School Outings and Such

We have really been enjoying the outings planned by Jeff's school and have been trying to take advantage of as many of them as we can. Yesterday, Jeff and I visited one of the museums in town that is dedicated to the town's founding. The original seat of government and adjoining plaza were buried by an earthquake in 1861, and the Museo del Area Fundacional sits right atop the excavation site. I wrote more about the experience on my Year of Firsts blog, if you want to check it out.

Museo del Area Fundacional

The entrance to the museum , showing the excavation site

This evening, the Australian owner of the school invited the students (and whoever the students wanted to bring) to one of the bodegas in town, Wine O'Clock, for a wine tasting and some Spanish/English conversation. The boys didn't want to get out in the cold and opted to stay in watching a movie and eating pizza rolls, but Jeff and Ruth and I went and had a wonderful time. We got to try a couple of wines--a Malbec, which we loved, and a Cab that was good but not great--while also enjoying a cheese board and some nice conversation. (I didn't get any photos while we were there, so I borrowed some from the Internet.)

Wine O'Clock tasting room

Ramanegra is our new favorite Malbec!

After checking in with the boys after the tasting and finding them perfectly happy and safe, Jeff and Ruth and I went out to grab some dinner at El Club de Milanesa, which is a very cool restaurant dedicated to chicken fried steak (though not the way we think of it in Texas). We ordered the sampler and got to try seven different milanesas plus a big basket of "loaded" fries. And, for dessert, we had the flan volcano filled with dulce de leche, which was wonderful. We really love Mendoza and all the fun things to do here!

Fun night out at El Club de Milanesa

Milanesa Sampler

Flan Volcano

Celebrating 40

I turned 40 on Friday, and I did it right! My sweet hubby surprised me with a trip to the new Palafitos (overwater bungalows) in the Mexican Riviera. (He also surprised himself by accidentally revealing the gift to me months before he intended to!) We arrived at the resort on Wednesday around noon and instantly began to be treated like royalty. We had some lunch in the overwater restaurant and then took a walk around the resort, before settling into our amazing palafito. We spent the next few days lounging on our patio, alternating between the large lounge chair and the private pool, and eating large quantities of delicious food. On my birthday, the staff went all out to make sure my day was special. They put a sign on the door, decorated the bed when they did the turn-down service, delivered a beautiful dessert to the room, and even filled up our jacuzzi. It was such a special trip and a wonderful way to enter a new decade!

El Dorado Maroma Resort

Our beautiful palafito

Everything we ate was beautiful as well as delicious!

I certainly did feel special on my birthday!

*I am celebrating turning 40 all year long with a Year of Firsts. I am keeping a separate blog for documenting that journey, if you want to check it out.*

Yes, And

*This is a deviation from my vacation postings. We're still cruising down the Alaska Highway, and I'll get back to that soon, but today there is something else on my mind.*

One month from today I will turn 40. This seems almost impossible to me, because I don't feel that I should have that many decades behind me. When I absorbed this fact earlier in the year, I honestly became quite depressed. I won't go into details, but it was an ugly time that seemed like it would consume me. Realizing that I was spiraling downward quickly and desperate to dig my heels in and fight it if I could, I started casting about for something--anything--that could act as an anchor and keep me from being sucked into the strong undercurrent of my emotional instability. 

That's when I came across a book called I Dare Me by Lu Ann Cahn. The subtitle drew me in: "How I rebooted and recharged my life by doing something new every day." Rebooting and recharging definitely seemed like a move in the right direction for me. And since I had been struggling with the mundanity of everyday suburban life after our trip around the world, "something new everyday" was irresistibly intriguing. It was a quick read, in which Ms. Cahn chronicled her "year of firsts," which included some things as simple as trying new-to-her foods, to activities as daring as rappelling into a cenote. Most of the things on her list were things she worked into her everyday life. Some were real stretches for her, and others were things she'd always wanted to try. Her main objective was simply to say "yes" when opportunities presented themselves and to give herself permission to step outside her comfort zone. She didn't love every first, but she learned a lot about herself, and she found herself in the new habit of saying "yes." For her, it was a method of combatting her own depression and a feeling of being stuck.

