January 8-11, 2018 - Tulúm, Mexico CAMPING at PANCHO VILLA (3 years 6 months)

Our new camp was a huge area right on the beach with lots of shade from the palm trees.  My little monkey felt right at home!  

So here, Kadin LOVES his shrimp and wanted me to take a picture of it but wanted to close his eyes and hide his face.  Grr.  BUT HE IS SOOOO CUTE!!!

We took a boat ride out to a reef, so that I could go snorkeling and Kadin could be on a boat.  I think he was more excited than I was!

Kadin watches me in the water, as I come up from snorkeling to check in on him.  He was as happy as a fish in the sea!

Kadin preferred staying closer to shore where the breaking waves were but would occasionally swim out beyond the breakers and just float around.

Hard to capture the view from our tent in a shaded grove of palm trees right on the beach.
No naked monkeys to be seen (I think he was asleep).

Yay!  Coatis playing at the entrance to the Tulúm ruins.

Kadin was tired and possibly bored for most of the exploring of the ruins.  It made a lot more sense that night when he fell asleep at 7pm with a fever.  Fortunately, he was back to his energetic self the next day.

Definitely, the iguanas were a favorite at the ruins!

January 5-8, 2018 - Tulúm, Mexico CAMPING at KUKULCAN (3 years 6 months)

Last year, he wouldn't let me bury him.  Now he's buried up to his waist!

He only let's me take a picture of him these days if he is making funny faces or doing something he's excited about.  

This was our first campsite – at Hostal Kukulcan.
Small and friendly but a bit too far from the beach and a bit too much concrete for my taste.  Kadito had a love/hate relationship with the little puppy, depending on whether she was nipping his heels or not.

Yummy ice cream!  He was so thoroughly enjoying it that another customer asked me if she could take his picture as the epitome of ice cream enjoyment.

January 4, 2019 - One night in Cancun, Mexico (3 years 6 months)

My little world traveler.

Oh my god, he's behind a wheel and it has a motor…

And he is having SO MUCH FUN!

After the cars and the rides, we found a playground nearby.  There were at least 30-50 kids running around like crazy.  It was occasionally so overwhelming for Kadin he would just run a lap around everything, stop, jump up and down, and then run back into the mayhem.  It was still packed at 10pm but we were exhausted from all the travel that day and I carried him back to our hostel.  

December 16 - 31, 2017 - 3 years 5 months

Making cookies with an active and enthusiastic 3 year old is challenging… I mixed half of the chocolate chip recipe with half of the molasses cookie recipe and came out with something in between… Still yummy and fun in then end and with enough sugar, butter, flour, and chocolate chips, anything takes good, right?

El Capitán Kadito Finn  ¡Arrgh!  My Mom's yearly Christmas tree ornament gift for Kadito, in line with his latest fascination with pirates and boats.

Christmas Day

He was so cute with the Santa hat on but would NOT let me take his picture… this was all I could get.

Video:  Kadin with his Rocket Shooter on Christmas Day.  I have to admit, it might be a one-day-wonder, but I still want to try it at night and see if they really glow in the dark… it just has to get above 0ºF at some point.

December 1 - 15, 2017 - 3 years 5 months

Kadin pulls another kid with his awesome balance bike on skis during the Wilderness Woman's Contest in Downtown Talkeetna. 

An early gift of my original MatchBox Cars Carrying Case with about 20 of my cars that I've kept for all of these years.  I'm glad he was as excited to receive it as I was to give it to him.

This year we did a "composite" tree with two little sprucelings zip tied together to make one Alaskan Christmas Tree.  

Biking in the gravel pit at sunset – that means at 3:30pm.  Arrrgh!

After all that biking, Kadin didn't even want his hot cocoa and even with a cookie in his hand, he still was about to say, "Me no like fotos, Mama!"  Arrrgh!

November 16 - 30, 2017 - 3 years 4 months

Kadito writes his name!!!! Who knew the letter "K" looks so much like a horse…

Foster kitties: Mama Trinity and Tony and Prima Gatito (Kadin named the two kittens) 

Hocky stick or weapon?  Need to keep the stick out of his reach except on the hockey rink or it's not a pretty site… 

No skates but on the ice with a hockey stick and puck = FUN! 

No skates but on the ice with a hockey stick and puck = FALLING! 

 

No hockey gear, no ice but in his ice skates with packed snow = FUN! 

 

Looks like I didn't take any pictures of Thanksgiving… it was a mellow dinner at Heather Krompacky's place with lots of yummy food and Kadin liked hanging with the boys as well as visiting Miss Nugget, the happily recovered kitty.

November 1 - 15, 2017 - 3 years 4 months

That's one happy kid!

Yum, ice!  With his bare hands no less!  Brrrrr.

The gravel pit, with it's snow-covered "mountains" makes a great place to explore and play and run along the mountaintops.

Near the gravel pit, Kadin led me into an alder and willow grove, that I called the fairy forest.  It was a perfect Kadin-sized forest too.

Kadin snuggles with Tony while Mama Trinity sits close.  We fostered a mom and her two kitties for a while.  In the end, I decided not to keep any of them.  The kittens were a bit shy/nervous/feral and needed a quieter home.

Eating snow again… Captain Snowbeard!

Kadin was working really hard to push up this hill.  It's a bit steeper than it looks in the photo.

After all that biking, Kadin crashed in the sled and I pulled him the last bit down the road to the car.

Kadin working hard again, this time my little "alpinista" is summiting the mountain.  Half way up he says, "This hard Mom," and towards the top his asking me to wait where I am while he goes the rest of the way up.

Kadin bike-skis down a hill, with Denali and the beautiful Alaska range in the background.  In the beginning of it, I wasn't sure what he was saying, maybe "run"?  Then he says, "Mama mas cerca arboles," which means, "Mama, closer to the trees."  Ie back up!  

October 28 - 31, 2017 - 3 years 3 months - HALLOWEEN!