Mexico

We went to Mexico for our November break this year and stayed at the same place we did last time, The Grand at the Moon Palace. Don and Cindy came with us again and it's always nice to spend time with them (as well as leave the kids with them while we have our date night out and date day with the older ones). 

This trip was a blast and the first one where I felt like I could really relax! Boston was such a chill guy and would play in the pool for hours ordering drinks at the swim up bar and hanging out in the "hottub" while I got to suntan and read my book. It was funny because we could see Boston from afar chilling in the hottub, just talking to anyone and everyone who came in there with him - young and old. He would often get his siblings to bring him drinks, but also learned how to order them himself. Bentley, Deacon, and Leo would also just swim the day away, diving for rings and drinking virgin mojitos and strawberry daiquiris. Bentley got to know the bartender and he always remembered her "usual" order.

We also had a blast with the water slides and lazy river and Deacon made a friend who he would just hit the slides with, over and over. Boston and I loved floating on the lazy river for long periods of time going round and round. They have a lunch place in the water park so we could order food in there and eat at our chairs, which is always the best way to do it. 

One day we took the 3 oldest out on an adventure to a cenote to zipline, swimming in a cave, and snorkeling. It was 3 different places all a part of the same adventure, although the cenote and cave were within walking distance. The cenote was definitely the hit! The kids loved the 2 different zip lines and the spot where you could jump in. They did them over and over and still weren't finished when it was time to move on. The cave was very neat to swim in as well, and our guide gave us flashlights to explore. He said he wasn't supposed to give them to us, but he was a cool guide, and didn't care too much for rules. It was cool that these places were all natural and just so beautiful! After these activities, they provided lunch for us, which was very good. We finished early so the guide let us do a few more ziplines before heading back into the bus to go to our last spot to snorkel. The snorkeling was at a place in the ocean where the freshwater mixed with salt water. We saw lots of beautifully colored fish, and had a much better experience than we did last year when we went straight out on a boat from our beach. We saw lots of Nemo's and Dory's and all had a good time. I have seen better snorkeling, but it was still very good! It was a super fun day. 

We also enjoyed all the activities in our resort...especially on Sundays when we don't swim. We went mini golfing, biking, arcade, climbing, etc. There really are endless activities at the moon palace! The girls got pedicures one day and Bentley got her hair braided, which only lasted a couple of days. Note to self - do the hair braids on the last day so the goggles won't wreck them!

The food was obviously incredible and the shows were really good too. I think the Circus show was our favorite! The only crazy thing that happened was on the very last day. We went to the Circus restaurant, which is the coolest place ever to eat for kids! They were just seating us when I looked over at Leo and knew something was wrong. He told me he was going to throw up, so I immediately ran him to the bathroom...which we didn't quite make it to. He threw up in front of a bunch of other families trying to enjoy a meal. I felt so bad!! It was all over his clothes, so even though we had just arrived, I took him right back out and made our way back to our room. It is quite a ways to get to, but luckily I caught a ride on a cart. I got him changed and since he was feeling better, I brought him right back. I wasn't sure if I should, but we thought it was just because he had eaten so much sugar and drinks that day. We still enjoyed our restaurant experience, and Leo even ate some burger. When we got back home afterwards, he threw up one more time. It was a blessing we skipped the show that night and made it home for that! I was also stressing that he or we all would be sick the next day for our flight home, but luckily that didn't happen and we were all okay! 

We did have some rain at the beginning of the trip. The first day was a bit chilly by the pool. We sat down and it started raining, but the kids were happily swimming in it, so we covered our heads with towels and stayed where we were. The second day was off and on like that too, but after that it was great weather. We were lucky we didn't come the week before, because apparently it had been raining for a long time and we only caught the tail end of it. 

Besides those couple things, the trip was great! Don and Cindy took Bentley and Deacon in their room to sleep each night, which made things so much easier. We always love our trips to Mexico and the kids never stop talking about it afterwards! Boston was especially chatty with his preschool teachers telling them all about the virgin mojitos he drank!