Mexico Part Dos

Buenos Dias!  It's another lovely day in Mexico.

The second half of our trip wasn't quite as adventurous as the first, but equalled in fun.  We had worked one day in to devote solely to the pool and beach, but wouldn't you know we found something extracurricular to do.

We couldn't help but notice the amazing catamaran in our sights while playing on the beach.  It was calling our name.

Before we knew it, we were climbing on board and heading out to tackle a snorkeling adventure.

Some ideas sure do sound great until they are actually executed.  Wait for it...

It was a total bust...for the girls anyway.  Everything was just fine until, Lucy's mask slipped, her earrings fell out, and then a wave crashed over Maggie.  And just like that-it was over.

These two were in hysterics until they were pulled aboard and wrapped up in towels.  And basically, this is what they did while Clay and I snorkeled and for the entire boat ride back.

But, on a brighter note, Clay and I found the snorkeling to be absolutely incredible and saw the most beautiful underwater sights.  Worth it at the girl's expense....eek.

For the rest of the afternoon, we were at the kid's happy place...poolside.  Except for the two hours I slipped off to the spa for the most delectable pampering of my life.  Seriously, the most fabulous spa I have ever been to.  A must do.

We dined on property again and Lucy enjoyed another late afternoon of hoping back and forth from the kid's club.

Our final Mexico adventure was a Dolphin Encounter the following day.  I have to admit, I tried to talk the kids out of this one, seeing as how we could do this many other places, but they insisted.  And I am so glad they did.  This may have been one of our favorite experiences the whole week {I know we keep saying that}.

The facility was clean, organized, and our trainer was marvelous.  Not to mention, the dolphins stole our hearts within minutes of interacting with them.  We can't stop talking about Jon and Helen....sweetest creatures of the sea.

Our dolphin excursion included lunch, which was awful.  It was pretty much our only bad meal of the vacation.  The boardwalk surrounding the facility was full of fun sights and shops.

We explored and shopped a bit before catching our ride back to the resort.

We spent the rest of our stay basking in the sun {when it wasn't cloudy}, swimming in the pool, and dining at one of the amazing restaurants on property.

As you can imagine, it was nearly impossible to say adios to Mexico and head home to frigid temps.  This will definitely go down as one of our favorite vacations to date.

Hasta Luego Amigos!  I'm off to bundle up and get used to normal life again.

La Viva Mexico!

Happy New Year!  Not too bad of a way to welcome in 2018, I must say!

Hola Mexico!  The Cibulas have arrived.

After great debate about where to escape to this winter break, we landed on Mexico.  Apparently we chose one of their coolest weeks of the year.  The weather averaged around 75, which was actually blissful compared to back home, but somewhat chilly if you wanted to get wet.

Although our resort, The Grand Velas, was absolutely fabulous, we are hardly the type to stay too still.  Adventure awaited us with a few pool days planned in between.

We arrived early afternoon and were escorted and pampered all the way to our suite door.  All five of us were ecstatic to see the pool literally steps from our back door.  I'm telling you, I could lay in bed and see the kids in the pool, yet it was still plenty private.  Amaze-o!

The kiddos wasted no time in changing into swimsuits and jumping right in.  We ate lunch pool side and took out first day in Riviera Maya pretty easy.

After several swim up bar smoothies, we dried our threesome off and ate dinner on property.

Our first full day was filled with adventure.  And quite possibly one of our favorites {actually we said that  after every adventure}.  We took a day long tour to experience the Mayan culture.  This was one of Jack's request, he wanted to see ruins and history.  Check.  The day did not disappoint.

When I say day long, it was just that.  From 7:30 am-8:80 pm, but super worth it.  Our first stop was a little Mexican town.  This is when my kids actually realized they were in Mexico and not just at some beach hotel.

We spent a short time visiting the chapels, walking the streets, and shopping at street side vendors.

We climbed back on the bus and headed to our next stop, which was a modern day Mayan village.

I found this experience totally fascinating.  The Mayans eat, sleep, and even cook without electricity.  The residents were so welcoming and offered a truly authentic experience.

Lucy volunteered to help make lunch, that was served to us later in our visit.  This girl is up for anything.

Our next stop was the grand finale and basically what the kids had been waiting for in full anticipation....Chichen Itza, the ancient Mayan ruins.  The drive was nearly 3 hours from our resort, but I am certain not one of us regretted the traipse.  It was utterly amazing.

We were given a short guided tour and then left to explore ourselves.

Come the bus ride home, the kids were passing out left and right.  It made for a super peaceful trip back to the resort.  We decided to cancel our dinner reservations and dine in on room service {which was actually divine}.  Not too long after, we were all dreaming about the next day's adventure.

The next day, we woke up to another early morning activity.  We grabbed breakfast buffet style at the resort and literally ran to catch our shuttle waiting in front of the lobby.  We were off to XPLOR.

XPLOR is basically an extreme adventure park, which may not sound too fitting for a family with three little ones, but it totally was.  Everyone tried something new, everyone stepped a bit out of their comfort zone, and everyone LOVED it!

Imagine this, at the end of the day, this was their new favorite.

The extreme adventuring included a series of ten zip lines divided into two courses.  Some of which landed in water and some that soared over the forestry.  I spotted a jaguar {for real!}, two giant iguanas, and a few cool birds.

This was a giant step out of her comfort zone, but Maggie gave it a whirl and ended up having so much fun!

We did a little off roading in these amphibious vehicles.  Okay, it wasn't really "off road", we had a strict path to follow, but it was an adventure...and dirty...and wet.

We definitely did our fair share of cave exploring.

And our final adventure was swimming in a Cenote {and underground sink hole/cave thingy}.  This was a bit harrowing.  We could not reach the bottom, you were forbidden to grab onto stalagmites or tites, it was freezing, and the kiddos were grabbing all over me.  To sum it up, they absolutely loved it and I was ready to get the rock out of there.

Glad I did it, but not itching to try again.

We survived all our new adventures and even had time for lunch.  Which, was an amazingly good buffet.  I mean who knew?

This day trip was much shorter than the previous.  We made back in time for Lucy to hit the kids's club {which she wanted to move into}, eat dinner at the resort, and even lounge at the pool for a hot minute.

Part uno is completo.  I'll be back with the second half of our Mexico vaca.  Adios until then!