Cancun

This year Derek and I will celebrate 15 years of marriage, and I told Derek he had to take me somewhere without the kids.  We decided on Cancun in February and Babi and Papoo agree to watch the kids for us while we were gone.  We had the best time and it was exactly the kind of rest and recoup vacay we needed.  We had a whole bunch of Hyatt points saved up so we decided to use those and stay at the Hyatt Ziva which proved to be the most awesome all inclusive resort ever.   

This resort had fun pools and a special kids section, they had inflatable climbing things in the little private sand bar beach.  They had hammocks in the water, iguanas and pelicans, food trucks poolside, a place to swim with dolphins.  

They had a variety of exercise classes they offered in the pool and yoga classes and a really nice gym with ocean views.  They had craft activities kids could participate in.  Every night they had a show they performed on a stage with stadium seating--magic, circus, dancing.  They had live bands playing in the sports bar each night.  It had probably 11 different restaurants where you could eat and all the food was beautifully presented and sooo good.  Probably our favorite place to eat was at this little street taco place right off the beach.  We had lunch there every day and never got tired of their fresh seafood tacos, shrimp cocktail and ceviche.  Drinks and food were all included in our stay so we ate so much and constantly had a drink in our hand.  I drank so many virgin mojitos and loved them all.  Derek and I were so funny--though wanting a kid free trip, we spent a good portion of the trip pointing out all the things our kids would love.  We will have to go back some day with the kids next time.  Basically every day was about the same.  We would wake up whenever we wanted, hit the gym or a pool class, and then eat breakfast.
Then, we laid on the beach in the shade of wonderful huts and read for hours and at some point Derek always had to visit the poolside food trucks and order nachos or something.  Then, when we got hungry again we would get lunch then we might read a little more, head back to the hotel, shower for the day, relax, walk around the beautiful resort grounds, and grab some dinner.


We would check out whatever show was being performed and then Derek would usually catch whatever game was playing at the sports bar while I enjoyed the live bands and of course ordered an appetizer or something even though we were stuffed from dinner--why not?  Then, repeat the next day.  One day we did get up early and spent all day driving and touring Mayan ruins.  Our tour was with Alma's LDS tours, and I found it fascinating to wonder around the ruins that still stand after all these years and view a little window into their culture and beliefs.  We started at Tulum, Derek loved Tulum because it was so awesome and right by the ocean.


Then we drove to a lunch buffet location near Chichen Itza and had a traditional Mexican meal with delicious spicy meat to throw inside fresh warm tortillas.  While we ate they had dancers dancing with class bottles on their heads.  Then, we toured Chichen Itza which is a huge city of Mayan ruins.  I loved the vastness of Chichen Itza and all the evidences of advanced astrology the Mayan cultures understood. 


 We ending that long hot day with a cool off in this awesome swimming Cenotes.

Thank goodness after that long day we had one more half day to rest on the beach before flying back home to our kids.  We came home bearing gifts.

I stole lollypops from the sweet shop for each of them and brought Liv this neat beaded hair accessory and both boys got carved and painted Jaguar whistles.  

And of course we brought Mexican vanilla for Mom and George and Derek's parents.  It was a fantastic trip, one that I would love to repeat with the kids next time--maybe.