Cancun: Day 3

 Sleeping in on vacation is for the weak, I say! We woke up on day 3 at 5am to catch our tour bus to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum. I loved that we were first tour group through the gates and basically had the place to ourselves during our tour. By the time we left, it was super crowded and hot! Also, you may notice my lobster legs in the photos. Apparently I didn't put enough suncreen on them the day before!

 Iguanas were everywhere!

 Our guide telling us about the plants the Mayans used as sewing needles.

 He also told us about how the Mayans broke up the rock to build with: the rocks are very porous so the Mayans stuffed the holes with corn, waited for it to rain and the corn to swell and the rocks would break apart.

 the wooden beam in this doorway is over 800 years old.

 There are two faced engraven on the corners of this building. This one has his eyes closed.

 And this one has his eyes open.

 Red hands as a way for the Mayan artist to sign his name...it's also speculated that red hands were a sign of Christianity. Red hands have been seen other places around the world and perhaps that was a sign to other Christians that there were believers around.

 The Mayan temple of Tulum is called "The Temple of the Descending God" and engravings of an upside down man are found in several places.

 In the main temple there are three niches above the doorway. One has a picture of a "white" man with long hair and a beard (something the Mayans didn't have). The middle niche has the upside down man, and the third niche is intentionally left blank. There are many theories of who or what these niches mean. The Christian view is that it's Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the blank one is for the Holy Ghost.

 The backside of the temple is a cliff looking down on the coast.

 Standing up on top, looking down at all the stone buildings, it felt  just like we had stepped back several hundred years and could easily picture an ancient civilization living here.

 Our tour guide was very knowlegeable without being over long-winded. One of the interesting things he said in the tour was that in other Mayan ruins around Cancun there are signs of human sacrifice, but at Tulum there are not signs of that, even though it was of the more recent sites. His theory is that the Mayans were becoming a wicked people...a several years drought forced them to move from their other sites to Tulum. Once they got there, they decided, when they built Tulum, to return to their roots and live more peacefully.

After the tour was over, our guide allowed us to wander freely to explore the site and visit the market nearby before loading back on the bus.

 And this is why getting up early was worth it! We got back to our hotel around 2pm and changed right into our swimsuits and were ready to hit the beach again!

Cancun: Day 2

 We started Day 2 of our trip by agreeing to attend a 90 minute presentation (aka sales pictch) for a "vacation club" (aka time share scheme). We only agreed for the fancy breakfast and free couples massage they threw in.

 After that was over, we went straight to beach and ordered smoothies! It was funny because we had to order our smoothies off the kids menu because everything else had alchohol in it. But they were still delicious!

Before we left, I told Blake the thing I was looking forward to the most was drinking smoothies on the beach and just relaxing...and that's what I did!

 Remember the lit up Cancun sign from day 1? This is the view from the top of the balcony looking down to our resort. The pool was gorgeous and the beach just a few steps away. There was a swim up bar at the pool and an outdoor grill just off to the left where Blake and I ordered burgers, nachos, pizza, and fresh chips, salsa, and guacamole daily!

 I kinda loved my toenails!

 The ocean was warm and Blake was fearless in it! He would go out so far to play in the waves and it made me nervous. I was like a mother hen watching him the entire time.

 The view from our balcony

 There were several restaraunts at the resort, and this was one of their "fancy" ones where we ate a 5 course meal. The food was divine!

Each night at the hotel there was entertainment. Tonight's show was a magic show that was actually really good and Blake and I were really impressed by it.

Cancun Day1

 The last time Blake and I took a vacation, just the two of us, was four years ago right before Porter turned 1. We were long overdue for some time together! We've done a cruise a couple of different times and wanted to try an all-inclusive resort this time around. After doing some research (probably in excess in my case, which is just my personality. I research EVERYTHING before buying), we decided to spend a week in Cancun, Mexico.

We left our home at MIDNIGHT to drive three hours to the airport for our 6am flight to Denver. There, we ate breakfast and had a short layover before our 4 hour flight to Mexico.

 Leaving land behind us as we crossed over the gulf of Mexico

 Spotting land again, Yay1

I had previously arranged transportation from the airport to our hotel, but it still was a crazy and stressful experience mostly because the airport is crazy and there are a lot of locals wanting to "help" you. We finally found the right shuttle and off we went to the hotel! 

The early flight was worth it to be checked into our room and out by the ocean by 3:30pm.

 We had a room with a balcony and a view of the Lagoon.

 We were there during the full moon.

Did I mention that day 1 was also my birthday? Not a bad way to spend it, I'd say!

After dinner that night, the early flight was starting to catch up with us. We went to bed excited for our first full day in Cancun tomorrow!

Happy 5th Birthday Porter!

 Porter turned 5 on February 2. He was so excited for his big day and has been talking about his birthday for MONTHS, wondering when it was going to be his turn to celebrate. He got to bring treats to preschool and we had a family party at home with pizza, cake, and ice cream and presents of course!

Brooke was really cute and made a card for Porter and gave him some of her number flashcards and saved for him a glowstick she got a school.

 Porter really likes Paw Patrol and wanted this to be the theme of his party.

Porter loves to play with legos and trucks and build forts. He is incredibly loving and helpful and also incredibly stubborn and mischieveious.  He is learning to write his letters and numbers at preschool and can write his name. He also really likes spending time with Blake and working on projects.

We love having Porter in our family. He keeps us laughing and we never know what to expect from him!