Freedom for a 5-year-old

Lyle: “Mom, can I go across the street and see if the kids can play”
Me: “Yes”

Lyle: “Mom, can I take the plastic bottles to recycling, by myself- (two blocks)”
Me: “Yes”

Lyle: “Mom, can I ride my bike to Juan’s house”- (two-blocks including a street to cross)
Me: “No, but you can walk”
Lyle: “Ahhh, why can’t I ride my bike?”
Me: “Because you still don’t get the hang of stopping and if a car was coming you might be able to stop or get out of the way.”
Lyle: “Ahhh, I’ll stop, I promise.”
Me: “You can walk or you can stay home.”
Lyle: Just a little petulant. “Fine, I’ll walk.”

Lyle: “Mom, can I go to Chona’s and by a bag of Doritos?” (5 blocks)
Me: “No, that’s too far to go by yourself.”
Lyle: “Ahhh, no it isn’t.” Explaining in detail the route.
Both: “Discussion” ensues ending with Lyle not going to the store by himself.

Freedom is limited to 2 blocks, by foot.

Let’s take a trip...

We just met the most interesting couple from Austria. They are on a “holiday”…for two years!

They have a conversion van that they shipped from Europe to the East coast of Canada. Then they drove across Canada to Vancouver, up to Alaska, back down through the Rocky Mountains and are now in La Manzanilla.

Next stop, the port of Manzanillo where they will put the van on a ship and send it to Santiago, Chile. They will travel overland to Venezuela and then fly to pick up the van and continue to the southern tip of Chile, back up through Argentina and Brazil and then put the van on another boat back to Europe.

Wow, what an adventure! I wish they had a blog.

Went fishing, got sick, had a blast!

There's a local expat, Steve, who offers 3.5 hour fishing tours so we decided to try it. Steve’s fun to talk with, he’s lived here in La Manzanilla for 30 plus years, his mom and 2 brothers are also here.

It was a beautiful morning although I spent most of it on my back at the front of the boat trying not to “toss my cookies.”

The boys, on the other hand, had a marvelous time reeling in fish. They caught about 25 Spanish Mackerels and I was well enough to snap a few photos but not well enough to capture the event on video.

I did end up hurling over the side, which made me feel better and I even managed to bring in one fish myself. We’ve been back for 5 hours and I still feel like I’m on the boat.

Next time I’ll take the Dramamine before I start feeling queasy!

Our new house in La Manzanilla

After 7 months of living in a one-bedroom apartment we finally found and moved into a house!

It's perfect for us, 2 bedrooms/2 baths and 3 blocks from beach.

We've been here about 3 weeks and have already hosted friends from Denver. We have a plastic table and 4 chairs but hey if it's good enough for the locals it's good enough for us!

We just bought one of everything from the vivero (garden store) in town and are now busy planting the backyard, which was several large trees and otherwise dirt when we moved in.

A few pictures of the back- including our resident rooster and a photo of the Primavera tree in front of the house.

Who needs to go to an expensive salon?

Here in La Manzanilla there is one Salon de Belleza- beauty salon.

Rick and Lyle have been at least twice since we moved here in September.

I started covering my grey hair about 3 years ago. I have a friend who has an Aveda salon and every time I leave her salon I’m $120 poorer but my hair looks so natural and wonderful that it’s worth every penny!

Recently a friend here remarked, “wow, I love that you let your hair look so natural, the grey looks great.” At that point I was so obsessed about my hair I didn’t hear another word she said.

I’m just too afraid to try the local salon. I don’t want to be red or blond!

So the last time I was in Manzanillo I bought a package of hair color that seemed to close to my non-grey color…..and I waited.

My good friend Connie was here last week to visit and I mentioned the grey hair dilemma. “June, back in the day when I had no money I did my own hair.” That was
all I needed. Connie did a great job with my box of color from Walmart!
Photos for your amusement. That’s wine I’m drinking. Last pic sin grey!