A time when a vacation in Mexico wasn't synonymous with a death wish...

As I think back to all the vacations I have been fortunate enough to have taken in my lifetime I remember one place that was a big part of my childhood..it was just south of the border...

Mexico was our hotspot. We vacationed there usually twice a year, once in the summer and once in winter. My parents would rent a house in Las Gaviotas, which was comparable to a housing development on the beaches of southern California, but probably half the price.

It was beautiful. I remember waking my dad up in early in the morning and walking down to the beach collecting all the sea critters we could find, which were usually little crabs and some sea anemones ( I had to recall Nemo struggling how to say that to remember how to spell it just now).

We even spent Christmas down in Mexico one year and it was so much fun..besides the fact that on the first night my dad couldn't get the fireplace going and forgot to turn off the gas so we had a close encounter of the deathly kind...

I have so many memories from our time in Mexico. We're actually secret heroes down there in our go-to shopping center  Puerto Nuevo...

As my parents enjoyed their lobsters and Margaritas, my sister and I noticed a man across the street from the restaurant selling puppies. My dad saw the excitement in our eyes and immediately said  "no way!" I watched as each of the Rottweiler/Pitbull/other viscous dog breed puppies get sold one by one...

I was beyond depressed and made it very known! We finished our meal and walked down the streets of the marketplace. Suddenly a man walks up to us with a little black sock in his hand and it's wiggling around...a puppy was inside!

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY PLEASEE DADDDDYYYYYY??????"

Put a little (or a lot) of liquor in my dad and he can be swayed to buy us things!

Mexico was all about haggling and after my dad got tired of hearing us beg he gave in. It went a little something like this:

"How much for the dog?"
"$60"
"Is it a boy or girl?"
"girl"
"How big is it going to get?"
"uhmm...err...it will stay this small!!"
"well, I only have $40.."

my little sister jumps in..
"No daddy! You have $60! I saw you put that other $20 in your pocket!"
She wasn't keen on the idea of haggling yet.

This is Nnenna...at this point I believe she was barely a week or two old. Her eyes were not even completely open and she was definitely not ready to be separated from her mamma.

As we headed back to San Diego in my mom's then-brand-new Magnum I discovered something horrifying...she was covered in bugs! I began trembling, but knew I couldn't say anything because my mom would freak out as well...I wrapped her in a towel and we set our major puppy heist plan into action!

The moment of truth came when we reached the border...I felt like they would know I had a puppy under my blanket if I didn't pretend to be asleep so that's exactly what I did...when the coast was clear I smiled at the little bundle of joy that was our new addition to the family.

After a few baths and some food, Nnenna became very active. She loved to jump:

Oh, and if you were wondering, that guy totally didn't lie! Look how she stayed the same size and is truly a teacup Chihuahua  -__-

And this is from her slender years! She's quite the chubster now...I'm guessing she is in between a teacup and a normal sized Chihuahua.

When I look at her I think of all of the fun times I had there and how I will probably never get to enjoy it like I did before..

My relatives in southern California tried to go down there soon after news broke of the violence and beheadings and were shocked...Puerto Nuevo was a ghost town...Las Gaviotas is no longer renting out houses...

It's crazy to think that in 2003 my parents renewed their vows down there, thinking that we would all be vacationing there every year.

I'm glad I got to enjoy it while I could and the roughly five years we vacationed down there were some of the best moments of my life. :)