Getting "Us" Back

I never imagined so much indecision would surround a potential family vacation. After weeks of hemming and hawing, "should we book a trip" or "should we just stay put and enjoy our house during the holidays", Adam finally pulled the trigger on a vacation the afternoon of November 5. We had Sun Country vouchers from our trip to Mexico in March that were burning a hole in our gift card drawer, taunting us to make the most of them before Nolan turns 2 in March. The trip was an attempt to spend some quality time reconnecting as a family.

We put the kids to bed in their clothes and then carried them through 6 inches of powdery newly fallen snow to the truck a little after 3:30 am Saturday morning, bound for Cancun, Mexico on the 6:15 am Sun Country flight out of the Humphrey terminal. It was a very early morning for all of us, but the kids handled it like little champs. After checking in at the Royal Sands, we enjoyed an overpriced lunch at the La Veranda poolside restaurant, dipping homemade tortilla chips into guacamole prepared in front of us until our room was ready.

Adam negotiated a premium room for us, the penthouse ocean facing suite, room 5748 (middle room, top floor).
Oh, Mexico...where our biggest decision is whether to begin the day at the beach or the pool.

Aaron is absolutely delighted to be back at the ocean. Nolan eases into his exposure to the sun.
Collin and Adam play some catch on the beach Collin finds his first conch shell
Surrender
Shake my shorts...Mom and Dad just gave me my very own can of Sprite. Aaron to Nolan, "What in the heck is that kind of move, Nolan?"

Pool buddies
Napping by the pool
Pinata party! Aaron takes his turn wielding the stick.

Booty Seashell treasures

We were grateful for the rain storm that rolled in on Monday afternoon, because it gave us the nudge we needed to go downtown on the city bus to buy groceries at Wallmart (yes, to my dismay, they are everywhere). It was a culturally rich excursion for the boys, who gazed at the frozen fish bar that displayed octopus among other aquatic life, played with balloons, and strolled the isles with Adam, while I filled our cart. For ~$120 US dollars we were able to stock our kitchen with enough food to cook a week's worth of nutritious meals...and thanks to that little storm, we didn't have to feel guilty about wasting our limited time in the sun.Since Aaron and Nolan took turns waking at 5:45 am every morning, we had the opportunity to see each and every beautiful sunrise from our deck, which was usually followed by a walk on the beach before breakfast. Because of these early risers, we were usually back out on the beach or to the pool by 9:00 am, not wasting a single minute of our vacation with something so mundane as sleep.
Aaron draws a race car in the sand during one of our morning walks on the beach.
Nolan blows into the conch, trying to make music.
Tennis!

Family picture on the beach



Warming up on Mommy
Family picture by the pool Art projects
Mommy tries to help Nolan paint his butterfly The creations: Nolan's butterfly, Aaron's plane bank, and Collin's sword fish


Snuggle buddies
The shells The other treasures, two complete sand dollars and six shark teeth Timer shot on our deck
We flew home home on December 11, 2010, the day of the blizzard that will live in infamy with the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. The Lindbergh terminal was closed all day, but Sun Country managed to land a few flights from Mexico at Humphrey in spite of 17 inches of newly fallen snow. God bless them! Back to reality.