I'm certainly no improv actress, but I have taken a couple of classes and read a couple of books, trying to understand the techniques improv actors employee. There are many principles in the study of improv that are applicable to success in everyday life. Chief among them is the "Yes, and" concept. It basically means you take what is given to you and make it your own. This is what makes improv funny. You have no control over what is given to you by another player or audience member, but you can gratefully accept it and make into something you can work with. For many people, myself included, it is more natural to want to say "No." That's not the scene I want to play; that's not the character I want to portray. Lots of people want to be in control and therefore flat out refuse those situations that aren't entirely of their own making. But even when we can get ourselves to say "yes," we often follow it with "but" rather than "and." This kills the scene and all forward progress. You have to take what your improv partner (or life) gives you, and then you have to make something of it. You can't put the brakes on every idea, and you can't fill the scene (days) with excuses or conditions. Sometimes, you just have to jump in and go with it.

So, this is what I thought of when I read Ms. Cahn's book, and I knew immediately that a year of firsts, a "yes, and" year, was exactly how I wanted to celebrate the first year of a new decade of my life. The prospect makes me excited and nervous, and that's how I know it's the right thing to do. As I contemplated the idea, my depression was eventually lifted, and I made a plan to start my year of firsts on my birthday.

But, I seriously need some help. 365 days is a lot of days, and, while I want to be spontaneous and look at my world with new eyes for inspiration, I also want to have an arsenal of firsts from which to draw if I get stumped. I have started making a list, but it's a little skimpy. That's where you come in, if you're willing. I would love to have your suggestions of big and small things I can add to my list. I would also appreciate your words of encouragement and support, along with your own stories of saying, "Yes, and." 

I will be starting a new blog, devoted only to my year of firsts, and will keep this one for the goings-on of our family. I will share the URL soon and would love it if you'd follow along on my personal journey for self-improvement. Feel free to leave your suggestions for firsts in the comments section of this blog or on Facebook. 

Feel Good Friday

The world seems so dark and crazy and broken and negative. It seems we are constantly inundated with bad news. I admit, I have a sensitivity to negativity and a tendency to lean that direction with the slightest provocation. Sometimes my brain takes in all the little (and occasionally big) bits of negativity and churns it around until it becomes difficult to believe there is any good left in the world at all. Bad news hit our family in personal ways this week, and after days of feeling the weight of grief and anger, I remembered Mahatma Gandhi's words: "Be the change you wish to see in the world." And that got me thinking: If the world is dark, I can be light. If the world is crazy, I can be sane. If the world is broken, I can be whole. If the world is negative, I can be positive. I don't have to be part of the problem. I can be part of the solution. As I have been at a little bit of a loss for words lately and in need of some direction for the blog, I have decided to spread positive vibes in a new weekly feature, Feel Good Friday, where I will share things I find to be positive, uplifting, inspiring, happy, and/or beautiful. Can it change the world? Probably not. But, according to Norman Vincent Peale, if you "change your thoughts, you change your world," and changing just my world seems like a good place to start. If anything I post helps change yours, all the better.

So many things

First: As you can see, I'm experimenting with a new look and name for the blog. I would really love your feedback! Feel free to tell me what you like as well as what you don't like.

Second: A huge piece of my heart just walked out the door to catch a plane to New York. I'm so proud of my girl and excited for the opportunity she has to attend a special camp at Skidmore College during the next three weeks, but the letting-gos are always a little hard on a momma's heart.

Third: Yesterday morning, I published the third Geography Explorer book, Explore Thailand. If you have a kid in your life who might be interested in that part of the world, check it out.

Fourth: Yesterday afternoon, we continued our explorations of the island. We visited the Hanapepe swinging bridge and Glass Beach, which is partly made up of a huge deposit of sea glass. We also popped into the Kauai Chocolate shop, before boarding our Napali Coast tour boat. We spent several lovely hours cruising around the island and taking in the stunning scenery of the Napali Coast. We also had appetizers, drinks, and dinner aboard the boat, and ended our tour with an amazing Kauai sunset.

