good-bye mexico

Caleb went from asking to go home on the first day of our trip, to asking to go back to Mexico (which we found out meant he wanted to go back to the big pool!).

Matthew wants to buy a house in Mexico and is already planning our next trip there!

He was sad to leave, but excited to take the plane again.

Good-bye Mexico.

P.S. We drank pina coladas with our supper today :)

favourites

Favourite drinks:

Matthew:strawberry margarita (even though he has a pina colada in the photo)

Caleb:

pina colada (even though he has a strawberry margarita in the photo)

Favourite things to do while mom and dad are relaxing:

Matthew:

rock collecting

Caleb:

peek-a-boo

Favourite thing to do after the beach and before supper:

Have a bath, Color wonder colouring books and watch spanish tv shows :)

Dad's favourite thing to do:

take photos of the scenery :)

Mom's favourite photos:

relaxing

It's funny how it took us awhile to be able to relax. But then, we really got the hang of it.

:)

All of us really slowed down and enjoyed each moment. Ahhhhhhhh! How relaxing.

the ocean/the beach

My boys had never seen the ocean before. They have differing opinions of it :)

Matthew loved it! He played in it everyday. He liked to draw pictures in the sand and then have them get wiped away by the waves. He enjoyed jumping over the waves and running away from the waves. He liked to splash around and build castles in the sand.
Caleb had a really fun experience at the beach one day. He was running around, getting his shoes all wet and sandy. He really had a great time. But then later, he wanted nothing to do wiht it. That was okay, because there were alot of other fun things to do too!

yum

We ate most of our meals in the buffet restaurant. The boys usually ate the most for breakfast. They liked trying new (sugary) cereals, muffins, waffles, pancakes and fruit. Mommy and Daddy liked the omelette bar. I'd always take a few slices of bread and some peanut butter and jam so that I could make sandwiches for them later.

We often went back to the buffet for lunch. Matthew would eat a hard boiled egg just about everyday. Caleb was a bit trickier to please, until they started serving dino buddies (chicken nuggets)! We were so happy to see the boy finally get some protein. Rick and I enjoyed the fresh guacamole and yummy taco chips. Delicious.A few times, we had to stop our meals to do some whale watching. (of course everytime you try to get a photo of a whale, you miss it!) But check out the ocean view from the restaurant.Sometimes, we went to the beach hut for lunch instead. We'd eat burgers, hotdogs, pizza and potato chips. And plenty of orange pop to drink...We usually at supper at the buffet restaurant. But on our last evening, we made reservations for the fancy italian restaurant. The boys came with us, all dressed up. The behaved like little gentleman, for the most part. The waiters were very kind and even brought Caleb a special order of french fries, since he's not a big fan of pasta. It was nice to have a special meal together.

the playground

Our resort had a little playground beside the kiddie pool. It was another fun place to go. We started to get into the routine of stopping there after our supper each night. We'd eat, walk by the beach and then stop at the playground to play.

Caleb liked to run around and he also played restaurant. "Did you order a burger?" "Here's your salad, Mommy". He also liked hiding out on top in the little "house". He even convinced me to go up there with him , even though I didn't think I'd fit. I did. So we played house for quite awhile-sleeping, making lunch... you know, stuff like that.

Matthew had fun at the playground in the more traditional way... sliding down the slide...

climbing to the very top (such a big boy!)...

and swinging! He learned how to pump his legs on the swing to make it go! It was a pretty big deal.

Going to the playground in the evening was such a nice way to end each day. I'm so grateful for those carefree days of fun and play. :)

kiddie pool

We loved spending time at the kiddie pool. It was just the right size for us. The boys could walk around on their own and Matthew could even go in all by himself (if Mom and Dad needed to rest on the pool chair for a bit). Caleb liked to pretend he was a waiter delivering special drinks to us in the pool. "Did you order a pina colada?" he'd say. It was so cute!

Matthew liked to splash around and race from one side to the other. He really would have liked to make a friend, but it was hard, because most of the kids in the kiddie pool only spoke Spanish. And, of course, everyone loved the slide...

SPLASH!

How to fly to Mexico

1. pray that everything will go smoothly

2. get grandma to meet you at the airport and walk around with boys while waiting in line (it helps if she brings Mr Potato Head along)

3. find out that your plane is delayed 6 hours

4. check luggage and reserve seats

5. go home for 6 hours

6. come back and have supper at the airport (to use up the free vouchers given due to the delay)

7. provide plenty of hubba bubba gum and lollipops for take-off

8. suck soother during take-off (if you have one handy)

9. have a great flight with happy kids

10. thank God for answering your prayers

11. watch the in-flight movie (Enchanted-just Matthew watched)

12. read the going on a plane book

13. colour and do dot-to-dots

14. work on the doodles book (how fun!)

15. don't eat the plane food (good thing I packed jam sandwiches)

16. cry a little when you have to put your seatbelt on (by now it's past bedtime)

17. fall asleep 10 minutes before you land

18. thank God once again for a successful first time flying!

19. gather heaviest carry-on backpack and purse and sleeping 3 year old

20. arrive happily (and sleepily) in Mexico at 9:50 PM

mexico

We're back from our trip to Mexico!

I just spent all night going through photos. And now I need to go to bed.

But here are a few photos to let you know what a great time we had!

More details to come :)