We're home...yipee!?? I'm just very grateful that the -50 weather eased up just in time for our return! That would have been a real shock to the system. As it was Caleb had a bit of a fever the day after we got back. It's an awful lot for a little body! All in all the kids did well. The 2 weeks really allowed us all to settle into a routine and be relaxed! We were never rushed and were able to do what we wanted when we wanted to. It's neat to be in Cancun because there's so much to do. I was worried about the "big city" but it worked to our advantage because we hopped on a bus many times and went all over the place, for cheap too! There was a great place across from our hotel that had old mayan ruins that were neat to see but the main attraction there were the geckos that lived amongst the rocks and you could feed them bread and they would all come out. A little scary cuz some were like small dinosaurs. We also hit Walmart for some more suntan lotion and we even got to spend an afternoon bartering at the market while a girl we met babysat the boys in our room. We met some great people from 2 hours out of Winnipeg that had 2 daughters, 6 and 11. The boys loved them and they really helped us out and gave us a break. We even got to go to the fancy adult's only restaurant at the resort where we had mango martinis and filet mignon. Some of the other things we did were:
We went to a great aquarium
We took a ferry ride across to an island and had a lot of adventures on the beach and at a turtle sanctuary
We rented a car and went on a hunt for our friends, Evan and Cheryl, in Playa Del Carmen where we went into their hotel and checked it out (which I loved) and then we shopped along the famous strip there.
We went to do laundry which was an adventure on the bus
And of course we lounged around the hotel, eating drinking, swimming and laying on the beach. We really enjoyed the beach, the turquoise water in Cancun is amazing and our hotel had oceanviews from every restaurant, pool chair and room. When the kids were squirelly in the room we turned on cartoons and sat on the balcony staring at the ocean. Something about the waves that allows for a deep breath.
We really enjoyed our hotel this year and after 2 weeks got to feel really comfortable there. The rooms were standard and I'm not sure how we survived in a small place but we did. Like I said the view kind of made the rest seem trivial and it was always clean.
The food was good. For me I was just happy to not have to cook and I ate bacon every morning for 14 days so that put a smile on my face. Carson ate plain bow tie pasta for lunch and dinner everyday and Caleb ate like 4 pancakes or waffles every morning. They made some amazing chicken wings in the snack bar and they also had a neat Japanese place for lunch. Everything was very fresh. The a la carte restaurants were very good, especially the special adults only where we had a very fancy meal. It's so neat to not get a bill at the end after appetizers (the french onion soup was awesome), martinis, main course and then a fancy dessert. The service was very good everywhere and that always means alot. They had some fantastic entertainment every evening and we even went to some shows twice. They had a kids show on Saturdays with costumes of every kids character you can think of, Caleb was in heaven. He asked for Tigger and Pooh everyday after that. It was neat the second week when Speedy Gonzales came up to Caleb in the lobby after to say hello and it said to me, "It's Jennifer" which was Caleb's main babysitter in the baby club. Those people work hard!
There were so many other neat things at this resort that kept us busy like mini golf, 2 fast waterslides, a zipline, a soccer court (others too), a pirate ship waterpark and lots of entertainment by the pool. We put Caleb in the baby club a few times which really helped give us a break and him a break from the sun. They had pagers for us and they fed him and put him for a nap so it helped to keep him on a schedule too. It was nice to lay in the lounger and close my eyes! Carson went to the kids club as well but he was a bit young. He enjoyed going when the friends he made were there. They had a trampoline, basketball, arts and crafts and movies. They also had a movie room in the "family bar" area. The point was for the kids to watch movies in a glass room while parents watched them having a drink. The kids were a bit young for this but the concept was great. Overall it was a wonderful place and it was nice to not be embarrassed by your screaming kid cuz everyone else's was screaming too! It was so special to be together as a family, especially to have daddy 24/7. It's definately hectic but watching your kids playing in the sand and splashing in the ocean makes it worth it! We took 550 pictures so I'll put a bunch of my faves on and a little video too.