Day 6:

Chillin'

Ah, our last day in Mexico. Bitter-sweet. We spent the whole day just relaxing. We hung out at the beach for a bit. Bill did a little snorkeling while I laid out (didn't get a tan of any kind!). We ate lunch at the little bistro by the beach. We relaxed in the "hot" tub and watched a beautiful African wedding. That evening we watched movies and ordered room service. It was a lazy, wonderful day. The best way to end our week in Mexico!

This trip was the perfect trip to celebrate 15 amazing years of marriage! It felt like a second honeymoon. Each day was just what we had wanted it to be! The weather was perfect. The sand and water were gorgeous. The people were friendly. The hotel was gorgeous. We really couldn't have asked for more.

Saturday we were anxious to get home. We took one last walk on the beach and headed off to the airport. We got there at 10:45 and found out after checking our baggage in that our flight had been delayed due to mechanical difficulties. We were suppose to leave at 12:55 and then 2:40 and didn't actually leave until after 4:00. It was a long, long day. We still didn't get to go home after that. They put us up in a 1976 Quality Inn in Ft. Worth, TX and gave us dinner at Denny's. We both woke up around 5:30 ready to go. We finally flew into SL around 11:45. Hallelujah!!!

The kids excitement to see us again was indescribable. Tristan hugged us before we could even get out of the door. And Stella ran into our arms screaming "Mommy! Mommy!" "Daddy! Daddy!" It felt good to know we had been missed! They both had written us beautiful welcome home notes. Tristan was super talkative and told us probably 30 times that day he was glad we were home and how much he had missed us. It was good to be home!!!! I missed my kids so much! We came home and finally decorated the rest of our house for Christmas. There really is no place like home!

Day 5:

Xcaret

Thursday we spent the day in Xcaret. We had so much fun! It reminds me of Sea World but more to do and with the price of Disneyland. The tickets to get in itself are expensive, but once in you can schedule your activities. This costs more. I have always wanted to swim with the dolphins. Totally something on my bucket list. I was fortunate enough to do just that! Bill has always wanted to go snorkeling so we signed up to do that as well. This was going to be fun!!!

First stop was the dolphins! I was so excited! There were about 10 in our group. Bill didn't care to go so he sat out and took pictures. Being in the water with the dolphin, Melissa, was by far one of the coolest experiences of my life. She was smaller than I thought she'd be. She was 24 years old. We got to feel her as she'd swim by us. I even got to touch her tongue! We formed a circle and she swam around us. Then we separated and she'd swim in between us. We each got a turn to have the dolphin do a trick for us. She sang for me. Then she gave me a kiss on the cheek, I got to kiss her mouth, and she stood up and touched my hand in the air. Bill said I didn't stop smiling once. I told him you can not be in a pool with a dolphin and not smile! It was amazing!!!

Next we were off to scuba. Bill was giddy! He couldn't wait. I of course was nervous. I don't care for water or anything covering my nose and mouth. I wanted to be brave and face my fears. Once out Bill was just fine. I however, was struggling with having a scuba mask on and trying to fight pulling it off my face and breathing with oxygen. Bill went down with our instructor while I tried to compose myself. Once I got the breathing down I started to go further down. When I couldn't make my ears pop I started to panic and could't catch my breath. I went up, calmed down, and tried again. I didn't make it 20 feet before I freaked out again. I decided it was best to just snorkel on top and watch Bill. He went all the way to the bottom and was able to touch coral and have little fish swim around him. He loved it! Both of our ears were clogged for days after, but dreams were achieved that day! So cheesy I know.

After being in the ocean for an hour we were both starving! We had a big buffet lunch there and it was fun to listen to the live music. Even an audience member got on stage and it was fun to listen to the two of them.

Then we floated down the underground river. It goes for a mile or two. The water was freezing for how not hot it was. It was pretty cool being able to just float for that long. After we had to wait for a while to get our clothes brought to the end of the river run so we didn't really get any time to see the animals in Xcaret. We quickly changed and headed over to watch the show about Mexico. That was really cool to see how the Mayans played their games and the progression of Mexico. The costumes and music were fun. It was everything we had heard it would be! The end of another perfect day in Mexico.

Day 4:

Isla Murjer:

On this day we needed a more laid back day. We took our time getting ready in the morning went and had a big breakfast and then worked out. The concierge suggested we take a boat to an island across they way. We took a boat over which took about half an hour. The ocean was beautiful! There are so many shades of blue and green. This was the first day we really were able to enjoy it and take everything in.

