A Mexican Adventure (Part Two)

For our second full day in Mexico, we decided to take it easy and spend the day exploring the resort. The resort was full of tons of huge, gorgeous and unique pools to choose from, so we went looking for one to settle on for the morning. We quickly realized that the while the weather that day was lovely for walking around and hanging out (mid 70's), it was not so perfect for the pool - it was a bit chilly in the water. The kids pushed through and swam a little, but even they got a little cold after a while. Elise spent some time in the kids activity center making bead bracelets and other art projects, and then we all went down to the beach.

The beach on the resort was not the same as the beach in Playa del Carmen - this beach was rocky at the waters edge so it was more of an exploring beach than a swimming beach - but it was still tons of fun. It was less windy and warmer on the beach than at the pool, and we had a great afternoon hanging out in the sand building sand castles and exploring the reef for wild life. We saw sea urchin, starfish, jelly fish and other exciting sea creatures along the shore.

We went back to the room and turned in early that night, because Wednesday was our big day out. We'd made arrangements with a cab driver (who was approved by the hotel) to take us out to Chichen Itza, a city of Mayan ruins about a 3 hour drive from the resort. We'd looked into taking a standard tour bus, but having our own driver was not only cheaper, it was also more convenient, as we could leave when we wanted and go where we wanted along the way. The taxi driver, Carlos, picked us up in his van at 7am Mexican time (about 10 minutes late) and we hit the road. Carlos was not only a great driver who made us feel very safe, but also spoke English well and was happy to engage us in conversation so we could learn more about the culture and customs of the area.

When we arrived, Carlos hooked us up with Manuel - a really knowledgeable (and patient!) tour guide to take us around the ruins. The tour was supposed to last about and hour and a half, but ended up going over by about an hour. We were inland and the weather was much warmer here than at the resort (upper 80's) so the kids were restless, hot and a little cranky pretty much from the get-go, but considering everything they did an amazingly good job. The grounds were huge and we only covered about a mile or so but thanks to Manuel we learned a lot of really interesting things about the ruins and the life of the Mayans at this place 1500 years ago. By the last half hour all of the children were hungry, hot and exhausted from all of the walking and the crabbiness really came out so we decided to hit the road to our next adventure.

As soon as we left Chichen Itza, we ate our (prepacked) lunch in the car on the way over to the nearby Cenote, a sink hole with exposed rocky edges in what looks like a cave in the woods. We swam around in the cenote for nearly an hour and the children delighted in Marty's huge jumps from the side. From there, we went to explore a nearby town called Valladolid. After walking around the town for a bit and checking out the gorgeous church (built in 1550!) we had a very authentic dinner at a local restaurant (delicious!!). We finally got back on the road a little before 7pm and began the long drive home. The girls fell asleep almost immediately, but Lucas (who had napped on Marty's shoulder while we walked around Valladolid) was wide awake.

I put on a movie in the portable dvd player for Luke to watch and he sat in my lap quietly watching. I am not sure whether it was the food from the restaurant, the motion of the bumpy car with his head down watching the movie or my arms a little too tightly secured around his waist (no car seats!) but whatever it was Lucas took that moment to...you guessed it...throw up yet again! All down my leg, on his lap on the floor of the van...it was a mess. Luckily, I had learned from my mistakes along the way and had a change of clothes for both me and Lucas readily available. We pulled over in a little town, jumped out and scrambled around, changing, cleaning and re-situating (while Lucas continued to try to watch his movie). It was probably more excitement than the sleepy little town had seen in a while because the people sitting out on the street couldn't stop starring! When we finally got back to the hotel, the kids were both sound asleep and Marty and I also quickly passed out! It had been a long and wonderful day!

Thursday morning we happily realized that Lucas had fully adapted to Cancun time and once again was waking up at his normal time 6 or 6:30am (which was waaaaay better than 4:45!). We decided to spend another day lounging at the pool and the beach. From nearly sunup to sunset, we laid around the pool, swam, ate and relaxed. Lucas continued to be like a celebrity at the resort - his red hair and friendly demeanor made him stand out and it seemed that everyone knew and greeted him with a "Lucas!" and a pat on his little red head. That night we went to one of the restaurants on the resort for a "Mexican Fiesta" which was a dinner buffet and a show. The show started with the kids getting to go up on stage and hit a pinata - so from the beginning the kids were completely sold! We pretty much each ate our body weight in Mexican food and then watched a really great show before retiring back to the room at nearly 9pm.

Friday we once again headed back to Playa del Carmen to enjoy some beach time. Marty, William and the kids hung out on the beach while Jennifer and I wandered around the town and did a little shopping. I learned a lot about haggling and decided that I absolutely hate it! I love a bargain, but everything in all the shops was priced ridiculously high and then you are supposed to haggle over the price until you reach a price that seems fair to both parties. This process was time consuming and exhausting and after about an hour I'd had it with the haggling. The Molloys headed back to the hotel for naps and then spent some more time at the pool in the late afternoon.

For our last full day on Saturday, Marty and I went out for a romantic breakfast while all of the kids did crafts with Jennifer and William, and then we all hit the pool and spent the entire day there. The weather was the warmest that it had been all week (probably low 80's) which was perfect pool weather and we had a blast hanging out, swimming and doing water aerobics (which Elise begged me to do with her!) That evening, William and Jennifer went out and we stayed in with the kids - which was perfectly fine with us because we were exhausted. We packed up our stuff and began preparing for the trip home bright and early the next morning.

We got to the airport a little earlier than scheduled the next morning, which ended up being good because we waited for nearly an hour and a half to check in! The kids proved that they are amazing and the best travelers ever, as they behaved like perfect little angels the entire wait (even Marty and I were getting restless!) and strangers kept commenting on how good they were being.

The flight back was blissfully uneventful, and while the last hour of the plane ride was a bit tough on Lucas (who couldn't fall asleep on the plane and was completely exhausted) it was a very successful return flight (with no throwing up!)

We had such an amazingly fabulous vacation and the kids were so great - we can't wait to travel again.

Where to next?!