Mexico!

Got back on Saturday from our incredible vacation in Mexico with my parents, siblings and all of our spouses and kids. It was AMAZING. I'm kind of depressed to be back. But at least we've got 600 pictures to remember it by! I won't post all 600 pictures here :), but I will let the pictures tell a lot of the story of this memorable trip.

It was the girls' first time flying, and they did alright. It was definitely a long trip though - a 2 hr flight to Phoenix, then a 3 1/2 hour flight from Phoenix to Cancun, then a 1 1/2 hour van ride from Cancun to our hotel. Add to that all the time waiting to board the plane, for luggage, for security, etc. But it was so well worth it! Madison did exceptional, Chloe had a harder time on the plane, but it coulda been worse!

The day after we arrived, we had nothing planned - so we just laid out on the beach...
and played in the pools all day long...

We also got to do a lot of snorkeling and other water activities. And because our hotel was all-inclusive, all the food, snacks, and drinks were always free (well, paid for with the hotel room at least). We had a formal family dinner this evening too, with all of us dressed up.
The next day we went to some Mayan ruins on the beach called Tulum, not far from our hotel.
It was beautiful, and our tour was awesome. We had an LDS tour guide who gave us some fantastic insight into some of the symbols on the architecture, the history, etc. He was a seminary teacher for 6 years, so he knows his stuff, and he didn't give us any crazy speculation or non-doctrine. If anyone goes to Tulum, you've got to contact Helaman Tours!

That night, my parents took all the grandkids overnight so we got to have some alone time! Thanks Mom and Dad, you are soooo awesome! We went for a swim in the pools at night, then went to the show at the theater.

In the morning, while the kids were still sleeping in Mom and Dad's room, we woke up at 5 am to watch the sun rise and go snorkeling together. The sunrise was a little anticlimactic, as it wasn't directly over the horizon (it was kind of behind a neighboring hotel), but the snorkeling was fantastic. We saw a big sea turtle, which both of us had been wanting to see! After picking up the kids, we spent the rest of Wednesday hanging out on the beach and at the pools, then had another formal family dinner that evening.

On Thursday we went to a huge park called Xcaret. It's got tons of ruins, an underground river that you can snorkel through, tons of animals (dolpins, sharks, rays, turtles, jaguars, and more) beautiful beaches, restaurants, shops, a spa, etc. It's basically the Disneyland of Mexico, but with a more natural beauty as opposed to rides and buildings. Unfortunately, Chloe hated the underground river and needed to get out. So JR got out with her, and I told him Maddie and I would meet him at the end of the river. Well, he didn't hear me (he thought we'd meet at the front of the park) and we ended up looking for each other for 3+ hours at this HUGE park. It was scary not knowing where he and Chloe were, as I had their meal coupons and Chloe's shoes, and other necessities. So we each wandered separately with one kid each and finally found each other - JR was lying on a bench with Chloe asleep on his chest. I just started crying, but we kind of laughed it off (no hard feelings, just a miscommunication) and enjoyed the last few hours we had at the park.
This pic was taken right after we finally reunited at Xcaret! Chloe was still waking up.

That evening at Xcaret they had a big show that told the history of the Mayan people, the Spanish invasion, and the merging of the two cultures to create the Mexican culture. It was awesome.

Our last full day there we did more snorkeling, swimming in the pools, walking on the beach, etc. Dad took the girls for a couple hours while JR and I went kayaking in the ocean and snorkeled off a pier where there was a big school of fish.

In the evening we walked to a neighboring hotel and took pictures of the view of our hotel. There was a beautiful beach wedding going on, but you can't see it in this picture.


There was a show that night called "Fantasia" with a whole bunch of Disney characters singing songs and dancing. It didn't start until 9:30 pm, so Chloe fell alseep before it even started, but she woke up for the finale! After the show they let people dance and take pictures with the characters. Here's Madison and my sister Heidi with Kung Fu Panda:

Then, on Saturday, we slept in a little, had breakfast, walked around the beach and pools one last time and then got ready to head home!

What an amazing experience. Thanks again Mom and Dad for making this trip possible!