Bang-bang-bang is what we listen to all day at work while construction goes on. Seems the city finally decided to do something about this short bridge but we are all mourning the loss of our favorite type of entertainment - trucks running into the bridge.
Try to imagine that Soulja Boy is playing.
Andy lets Payton drive in the parking lot around her school. It's a big parking lot and she drove for probably 8-10 minutes making a couple of laps around the school...very slowly. 
Try to ignore me nagging Blake. He was running right out into the parking lot where she was going to be driving.
Only 2 more games left for this season and we are very thankful for that. The summer schedule has kicked our butts this year and one part of that has been the baseball games and practices.
Payton begs not to attend the games but I think she should go to support Blake. However, she ended up playing with the twins the whole time on Thursday's game. Makes her and the twins happy so it's a win/win.
On our final morning, we got out of bed late and got ourselves packed up and checked out. Our shuttle arrived right on time and we got through the airport check-in/security/customs process quickly. We felt suddenly inundated by Americans while we were waiting in the airport. It was very strange after being away for a few days and it felt like we were in the US at this point.
We grabbed some souvenirs for the kids, had lunch at Air Margaritaville. Andy was upset we were making Jimmy Buffett rich instead of contributing to the Mexican economy. I reminded him that Mexican people had jobs because of Jimmy Buffet's restaurant. He felt the same way when we were at the bar the night before in Playa.
I was so relaxed and just peaceful from our time in Mexico that I said to Andy - "other people don't look as relaxed as I feel." He looked at me funny (as usual) but it just felt odd that other people didn't look nearly as relaxed as I would have expected.
On our first flight, we met a couple that had been staying at a rustic resort. One of them loved it, the other one didn't. I spoke to one of them about traveling around New Zealand for a month, how she had just quit her job and decided to become a painter. Interesting people.
Houston airport, no problem, finally touch down in KC and go get our car and head to my parent's house around 10. Kids are still up and they've got a party for us. My mom made chocolate fondue, Mexican music was playing in the background and we gave the kids their souvenirs. It was good to see them again but we were not shy about how much we enjoyed our vacation.
Our overall thoughts on our trip...
- We loved the resort. Andy wanted an all-inclusive, I didn't want a mega resort so this place was a medium sized compromise. The lack of English-speakers made it interesting and we actually felt like we were in a foreign country. Nevermind the fact that the guests weren't speaking Spanish - at least it didn't feel like the US with different scenery. We'll likely stay at a sister resort on our next trip and bring the kids along. The other resort has suites, has more English speaking guests and staff (though still not primarily English speaking) and more amenities the kids will enjoy.
- We wished we had stayed one day longer. There were a couple of things we didn't do such as kayaking and jet skiing. One more day and we could have fit them in.
- I often recommend if people go to all-inclusives that they take their own large plastic cup but I forgot one on our own trip. All-inclusives are notorious for giving you drinks in small cups so having a large cup is easier. We didn't see other people using larger cups but it would have been convenient.
- More cash. We ran out of cash the last day and couldn't tip the last couple of people we needed to.
- Pics of animation staff. They were awesome and I wish we had pics to remember them by.
Andy may have something to add but he's asleep so he'll have to add anything else later.
We loved this trip and we are discussing returning sometime next year (or maybe the year after - I have so many destinations on my "to do" list!).
Glad everyone has enjoyed the trip report. I'm just glad to finish one after not finishing our NYC or Walt Disney World ones from late last year. Adios!
Last night, Andy and Blake went to a Wingnuts game (local minor league baseball team). On Tuesday, Andy said he'd like to take Blake soon and on Wednesday, I got an opportunity to get free tickets from work to sit in a skybox at the game. Andy and Blake went and sat in the skybox with some of my co-workers. Blake had a great time, my co-workers said he was hyper (maybe due to the cupcakes and Coke he was being fed by dad?) and everybody seemed to have enjoyed themselves. 
One part of the game made CNN today. Andy left this part out when he was telling me about the game!
Friday morning we woke up late after being out late the night before. We headed to the pool to swim and grab some snacks for lunch. I had a massage scheduled in the shelter that's located between the pool and beach. 
The masseuse basically told me to remove my top right there in the open which was a little bit funny to me because we are so discreet in the US. She spoke almost no English so it was a little hard trying to figure out what to do. It was relaxing and nice but the construction taking place 50 feet away was a little disruptive.
We ran to the photography window to pickup the pics we'd taken the day before and then decided we had to go on a run since we hadn't fit it in on another day. The goal was to run 4 miles at the beach - 2 miles down, 2 miles back. We would wear our normal running shoes and try to stay on the firm sand.
