Handy Man and I have never taken a real vacation as a family. A real vacation meaning: just the four of us, all four of us together at the same time, no one else we know with us, some place warm and foreign. A beautiful adventure. Just us.
We took the kids to Rivera Maya in Mexico, just south of Cancun for a four night adventure. Spontaneously booked on Black Friday this year, I was over the moon excited once I hit that submit button. Handy man (a homebody and severe routine-a-holic) countered my excitement with internal hyperventilation I am sure. But come on! We were taking the kids to the beach... to Mexico...
Crap!!!
Mexico... foreign country... THE KIDS DON'T HAVE PASSPORTS AND WE LEAVE IN 5 WEEKS!!!
We had to scramble and get the kids passports the very next day. Not to mention we had to tack on an extra $200 in rush fees. We got the passports in exactly one week and we were set!
The countdown began and on Jan 2nd we departed for Cancun.
We stayed at the Dreams Puerto Adventuras Resport in the Rivera Maya. A family friendly, all inclusive resort offering a relaxing stay. We upgraded our room when we checked in to the Family Suite and settled right in for the night.
Unfortunately, our first night was less than magical. Our room, while conveniently close to the pool area, was also adjacent to the service elevator. I tossed and turned listening to staff members pushing service carts in the hallway, dishes clanking, voices, rambling sounds until nearly midnight.
I am perhaps the heaviest sleeper alive. Even I could not sleep though this racket for the next three nights. My first priority in the morning was a change of rooms.
Bright and early, the kids were only concerned about one thing - the pool!
Day 1:
Two little fishes.
I wanted to see them swim in the ocean. Unfortunately, the night we got in large waves rolled in and washed so much seaweed ashore that the beautiful white, sandy beaches I was looking forward to (and expecting) were covered in seaweed.
And these poor men spent every day, sun up to sun down, removing the seaweed from the beach. I was amazed at the fact that they worked so tirelessly while always offering a smile to guests as they passed by. Raking, shoveling, scooping and hauling it all away one heavy wheelbarrow at a time.
Attn: Mike Rowe and Dirty Jobs!!
But a
Exploring the beach, the kids found some hammocks tied to the palm trees. I showed them how they worked and the kids thought they were pretty cool.
My Brown Eyed Girl wants one at home!
The wind picked up and we scurried back to the "hot pool" to float and chase the bubbles.
Handy Man played life guard and cabana boy.
By lunch our new room was ready!
And it was AMAZING!
So much better! I saw Handy Man's shoulders relax as we entered and I knew he could finally let go and relax.
It had an awesome view of the pool.
And in the distance we could even sneak the view of a few waves hitting the shore.
After lunch we were on a mission for sea shells!
Handy Man even got his hands dirty looking for keepers!
At the end of our first day, the kids and I went for a night time walk on the beach to look at the stars.
Handy Man jumped for joy when he found some "football stars" on the beach.
Day 2:
Only two things mattered today... swimming and SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS!
While the boys slept in, my Brown Eyed Girl and I went in search of coffee and the location of the dolphins - which we had signed up to swim with!
We found them right away and spent about 45 minutes watching the dolphins playing together in the early morning light. My Brown Eyed Girl was so excited for the opportunity before her!
We swam a bit in the morning and then headed back over for our Dolphin Experience.
The first thing we got to do was feed and tough the manatees they had at the aquarium. They were all juvenal males and relatively small in comparison to how large full sized males can get. They were still huge.
We were all standing on this platform when our manatee appeared and Mr Blue Eyed about lost it. He wanted nothing to do with this large, slimy, weird looking thing. I thought our manatee was amazing and I learned so much about him!
After feeding and learning about the manatees, we were introduced to our Dolphin for the day, Elana.
We had an amazing and magical time interacting with Elana.
After swimming with her we hopped into some Kayaks and she did a few more tricks for us.
At the end of our encounter we saw all 113 photos that our photographer took of our family with the manatees and Elana. They were all so amazing and we couldn't just pick one or two. So we purchased all 113 photos on a CD and they printed five photos for us.
I wish I had a few more to post on here... unfortunately after we got home and I loaded our CD on the computer in order to blog about our adventure, I discovered that they burned the WRONG FAMILY to the CD they gave us. I am heartbroken and still pursuing getting our photos to us.
We had a long second day and we topped it off with yummy dinner and even better dessert!
Mr Blue Eyes fell in love with his flower shirt and made sure to show everyone that would listen that he liked it!
Day 3:
I think this became one of my favorite things about our vacation. Our mother daughter mornings. We would walk to the cafe in our jammies and I would order a cup of coffee and she would get a chocolate chip muffin. We would sneak back into our room while the boys slept and tiptoe out to the balcony. We would listen to the birds singing and the waves off in the distance. I would sip my coffee and read my book while she would inventory her sea shell collection.
Forever tucked in the back of my mind and kept safely, forever, in my heart!
We spent a good portion of our last full day at the beach. There was still a full days work of seaweed removal but the waves had calmed and the water was open for swimming!
This kid was ready!
I can't believe how big he is getting!
After one quick sea shell sweep of the beach...
Our Brown Eyed Girl ventured into the water with Daddy. She had her mind set on jumping on the over water trampoline. Unfortunately after closer inspection, the trampoline was deemed "disgusting" as it was covered in seagull poop...
Plan B was using their goggles to see under water in the ocean.
I let Handy Man take over and I maintained my position as lead memory recorder and bathing beauty.
They were having so much fun looking under water that I popped over to the dive shop to see if we could borrow a snorkel for a bit. It was worth a try!
Mr Blue Eyes had a really hard time getting all of the snorkel mouth piece to fit in his little mouth.
While big mouth sister had no issues whatsoever! Go figure!
So out they went!
And soon this little mermaid was snorkeling!! Of course she wanted Daddy to keep one hand on her the whole time. She wasn't quite sure about the waves and the current pulling her in different directions.
Mr Blue Eyes is not one to be left out of an adventure. He begged to try again and Handy Man helped him cram the mouth piece in.
Once he got situated, this amazing kid of mine was off and running! He got so excited when he started seeing fish under water that he eventually left the security of Daddy and was doing it all by himself!
I was a very proud mama! Snorkeling like champions at 3 & 5! I made sure to have clean towels and fun frozen drinks for them when they were done!
All that snorkeling worked up an appetite and we headed in to lunch. After we ordered our drinks I realized how homeless beach worn we looked. I couldn't help but start cracking up! My poor Brown Eyed Girl definitely was sporting the "beach hair."
Oh my!
Mr Blue Eyes, although more subtle, also in need of a shower, shampoo and a comb.
After a little more swimming we headed back to the room to get cleaned up. My Brown Eyed Girl and I sat outside again while the boys took a quick nap before dinner and we picked a couple pretty flowers.
She watched the activities below at the pool.
And sang a few of her favorite songs... like the Twelve Days of Christmas and Jingle Bells (haha)
Just before dinner our wonderful housekeeper came in to turn down the beds. I heard the kids giggling as I was getting ready for dinner and when I came around the corner she was making them a mermaid!
They thought she was the most amazing woman ever. My Brown Eyed Girl said, "Mom! Can you believe she can do that with TOWELS!?!?!"
We spent most of our evenings playing a little animal BINGO.
While Handy Man did this...
But the last night we took the kids to the Fire and Water show on the beach!
They were mesmerized as the performers juggled fire and performed dangerous tricks.
Such an amazing vacation and time with our kids! So many memories made! I can't wait to do it again!!
Now, just pray I get our Dolphin pictures....
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