When we boarded our plane for Mexico in Salt Lake City we thought we were on our way to the perfect vacation in Punta de Mita, Mexico.  Little did we know, the airport was just about to shut down due to snow and the next 24 hours would be a wild adventure in travel with a toddler.

The airport was closed for almost 4 hours, which meant we had long-missed our connection out of Los Angeles.  After much wrangling, we were able to take a smaller plane to Mexico from LA the next day.  Thankfully, this turned out to be the only hitch in an otherwise perfect week with fantastic friends.

It was our first time to Punta de Mita as a family and we enjoyed every minute of it.  The town is just outside of Puerto Vallarta and is a little sleepy compared to Cancun or Cabo.  The weather was excellent, the water was warm, and the beach was perfect for sand castles.  Between the ocean and the pool, Charlotte was in heaven.  It’s amazing how much she loves the water.

Charlotte continues to be the biggest joy, and challenge, we’ve ever experienced.  She’s at that age where she repeats everything you say and wants to be involved in everything you are doing.  She eats like a bird, and has the energy of a cheetah.  She’ll only sit still for 15 minutes of the Pooh Bear movie, and we pretend she knows Spanish by teaching her to say “Feliz Navidad”.  Thank goodness she’s a good sleeper so we get some quiet time at night!

John says the best part about this year is that we were able to dodge Santa Claus one more time.  I’m not sure how many more years we’ll have like this, but getting away from the holiday-hype is a gift itself.  That said, we felt like being with our little family, and such good friends, was quite the Christmas gift.  The only thing better would have been to find a karaoke bar somewhere to sing some Motley Crüe songs 😉

Merry Christmas!