Cancun

Well, we are back from Mexico and being thrown into the chaos of December. I am trying not to get too stressed, but honestly, it's not my favorite time of the year, apart from the fact that my parents are coming to visit!

We left for Cancun on a Tuesday. My friend Dawn and her family had flown out the day before and unfortunately had a 3+ hour delay for their flight, but luckily ours was on schedule. We parked at a park-n-ride and took the bus to the airport so we wouldn't have to deal with airport parking and it was also cheaper. I had a little issue at security, but otherwise we got through pretty quickly. I refused to go through the big scanner so I had the pat-down. Luckily they didn't try to put the kids through that since I don't know what I would have done in that case. Our flight was direct to Cancun, so once we were on the plane it was smooth sailing. We got in a little early, even. We went through passport control and then made our way outside to the shuttle. We made two stops before our resort, but we got in around dinner time. The kids were disappointed that there were no green drinks waiting for us like last time. We saw Dawn in the lobby so she walked with us back to our room, but they had dinner reservations for that night so we ate in the buffet. We caught up with them after dinner in the game room.

Our room had a king bed and a pull-out couch, so like last year, we used the cushions from the couch to make one bed and the kids took turns sleeping on the floor or the sofa bed. Wednesday was a warm, sunny day so we headed out to the beach/pool. I prefer to swim in the ocean, but the kids ended up spending a lot of time in the pool since they were doing games there and water polo. The pool water was definitely warmer than last year, since they had just opened the main pool as we were leaving. Since the ocean water was clear, we checked out some snorkel equipment and snorkeled around the beach area. The resort did a Mayan show at noon since it was Mexican day. That night they had the outdoor Mexican buffet, which had some yummy food. It was disappointing that they didn't have the games for the kids like last year, or the pinata.

Thursday was another warm day so we again hung out at the beach/pool. In the afternoon we had a chance to take out the sea kayaks. They had some double ones, so Scot took Declan and Owen rode with me. That night we had dinner reservations at La Riviera, so the kids all went to the kids club for a couple hours. We fed them first in the buffet. Their friends were there, too, so I think it was not so bad for them to be there.

Friday we had all booked an all-day excursion to Xel-ha. We were only there for the afternoon last year and felt pretty rushed. We had to leave early since there were some stops at hotels in Playa del Carmen, but there was a breakfast buffet opening when we got there. We ate and then went out snorkeling. We ended up at a trail that led us to a rope swing, so the kids had fun swinging off into the water. We walked more and made it to the big cliff jump. I was very impressed that both the kids jumped off, twice. I decided to try it, and I have to say, it was kind of scary from the top, but I did it. We made our way down to the zip lines and then took a lunch break. We did more snorkeling after lunch and then just relaxed in the kids area and hammock area until it was time to get on the bus. Even though the driver told us to wait by this sign, no one was there so Scot finally found the bus and everyone was already on it, even though it was before the meeting time. Luckily they didn't leave without us!

On Saturday the weather was getting kind of windy, but it was fun to have some waves in the ocean to play in. The guys also started in with the beach volleyball. We ate at the steak house that night, although I actually had some salmon. It was better than the mediterranean restaurant, but it was closed last year so this was our first chance to try it. Sunday the weather was pretty breezy but we still played in the pool.

Monday we booked an excursion to Selvatica to do some zip lines. We were up above the tree tops and it was kind of windy, so that made it more exciting. Declan was very worried and didn't want to go, but the guy chatted with him and put him more at ease, and after the first zip line he was fine. Scot went upside down for one of the ziplines, but I didn't try that. I was afraid my glasses would fall off into the jungle! After the ziplines, we went on a bungee swing thing, and then took an army truck to a cenote for a couple more zip lines into the water. It was too cold for me, but Scot and kids took the plunge. We got back to the resort in the afternoon, so we had a late lunch and then hung out with our friends for the evening.

We had to check out at noon on Tuesday but the shuttle wasn't coming until 1, so we packed up and did some last minute swimming. Scot and Owen went snorkeling in the resort cenote since we hadn't had a chance for that yet. After checking out, we hung out at the snack bar until the shuttle arrived. Everything was fine at the airport and on the flight home, and we ended up back at the house around 9:30 p.m.