Mexico

 Our trip with my parents to the Mayan Rivera, Mexico, finally came on Nov.10-17th. We weren't sure we were going to make it because there was so much sickness going around. Jeff got pneumonia and I got an ear infection, so we were both on antibiotics. Leo was throwing up a couple days before we left. I honestly thought it wasn't going to happen, but when the day came, we were all healthy enough to go and prayed the sunshine would heal us! We all ended up being healthy except Jeff when he came off his antibiotics. On Sunday, he visited the Medical Center at the resort, and they got him some more antibiotics to take, which made him feel better for the rest of the trip. Overall, we were very lucky!

It was a lot for me to pack everything up and get the house clean enough to leave, but I got it done, and the flight went very smoothly! It was a little early, so we had to leave our house around 6:30, but not terrible. We were lucky enough to have an extra seat on the plane beside us unfilled, so we used it for Boston and couldn't imagine what we would've done without it. He napped when we took off and did very well for the rest of the flight! The other kids also did great (thanks to 2 kid's devices with movies and games). Once we arrived, the airport in Cancun was insane. It took about an hour to get through a line to show them our customs form. Then we waited another while for our luggage. Then we found our bus and they told us it was 2 more hours to the resort...we didn't realize that! We waited half an hour just for others to come onto the bus, but they never did. The driver was a bit mad at his boss but told us he wooudn't leave us stranded and would take us alone to our resort. Thank goodness! However, there was a rainstorm and he turned out to be the most insane driver. Some of our lives flashed before our eyes, but he definitely got us there in good time! Probably within an hour. We arrived at our resort, the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya. It was beautiful and we were so excited to finally arrive! We went straight for the buffet, as we were all starving, while the bell boys took our luggage to our room. We had a blast eating all we could eat at this all-inclusive resort, then found our rooms, and then our beds! It was late and everyone fell asleep very quickly that night after a long travel day. 

On the first day (Friday), we all slept in and then went for breakfast. There were different buffets, and we eventually figured out the one in the main lobby is bigger and better. We were happy with everywhere though. The kids love buffets, so they were in heaven walking around and choosing exactly what they wanted for all their meals this week! Deacon wasted no time and found many iguanas and creatures on our walks right away. Afterwards, we checked out the kids club. They had a fun craft and Spanish lessons going on, so we dropped the older 2 off and played with Leo and Boston in the kids pool right there with waterslides. Leo was in heaven! Boston took some time to get to use to it. When the activities were done, we picked up Bentley and Deacon and they showed us their cute bead things they made and told us the Spanish they learned! Then we headed to the beach and met up with my parents. It was the best beach I've ever been to. We walked in and right away saw tons of beautiful fish at our feet! There was a cute little cove that was perfect for the kids to play in, and we all had a blast, especially Deacon with his love of all creatures. Boston had a nice little nap on the beach chair, which was the cutest thing. We found a random place that started cooking up burgers, so we ate there for lunch and then hit the pool in the afternoon. Then we went back to our room to get ready for dinner. After dinner, there was a half hour kid's disco time, so the kids went on stage and got some balloons to dance with. Most nights we also watched the show that was always from 9-10pm. 

The second day (Saturday) was dolphin day! We got some breakfast and then got ready to swim with dolphins. The place was just a 10-minute walk away, which was so great! There was a free dolphin show that we watched first, and then it was our turn to swim with them. The kids weren't in the best of moods this day (I think they were tired) but being in the water with dolphins definitely cheered them up! We got our life jackets and instructions and then went in the water. My parents watched Boston while we took the other 3 with us, and it was nice that they could actually watch us too. Leo wasn't old enough to ride on the dolphin, but he could still come in to see and take pictures with them. That was good enough for him! It was free of charge too, so we figured why not. We each got a turn to ride on its belly and to go on a boogie board while it pushed our feet. The kids were nervous at first but ended up having such a great time! We got the cutest pictures with them and had such a great experience together! Later that day we found a foam party and swam in the pool with all the bubbles. The kids had a lot of fun with it, especially because they also handed out balloons. Lunch and dinner were also somewhere in the day and then we watched "Lion King" on the stage that night. I found that keeping the kids up late made it a lot easier to put them to bed, so even Boston would watch the shows with us...or we'd take turns watching him on the sidelines. Wearing them out was key!