Hanapepe Bridge

Glass Beach

The less glassy side of Glass Beach

Kauai Chocolate

Napali Coast Cruise

Sneaky Rainbow

Can you guess why they call this Kong Point?

Find the owl hidden in the rocks.

The lovely Napali Coast

There are two sea caves at the base of the brown mountain in the center.
These were created by lava tubes, and they are constantly growing.

The entrance to an awesome sea cave that has no ceiling

Another beautiful rainbow

A mother monk seal and her pup catch some rays on the beach

Sunset at sea

Winner, Winner

I would like to extend a big "thank you" to each person who viewed the blog post regarding my newly published travel journal, and particularly those who commented for a chance to win a copy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your special travel memories, and I greatly appreciate your support and encouragement. I also enjoyed reading through all the Facebook comments and am thankful for those of you who shared the post there. The winner for the giveaway was selected this morning, using Random.org.

And, the winner is...

Colleen Ortiz!

Congratulations, Colleen! I will be sending you a copy of "Go, See, Do" very soon, and I hope you and the young travelers in your life will enjoy it. I would be grateful if you could leave a review on Amazon after you have received the book and have had a chance to look through it. 

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the drawing! If you are still interested in getting a copy of the journal, you may purchase it from Amazon, Amazon UK or Create Space. (If you click on the words "purchase it" or the title of the book in the caption of the photo below, or if you click on the picture of the book cover in the right sidebar, you can get directly to the journal on Amazon.) And, if you do purchase it, please leave a review on Amazon. If you or someone you know owns a gift shop and would like to make the journal available to your customers, contact me to find out about bulk buying. I am sincerely thankful for all of your support and encouragement in this new venture of mine!

Go, See, Do: A Travel Journal for Kids

Go, See, Do

I HAVE A BOOK ON AMAZON!! I HAVE A BOOK ON AMAZON!!

...But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

When we decided to travel around the world, I knew I wanted the kids to keep a daily (or near-daily) journal of our adventure, because I wanted them to be able to go back at some point in the future and remember how they felt and what was special to them and how the world looked through their eyes. And, I wanted it to be their own words that greeted them on the page. My two oldest kids were quite capable of pulling this off on their own, without any assistance. I knew my third would need some guidance but would be able to write short sentences about our travels. But, I wondered what to do about my four-year-old, who was very verbal but not yet writing on his own. Necessity is always the mother of invention, so I came up with a template to help him get his own words out on paper. Someone else does the writing, but the words are all his. This has been very successful on our travels, and I had an idea that others might find a templated travel journal useful as well. So, I published it. And, now it is available to the whole world on Amazon, Amazon UK and Create Space. It has long been a dream of mine to have a published book. I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!

And, to celebrate, I'd like to give one copy away. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, telling me your favorite travel memory. Facebook comments won't count for this giveaway, though I will still enjoy reading them, if that's the direction you prefer to go. I will randomly select a winner on Oct. 12, which is Columbus Day and seems like a good time to celebrate adventure.

If you or someone you know travels with kids, perhaps you'd like to check it out. I believe it's perfect for kids who are verbal but not yet writing, as each prompt can be asked as a question. But, it's also great for reluctant writers and those who fear the blank page. It works well for both long and short trips, and I think it would make an excellent gift. If you win the drawing or decide to purchase a copy, and if you enjoy the journal, I would be grateful if you would leave a review to help the journal rank well in Amazon searches. You may also feel free to share this post with others you think might be interested. I look forward to reading your special travel memories and giving away a copy of my book!

Go, See, Do: A Travel Journal For Kids

The back cover looks so legit!

A sneak peek

Don't forget to leave a comment on the blog for a chance to win a copy!

