trip to santa fe, new mexico

Anne Appleby's Mulberry Painting


Mom loves big white paintings


My mom's line drawing of me, painted by me at the Children's Museum

pixie's windsurfing

windsurfing is so much fun. i am not quite as good as my dad yet, but i will keep trying. my mom and dad bought me my first windsurfer and i have gone on the water for 4 days in a row. one day was really windy. my dad couldn't believe i could sail right over the big waves. hoping to do some windsurfing on whitefish lake this summer.

elementary school in los barriles

today was the big day. i finally went to school in los barriles. i was really scared and it was really hard. the teacher didn't show up to school so one of the moms was the substitute. she only spoke spanish. my english speaking friends amanda, jordan and giovani helped me, but it was scarey and hard. the kids were finishing a week of testing. the test my third grade class took was 30 spanish words that needed to be put in alphabetical order. my mom said it was a great brain challenge and would help me learn more spanish and work on my dictionaray skills. i was afraid i wasn't doing it right. i only missed one word. we went to school at 8:00 and had a snack break at 10:30. my mom came to check on me and brought me choc. milk and cheetos. we jumped rope and counted in english and spanish. one girl got up to 60! i left school early because i didn't want to stay until 12:30. maybe i will go to school here next year, but i need to work on my spanish. the first picture on the blog is the outside of the classroom, the second photos is the inside.

we took a long drive and a short hike just north of el cardinal to find these indian rock paintings. my mom was amazed that the colors of the rocks and the pigments are very similar to her own paintings in wax... rust, ochre, black and white!

quesadillas and puzzels with rachel

this is my friend rachel. she will be nine march 18. we licked the pieces of quesadilla so that the other person wouldn't take ours to eat. rachel is lealving los barriles tomorrow but we might visit her family in the gorge this summer. we had a bonfire last night and my mom made a cake with pancake mix, marshmallows and strawberry jam.

Some of you have asked what my favorite thing about Mexico is. Someone else asked what the weirest thing was I have eaten. My favorite things in Mexico are hermit crabs, playing with my friends and doing school with my parents. The weirdest thing I have eaten was a hot dog that came with my pancakes for breakfast. I was expecting sausage. My mom made a salad out of cactus when we first got here. I like to swim in the big waves. My Dad is doing lots of windsurfing. Please write me back and ask more questions about Mexico. I am in the east cape area of Baja California Sur. We are camping on the beach in Los Barriles.

walking stick bug found in los barriles campsite!

check it out! this is what we found today:

STICK INSECT! WALKING STICK! STICK BUG
Stick Insects or Phasmids (Phasmatoidea, Phasmatidae) encompass about 2,700 known Insect species. With their long bodies that give them a twig-like appearance, Phasmids are almost invisible among the leaves of trees. When They are disturbed, Phasmids will lay motionless for hours pretending to be a stick. Sometimes, They will sway to mimic a twig blowing in the wind.
To avoid being eaten, Phasmids have many unique defenses. Although Most rely on passive camouflage to avoid predators, many large Phasmids have large spines on their hind legs for self-defense. Other Phasmids will discourage their attackers by regurgitating food at them or by squirting them with poison. American Walking Stick (Anisomorpha bupestiordes) sprays his intruder with a chemical spray that causes blindness.
Female Phasmids can reproduce without mating. Some populations consist entirely of mature Females and their Offspring. The Young are identical to their Mother. Sometimes Mother Phasmid will search for a rare Male to mate with. She will either find Him with his Friends or will attract Him by emitting a seductive scent.
Unlike other Insects, many people like to have Phasmids as pets. Usually all They require is blackberry leaves and water to thrive. However, They do prefer to have their leaves in their cages lightly misted.
Phasmids teach about having as many choices as possible. For example, people call Them by many names--Walking Stick, Stick Insect, or Stick Bug. Female Phasmids can reproduce with or without a mate. Phasmids defend Themselves in various ways. Some simply become still, while Others will squirt a poison. In life, it is important to have many options available to you.

playa norte

arhhgg!! the pirate stronghold


me and my dad


dad windsurfing from our camp

today's sunrise

road trip to san jose del cabo and polly world

we drove to san jose which took about an hour. we walked around the tourist area downtown for a little while and then went to zippers beach. our friend polly met us at the mega store and we followed her to the house she shares with her hubby craig. it was amazing to see the sun set over the edge of the infinity pool and to see paris hilton's house being built next door. we have seen all sides of baja living on this trip. thanks polly!

feliz cumpleanos!

we had my 9th birthday at the palapa next to the school where my dance class is held. kelly taught a dance class then we pinned the tail on the pig, limboed, caught rocket balloons and smashed a pinata that we made. then we drove everyone to the pizzeria for dinner, cake and ice cream. there were about 15 kids there! i got some cool presents.

baja full moon rise from our camp

we are in a cycle where the moon and sun are rising in the exact same place. the full moon rise was awesome the other night. this photos was taken a few minutes after the moon rose from the sea's edge just after dusk.

swimming at los palmas hotel

yesterday we went to los palmas to go swimming. i swam for an hour. they have a big cage full of birds there. the birds are loud and beautiful. there is a hot tub, a kids pool and a grown up pool that had under water tile couches and you can swim right up to the bar and get a drink. you can see the sea of cortez from the middle of the pool.

hermit crabs make great pets!

i have five hermit crabs. their names are barry, gloria, twinkle, spot and daisy. they eat cat food and bread crusts with peanut butter. spot changed his shell every day for three days. spot is my favorite because he doesn't pinch me.

climbing the flat-top mt. near buena vista