Well, that didn't work out quite as well as we'd hoped. We did run a total of 2.5 miles but it was very VERY difficult in the heat and on the sand. I was sore for a few days afterward from this run. At least we tried. We immediately grabbed some cups of water, stripped ourselves of shoes and electronic devices and jumped in the ocean. Ahhhh....
We had to go back to get cleaned up and start the packing process because we were headed to Playa del Carmen in the evening on the courtesy shuttle from the hotel and wouldn't have a lot of time to pack the next morning. I realized I didn't have anything left to wear the next day to the airport so I did what I always do on vacation - laundry. Andy thinks it's hilarious that I always end up washing clothes but I just won't wear dirty clothes.
We caught the bus to Playa around 6. It was a full-sized luxury bus and it was full. We were let out at this intersection in Playa and told to return there by 11 for the ride back.
We walked around Playa, mainly on 5th Avenue looking at the various stores and restaurants. It was all touristy and we didn't end up buying anything.
I knew beforehand that we would be going to The Bucket - a bar owned by Al Mack of my favorite radio show, Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. He (and his best friend, Steve, who is a co-owner as well) were both in town and I wanted to hang out there at least for a little bit.
When we got there, there were just a few people there but we were just glad to have a place to use the bathroom, get a drink and sit down after walking for so long. I could see Al in the upstairs part of the bar so after getting a drink, we headed upstairs to grab a table and talk to him.
We were having fun talking to the people that started to accumulate at the tables (95% of whom were from Dallas) and Steve eventually came around too. This is blurry but Steve was sitting on Andy's lap and it was kinda funny...
Jez (manager of the bar) and Steve...
A random balloon-making clown showed up at the bar...
We met a couple that brought their sons and daughters-in-law for the weekend, a group of people celebrating their 50th birthdays, met some guys from Atlanta, saw one of the 50-year-olds try to pickup on a much younger guy, watched Al and Steve make out with multiple girls and just had a great time overall. The time got to be 10:30 and Andy asked if I wanted to get a cab back to the hotel or go catch the bus. I told him I'd do whatever he wanted to do - I'm NOT good at leaving once I start having fun and get in party mode so I have to defer to Andy on these things. He chose the bus so we left.
We got back to the hotel and went to bed. Our shuttle to the airport was arriving the next day around noon so this was our last night in Mexico.
Next (and last) installment - the trip home and our overall thoughts on the trip!
Blake: Did God make God?
Andy: I don't know.
Blake: Maybe Santa Claus will tell me. Or the Easter Bunny.
Thursday morning we are up around 6 to get ourselves ready to go to Tulum. Pack our bag (which Andy thought was over packed), grab some breakfast in the room and we're out.
The drive to Tulum was about an hour and a half or so. We made one stop before getting to Tulum at a shop where they were supposedly teaching us about the native rocks and plants. I'm sure it was really a case of the shop paying the tour company to bring us by. A tad bit annoying.
We make it to Tulum and start down the road where you enter.
The man on the right is our guide and we enjoyed him. Some of the guests in our group weren't quite as well prepared as we were. See that girl on the left in the cute dress? She immediately started complaining about mosquitoes (we had bug spray in our bag), she wore cute strappy sandles which wasn't a good idea, got thirsty in the hot sun (we brought a 32 oz. bottle of water) and had to leave to get something to eat (we brought snacks). We were prepared!
Once inside the ruins area, our guide fed the iguana a flower. He said people sometimes get really hurt when their fingers get munched on accidentally when the iguana is grabbing the flower.
Then it was off to see the actual ruins...
Is it weird to smile in front of a place where people used to get their hearts ripped out? I guess it's ok - they were honored to be sacrificed....right? 
Once we got up to the top of the hill, we saw the ocean. OMG. So gorgeous. The combo of the ruins and ocean/beach here made this Tulum excursion one of the highlights of our trip.
In our handy dandy bag, we had swimsuits and a beach towel so we could get in the ocean while we were here.
Heading down the very tall staircase (this photo is to show the stairs, not the woman in front of me!)...
One last photo before we head out (Liz, please notice the shirt...he really wants you to see the shirt! In fact, this excursion was the first time we encountered Americans on our trip and they commented to Andy about the shirt.)
We loved Tulum very much and recommend it to anybody traveling to the area. We headed back and got to our hotel around 12:30. Grabbed some lunch, took a long nap and then headed...where else? The beach.
The day before I had gotten a bit intimidated by the lack of English being spoken but was happy when we finally got our tour booked. I had also been intimidated by trying to join in the beach volleyball games or any of the classes that take place poolside. I told Andy that today, we'd do those things regardless of the lack of English being spoken.
We sat beside the volleyball court and waited for a chance to join. We were motioned to join if we wanted so we jumped in. The other players never tried to speak English and we obviously don't speak Italian so we didn't really talk with them but we just played. I'm glad we did.
