Back to Reality

On Saturday morning, we boarded our plane in Lansing for a direct flight to Cancun, Mexico. This was our first time out of the country (besides Canada) and with our passports in hand, we were more than ready to leave the snow behind in West Michigan for warmer temperatures. We stayed for 7 nights and the Gran Bajia Principe Coba. We had such a great time! All we did was relax...no extra excursions and no kids to chase. It was wonderful, rejuvenating, and perfect weather. We just sat by the pool or ocean and met some wonderful people. I was actually able to read and finish a book...a great page turner, by the way, Redemption by Karen Kingsbury. It's book one of the series. The resort was phenomenal! The workers were SO polite and always making sure our  needs were met. Our resort was one of three resorts making up the Gran Bajia. It was SO big with plenty to do including great restaurants, buffets, pools, and miles of ocean to enjoy.

We arrived at 1 in the afternoon and had to wait until 3 p.m. for our room. When we checked, they upgraded us because we had booked online. We were able to choose four restaurants within the resort for dinner. We chose the Seafood, Italian, Japanese, and Brazilian. All of them were excellent! I felt like I was eating at the Amway with the different foods, drinks, and table linens.

Because of our upgrade, we were given the opportunity to go on a hour and half tour with a employee to give us details on the resort and entice us with a time share. As a result, we received a free bottle of Tequila and two tickets to the Mexican Fiesta. The Mexican Fiesta was very cultural. They had some carnival games set up prior to the show. Whether you won or lost, you received shots of Tequila. The show was comprised of Mexican themed dancing and a Mariachi band.

Every night we attended one of the shows at a resort. We went to a Circus show, Michael Jackson show, and Lip Sync show.

We called home twice during the week via Skype. Everything was going well on the home front. Lydia wanted to make sure that we were opening the many letters and pictures she and Ava wrote/drew for us to enjoy each day while we were away. By Friday, I was ready to return to my precious children and was beginning to miss them. Our flight left at 10:50, so we were picked up from the resort around 7:50 a.m. We had to make a few other stops at other resorts to pick up more tourists that also needed to catch a flight. My the last pick up, we were a little worried that we wouldn't make our flight. However, the tourist in the passenger seat gave a, "Pronto, Amigo" and with that we were off and made it to the airport with enough time to grab some lunch and visit some stores within the airport. We were shocked at how the restaurants jacked up their prices for meals. A burger and fries (granted, they were a fairly large portion) was $10 a piece! That is outrageous and should be a crime in itself when you think about how many pesos that would amount to. Anyway, the flight back went smoothly and on the drive home, we were anticipating our kids' excitement! We walked through the door and were smothered in hugs and kisses. The feeling was mutual. Isaac didn't really know what to think. He just kept staring at us with a confused look. After about an hour, his personality returned. This vacation was one for us to cherish because it probably won't happen again in a very very long time and we were fortunate to have two sets of grandparents willing to care for three kids. Life has returned to normal, but we have great memories from that week and will never forget them.