Cabo San Lucas

The end of June was a very exciting time for the Mazotti clan. First, our beloved home away from home, South Fork, was evacuated because of a raging forest fire. Within days I went from "a fire will never happen in South Fork" to "it might be headed our way but it is still WAY far away" to "holy crap, they are evacuating the town?" to "they said that they are going to have to let the whole town burn!" to "whew, that was a close one! Times like these make you take a step back and realize that life can change in a moments notice. While we were fortunate that the cabin is not our primary home...we have many friends who live in South Fork full time who thought that they could lose everything. Scary times. But Chateau de la Mazotti lives on!

In the midst of all the chaos, we left for a 14-day trip to Cabo San Lucas! My mom came with us for the 1st week of the trip which was filled with sun, swimming and cervezas. We spent the majority of the first 7 days poolside by day and dining out with our friends DJ and Melanie Brown at night. DJ and Tony have been friends since high school and Melanie and I...well we would be friends even if our guys couldn't stand each other!

The Boys With Their Boys

The Classiest Ladies At Squid Roe (Trust Me!)

This Picture Really Captures The Personalities

One of the highlights of that 1st week was my mom meeting her new boyfriend...err...I mean...well the pictures say it all!

Arriba!

Another highlight from the 1st week was Tony and I celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary (and 17 years together and going strong!)

We knocked something off my bucket list as well. Swimming with dolphins! I don't know what it is with me and animals...I always imagine that it is going to be an amazing experience...that ends up with me freaking out because the animal has manhandled me in some way. This time it was when the dolphin literally stuck it's tongue down my throat when it was supposed to be giving me a peck on the lips!

It was nice to have my mom with us. Not only were we able to catch up with each other and she with the kids, but if Tony and I wanted to get away for an hour or two she could hold down the fort for us. I forgot what freedom is like!

The 2nd week was all about family time. AJ was the king of the pool with the fellas and the ladies. He had a bevy of beauties around him at all times, massaging his feet, splashing him with water, retrieving toys for him, and gushing over his tan. The guys taught him how to play "pool pong" which is a floating beer pong raft with water. I forgot to thank them for that. And he taught himself to swim! Cienna made lots of friends, practiced her freestyle form and learned how to order virgin pina coladas by the boatload. A true lady!

Cabo...you will be missed! See you in 2015!

Camp Colorado

Camp Colorado 2013 at Chateau de la Mazotti was a success! What a difference a year makes. For real. I only wanted to lay down in traffic 1-2 days this time as opposed to every other day last year! My Christmas miracle must have arrived early!

Tony hung with us for the first 4 days before he headed up to Golden which is about 4 hours north of our cabin. We worked on our custom made raft trailer, re-organized the garage, fixed the bicycle tires and participated in our first ever moonlight float! We have been hearing about these adult only excursions for years from our Colorado friends...but have always been strapped down with kids and could not participate. This year we all threw in on a babysitter / angel from heaven who watched 6 kids under the age of 8 at our cabin while we did our best to not go overboard into the river. Because it was so early in the season the float went fast (which was probably in our best interests considering...) and we ended up at The Shaft until closing time enjoying life the way it used to be before we all became parents. A great way to start the trip!

After Tony left it was my turn to entertain the kids so they didn't kill each other. I pulled out all the stops. Trips to the circus, swimming at the Rio Grande Country Club, Summerfest and the indoor water park in Alamosa, hiking, biking, exploring, library visits, trips to the Malt Shoppe, smores around the campfire, father's day shopping in Creede, and the hot springs in Pagosa. It was non-stop action!

Monte Vista Circus

Hiking at Big Meadows

Learning to Juggle at Summerfest

Swimming at the Rio Grande Club

Indoor Water Park

Get Outdoors Day - Learning to Hunt

Get Outdoors Day - Cienna was Killing It!