Missing the pretty stuff

Besides this blog, I also have a photo blog, which I used to faithfully post pictures to, in an effort to capture some of the "pretty stuff all over the world." Over time, my posts on that blog have become more and more sparse, as my life has become more and more hectic. It seems like I rarely take the time to pull out my camera these days, and if I can give a more honest assessment, I tend to get so caught up in the day-to-day that I rarely take the time to even notice the pretty stuff in the first place. This week, though, Ruth had a Science research paper to write on wildflowers. Her paper was specifically about the Firewheel, or Indian Blanket flowers, and she wanted a picture of one to take with her to class as a visual aid for her presentation. I knew I had posted a picture of one on my photo blog, so I went there to look it up, since I thought that would be infinitely easier than searching through thousands of picture files saved on my computer. I felt such joy and peace as I scrolled through my pretty stuff, and I realized the pretty stuff has been missing in my life lately. It's not that the pretty stuff isn't there. But, I haven't been making an effort to see it, much less preserve it. That's not acceptable. I need the pretty stuff. I'm a better person when I stop to smell (and photograph) the roses. So, if you're looking to add some pretty stuff to your life, feel free to hop on over to my other blog and take a look around. Help keep me accountable to my resolution to try to be more consistent in noticing and documenting some of the pretty stuff.

Pretty Stuff sneak peak
(Indian Blanket)

Eclectic Trip to Austin

We ventured into the big city today, and it was quite an eclectic trip. We began with a stop at Pottery Barn, so Jeff and I could take a closer look at a bed frame I saw and liked online. Then, we stopped by Tuesday Morning. From there, we located one of the few remaining Souper Salad restaurants in the area and stopped for some lunch. After that, we visited the Saxet gun show, an eclectic experience all it's own. From there, we made our afternoon Sonic stop, and I stepped out an ordered something other than my usual. My kids are dying to try the new peanut butter and bacon shake there, but we decided today wasn't going to be that day. Our next stop was Half-Price Books, where we acquired all the Star Wars movies, some required reading books for Ruth's CC Challenge class next year, and some fun reading for all. Then, there was a fabric store/thrift store/hardware store stop. And, we ended the day at the Hill Country Galleria, where we stopped for dinner at Iron Cactus. We also had an unplanned visit to Dick's Sporting Goods while we were at the Galleria to get Max a whole new set of wearable clothes after he slipped in a mud puddle and was covered head-to-toe in some very stinky mud.

I know you are all now feeling like I just made you look at a hundred pictures of my newborn, but, what can I say?! We don't get out much, so this qualifies as high entertainment. Plus, I thought a blog post about our fun day in Austin was better than no blog post at all. Having now been subjected to it, you may choose to disagree.

The Happiest Place On Earth

Before I get down to business here, did you notice the new blog title and the new tabs at the top? I was really tired of the extremely boring blog title I picked many moons ago, when I started this blog and didn't know a thing about what I was doing. I've been wanting to change it forever but just never got around to it until today. This one seems to more accurately reflect what's going on here, plus it is taken, in part, from a great quote of Deepak Chopra: "All great changes are preceded by chaos." Don't worry, the URL isn't changing, just the title. I'll still be here, where I've always been, reporting on the Watts Life. 

And now, for the insanity you came here for, and I'm not just using that word loosely. It seems that Jeff and I have officially lost the very last shreds of our minds by booking a family vacation to Disney World at the end of May. Neither of us have ever been much for amusement parks (or lines or crowds or wrangling kids through all that), and we have always vowed that Disney was one we didn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole. But, as we started talking to the kids about what family vacation they would like to take this summer, we got a unanimous vote (from those who can clearly express their thoughts in English) for Disney World. A unanimous vote! In our house, that is some kind of miracle. We have all manner of built-in coping strategies for who gets to pick what, and when (like whoever uses the broken headphones in the van gets to pick the movie), because these people cannot agree on anything most of the time. They all want to watch a different movie, go to a different restaurant, get different cereals at the grocery store, etc, etc. But, it was a unanimous vote for Disney World, so what could we do?! We were powerless to refuse them and thereby wreck the miracle. So, come May, you can find us at the Happiest Place on Earth, and after that, you might want to try the Loony Bin.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Well, I haven't been blogging lately because my husband has introduced me to the Harry Potter movies, and I have gotten completely sucked in. If you're thinking, "Huh, I wouldn't have guessed Mandi would be a Harry Potter fan," well, join the club. I didn't really think I'd be a fan, either. But, I love the creativity of the stories and am totally engaged. If you're thinking, "Wow! Didn't those movies come out over a decade ago?!" the answer is "Yes." We are VERY far behind the times in our movie watching. Having kids will do that to you.

