Picture Perfect

Last weekend our friend Pancho (manfriend of Abby, my office mate) invited us to celebrate Abby's turning a quarter century old at the Esquintla home of his long time best friend, Alvaro. Of course we jumped on the offer and packed up the car for the 45 minute drive, leaving before the turkey from our Thanksgiving Potluck barely had time to settle into our stomachs.

For months now Abby has spoken of the great Alvaro, who (by circumstance) we have unfortunately not yet met. Well, it turns out that his family owns several beautiful homes throughout Guatemala, with the closest being just down the road toward the coast in Esquintla. So, around 8.30 p.m. we pull off the highway basically into a huge field of sugarcane, wind down a dirt road and end up here - paradise in the middle of nowhere!

For the next 24 hours we partook in a whole lot of nothing.....and it was great.

Doesn't it seem like the beach should be just back behind those trees? Well it's not. It's just another 30 minutes or so away, but who needs that hot black sand when you've got your own private giant pool.....and staff.


It was just the break we all needed from this busy month of work, not to mention the perfect way to ring in 25 years of life!



The house was pretty awesome too. Hugely expansive with at least 8 rooms. The story is that family members take turns bringing their families for weekend getaways. Why doesn't every family have a place like this? (Chuch loved the cool tile floors.)


There was even a "saferoom" built into the far wing complete with bullet-proof glass that obviously works!

Ancient Mayan ruins were even found during the excavation of the property. So cool.

The whole place was amazing, but that pool.....come on!

Everyone else stayed inside, but the die hard road trippers we are were missing our little nest high above Dewey, so that's where we spent our evening. It's not easy finding a nice, safe place to camp in Guatemala, so when the opportunity arose it was hard to pass up.


No birthday in Latin America is complete without a huge piñata! Not everyone gets to bash their favorite childhood character (with an uncanny resemblance) to bits and pieces, but Abby was a lucky one!


Just like every good manfriend, he wasn't going to let her off easy. Girl had to work for her candy!

Strawberry Shortcake from Krista on Vimeo.

And then we all hovered like sugar starved vulchers!

It was the perfect weekend getaway for a perfectly pretty birthday girl! Happy 25th Abby! And much thanks to Pancho & the illusive Alvaro (who wasn't able to make it to the party). Hope we to hang out with you soon!