When we got to Isla Murjer we first found an ATM to get more cash. It's ridiculous how much you have to tip everyone. We ran out of cash very quickly. With money in hand once again we rented a golf cart and began our tour of that little island. We felt brave driving around somewhere we'd never been before with no sense of direction. It didn't take long to go around the whole thing. I loved the different colors of the houses. It was strange to see kids piled on a motorcycle with no helmets. Everything there was so different than how things are here! The poverty level is something that I never pictured while looking at the beautiful pictures of Cancun. There were stray dogs everywhere and make-shift houses that have dirt floors.

We seemed to always miss the rain. It rained on the opposite of the island and had stopped before we got to that side again. After we returned the cart we found a little restaurant. Bill had small yet delicious - according to him - crab. I actually ordered fish tacos. I was feeling adventurous ;) I actually really liked them! Didn't taste fishy. As we were eating at a table on the beach we saw a gorgeous sunset. It was a perfect addition to our day!

After dinner we relaxed on the beach until the ocean got us and our towels wet and sandy! Way to ruin a romantic moment! With our bag being even heavier now thanks to our wet towels we had to take the long walk to the ferry boat that would take us back to the resort. It was a pretty perfect day in my book! Loved it all. 

Day 3:

Chichen Itza (not chicken pizza):

Tuesday we woke up early and joined a tour bus to Chichen Itza. Our tour guide was funny and made the day entertaining. We first stopped at a little town that still functions as a Mayan city. They hunt for their food and speak the language. We spent about an hour at a shopping center. I was glad I didn't have Stella with me! She would have spent all our money in that hour!

Afterwards we went to lunch at a Mexican buffet. Bill of course had to try the 2nd hottest hot sauce in the world. Immediately his eyes watered and face got red. This didn't stop him for putting it on his food the rest of the trip!

Finally our next stop was to Chichen Itza. This was the #1 thing I wanted to do on our trip. It's why I picked Cancun over Los Cabos. And it was worth it. It was amazing! There were quite a few ancient ruins in that area. I loved the training battle ground with all of the pillars. We got to see where the Mayans played their games. Where heads were rollin'! We went with an English speaking guide for 75 minutes and then we had only 45 minutes left to walk around and see the rest. We wished we had at least another hour on top of that. There was so much to see and take in. It was pretty extraordinary to see something built so long ago without all of the tools and technology we have today.

Our last stop for the day was at a cenote. A natural spring about 100 feet underground. The water was freezing! I did not get all the way in. Bill did of course. There were vines sprouting from the wall. They say it's suppose to make you feel 10 years younger. Bill said he felt older after. That was a quick stop but a fun way to end our amazing day! We didn't get back to the hotel until 9:00 so we had dinner and went to bed looking forward to nice, relaxing day tomorrow.

Cancun: Days 1&2

Nov. 30th
Day 1:

Sunday morning  dad picked us up for the airport. I was looking forward to our trip but had a lot of anxiety about many things which kept me from feeling too excited. I have MANY fears which I wish I didn't. I think my fears tend to rub off on my kids no matter how much I try to not let them. For days before our trip Tristan kept telling us that he didn't want us to go and that our plane would crash. This did not help my anxiety! We reassured him over and over again. When we dropped the kids off to my parents Saturday night Tristan would not let go of me and he was crying and begging me not to go. I was crying and broken-hearted. I didn't want to leave him like that. Stella on the other hand said her goodbyes and said "this is the longest goodbye ever!" and went in the other room to watch TV. My carefree child.

I woke up from just about zero sleep with knots in my stomach. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We got checked in quickly and had over an hour to wait to board the plane. When we We left early and got to Ft. Worth with no problems. After a fairly short layover we were on our way to Mexico! That flight went even faster. Especially with it being on a nicer plane and a show to watch. Luckily we made it safe and all our luggage was there. We had arrived!

NEVER EVER book your activities with the people at the airport! They are trying to sell you their timeshares. They suck. We were told that the hotel staff would help us get our money back. However, we had to sit through their timeshare deal for an hour and half the next morning to get our money back. Ugh. What a lame way to start our vacation.

We finally arrived at the hotel around 6:30. Dropped our stuff off in our room and headed to a Mexican restaurant in the resort. The food was amazing! Best food I had while we were there. Unfortunately I was so hungry and my nerves were shot that I couldn't eat much before I was completely stuffed. We walked on the beach but couldn't see much because by then it was dark.

Day 2:
We spent 90 minutes listening to the hotel schpeel about travel timeshares. Once that was finally done we took a little trip into town by cab and went to the flee market. That was a crazy experience. Everywhere you go people offer you free liquor and you have to barter all the prices down. It's annoying. We got the kids a few things and Bill (grudgingly) got me a ring (which is already losing the stones - Mexican's ripped us off) and we got a few treats at Walmart to take back to our room.

Now it finally felt like we were on vacation. We went back to the hotel, hung out on the beach, went to the "hot" tub (not hot at all) and then went out to dinner at the steakhouse for our anniversary dinner.