We are back from our wonderful and WARM vacation to Cancun Mexico! This was our third time in Cancun, and the plan was just to enjoy the resort and quite literally do nothing else. We achieved this to a tee. Here we go!
We left our house very early on Thanksgiving Day, like 4:25am early. Things were a bit hectic but I felt like it was under control. Most of the packing was done the day before, we really just needed to get dressed and get out the door. Somehow we decided to put Adam in charge of putting on his own shoes, it was early and I didn't double check the situation. He had some form of footwear, I did confirm that. Will get back to this later. We had a smooth drive to the airport parking lot, shuttle ride was smooth, all was good. Little hiccup at security when for some reason Brian's TSA Pre Check wasn't showing up on his boarding pass. Not really having time to properly research the situation, he decided to go get Clear so he didn't have to wait in the long regular line for security. Long story short, he got through quickly with Clear, only to discover his TSA Pre number had a typo and that is why it didn't show up on the boarding pass. Oops! Oh well, he does travel for work so Clear is a nice thing to have (his company might even pay for it, here's hoping!).
We see that we are taking off from an N gate so we get on the train to the N gates. It is on the train that I look down at Adam's shoes and see that he is wearing one of his old shoes (same as his new shoes, just one size smaller and a bit dirtier due to being old) and one of his new shoes. Not only this, but both shoes are for the same foot:-/.
Why do we still have his old shoes in the basket with his new shoes you ask? Well when I first got the new shoes I wanted to make sure they weren't too big or uncomfortable in some way, so I hung on to the old shoes for "a while". Oops!
We asked him if he wanted to put his sandals on there in the airport, but he refused so he just made do. Brian did have him take his shoes off on the plane so at least his flight was comfortable! He did not put those shoes on again the rest of the trip, needless to say - sandals all the way home. Lesson learned - ALWAYS double check Adam's footwear!
Flight was pretty smooth, everyone coped really well and we got there right around when we were supposed to. The line at Customs wasn't too long, and we didn't have a checked bag so we made our way to Immigration pretty quickly after that. Thankfully we didn't get pulled out to do any extensive searches like other people so we got out to meet our shuttle about 45 minutes after we landed. A short wait for the shuttle and off we went to our resort! First impression of the resort - pretty nice! Beautiful setting on the ocean, friendly staff, AND we got connecting rooms which was SUCH a relief! It was not guaranteed because not all the villas have them, so I was so grateful we did. We were already resigned to making do without them but this just made my day. We finally got to our room between 5:30 and 6, our rooms were decent. A bit dated but we were expecting that so I didn't care too much. After getting settled we headed over to the buffet to get something to eat. First impression of the buffet, it was okay - pretty standard all inclusive buffet food. We wandered for a bit around the resort and turned in pretty early as we were all exhausted. Pretty good travel day, ready to start the vacation for real the next day!
Day one at the resort - Friday. We didn't know it at the time, but Friday and Saturday would be our best weather days so I am glad we took full advantage. We lounged at the pool, and Brian took the boys into the ocean. The ocean was a bit rough for me, I went in briefly but it wasn't too enjoyable so I came out. The water was nice and warm, though! Adam and Nathan enjoyed the waves, although they became a bit much for Adam. He wasn't watching at one point and got swamped. After that, he did go back in, but was pretty touchy. I felt a bit bad that I hadn't picked a resort with a calmer beach but I didn't realize it at the time. I mean the water was so gorgeous so that was a real plus, just a shame it was so rough!
That evening we checked out the Italian restaurant which was pretty good. We were trying to take a selfie family photo and I couldn't get everyone to cooperate at the same time, so a guy sitting alone at the table beside us took pity on us and took a picture for us haha. Great first day!
Day 2 - Saturday, another calm weather day. You guessed it, we spent the day lounging at the pool! There is a theme here, we literally relaxed so much there isn't much to write about! Brian took the boys back into the ocean, it was actually the calmest day we had so I'm glad they got to go in a bit that day. Adam went in but still a bit apprehensive from the day before. We had dinner at the Hibachi restaurant which was a fun experience. Food was pretty good, too!
We had some lizards (iguanas?) that made themselves at home outside our villa. It was fun to see them every day, and they seemed to be multiplying! First day there was one, the next two, and then eventually there were three of them asserting their dominance over the humans that dared to approach. Kidding, they didn't move at all and were completely harmless of course!
Day 3 - Sunday. It started to get windy on Sunday and unfortunately the wind hung around for most of the rest of our time. Thankfully it was still sunny so we could still enjoy the pool which was pretty sheltered for the most part. The sun was still so warm it was amazing! The ocean wasn't really swimmable this day but it was really cool to watch - such incredible waves. It might be the most beautiful beach I have seen, at least one of the most beautiful.
