Ok, well not totally the last part. Here are the videos!
How Sara swims in a pool - so cute!
and Cliff Jumping at Cenote Azul:
Alex warms up by jumping off platform
Lance and Alex jump from low ledge first
Lance and Alex jump from high ledge now
Allison and Alex go together off the high ledge
Remember – none of them wanted to go! I had to convince them to come.
Alex was a jumping fiend! He couldn’t get enough of it!
In an effort to get through the last of our vacation… I will just post the best pictures and have a few comments here and there. It was a really great vacation and I can’t wait to take the kids back to Mexico.
Sara pushing me in the pool! It was a bit chilly!
Sara helping me make salsa. She loved squeezing the limes!
Cannonball!
Alex totally “got” the mask and snorkel. Sara was a bit too young, but we brought it anyways. It took a while for her to want to try it – but she did try it! She inhaled a bit of water at one point and was done at that point. I’m so proud of her for trying it though!
You know me – the family picture!
My inlaws, who joined us. Grandpa T and Grandma Connie!
I had to literally threaten to go by myself to our last outing at Cenote Azul. Everybody wanted to just stay at the condo, but I had heard how cool it was to swim in these underground rivers. We didn’t know how we were going to get there… how we were going to get back…. we didn’t want to rent a car…. excuses, excuses. But, it turned out to be one of my highlights of the whole trip. In short, it was AMAZING! And BEAUTIFUL. And EXCITING! I got Alex excited to go by asking him if he wanted to “cliff dive”? We all did it, except Sara, which was very happy with her floaties and swimming around. There were fish living in the cenote and it was so clean and crystal clear. I would highly recommend it!
And there is Sara having fun “pushing” Alex off into the water again!
We would end every night by going to get gelato. This place was amazing. Passion fruit, coconut, I loved the lemon basil. Sara got the mint chocolate chip every night (because it was green) and Alex would get Vanilla. These kids!
It was also our favorite (fast) wifi spot.
We went to Tulum on this day of our vacation. This was the only day we rented a car. They were pretty expensive down there – ~$150/day for a minivan. I wish we could’ve had one a bit more, but getting where we wanted to go wasn’t too bad. A very cool spot with ruins right near the beach. Lots of “touristy” things, like monkeys below.
We played in the water at the beach, but it wasn’t a great beach for the kids and there were a TON of people there on Sunday. Note to self – don’t go to a major tourist attraction on Sunday. Crazy!
We had been looking for coconut water fresh out of the coconut for a while, and after walking around Tulum and carrying kids, etc, we were hot! It was the hottest day of the trip on Sunday, and those that didn’t get in the water were really hot. These cool coconut waters were calling our name. Alex is also showing off his little devil hand carved skeleton. He loved that thing (for about 3 hours…).
We had a car this day and so we stopped in the town near Tulum for lunch and there was a great sidewalk restaurant that looked good. The kids enjoyed watermelon juice (which was fantastic!) and we all scarfed down our food like we were starving! It was only ~2:30pm!!!
And myself with a lovely mojito!
Wow! Things have gotten behind on this ol’ blog of mine! I’m trying to keep this going as I love sharing our adventures. But, life is busy and we are having so much fun, that I rarely sit at my computer much anymore.
The most favorite day of our whole vacation (as if everyday wasn’t my favorite on vacation!) was this day – the day we decided to take everyone snorkeling. For those with young kids – you know how much this must mean. We have a 3 year old and a (now) 7 year old, who just learned to swim last summer. We have a 3 year old who can’t “swim” without floaties and/or a life vest. But, we did it anyways. Alex was loving his snorkel in the pool and Sara was so easy going and brave in the shallow ocean right outside our condo that we decided to go for it. At the very worst, one of us would just sit on the boat.
We made arrangements with the same place we went scuba diving and they took us to a calm bay about 20 minutes north of where we were staying. It was protected by a coral reef and the waters were calm and warm.
In short – this was my best thing we did all vacation. Connie and Steve joined us too! I loved seeing Alex snorkel in the ocean and see the sea life with us. I loved seeing Sara and her floaties and how brave/calm she was with the whole thing. We saw a sea turtle – which is what I wanted to see. We saw a sting ray, many fish, lots of coral, and an eel. We put Alex in a wetsuit to try to keep this little man as warm as possible (he has no body fat – this kid is pure skin and muscle). Sara didn’t really get too cold in the pool and the ocean water was warmer than that – so she was fine. Plus, there were no wetsuits her size.
A funny story was when Lance saw the sting ray – he poked his head up and told me there was a sting ray and to take a look. The kids both started screaming at this point – thinking the stingray was going to sting them! Great – two screaming kids in the middle of the coral bay. Maybe sting them like like a jelly fish? I don’t know… We calmed them down by telling them that the stingray wasn’t interested in us, and it was way down on the bottom (maybe 10-12’ down) and was going to stay there. It took a while, but they did calm back down and enjoy themselves again.
I hope you enjoy my photos and videos. I enjoy sharing them with you.
Sara on Mommys back, little kickers
This is how Sara did part of the snorkeling trip – either on my back or on Lance’s back. Also, for a while she would just do her little swim/kick all by herself – of course with her big smile the whole time. She just loved it!
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