Shhhh…don’t tell anyone, but I just had the big birthday.  Yep, it happened–I turned 40.  When James turned 40, he wanted a party with his family and closest friends.  While I would have certainly enjoyed that, I knew what I really wanted was to take a fabulous vacation with my husband and daughters, so that’s exactly what we did.  We spent a wonderful, relaxing week in June in beautiful (and steamy…) Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  We stayed in Nuevo Vallarta, which is basically “New” Vallarta; it was great!  We spent the week doing exactly what I wanted to–relax and be together.  On my actual birthday, June 14, the girls and I swam with dolphins, which has been the dream of our youngest daughter, Teagan, for the past 3 years.  On most other days, our routine was as follows:  lounge around our room, James and I would go exercise, back to room, lunch, slather ourselves with sunscreen to arrive at the pool just in time for Happy Hour at the pool bar at noon, drink mango margaritas in the pool, read in the shade while the girls swam, back to room to enjoy the luxurious air conditioning, shower, relax, out for dinner, dessert, and back to room for more lounging.  Repeat.  Not overly exciting but exactly what we needed.  Here are a few snaps from the trip (disclaimer from James:  please excuse the less than stellar images, as the humidity made it extremely difficult to use professional-quality equipment).