Nathan wanted me to sign out a ball from the towel hut almost every day, he got a bit bored of just lounging around the pool. We played some games with the ball and it provided some entertainment for our restless boy! We had taken our Switch along so we played a lot of Switch games as well in our down time in the room, me not as much as the others but I did join in from time to time:-D.
We had dinner at the Steakhouse that night, and the food was decent - the steak in particular was quite delicious! I was impressed at how well cooked it was. The appetizer bar was just okay, but again, it's an all inclusive so my expectations are always a bit lower than they would be at a fancy steakhouse elsewhere. We went for a walk to the beach after dinner so Adam could sprinkle some sand. It was a beautiful night, the waves crashing up on the shore in the dark are a bit disconcerting but lovely to listen to. We ended the night watching the last episode of the Great British Bake off, yay for Georgie! Lynsey and Nathan decided to order some room service (chips and guac, gotta love the indulgence of staying at an all inclusive!). Another great day!
Day 4 - Monday. Cabana day! I rented a pool cabana for the day and it was lovely. I literally sun bathed for like 5 hours that day - even had my lunch quesadilla brought to me:-D. The kids and Brian came and went throughout the day, no one else has the same capacity for sun bathing that I do. Nathan joined a competition at the pool to try and throw a frisbee into a slot and he ended up winning the competition! It was so fun, he gave the guy a fake name and now everyone at the resort thinks we named our child Cubert:-l. He got a hat for winning so he was happy!
We went to the American Bistro for dinner and it was pretty good actually. Big portions for an all inclusive (of course since it's the American Bistro, right??). Nathan wanted to play some ping pong before we went back to the room so we did that for a bit, I was better than I remember haha!
Day 5 - Tuesday. Once again, windy but sunny and warm. Brian and I walked down to the beach for a bit but didn't go too far into the water, just sat and had a drink. Adam was still enjoying the pool at this point but all the kids were definitely starting to slow down. Right around day 5 at an all inclusive it does start to get a bit monotonous so I was expecting it. Everyone was still enjoying the lounging time and sunshine!
We had dinner at the Mexican restaurant, which I probably enjoyed more than anyone else. I don't usually like ceviche but the shrimp ceviche was quite tasty there!
Day 6 - Wednesday. Last full day at the resort! Another windy, sunny day where we enjoyed the main pool. That evening we decided to go back to the Italian for our last dinner. We knew it was the busiest restaurant at the resort so we went to put our name on the list around 6. The Friday before we had gotten in within 40 minutes, but it was much busier on Wednesday. We didn't get in until 7:45 and Adam was getting a bit grumpy by then:-/. We had a staff member take a family photo before dinner but Adam wasn't thrilled, thankfully he was much happier after dinner so we got some good family selfies after dinner as well! The dinner was really good, I had some delicious sea bass and mushroom risotto. I can see why it's the busiest of the resort, I would say it's the best with the steakhouse being second. It was a fun last night at the resort!
Day 7 - Thursday. Last morning! We had breakfast and checked out of our room in our swimsuits. We checked our bags with the bell hop and enjoyed one more morning at the pool. It was nice and calm this morning so Brian took the boys back to the water. Adam was not cooperating so even though the water was swimmable he was not enjoying himself and kept wanting to get out. We all walked back to the pool and then after a bit, Brian took Nathan back to the ocean without Adam. Thankfully Adam is not in that phase anymore where Brian can't be out of his sight!
There was a competition at the pool where you had to throw a basketball into a pool donut, and Brian, Nathan and Lynsey all competed. Lynsey ended up making the final (there were actually a lot of finalists!) and she was the winner! It was so fun and exciting, Nathan was so happy for her it was really cute:-). She got a t-shirt, so now both the kids have a nice souvenir from their vacation.
We got showered and changed in the hospitality room at the spa and had one more meal at the buffet. Our shuttle came to get us at 2:30 and we were off to the airport! Everything went pretty smoothly at the airport and we ended up with quite a lot of time to wait at the gate. Adam started to get a bit antsy and we were a bit worried for the flight. Thankfully he settled in as soon as the flight took off and did great! Everything at Seatac went great and we were on our way home by about 9pm. It felt really late of course since we were on Eastern Time, but we were happy with how quickly things went! We got home, picked up our doggie from the Gouldings (safe to say he was happy to see us!) and starting unpacking and getting back to real life!
Another great vacation in the books for the Kroekers!