Then we heard there was a salsa class starting soon by the pool and I told Andy I wanted to do it. I head up there and talk to the Animator (staff in charge of entertainment/activities) beforehand so he knows we speak English. The animator spoke 4 languages and conducted the class using all 4 flawlessly. He was great. One of my only regrets is not getting photos with the animation staff - they were awesome and would always greet us in English (they didn't have to - we can speak enough Spanish to make small talk but it was nice of them), talk to us for a while, etc.
We had another dinner reservation for this evening but this one was at the Mediterranean restaurant. We headed back to get cleaned up and end up with a bit of time before our reservation time.
Some quick pics before we ate...
Then it was time for some FOOD. As soon as we got in, Andy said "oh, you're gonna love this place." It was lovely and modern and just really nice.
We were able to order 4 courses. I ordered a caprese salad, spinach ravioli, grouper and a brownie/ice cream thing for dessert. Andy ordered some other stuff that I don't remember the name of. I about died, people. This was either the best or the second best meal I've had in the last year. Andy was pleasantly surprised and liked his food as well.
SO HAPPY...
Great ambiance, fabulous food, fantastic service (not supposed to tip at an all-inclusive but we did!). If we'd stayed longer, we would have made another reservation for this place.
Afterward, we headed to the main building for piano bar music, drinks and then we made our way to the dance club for a little while. One of the animators got me up from my chair to salsa dance so he and I danced one song together. I was having trouble with the turns and he was nice enough to help me with those.
We decided to go to the ocean again and we were always surprised nobody was out late. It was very dark but the ocean was still beautiful and I decided to get in, European style. That's all I gots to say about that.
It was late by now so we walked back to our room. The next day is our anniversary and would be filled with lots of stuff including a massage, a run and a trip into Playa del Carmen!
Capitalist Altruism isn't an oxymoron and should appeal to even the very fiscally conservative people who read my blog.
Kiva.org is a website that allows you to loan money to entrepreneurs in developing countries. They get the money, use it for the stated purpose and repay on a payment plan. You get your money back, they get to grow their business and everybody wins.
Wednesday morning and we're up around 8:30 and off to the breakfast buffet and then to spend the day lounging at the beach. We alternate between beach chairs and hammock, ocean and pool. Ahhh...the life.
The David Sedaris book I read during our trip (also read one when we went to Thailand - nice of him to time his book releases w/our trips)...
Ominous looking security was in stark contrast to the peaceful surroundings...
Just when we were starting to relax and enjoy our surroundings, we get a call from Payton. She's been up most of the night coughing, can't breathe and wants an inhaler but doesn't have one. I hang up w/her and call my mom to let her know that although Payton just wants an inhaler, I believe that she is sick and needs to go to the doctor. My dad cuts out of work early to take her and thankfully they get her in quickly. She walked out of the doctor's office with an antibiotic, anti-histamine and an inhaler. For 13 years I've been leaving notarized medical power of attorney forms with the kids when we leave. Thankfully, this is the first (and maybe the last) time it's ever been needed. She was better within 24 hours and able to enjoy the rest of her time while we were gone.
We eat at the snack bar at the beach, have some more drinks and decide that we need to book our tour to Tulum soon. We head to the tour desk and are told that we can't because it's Italian tours only. We are asked by several staffers who our tour operator is. We don't have one (we booked on Orbitz.com - not with a tour operator). We are sent to the lobby for more info, we ask the front desk...dead end.
I decide to call the same company that was doing our airport transportation, Best Day, and ask them if they can help us. They send a representative to the lobby to meet me and I book and pay right then. He uses his Blackberry and wireless printer to issue the tickets and we are set to go on a tour the next morning. Highly recommend Best Day for great customer service and professionalism.
We have our photography appointment coming up very quickly so we get cleaned up and head off to our appointment. I wanted to blow dry my hair like I normally do but since the blow dryer wouldn't work, I decided to just go with it and wear it wet. We took many photos and bought 5 prints. We were given two on CD. These are the two we have in digital format...
We had a bit of time to kill before our dinner reservation so we grabbed some drinks and decided to sit on the beach for a bit. I couldn't resist and rolled up my pant legs and headed out into the water.
It was lovely but I got soaked y'all. Headed to the Mexican restaurant with soaked pants.
Mexican food is not my favorite food (to say the least) but it is one of Andy's so he was really looking forward to our dinner. Some of the courses we got...
Andy definitely loved his meal and has raved about it since then (though he declined to order appetizers or any other course aside from the main course...at an all-inclusive...where the food is included). Mine was good and better than expected.
This night would be an early night so we headed off to get showered (again!) and ready for the next morning where we'd be heading on our excursion to Tulum bright and early.