Yummy Smores

Although the trip was a lot of fun and we can't wait to do it next year...we did have some sadness. Tonka started showing signs that there was a problem and after taking her to the local veternarian they discovered a large tumor on her anal gland that had to be removed. After sending it off for analysis, they determined that it was cancerous and very agressive. The vet predicts only a few weeks to a few months for her to live. It made the trip bittersweet. We certainly gave her more love and attention (and maybe some table scraps!) than usual but our hearts are breaking knowing that her time is limited. Over the last few years she has really become my dog. I walk her, feed her, groom her, bathe her and love on her on a daily basis. So I am preparing myself for goodbye.

It wouldn't be a typical Tonka trip to the cabin if I didn't have an attack story. The day we were loading her up for surgery she got a piece of the neighbor's little wiener dog. Fortunately for the dog Tonka has a crooked jaw and can't do any damage. But that little dog must not have gotten the memo because when I got to the scene of the crime and pried Tonka's mouth open that dog had peed itself all over the place!

May Madness

May was truly madness. Between school wrapping up, after school activities ending with big extravaganzas and all the forms that must be filled out in preparation of next year....May was non-stop action!

Cienna graduated from kindergarten in an adorable ceremony where they performed several songs for the parents in Spanish. After getting her certificate she was called up again by her teachers for a special award for her accomplishments in reading and writing this year. Tony and I were very proud parents!

AJ's class celebrated with a end of the year party / mother's day picnic at the park across the street from our house. AJ presented me with a hand made wind chime and a flower journal with original artwork that was too cute for words. I never did get that slice of cake that he was supposed to bring to me. Guess he missed that announcement and thought it was for him!

Cienna tested for her yellow belt in karate. Unfortunately she did not earn it yet, but she did break her first boards!

Summer is off and running with a bang with 18 days ahead of us at the cabin while Tony does swift water rescue training in Golden, CO. If last year is any indication on how this year is going to go I am really in for it. But here's hoping it is an amazing start to summer!

Spring Has Sprung!

One of the nicest things about living in New Mexico is truly experiencing the four seasons. The summers are hot, the autumn is colorful, the winter can bring snow and the spring is alive with new growth. We began our spring with lots of little projects to get us in the spirit...starting with growing our own butterflies!

Our special delivery arrived in the mail courtesy of Granny. Five tiny little caterpillars that soon grew into big fat caterpillars. After carefully crawling to the top of the container and forming their chrysalis they were well on their way to becoming beautiful butterflies.



It was during this time that we conducted our own little experiment...courtesy of AJ. He just loved the caterpillars so much that he would walk around the house with their habitat. One day one of the chrysalis fell and we were very worried that it would not survive. But it did! Apparently once the chrysalis is formed they do not need to hang to become beautiful butterflies. We were overjoyed with our 100% success rate!



Our next Spring project was planting the garden. We installed a drip system in the winter which will require less work on my part. We added compost and all kinds of nutrients to the garden and prepped it for the best part!



The kids got to choose some of their favorite things to plant. This year we are trying raspberries, blackberries, tomatoes, basil, chives, mint, jalapenos, swiss chard, and kale. We are hoping for the best!



We then created hand prints to be placed in the yard. After decorating them with different gems they were complete and will forever add sunshine to our home.



Our last project was growing our own flowers. We built "The Croods" flower boxes at Lowe's Hardware Store last Saturday and then picked out seeds to plant and (hopefully) harvest. The kids are really enjoying this time of year!

Tea Time

Today we discovered what is possibly the most posh place in all of New Mexico...the St. James Tearoom. In typical English fashion (or so I've been told) we sat down for tea, scones, curds and other delicious goodies all while wearing our finest borrowed hats. I felt so...proper!



We celebrated Cienna's 6th birthday (again!) with our pinkies up. The food was phenomenal, the tea was divine and the conversation was spoke in English of course!



I felt just like Pippa, Camilla, Fergie and all of my other favorite members of English high society who are just a little on the fringes. It was a bloody good time!