CaNcUn!

Saturday, February 21st

Over a month ago Rob and I were able to go to Cancun for seven days without the kids! We drove to Arizona dropped the kids off at Mimi's and Papa's and then caught a plane to Mexico! We got to our hotel just before the sun was setting. The first thing we did was run to the balcony to check out the beach! There is nothing better than white sandy beaches with turquoise blue water! After that we went to dinner at champions, which was at the hotel, went for a walk on the beach and got settled in for our week in paradise!

Sunday

On Sunday we decided to go to church. We slept in, got up got ready for church and went to catch the bus to take us to there. Here we are with Dad waiting at the bus stop.

We ended up at a Spanish speaking ward. We couldn't understand what they were saying but we could definitely feel of their spirit. The church doesn't provide hymn books there so they have to bring their own. During the opening hymn we had three different people pass us their hymn books so that we could try and sing along in Spanish with them. Tears filled my Dad's eyes as he remembered days on his mission in Mexico. He has always told us how sweet and humble the people are and I could definitely feel that as we sat there in sacrament meeting with them. At the end of the meeting we were greeted by several people in broken English welcoming us and letting us know they were happy we were there. What a wonderful experience!

Monday

By now we were ready for a nice relaxing day on the beach. That was all we did lay, relax, and eat on the beach! Oh it was rejuvenating!
The boys were tired of laying out so they decided to take a walk on the beach.
Breanne and I in front of the view of the beach from the pool area.
Part of the hotels beach.
Sarah and Mikelle sitting on the ledge. This was one of my favorite things to do while we were there. Hang my feet over the edge and enjoy the view of the beach!

We would eat lunch everyday out at the pool bar and grill! Check out that view, it is so beautiful that it almost looks fake! I could eat lunch there everyday for the rest of my life!

All of the sisters, except Suzie, who was home 9 months prego! We really missed her and Mom!

The boys making fun of us girls. They laugh and say that we pose in every picture, which is true, who doesn't want to look good for a picture! So here they are "posing" for a picture. Don't they look striking!

That night we were lazy and decided that we didn't want to get ready. We walked across the street got McDonald's and came back and hung out at the beach!

Sarah and Mikelle tried to keep Dad company while he was missing Mom.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we went out to the pool and it started raining so Chris, Breanne and Rob and I decided to take the ferry over to a little island called Isla Mujeres. We ended up taking the local ferry which was quite an adventure but was worth it once we were there. By the time we got there we were hungry so we at lunch at this little restaurant right on the beach with our feet literally in the sand!

These little old guys provided music for us while we were eating. The atmosphere there was so much fun. Just a laid back little touristy beach town!

We shared the fried shrimp! The food was so yummy! What is better than Diet Coke, Chips, salsa, guacamole and seafood right on the beach!

After lunch we walked around their little downtown and checked out the shops. While we were there it was some festival so they had parades going on all day. Ahead are some Mexican dancers all decked out blocking the street.

Most people get around the island by scooter or golf cart. We decided to rent scooters and check out the island.

Most of the road was right along the beach which was awesome.

While we were driving we saw a sign the said swim with a shark. We decided to check it out and talked Rob and Chris into doing it. I told Rob he would be the coolest Dad if he had a picture of him holding a shark! Here they are getting ready to hold the shark.

That is one cool Dad and uncle. It really isn't as scary as it looks because this is a Nerf shark and doesn't have any teeth. Kyson thinks that it doesn't have any teeth because Rob and Chris pulled them out so that he could have a shark tooth!

Even though the shark didn't have any teeth the boys said it was still pretty scary getting in the water with a shark. We think that they were BRAVE teeth or no teeth! You don't see us in there with them!
This was the view of Cancun from the island.
If we weren't driving along the beach we were on little roads weaving through the jungle.

Driving back through town to return the scooters.

The scooters were so much fun especially since they only cost us $8 and hour! What a deal! That is another thing I love about Mexico, it is so cheap!

Waiting to take the ferry back to Cancun.

We couldn't wait to get back onto the local ferry! We don't stick out do we? Now imagine what it was like when the whole ferry was full. Luckily Chris can speak Portuguese so he could communicate pretty well with them otherwise I would have been completely freaked! It wasn't that bad and is actually fun to laugh about now that it is over.

Later that night we went to dinner at Outback.

The guys making fun of us once again.

After dinner we walked along the lagoon.

We then ended up fooling around taking pictures at all of the tourist photo stops. What is a vacation without a few of these.

On the bus on the way back to the hotel this guy jumped on and started playing his guitar and singing la la la labamba! My Dad was a good sport and sang along with him so we all decided to join in and then of course he wanted a tip as we got off the bus. Can you imagine having to make money like that.

Wednesday

After having a day on the go we decided it was time to relax on the beach again. What better way is there to relax than to sip on pina coladas!

When we had lazy days we really had lazy days! We couldn't seem to force ourselves to get ready so we ordered room service for dinner.

Thursday

On Thursday we decided to go to some ruins. We ended up at Tulum. These ruins are smaller than some of the others but they aren't as far away and are located right on the beach. When we got there we had to take a picture with these guys all dressed up in their Mayan gear.

I was surprised there was actually quite a few ruins and they were plenty big for me especially when I saw the beach!

This is the biggest ruin and main attraction there besides the beach.

Look at that view! This beach was breathetaking!

The whole gang.

Here is the beach that you can go and swim at.

The setting was perfect white sand, blue, blue water with rocks, greenery and ruins as the backdrop. Oh it was so beautiful there!

I am starting to think that they like to pose like this. They might even be posing more than us girls.

Playing in the ocean.

Heading back up the stairs from the beach. I didn't want to leave!

Sarah was missing Gregy so we gave her a little love in this picture.

Tulum was by far my favorite thing we did while we were in Mexico. It was so incredibly beautiful! I get excited just thinking about it.

On the way back we stopped and ate in Playa Del Carmen. It was such a cool little beach town. Everything there is built right along the beach.

They had little fruit stands all over selling fresh fruit in a cup. We all shared mango and coconut, yum!

Playa Del Carmen was such a fun place and was the perfect way to end our day.

Friday

Our last full day we decided to get in as much beach as we could!

One last lunch at the beach.

We saved the last night for our favorite restuarant Captain's Cove. This is in front of our hotel before we left for dinner.

Sarah, Mikelle and I. The best part of Captain's Cove is that you get to eat out on the patio right over the lagoon.

Chris, Breanne and Dad.

Me and my tan, handsome hubby!

The guys were so sick of us taking pictures that we had to tease them by taking more pictures on the bus back to the hotel.

That night Suzie and Mom decided to play a trick on us and told us that Suzie was in labor. We were all in bed already so we threw on our robes and ran to Sarah and Mikelle's room to call them. The boys are posing once again in their robes and slippers after we found out that they were teasing us.

Saturday

Mikelle, Dad, Rob and I had a later flight than the rest of the gang so we headed out to the beach for a last couple of hours.

Our hotel.

Dad with his pouty face because it is time to go home.

I loved this infinity pool. We never took a picture there so I had to snag one before we left.

More pouty faces. We are not ready to leave but I must say that I miss my kids like crazy!

This was the view out of our hotel room.

Here you can see just how narrow hotel row is. To the right is the beach and to the left is the fresh water lagoon.

One last picture before we leave with the ocean in the background.

Part of the hotel pool area.

We had such a good time. It was so nice to spend time together without the kids but we were so ready to get home and see them. Thanks Mimi and Papa for watching and taking care of the kids so we could get away. I think they had as much fun as we did. I think we are just a little bit darker than our first picture. Too bad our tan won't last forever!