And I'm back - a little tanner, a little more tired, having eaten a LOT more food.

Cozumel, Mexico - Isla Mujeres; beautiful beaches, lovely shopping, open bar: who could ask for more?

Roatan, Honduras - van sightseeing tour, iguana farm, quiet beach, throwing Brandon into the Caribbean multiple times

Belize - jungle trek in stupid sandals that kept twisting off my feet in the mud, CAVE TUBING! Mom incapable of grasping the physics of innertube-paddling, finally hooking her feet under my tube and having me haul her the rest of the way down through the caves

Cancun - ultimate resort, air-conditioned mall [Yes, we cheated.]

M/S Norwegian Sea - sturdy ship with [perhaps overly] friendly staff, tiny ass cabins, lots of white Texans, plenty of good food [mmm...the number of medium-rare slabs of beef I consumed...], and the CHOCOHOLIC BUFFET

Everywhere on the trip - hot and humid as hell. Well, maybe hell would be less humid.

Mom Vocabulary:
kai-ACK-ee - kayak
ar-KAI-yee - arcade
ja-COO-chee - jacuzzi

Brandon Vocabulary:
hasta hasta, bengola, balam saday, be-quay - i have no idea.

Final note: I can't imagine that many things more pleasurable than eating as many chocolate-covered strawberries as possible. Oh god. The memory!

* * *
"Wheel" -John Mayer

people have the right to fly
and will when it gets compromised
their hearts say, "move along"
their minds say, "gotcha heart"
"let's move it along"

and airports see it all the time
where someone's last goodbye
blends in with someone's sigh
'cause someone's coming home
in hand a single rose

and that's the way this wheel keeps working now
that's the way this wheel keeps working now
and i won't be the last
no, i won't be the last
to love her

you can't build a house of leaves
and live like it's an evergreen
it's just a season thing
it's just this thing that seasons do

and that's the way this wheel keeps working now
that's the way this wheel keeps working now
and you won't be the first
no, you won't be the first
to love me

you can find me
if you ever want again
i'll be around the bend
i'll be around the bend
i'll be around

and if you never stop when you wave goodbye
you just might find if you give it time
you will wave hello again
you just might wave hello again

and that's the way this wheel keeps working now
that's the way this wheel keeps working now

you can't love too much one part of it
you can't love too much one part of it

i believe that my life's gonna see
the love i give returned to me...