Spring Break - Day 3

 

Little H and I were up early so we decided to snag a cabana for the family. It's some serious work...you can't just throw your belongings on one and leave...you have to man it! Totally understandable as it is incredibly annoying to go down to the pool and see chairs/cabanas that people have 'claimed' and they aren't even there to use them. Grr! Well, not here! If you leave your cabana unattended for more than 30 minutes, the staff comes around and removes your belongings. Oye! I witnessed two cabanas being reclaimed...however, most people stayed in theirs so there wasn't really any issues. Once the pool opens you don't really have to worry about it any longer...mainly because you are most likely there.

On this morning Sarah and her parents headed over to the workout center to do a little yoga. Kevin & Michael hung out with the kiddos and Hayden and I headed up for a little nap. When she was up we headed down and found the kids participating in the treasure hunt!

 

At 10:30 the kids club did pirate face painting and sword making (although our kids didn't get there in time for the face painting).

 

All the kiddos on the treasure hunt though the hotel...

 

Searching for treasure at one of the restaurants/bars. The last clue brings you to the pirate pool.

 

Where the good and bad pirates put on a little show for the kids!

 

Watching the show...pirates fighting...saving the pirate princess.

 

And afterwards of course there was a treasure chest filled with....candy!

 

Happy little girl hanging in her cabana

 

Getting a little tired....

 

Sweet cousins

 

Surprise bubble bath (on the patio) with balloons. The hotel put this together for the boys - it is one of the cute little kids things that they do for kiddos. The balloon was a big octopus that was sitting on top of the bubbles! The boys had a blast!

After baths we got dressed and took the boys down to the kids club to hang out for an hour. Kevin and I were kid free! Nope...just kidding. We still have little Hayden :) We walked around and had a nice little happy hour drink.

 

It was crazy windy

 

Walking back we came across this crazy looking animal.

 

We picked the boys up from kids club and headed to an early dinner with them at Bana (the Asian-fusion restaurant).   Grayson was a fan of chop-sticks.

 

After the kids ate we took them back to the room and left them with babysitters so that the adults could have another dinner sans kids. 

 

Kid free :)

After dinner we decided to explore a little of the night life... There was a big dance party going on in one of the open lounge areas so we hung around for a little bit...but it ended at 10. We tried another bar but as we got there the live music was wrapping up and the crowd was leaving. It seemed like wherever we showed up the party ended. woomp woomp. So we tried one last club...

 

apparently the party hadn't quite started

 

As you can probably tell...there weren't a ton of people there. We weren't sure where everyone was but we didn't last super long. 

 

We really needed a selfie stick. 

 

Although we couldn't find 'the party' we still had a fun night out!

Spring Break - Day 2

 

Hayden woke up around six am so after nursing we set out to explore the hotel grounds. After a little exploring I grabbed some coffee and we headed down to the beach to watch the sunrise. 

 

She was a fan of the sand. I had to keep her paci in or else she would have tried to eat all the sand. Once the boys woke up we met them for breakfast and then it was time for Hayden's morning nap.

 After her nap we headed down to the pool. And sidenote:  I must say that shopping for this trip was incredibly exciting for me - I love all the adorable spring/summer girl clothes!!! I love love her flamingo swimsuit!  It's adorable...and she even has some tail feathers (ruffles)  in the back!

 

Another little hotel 'perk' is the photographers that they have walking around. Well, I'm not sure if it's classified as a 'perk' since you pay extra for the pictures but I thought it was a nice little touch since we didn't bring our big camera. And of course they loved little Hayden as their subject :)

 

A little dip in the pool - she loves it!

 

The boys headed down to the beach. Showing off their muscles!

After a day in the sun we headed back up to our room to get ready for dinner. This time was a little touch and go with the McDonough family so I was glad I packed a few activities for the boys to play during their 'witching' hour.

 

Thanks you $1 spot Target.

 

All ready for dinner!

 

A little wine before dinner

 

Our dinner was actually in the 'adults' hotel. Some of the restaurants allow children early and then later turn to adults only. I'm sure some of their guests get confused about that...

