Cancun

Warning: Long Post
I'm finally getting around to writing a little about our trip. I won't bore you with all the details, but we had a great time. We went with our friends Kristy and Spencer who also celebrated their 10th anniversary this summer. We met them right after we all got married when we lived in the same townhouse complex. We've had a lot of fun with them over the years on backpacking trips and this is actually the first trip we've all been on together that didn't involve sleeping in tents! We haven't seen them in a while, so it was great to catch up on old times and have some new laughs. We spent 6 awesome days in Cancun, Mexico. The weather was so nice. They had Christmas decorations everywhere, but they seemed so out of place to me in the nice weather. Well, here are a few highlights:


I think this is the only picture I took where we are all looking reasonably presentable. Actually, the waitress took it and she didn't exactly know how to use my camera. This night was one of the funniest of our trip. Our resort was all-inclusive, so we could pretty much eat anywhere/anytime. By the end we were getting really sick of the buffets, so we made reservations at the "nice" restaurant for dinner. It was Mediterranean night. It was a nice place, and the way they served you was quite formal but that's where the nice ended. Jer started it off with a bang by not bringing any pants which we came to find out are required at this place. Rather than turn us away, Jer was supplied with some sweet black pants to wear. They were kind of stretchy with an elastic waistband but looked like slacks. He went into the bathroom and came out with them over his shorts. We could not stop laughing. Maybe you had to be there, but it was funny. You can check out a full view of the infamous pants in the slideshow. The night just got better as they brought us out one unrecognizable dish after the other. It was seriously bad food. It was presented in a very fancy way, but they forgot to make it taste good. It got funnier to us as the courses continued. You would have thought we were drinking instead of the only sober adults at the entire resort. As we left we checked out the menu for the next night which was Mexican food. The chicken entree in English was "chicken with chili sauce and species (spices?) over meatloaf, with raisins." That did it for me. I'm sure some of that was lost in translation, but could that combo ever be good??? Anyway, the next night we headed into Cancun to Hard Rock Cafe rather than chancing the chicken/meatloaf surprise!



We spent a lot of time at the beach. Our place was really pretty with beautiful pools and then just a few steps down to the beach. The water was crystal clear with white sandy beaches. The waves were huge, and we spent a lot of time swimming and getting pummelled. They served drinks on the beach, and I think we all consumed enough virgin dacquiris and pina coladas to gain 10 pounds.

We went out on two different day trip adventures that involved just about everything--kayaking, swimming, hiking, biking, snorkeling, tubing, zip lining, and rapelling (I sat out the last two for bambino's safety). We had great fun and got to see a lot of neat sights. At a place called Xel Ha we snorkeled and then rode bikes up to the top of this "lazy river" where you can tube down through these cool mangroves. Kristy and I almost ran over several unidentified large, furry critters that crossed our path on our bikes with no brakes. (Turns out they had pedal brakes like a kid's brake, but it took me a minute to think of that.) When we got there and got our lifejackets on I realized mine had an extra strap. The only thing I could think of was that it went between your legs. Do they really make adult life jackets like that? Yep, apparently in Mexico they do. I asked the worker about it, and he volunteered to "help me" with it which got me laughing quite hard. I did it up until we were out of sight and then had to remove it for comfort's sake. Jer's also had one which he did not even consider. Jer made the tubing quite exciting when he jumped off the dock onto his and proceeded to flip it over. It was a good laugh for quite a few tourists. I have to tease him a little because he is very coordinated and normally I would be the one to do something like that. Everyone besides me got out of the river at one point and jumped off some cliffs. I opted out of that one as well. We ended the day by visiting the Mayan ruins at Tulum.

I could go on and on because it was such a fun time....but I'lltry not to. Our other day trip was an adventure to a rural Mayan village, and underground cenote for swimming, and eventually to Coba. Coba has the tallest Mayan temple ruin. It also is the only one you can still climb up. That was pretty fun. The way down is steep, but not as bad as some made it seem. People were stopping all along the way and not daring to go further. We also rode bikes at this place which was more fun than walking.

Anyway, those are a few higlights of the trip. We also rode the city buses, watched lots of drunken karaoke, people watched, and ate lots of strange food. Best of all it involved lots of relaxation and quality time to spend with Jer. We get so busy at home with the kids we hardly ever have any time to ourselves. I was so worried about leaving the kiddos before we left but once we got there it was great. It was a much needed vacation. I hope we don't wait another five years before trying it again!

Disclaimer: There is not one single picture from this trip in which I look normal. I either have wet dog ponytail, pale face, look plump, am too scantily clad for my current body or a combo of all of the above. So look if you dare and just remember I'm not quite as scary in real life. As for Jer, I have no explanation for his picture face. He has always refused to look normal in pictures!