Well, for our 1997 Christmas, my family and I went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! It was amazing! We got there on the 19th, went swimming in the ocean, and met a few people, including Andy, Lauren, Lily, and Al. That night, and every night, there was this Entertainment type thing that the people at the hotel put on for everyone which was pretty funny - how often do you get to see me, the non-drinker, in a drinking contest??!! Geez. Anyways, on the 20th I got my hair braided, which lasted until January 1st when I spent over 2 hours trying to get it back to normal! Then I went in the ocean again, and then went into town (Puerto Vallarta) with my dad for a bit. On Sunday my dad, Lindsey and I went to the Aguapark which is basically a big water park with slides and stuff like that. We got some fries at the little restaurant, but we had to leave because we were invaded by wasps. On Monday Al and I went snorkelling at Los Arcos. It was really cool seeing all the fish and being so close to them, but then we tried to get back to the shore and the coral cut up my legs so I was bleeding all over the place. Well..not really, but it sounds better that way. Anyways, we also checked out the bungee jumping that day, but then my pal Al chickened out on me and we didn't end up going. Tuesday was basically spent doing sporty stuffs. I played basketball and volleyball, Al, Darren, and I kayaked out to Los Arcos and my mom basically flipped because she was so worried about me. My dad called the security dude and wanted them to go out and look for us....and everyone just kinda went crazy. It was mostly because I was with Al in the middle of the ocean and nobody knew where we were, but it was actually a pretty stupid thing...anyways, it's a really long story. When we got back, I went to this place called "Coconuts" and met some people that my parents had met the day before. Then we all went to Planet Hollywood and had supper with the stars (I got LOTS of pictures, so don't you worry!) After that, we went to this nature store type place, and I got to play with the tarantulas. REALLY! I did. I stuck my hand in the aquarium, and it crawled up my arm and then jumped back in! Then we just basically walked around the town and went home. On Wednesday I met Maya. She's from Brooklyn and she's pretty cool. We didn't really do much that day, but we went out on the banana boat, suntanned and played a few different sports. Thursday (Christmas day) we all (everyone but my mom) went to Mismaloya beach and hotel - it was amazing! We rented sea-doos and whipped around the ocean for a bit, then went to the room early to start packing. Friday we left around 12 - after I got all my hugs from Rob and Jesse and Maya, and all my pictures of Sam and Collin on my lap! It was a crazy day, between the bus, plane, and drive home, but we made it home by 12.