 

Hanging out at dinner - so happy to be sitting next to Lyla. 

 

And loving on Aunt Sarah!

Spring Break - part 1

Kevin's parents are having a 'milestone' birthday this year and wanted to celebrate it by spending it with the family making wonderful memories - mission accomplished! They took us (and the Hales) down to Playa del Carmen to stay at the Paradisus La Esmeralda. Our trip was truly memorable, from the beautiful hotel, delicious food, exciting activities to the yummy drinks and wonderful company, we all had a blast! 

Ready for take-off!

Ryan sat next to me on the plane and was entertained with a little coloring and Big Hero 6. Gigi sat next to Grayson and I am pretty sure he talked to her the entire flight. Little baby Hayden slept the entire flight in her daddy's arms. What a sweetheart!

After a long day of traveling we made it to the hotel in time to grab some dinner before getting the kiddos down for bed. 

Did I mention Hayden grabs everything now? Yup...she got the butter knife and I don't even think Kevin knew. She's sneaky. 

The boys had some yummy ice cream for dessert!

We had an early wake up call the first morning in order to make the ferry boat to Cozumel.

All aboard!

On the ferry to Cozumel...all happy and ready for the day.  This was probably 10 minutes before we learned that Grayson suffers from motion sickness. Poor little guy :(

Aunt Sarah took the brunt of the sickness...he really soaked her entire lap and the wonderful smell lingered until she was able to get in the water. Of course it didn't bother her one bit - best Aunt ever!

Yay, so happy to be off the ferry. Now to hop in a taxi to bring us to a boat...oye. Wasn't quite sure how the little man was going to do but he ended up being just fine. 

Kevin's parents booked a snorkeling trip with ChiChis Charters. We had our own private boat and an awesome guide JJ. 

Everyone snorkeled with the exception of these two. They just wanted to hang on the boat and watch.

After a little snorkeling it was snack time...fresh-made guacamole, ceviche, and pico. It was amazing. 

The took us to a beautiful cove where the water was shallow and calm. The boys finally agreed to get in the water...although it didn't last for long. One of the guides found a starfish - which the kids thought was pretty cool. 

And since getting sick all morning wasn't eventful enough, this little guy decided to add a little more...pretty sure I know what he is doing here (although I didn't at the time I took this picture). 

While we were enjoying our yummy snacks Aunt Sarah looked down and yelled " OMG, what's that?!?" And yup. it was. A little brown nugget. Right there on the deck. Oh little Grayson. 

Big G don't care. 

Hanging out nude eatin' some pineapple. 

Ryan practicing his snorkeling

Being silly

The kids were pooped on the ride back...

So much fun on our first day in Mexico. 

We all really enjoyed the snorkeling trip. The snorkeling was great - we saw a stingray, turtle, barracuda, and a lot of other reef fish. JJ, our guide, was awesome with the kiddos and really personable. The fresh made snacks and cold beer weren't bad either :)

When we got back to the hotel we checked out the pool before heading back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. 

Fresh and clean. Kevin took the kids down to meet our cousins for an early kids dinner at Mole, which is the mexican contemporary cuisine restaurant.  The consensus was that it was good however for some reason they served guacamole with grasshoppers. And the kids tricked Sarah into eating a grasshopper...they told her it was bacon. And quickly discovered it wasn't. lol. I still haven't quite figured out how grasshoppers mix into the whole mexican contemporary cuisine. 

Anyhow, after dinner the kiddos came back to the room and we had two babysitters come watch the kiddos so that the adults could go to dinner. (The hotel requires you to have two sitters for more than two kids.)  Our sitters, Vania and Louisa arrived a little early and were full of energy. They were so sweet with the boys (Hayden was already asleep) and the boys immediately felt comfortable around them.  It's always a little nerve-racking leaving your young children with someone new but I didn't have any doubts with these two ladies. 

Once we were kid-free we headed over to the adults only hotel (La Perla) to dine at Fuego.  This restaurant is described as a Latin fusion gastro bar. Although Im not entirely sure what that means I can tell you it was amazing. It was all of ours favorite restaurant - so yum!