

                                               Dominic, Will, Uncle Leonard, and Daddy

                                                  Aunt Doreen, Dominic, Brooke, Alaina

                                                     Lexi, Lydia, Sophi, Aunt Doreen

 
                                                   Brooke, Grandma Turano, and Will

                                                         Aunt Tricia and Uncle Jeff

                                           
                                                              Will, Mommy and Brooke

If You Feed It They Will Come

One morning on our way to " cat corner " we were in for a surprise. I still am not clear on what the name of this animal is that we ran into on our way to see the cats??????

But, the story begins like this.....

Wow, what kind of a raccoon sort of animal is this? Lets see if it eats the bread I have been forced to tote around by Kevin all the day,  and everywhere that we go...The animal likes it!
                               

        Suddenly more of this animals friends appear from out of the bushes! As if the first guy was staking out the goods and safety of the area?

                                                    What was one, turned into this......

                                                       Then I say, " Hey, I want a turn!"
                                 

                           Kevin gets envious of my close proximity with the animal, and he quickly reminds me that he can do better than me.... Our kids are smart...they have backed away at this point and want nothing to do with it anymore ;)

                               

                   Yes Kevin, I realize you will always be better at capturing animals than me ;) that's why you are a male who has hunting and animal catching skills built in...I couldn't even catch a chicken this summer at Audrey's farm for goodness sake!

                                      Congratulations! Just don't try and kiss it and you still win ;)

" Cat Corner "

 You would think that the cat that we have at home would be entertaining enough for our children, so that when we went on vacation to the beach they wouldn't want to spend too much time petting the tame cats that roam in a place called " cat corner " at the resort? Yes, the resort actually named a special area for their spoiled resort cats to be visited by guests with a feline fetish.

Well, it seems that Brooke and Will have that feline fetish, and it seems that  they can never be so entertained that they wouldn't be fascinated by cats?  Aunt Doreen knows our family so very well, and she did a wonderful job finding a resort for us that not only was beautiful , full of luxury and accommodation, but that also is known for animals in designated eco parts of the resort. children's playground and animals are tucked away in almost " secret " corners at this resort that we stayed at.  Unless you had a map and looked at everything, there is much to be missed on this resort. We of course have " Adventure Seeking Skills ", so that was not about to happen for us ;)

Thankfully Aunt Doreen had her younger brother Kevin and his family in mind when she booked our trip!

 
     
                                                 

Meaning In The Yellow Shirts

You might be wondering why I placed these pictures on an entry about our recent trip to Mexico? These pictures have significance to me. This was Will's third birthday party at Chucky Cheese with family and friends. I made his cookie cakes especially for him with ingredients I knew wouldn't make him break out into a rash.


Grandpa William Turano took these pictures of me at the party with Will on my lap. Grandpa Turano is the only one whom has ever picked up on the fact that capturing priceless moments on camera is a big deal to me, or at least one of the only ones whom wants to help me in my desires to capture these natural moments. I Always I have to ask to take posed pictures of myself because no one takes natural pictures of me, but Grandpa Turano did whenever he came in for birthday parties, etc.. He would grab my camera when it wasn't in my hands, and he'd start snapping those real moments that I don't get to be in of my family that I love so much.

He knew that it was important to me, and that was one way that he showed that he loved me.

We really missed Grandpa Turano on our trip that HE AND DOREEN planned to Mexico.

He was a major designer in the yellow shirts that he and Aunt Doreen designed and had ordered for us to wear on our trip.

I know that he was smiling down from above and very happy that we still went on the trip, and that his precious wife was able to have all of her children and their families on a tropical trip for Christmas.

There were some sad moments to be had missing him, but as we wore the yellow shirts that Grandpa Turano made, we actually had a piece of him with us, and of course he is always in our hearts.

Grandma Turano placed a picture of him in her hotel room, so that he could be with us on the trip that way as well.

We love you Grandpa Turano, and we will be looking forward to being with you again....

Here you are in the yellow shirt, on the trip with us.... I am glad that you chose yellow, because you were always making us laugh and brightening our lives with your phone calls , debating emails, and trips to come visit us in Texas.

 

 

 

Lydia, Brooke, Alaina and Will 

 

                                  Grandma Turano and every single one of her grandchildren!