But to make up for the literary genius you've no doubt been missing on this blog, I will leave you with pictures of a really cute baby, which always covers a multitude of sins.

the law around these parts

Toughness personified

"Boom"

Taking a break

See you in a couple of weeks!

Something New

I'm a picture person. I love taking pictures, looking at pictures, and just playing around with them--and I always have. All my picture taking is pretty much for my own enjoyment, but I also really get a kick out of sharing my pictures with others. Jeff gave me a new fancy-schmancy camera last month, and so I have decided to start a photo blog. My words and family pics will still be here whenever you'd like to know what's going on with us, but I'd like to invite you all over to take a look at my pictures if you just want to see some pretty stuff (that doesn't look like my kids):  http://prettystuffallovertheworld.blogspot.com/.

It's called "Pretty Stuff," because one time when we were riding in the car and witnessing a spectacular sunset, Weston breathlessly announced that there was "pretty stuff all over the world." My photo blog is an attempt to capture some of the pretty stuff in the world, and to share it with whoever might enjoy seeing it.

Organized Chaos

I often think about making this blog (or at least portions of it) into a book. There are companies who specialize in just that. But, I frequently get overwhelmed with the thought because how on earth do you narrow down four years worth of random posts into something remotely coherent?! Today, I decided to take the first step in organizing the posts by labeling them, which you will notice at the end of each post under the time stamp. I'm not really sure why I never did this before. I can't tell you how therapeutic it was to put my life (in the form of this blog), which so often feels like chaos, into some kind of order. To fit everything into nice little categories, even if those categories are things like "mess." It all just seems to make more sense now, and that's good enough for me.

Getting To Know You

So, you all know me pretty well. I don't have many secrets, and I share pretty openly here on this blog. But, I have to tell you, I'm feeling like this relationship is a little one-sided. I run a "spy" program on my blog, which tells me how many readers I have, how they got to my blog, how much time they spent there and where in the world they are--down to the city they logged in from. Don't be creeped out. This kind of thing can be done for any website out there. I'm not creepy. I'm just curious. I realize some people have probably happened upon this little blog completely by accident. But, I know many of you purposefully log in and read--every day, every month or just every once in while. I think that's cool. I'm thrilled that people have come to this blog from places all over the world, whether they meant to or not. I can guess who some of you are, but I would really like to get to know you--or get to know you better. Leave me a comment. Don't be afraid. The worst that could happen is that we could become friends.

Parrot and Turtle Revisited

Well, I thought I was being kind of cute with my parrot and turtle blog post the other day. Turns out I was only being vague. So to clear up any confusion, I will tell you that I was referring to Weston, the parrot, and Max, the turtle. From now on I will try to be a little more clear on points of pets versus children.

Something New For You

I thought the blog needed a Spring-looking facelift. So here you go. Let me know how you like it.

I would be blogging now

but my baby is crying and I have a headache. Catch you tomorrow.

I Tried, Really I Did

I had planned to post some adorable pictures of Weston attempting to feed himself with a spoon tonight, but I have been fighting with Blogger about it for over an hour, and it looks like I will not be the victor tonight. We just aren't seeing eye-to-eye, and I haven't got the strength to fight any more. Maybe next time I will come out on top.

How Do You Like The New Look?

Inspiration struck last night while I was looking at Katie's blog, and I decided to play around with my blog and see what happened. This is it. I think it's a good change, but what do you think?