We flew into Cancun and spent the night there, then we rented a car and spent the next day going to various beaches in the area. It was very hot, but very fun. Except the waves were crazy strong that day, but we eventually found a little area with shallow waves for Shade to play in for awhile (we also saw huge lizards everywhere).
Then we drove that night to Chichen Itza and stayed at Mayaland Hotel. The drive was amazing (see pics) - there was thick jungle on both sides of the road the entire way. It was gorgeous at Mayaland! It is in the middle of the jungle and right next to the Mayan ruins there. We spent the next day walking around the ruins (there is one green "sacred cenote" in the pictures where they used to dump the bodies of those sacrificed from the games) and then swimming in the 3 swimming pools they had :) We spent that night there too. The next morning we drove over to a cenote (swimming hole) that is 350 fee deep with fresh water. It was beautiful and very refreshing, and we even got to jump off the edge. Then we went back to the hotel and swam some more (Shade could not get enough water!).
Public Cenote - swimming hole (there were crazy bird houses on the roof of the cenote)
After we checked out we started on our way over to Merida. We got to drive right through the downtown area where they have all the shops. It was crazy busy. But overall, it was a very pretty city. The hotel we stayed at also had a swimming pool on the roof, so again Shade got plenty of swimming in. Note them standing "on" the water... and Shade swimming under the water by himself - something he is really excited about.
The next day we went up to Puerto Progresso - a very relaxed, laid-back beach town. The beach wasn't the prettiest necessarily, but the water was perfect - warm, shallow for a long time, and calm waves. So we got to do a lot of swimming and seashell collecting and chilling on the beach, and Shade got to try his first fresh coconut (the guy chopped up the inside when we were done drinking the coconut water). We had a late lunch there, then drove back to our hotel.
Then next day we took a quick trip to the temple. It was gorgeous! We met some really nice people there who took us to the stake center right next door and gave us some cold drinks. We got a family picture, but the guy who took it held the camera kind of crooked :) Shade also tried to take a picture of Kellen and I (same result). After that, we spent some time in the Centro (downtown) browsing through the shops. Shade loved it - if you have ever been to a Mexican market, you know what I mean when I say it is chaotic and crazy and very energetic. We didn't buy a whole lot, mostly just there for fun, but we did find a guyavera for Shade that matches one Kellen had bought at the pyramids.
The next day we had plans to go see a different set of ruins...but we had gotten a text from our spokesperson about our buddy passes that we should try catch a plane that day. Unfortunately, we were 4 hours away from the airport and didn't get much notice, so we had missed all the flights that day by the time we had gotten there anyway. We should have just gone to the ruins as planned :)
So we spent the next day at the airport trying to catch a flight - we didn't even think about the fact that it was a holiday weekend - that fact seemed to completely skip our minds. We had gotten there at 6am, and I was the only one to catch the 3pm flight. Kellen let me have it, and I took it, since I was supposed to work the next day, and now that everyone knows by now, I was pretty sick the whole trip...morning sickness sick. I was lucky enough to have some decent days that allowed me to enjoy things at every place we went to, but it seemed to get worse as the week went on. The only way I even made it through that day at the airport and then all the way back home without puking every couple hours (I didn't get home until after 11pm) was because Kellen had given me a blessing the day before. And let me tell you, those things work!
Kellen and Shade ended up buying tickets to get out of there, and spent another day in the airport and didn't get home until Monday evening (I got out Saturday afternoon). It was a crazy, long story that Kellen will tell you if you really want to know, but I am not going to write it out here. But all in all, we all made it home safely, and Kellen said that Shade was such a good kid the entire time! He found plenty of things to do, to explore, people/kids to play with, etc. So at least Kellen didn't have to deal with a grouchy kid. So overall, it was an awesome trip - Shade kept saying it was the best vacation ever - he finally had a week with both Mommy and Daddy!
Airport pictures - note Shade's face :)
No comments:
Post a Comment