Mexico 2012

We're back!  After 7 days in paradise we are back to reality.  We went to Riviera Maya in Mexico the first week of October.  It's right between Cancun and Playa and we stayed at an all inclusive adults only resort.  It's the way to go!  We had great weather all but one of the days.  We went shopping, relaxed, swam a ton, ate a lot of course, and even went to see some Mayan ruins.  It was the best trip ever!

Outside on our balcony

LOVED playing in the ocean.  The water was super warm

White sand & blue water.  The ocean was full of giant fish that swam all around me.  I screamed constantly and jumped on Bryce's shoulders causing quite a scene, but of course they were friendly.  People would bring bread out into the water to cause them to swarm all around them.  Yuck.

These giant lizards were everywhere!

There was wildlife to be found all over our resort.  These giant lizards liked to bake on the rocks.  They gave me the creeps.  We'd see racoons & other mammals wandering about.  My friend Emily will enjoy the last picture of a GIANT spider we found walking into our building.  Again I was terrified.  It's a blessing I was not born in a tropical place.

Bryce with his friend shopping in Playa

Shopping in Playa was a lot of fun!  It's about 40 blocks of shopping.  We walked ALL the way down and ALL the way back.  We were beat!  It gets old being yelled at constantly that things are "almost free" or "we have just what choo looking for!".  We got hungry once & I was SO skeptical of every shop or restaurant so I made Bryce get me Mcdonald's fries & ice cream.  Gotta love the reliablity of good 'ol mcdonalds :).



Mr. Senor Frog



I love my bright colored New York shirt, but note to self everyone & I mean everyone will yell & ask you if you are from New York & you can be heckled even more than you already were :)

Ready for a nice night out!

The restaurants were a lot of fun!  There were about 8 different ones to go out and try & they didn't require a reservation or anything.  You also had to dress up which was kind of fun.  My top 2 were the steak house & the Japanese restaurant.  The steak house was surprisingly amazing as well as the Japanese restaurant where they cook in front of you like Tepanyaki/Bonsai here in the states.  My favorite part was getting up to leave right after we were done eating - felt like I was dining & dashing every night!

This is as close as I would get to the big lizard...

Yes I did get sunburned & yes I did regret it...

Ready for a day of sightseeing...

One of the oldest churches in Mexico

Swimming in a 120 foot deep natural well/cave.  Freezing and exhilarating!

I was so scared to swim in this well.  It was deep & the thought of some creature seeing my toes & swimming up from the bottom to swallow me just wouldn't leave my mind.  I held onto the rope at all times!  It was cool we tried this though since it's natural & can't really do it anywhere else.

Ropes to hang on to



Chichen Itza



After a LONG bus ride we arrived at the Chichen Itza ruins.  We had an interesting tour guide that filled us in on the fun facts & crazy creepy sacrificing going on.  As well as the famous Mayan calender that does NOT say the world is going to end.  It just starts over...kind of like when our calender rolled over into 2000.  We're experts on the subject now if you have more questions :).  There were lots of buildings to check out & another natural well that was considered sacred to see.  There was a big arena where the Mayans played a game against eachother & either the winner or the loser was sacrificed - that fact remains unclear ha ha. 

Sad day - you're not allowed to climb up the steps anymore

This is where the royalty sat to watch the games.  Bryce told me to pose like I was the queen so there you go :)



And for the grand finale...the spider that took my breath away.  The worst was when it started crawling - haunts my dreams.



Thanks fam for the rides to the airport!  It was a much needed vacation & I'm so glad we just went ahead & did it.  It's true that you can really let time get away from you talking about how you're going to take that grand vacation "some day".  Although our time in Mexico was so fun I really am so grateful for America.  It's sad how much I missed American dessert!  Holy cow we know how to use sugar.  It's just nice to live where we do & feel so safe & drink the water and understand what everyone is saying.  I love the USA.