Mexico Vacation!!

We decided months ago that we needed to get away so we booked a trip to Mexico! The night before we left I was very excited but very sad at the same time. For the last week every time I thought about leaving my kids I would tear up and start getting very sad. How could I leave them for 6 days. I haven't ever left Cooper over night before and this was going to be for 6 whole days. I was a complete mess of emotions and what ifs, I also was afraid that we were going to die, or the kids were. Paranoid I tell ya!
I left a 4 page instruction sheet very detailed of what he and Cayman would need. Wednesday morning came and I cried as I left the house. The kids would be fine right? They had lots of people around that loved them and I shouldn't worry.
Day 1
We traveled to Dallas and then we flew into Cancun. We had a shuttle ride of about an hour to our hotel and we got there about 10pm. We had to get some food first and then we walked around our hotel. It was just as it had said. Right on the beach. Lovely!!
Day 2
We had booked an excursion to Xcaret and met our shuttle in the morning. Every single person the shuttle spoke Spanish except for us 2. Our guide spoke to the group for about 20 minutes and then proceeded to tell us in English what he thought we needed to know. It lasted about 2 minutes. I wonder what we missed? We had entered the park and after walking around for about 30 minutes our guide found us and said we had not paid for the up grade pass we thought we had. So we had to go and pay an extra 75 bucks to get our plus package. We needed it so we had to pay it. They took our credit card and it declined. We were shocked. It had money on it. So we went to an ATM and of course its in Spanish. We didn't know what is was saying to us so I found a guy who we asked how many pesos to put in to make 75 dollars. He tells us and then we are charged with a 30 dollar charge to withdraw money. What the heck?!! The money comes out and it is only 65 dollars. Ahhh!!! Luckily we had brought a little cash with us and we used it and then everything was okay. On to the day!! We passed this little case of eggs and low and behold they were hatching. It was so cute and I could have watched them all day but we paid to do more than watch baby chicks hatch. Very fun though!!
Here is Cory with the parrots and flamingos. We did an underwater river float and that was really fun.

You just went under these caves that had rivers under them and you floated for awhile.
You could snorkel but there wasn't much in the cave to look at. It was pretty dark the whole time also. After we got out, we came up the stairs and saw this magnificent view!! How beautiful. We sat up here and took pictures and sat in these hammocks. It was quite relaxing and so pretty.



We were able to snorkle a little bit in this cove from the ocean. It was fun to see the fish and swim in the ocean. We saw some ancient ruins

Everywhere you went there were geckos and these huge iguanas. It would scare Cory to death when one would jump out on the sidewalk or we would narrowly miss stepping on it and then it moved.
We also saw dolphins and these huge sea turtles.


Here is a cliff you could jump off of into a very small area. Cory got up there but then decided it wasn't too safe to jump. We also got to hold a parrot. Of course you had to pay for the picture and we are too cheap so we took a picture of the picture and that is why it is kind of blurry.
At the end of the night we went to a Mexican celebration and saw some Mexican games played and a show. It was pretty cool.
Day 3
We spent just at the hotel and on the beach. This little animal lived here at the hotel. They were everywhere and actually pretty gross to see. It was like a huge rat. But it wasn't a rat.
Here are pictures of what our hotel views were.







We walked into town 2o minutes to use the phone. I had to call my babies. I cried like a baby myself and was told they were just fine. I talked to Cayman and she was great. It was a relief to know they were okay. I knew they would be but it was so hard to leave them. We walked around the town a bit and found some more ruins to look at.

This was a little city in Playa del Carmen that we went to. It had the pier to catch the ferry to Cozumel. It was a cute little town.




It was so hot and humid that after the 1st day, I didn't ever attempt to put on makeup. It was just sweating off me as fast as I put it on. Cory mentioned getting my hair braided and so I did. It was so much easier than trying to do it, or put on a hat. I fit in pretty good!! We spent our nights on the beach listening to the waves come in and looking up at the stars. It was very nice.
Day 4
We went to Talum and Xel-Ha. Talum means wall, and there was a rock wall around the city. It was very neat and we loved looking at the ruins and the palaces and to imagine it once as a city that real people lived in and walked around and lived here. It was an amazing sight.



We went to the overlook and there was the ocean and the beach. It was beautiful. We were told that only 2 hours away was Belize, and that the largest coral reef ran along this area. It was so nice and pretty. We then went to Xel-Ha and explored the ocean by snorkeling and swimming. We saw lots of fish this time and had fun in the ocean.



We got to ride bikes and it was fun to cruise in and out of the trees and see the scenery.
This was a little grotto that we saw. We got to eat and drink as much as we wanted at this park and it was great!! We were never thirsty and we didn't have to pay for it!! Yay!! They had chairs all over the park you could sit and watch the ocean. We loved it.
There was this floating bridge over the ocean from one side of this inlet to the other. It was pretty scary walking across since it didn't have hand rails all the way down to hold on to. It was sure moving when the ocean waves would hit against it.


Day 5
Here are some pictures of our last day there. We spent most of it on the beach and in the ocean. Cory loved laying in the hammocks and I loved getting my tan on!!





Some pictures as night began to fall:




Day 6
We got up at 2:45 am and got ready to meet our ride to the airport at 3:2oam. It was a very long day as we had to fly to Miami, then to La, and then to Slc. We were flying and waiting for over 18 hours. It was a great relief to get home!! I was so happy to see my little ones. It was the best to get hugs and squeezes and loves from them, and yes, I did cry. I was so happy to see them. We have been so blessed to have such a wonderful life and family. I am so grateful that we are able to do so much and experience so many fun things. Cory and I had a a great week in Mexico but we decided that we only need to get a night away from the kids, not a week. . We will take them with us on long vacations because we just missed the little rugrats way too much!! We couldn't have done this trip without the help of our families. So Thank you to them all for helping out as much as they did!! I know the kids had so much fun with you all!! We are blessed to have such great families in our lives. Thanks you guys!!