We didn't swim on Sunday, but still found lots to do. After breakfast, the kids did some crafts in the kid's club. They were really cute sand balloon animals. We did a come follow me lesson, and then my parents prepared a scavenger hunt for the kids. They found a bunch of things around the resort and checked them off their list. There were these weird animals called "Coatis" everywhere we went, and they were very entertaining. We had lunch, found some bouncy castles to play on, and watched a movie. For dinner that night, we split up. My parent's watched the kids while Jeff and I tried the steak house. Then my parents went afterwards. We were not impressed with the steak house at all, but at least it was a date night! That night the kids danced disco again, and then we watched the show. I believe it was "Sirenis Idol," which was pretty entertaining. 

On Monday we found our favorite pool spot. There were many pools to choose from, but this one had some fun blow up toys for the kids to play on. It was also very close to a bathroom, a buffet, and the ice cream place! Very convenient. We spent most the day here and let Jeff rest up since he had been pretty sick the day before. Once he started some antibiotics again for his pneumonia, he felt better quite quickly. We went to the Brazilian restaurant that night as well, which was much better than the steakhouse! My parents watched the kids and tried it out the next night. They came around with big skewers of meat of all kinds. Jeff and I loved the lamb, beef tenderloin, and pineapple. It was very good!

On Tuesday we took Bentley and Deacon to Xplor, while my parents watched Leo and Boston. Jeff and I had been here on our honeymoon so it was really fun to go back with the kids. We went on the ATV and Jeff had a blast driving it. We rafted through the caves and swam through them, into a really neat area surrounded by waterfalls. Bentley was a little too scared to do the ziplines, so Jeff took Deacon on them. He was super brave, as they are very high, and he was the youngest one doing it! Bentley and I found a little kids park with ropes and climbing things while they did that. We also ate a lunch buffet there and had some hot chocolate a few times to warm up from swimming. We had a great time together and it was so nice of my parents to let us go! When we got back to the resort, we ate some dinner and then took the kids shopping. They had some markets out that night and they each got to pick one thing. Bentley got a bracelet, Deacon got a shark, Leo got a turtle, and Boston got a really cute lion stuffy. Some of the kids wanted to play with their toys, so Jeff took them back to the room while I stayed with Leo so he could do some disco dancing and watch the show "Grease" with me. My parents met up with me eventually. It was my favorite show and Leo was entertained with my bag full of food I took from the buffet earlier!

Wednesday was our last full day, so we made sure we hit the beach again! My dad had brought some snorkels, so he pulled those out and everyone had a blast with them. They found many shells and my dad found swam out to find a really big shell with a clam in it. We also spent a lot of time playing in the sand. For the afternoon we switched over to our favorite pool. Let's not forget the constant drinks by the pool and food buffets throughout the day. We never got sick of it! I don't think we can count the number of ice cream cones we ate, either. The coconut and chocolate flavors were to die for! That night Jeff and I went to the Japanese restaurant. We had a later reservation, so we helped the kids at the buffet and wasted some time walking around, and then headed there. It was by far the best one yet! We started out with delicious sushi and tempura, and then our chef cooked in front of us (while putting on a show) veggies, fried rice, and different types of meat including beef, chicken, shrimp, and octopus. We tried them all and the octopus ended up being my favorite! Dessert was fried ice cream, which was also to die for. My parents took the kids that night to the buffet and then to sing karaoke. Unfortunately, Jeff and I didn't get to watch since we were at the restaurant, but my parents took a video for us. They were super brave to go up there! They were the first ones up and sane the song "Watermelon Sugar." Afterwards, it was the "International show." We missed that as well but my parents stayed with the kids until Boston was falling asleep and then took them to the room. 

Thursday was the day we had to fly home! We had a late, 6pm flight, so we swam that morning. I forgot to mention the lazy river, which was also a big favorite! We went on tubes around multiple times, and the kids liked to go without the tubes sometimes. They all just loved it though, so we fit that in again before we left. We ate a big lunch and then went on our way. Everything went smoothly, but it was late, and the kids were tired. Bentley started to get a fever, so it was kind of miserable. It seemed to take forever, but we made it home eventually! What an awesome trip we had. I can't thank my parents enough for it!! They paid for it, as they do for one of their kid's family each year. They also helped watch Boston so much and were amazing about everything! We made some pretty awesome memories!!