#9 and #10/52 new recipes for 2025
i make tacos pretty frequently, but these were significantly different recipes. Both were delicious.
#9/52 Mango Jalapeno Carnitas
#10/52 Orange marinade smoked tritip.
the tri tip was not quite as tender as I would have liked, but still over the top delicious and a great smoky flavor.
A good chunk of the island of Rarotonga is surrounded by a shallow lagoon, protected from waves by the reef. This makes for some great snorkeling, with much of it easily accessible from the beach. Just from the beach we saw tons of colorful reef
Aitutaki is a tiny island with a huge lagoon. There are a handful of small resorts, but the island is probably one of the least developed places we’ve been. For dinner, there are just a few places to eat (we did find one we loved),
We booked two full day private boat tours with T’s Tours Aitutaki. It was a bit of a splurge, but felt so worth it. We had an awesome time doing several extended snorkels, so time exploring the motus and islands. An absolute treat.
Although we spent much of our time on this trip in the water, we also enjoyed some great meals, an awesome fire show, fun markets, and just exploring.
I had hoped to do a couple days of diving on Rarotonga and on Aitutaki, but for various reasons we only ended up doing one. Was a super fun day, with Hazel and I doing two dives in the morning, and then Kim joining us
Hazel’s big request for our trip this year was to revisit the Little Colorado, and her big wish was that we’d get the amazing blue colors. Lucky enough, there was no recent rain and we had a fun time swimming and exploring.
We took the girls for the long promised and long overdue ear piercing, and then for some nice indian food after.
Girls had a day off for Cesar Chavez, so we headed to Big Bear for a day trip. Had the pleasure of having one of hazels good friends come with us. Conditions were pretty meh, but we had a great time regardless. With zero lift
Hazel had a poetry assignment for school. They had to create a book with a certain number of different styles of poems, including haikus, cinquain, diamante, ballads, ode, and elegy.
