Mexico!

Last spring, prior to finding out I was pregnant, I began thinking about planning a vacation for just Josh and me.  We had done two trips since Samantha was born with her in tow, and they were both a lot of fun.  However, the thought of having some time away from my role as "Mom" sounded appealing.  Fast forward about two weeks and I found out I was growing #2.  That only solidified my desire to get away before I started this whole baby roller coaster over again and had to wait another two years.  

The plan was to do a vacation where this preggo got to simply relax.  That is VERY different from most of our vacations!  Normally it's all about the sightseeing and spending each day lugging myself around on my own two stems.  Ideally we wanted to go on another cruise.  Unfortunately, that required either paying summer prices (CHA CHING!) or being too far into my pregnancy to be allowed on any ship.  That led to looking into resorts in the Caribbean.  Again, this was SO not my usual vacation!  My computer was probably confused when I was researching these places.  But alas, we ended up finding a resort that looked wonderful and fit the budget right outside of Cancun.

The week leading up to the trip, I was already going nuts.  The longest I had ever been away from Samantha was a matter of hours.  Honestly, it probably wasn't more than about three hours.  I'd DEFINITELY never been away overnight!  My entire identity at this stage is wrapped up in spending day in and day out with that little girl.  I just didn't know how to be away from her and her needs.  But with grandparents lined up, Josh dragged me away (yes, hesitantly).


Day 1: After a full (early) morning of travel, we made it to our resort about noon.  We couldn't get into our room until almost three, which was a bummer, but we were still able to go have lunch, get a complimentary "jet lag" neck and shoulder massage (our flight was three hours and we were in the same time zone...), and hang out by the pool. That night we had a yummy hibachi dinner and then went to a fire show.  (We also ate hibachi on our last "babymoon".  We thought it was ironic).

In our private car to the resort

Our room

Our room

Our balcony

View from our room

Our room

hibachi

Fire show

Day two: The second day was spent merely relaxing.  We started the day with breakfast in bed followed by an incredible morning at the spa.  I had booked us a couples massage before we left because this pregnant lady needed one badly!  After our massage, we got another hour or so of their aquatherapy.  It basically consisted of going in steam rooms, sitting in jacuzzis, being massaged by water jets, dipping in an ice pool, and then ending with another head and neck massage.  It was all wonderful!  The rest of the day was spent at the pools, on the beach for a while (I preferred the pool), and eating more wonderful food.  We also got to Skype with our little lady back home and see that she was alive and well with her Lala and Papa G.

The spa

The spa

They braided my hair during my head massage

Yummy drinks by the pool

A random shot of the resort

At the beach

Before dinner

Before dinner

On the beach

Day three:  This was by far the most tiring day.  We wanted to leave the resort and actually see some of the local area, so we booked a snorkeling trip to Cozumel.  We had done a snorkeling trip on our last cruise and loved it!  Unfortunately, the process of getting to and from Cozumel was a long one.  First we had a 45-min drive from our hotel into Playa del Carmen where we caught a 30-min ferry to Cozumel.  I was already tired (and a little sea sick) by the time we got to Cozumel.  The snorkeling itself was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect for it.  We then had a little over an hour left in town to eat lunch and do some shopping.  Some of the shop owners we visited didn't speak English, so I had to bust out my rusty high school Spanish to negotiate prices.  I was quite proud of what I remembered, but it was still quite a challenge!  But since Josh failed his one semester of college Spanish, it was still better for me to do the talking ; )  We finally got back to our hotel in time to clean up and go to dinner.  We ate at the French restaurant that night where we FINALLY had incredible dessert.  (That was the one thing that was lacking to me at the resort.  The desserts were merely mediocre for the most part).  This was also the day that the grandparents switched off and my parents took over.

Driving to Playa del Carmen

Driving to Playa del Carmen

Soccer on the beach- I had never seen this before!

On the ferry

Pre-snorkeling

Post-snorkeling

Mexico!

SOO tired on the ferry ride back

Before dinner

At dinner

Day four: Saturday was our last full day at the resort.  Again, we spent most of it hanging around the resort doing a lot of nothing.  We got to Skype with the princess again this day and see her with her Nana, Pops, and (most excitedly) Copper.  This afternoon we also went on a short bike tour to a tiny town a few miles from the resort.  We spent our last night chowing down on delicious, authentic Mexican food and going back to the French restaurant for more of the good desserts!

Lunch on a balcony

Lunch on a balcony

Bike tour in our sexy vests and helmets

We had to ride single file.  You know we looked really cool to the locals ; )

In a tiny market in town

The last night : (

At dinner

Josh's dinner- it was a bunch of meat served on a pig platter.

The delicious chocolate cake and creme brulee

Day five: We were able to have one more morning at the resort before heading home.  Again, we spent it between the beach and the pool before we had to clean up and head out.  It was a LONG trip home, but we finally got home to basically tell my mom goodnight and crash.  I wanted to get the baby girl up SOO badly, but figured that wouldn't go well.  It felt WONDERFUL to snuggle her the next morning.  

Sunrise on the beach

My stud

We FINALLY named baby girl #2!!!

Adios paradise!

Unfortunately, over two weeks later, she is STILL making me pay for leaving her.  Despite doing well while we were gone, apparently she did have some major separation issues.  She now cries every time I put her to sleep (at first it was for over two hours), her naps have averaged out to be about 45 minutes each day, she wants to be held much more often than she did prior, and she throws bigger fits when I leave her in the church nursery.  Did I mention we've been home over two weeks??  Obviously I can't ever leave her again : /