Vacation Re-cap

You asked for pics. Well, grab a snack and settle in. I don't seem to have good luck with the slideshow things so I just added a bunch individually.

First, let me clarify something. This was not a big party trip. I went to Cancun in '01 with 12 other girls. That was my party trip. BTDT, ya know. And we won't discuss what took place during that trip and there won't be any sharing of pics. LOL! In spite of my very close relationship with my Bubba, there was no drunken debauchery this time. Sorry to disappoint y'all. This vacation was all about relaxation. The plan was to just lay around, eat and drink, and play with my two toddler traveling companions.

This is Mia, her mother, Christine and her grandmother, Evelyn, on the plane ride to Mexico. She will be 2 years old tomorrow. Mia was adopted from Guatemala. Adorable, huh?
This is 18 month old Arianna and her mother Lee Ann. She's also from Guatemala. These two were my roomies for the trip. The girls handled the travel very well. We were so proud of them.

This is our view from the restaurant. We sat here everyday and looked out at the ocean. Check out how the windows open to let in the ocean breeze. Ahhhh....heavenly.

I was spoiled every morning with my fresh mango juice with breakfast.

This was the view from our balcony. They had a gorgeous pool. The resort was not very busy the week we were there. It was wonderful. There were some days we nearly had this whole pool to ourselves.
They just make this way too easy. I mean just swim up and drink? Seriously? It doesn't get much better than this people.
This is my favorite bartender. I tipped him a few bucks everyday. Most people don't tip at an all-inclusive resort. My advice is that it's well worth it if you want extra special service. By the second day, he'd see me and Bubba coming. His first words would be "Margarita senorita?" Although I did alternate pina coladas every other day. But only cuz he made a great one. He took excellent care of me. My drinks were made with the top shelf stuff. He'd fill the Bubba and then let me taste test. His next words would be "Mas tequila?" and I would respond "Si senor!" It was our special little game. Gawd I miss him. LOL!
Arianna was a natural swimmer. This kid loved the water. She was fearless. By the end of the week she'd taught herself how to float AND hold her breath under water. She loved when her momma would dunk her under.

All that swimming can be exhausting! Is this not just the cutest thing?

Yeah you've seen this one already. But this is what Auntie K did while momma swam with her. Bubba and I'd spend some quality time together.
Here's all the chicas dressed for dinner one night. Trying to get the little chicas to both look at the camera at the same time was a losing battle this time.

This is Mia's fake smile she learned in daycare. If you point a camera her direction and tell her to say "cheese" this is what you get. She looks pained, doesn't she? Cute nonetheless.

More random cuteness. Love that smile.

This is the balcony of our room. The other girls were in the room next door. We'd sit out here sometimes and just admire the scenery.

Yes this was the scenery. Meet the entertainment staff. Every afternoon they'd line up here and do a little dancing. They'd holler up "Hola senoritas!" and we'd cheer them on. It was a little bit Chippendales but we loved it. Good times!

Here are the chicas in the matching dresses Auntie K bought them. Mia has her arm around Arianna. I just ate this up. So freakin' sweet. We were about to head out for dinner.

We spent a lot of time at the beach too. We loved it. There were several boats parked here because there is a reef that protects the beach. Makes the water much calmer. That's part of the reason we chose this resort. We thought it'd be easier for the babies to swim if the surf wasn't so rough. We didn't mind the boats.
Here's the fearless swimmer Arianna and I out in the ocean while momma was taking pics on shore.
Ahhh.... this is rough, huh? Hanging out under the palapas at the beach. What a life for little Mia.
I celebrated my 15 month LID-versary while in Mexico. I thought of my girl all the time. Spending so much time with the little chicas was so awesome. But it reminded me of what I'm missing. It was a little bittersweet. Now that I'm home I miss them terribly. And I've gotten a little depressed again about the wait. I'm sure I'll snap out of it in a few days. In the meantime, I'll just keep dreaming of the day when I'll take my own Mia back to this beach.

This is Chica Mia playing in the sand. That's her nickname. We call her Chica a lot. Which will help with the confusion when my Mia comes home. Small world, huh? Two little adopted Mia's in the same single mom's group.

You don't see this everday. Can you tell what it is? Three military guys decked out in complete army uniforms carrying huge freakin' machine guns just strolling the beach. Hmmmm..... I got up very early one morning to go sit on the beach and enjoy the sunrise. It was absolutely amazing. So peaceful. The pics don't even begin to do justice to the sheer beauty of it.
We rode the ferry into Cozumel one day. Here are the chicas just lounging in their strollers on the ride over.
We went over so I could swim with the dolphins. They had a special place to go to do that. Here's part of the pier where they were kept. This one was jumping up out of the water.

Here's Chica with her grandma checking out the dolphin lagoon which is behind her.
Check it out. This was pretty cool. I'd always wanted to swim with the dolphins but had never gotten around to it. Figured this was as good a time as any. Next trip to Mexico will hopefully include my own little chica. So I decided to do it now while I was still able.

This is the belly ride. You swim out into deep water and raise your arm out beside you. The dolphin swims up and puts his fin in your hand. You grab ahold and ride his belly while he swims upside down pulling you around. In spite of the look on my face, it really was fun! Just another random cute pic. I love this pose. Just chill-axin.
Those are pretty much the highpoints. I had a wonderful time. It was so nice to be away for a week with no schedule, no responsibility, just pure relaxation. I really needed a vacation. The girls did really well considering how out of their element they were. All the crazy traveling, the incredible heat, strange food, no schedules. We only had a few meltdowns and they were towards the end of the trip. I had a blast playing with my chicas. One word of advice for anyone traveling with a baby in an airport. Take a stroller and gate check it!! We never would've made our connections without being able to toss the girls in and run. It really was that close on the way down. On the way back, getting through customs was a nightmare. Thank gawd for the strollers! I got pulled out TWICE to be searched. Boy that was fun. But I finally made it home safely after a long 12 hour travel day. It does feel good to be home and in my own bed. Plus I realy missed my dog. Vacations are great but coming home is awesome, too.