This was Andrew's first plane ride and I will admit that I woke-up a few weeks ago after having a nightmare about a 4.5 hour plane ride with our little monster. :) He did good on the way there--he enjoyed several lollipops (he hasn't had too many treats yet), chilled, listened to music with Grandpa's earbuds, movie, coloring and we had only a few outbursts.
We made it through customs in Mexico in record time, got the rental van, and made it to our condo. Then we went out to dinner at one of the best places in Playa del Carmen, Super Carne. After dinner we went to the grocery store and stocked up for the week. Can I say they have quite the selection of microwave popcorn there--we fell in love with the carmel microwave popcorn. There was a chipotle one that got two thumbs down, but Dad still ate most of it and then he didn't sleep well that night--we blamed the nasty popcorn he kept eating.
Monday we took the kids to the beach. Mimi and Grandap enjoyed seeing the girls excited reactions to playing in the ocean and on the beach. Ellie wandered out pretty far the first day and got knocked down by a wave, just as she was coming up another wave hit her and knocked her into the dirt. Scared her a bit and she wanted to go to the pool, but after jumping into the freezing pool she wanted to go back to the ocean. Even Andrew ran around in the sand the first day having a ball and playing in the water. I enjoyed the day out on the beach with the kids, but forgot that an antibiotic I was finishing up made me sensitive to the sun so I got fried--I've never been burned this bad and I don't even know how my back got it as bad as it did since I hardly had my back to the sun. Ironically that night I ate a Dove chocolate Mimi brought and the saying inside said, "you look good in red". Good thing because my skin is bright red--we all laughed.
That evening Grandpa convinced us to walk the market, he was surprised by how many people were there that evening then we realized it was Carnival. We thought they were performing on the plaza there so we kept walking, but as we tried to come back we realized that it was a parade on the narrow streets and we had quite the time working our way back. We didn't get any pictures, but there were a lot of big, colorful, risque costumes with loud music--let's say it was quite the experience. The pollo (chicken) diner we found did have excellent roasted chicken and sides so it was worth the adventure.
The next two days we spent at the beach and the pool. It was so nice to be able to see the beach and pool from our condo balcony so I could see what everyone was doing while I was up there letting Andrew nap. Andrew did not enjoy the beach as much as he did the first day, but he still played there a bit. Andrew loved drinking the pineapple juices from the big cups with a straw at dinner.
The girls thought it would be fun to eat at the pool bar so Wednesday we let them order lunch there. They got too cold waiting for the food to come and eventually ate pool side.
Wednesday afternoon we came in a little early all having had a lot of sun in the last three days. There was a cool breeze so we decided to head to Tulum.
We spent an hour looking around and talking about the ruins. Many believe that Tulum is where Nephi and his family landed in the promised land. The 'castle' there is very similar to our modern day temples. It goes to show that God is constant--teaching the same truths forever it just depends on the people to listen and obey.
On the way back we drove into Porta Ventura and looked at the dolphins and had dinner there. Mimi and the girls killed time taking pictures while we waited for our food to arrive.
Thursday morning I got up with Andrew and walked out to the front room to be greeted by the girls. Ellie said, "Mom, Mom something happened to Lila's eye during the night." Lila, "I must have scratched it or something." I looked at her and realized she was having an allergic reaction to something her face was swollen with one eye almost swollen completely shut. Fortunately I had packed some Benadryl so I awoke Steve to help with the baby while I gave Lila a dose. Thursdays weather was questionable so we decided with that and Lila's condition to play it safe and stay in doors. We did go walk the market while the cleaning lady was at the condo. We got churros and enjoyed walking together. The girls picked sea snow globes and notebooks with woven cases. I bought vanilla and a nativity scene. Steve got a nice shirt that he's not so sure about--he calls it a Mexican cowboy shirt. We decided to buy Andrew a guayabera he can wear to church in the summer instead of the sombrero.
This is Lila's face after two doses of Benadryl--she's not winking that's as much as she can open her eyes.
Friday Lila's face was still a little swollen so Mimi went to the Pharmacia to get some Prednisone which helped a lot. It was funny because I told Ellie & Lila to make breakfast this morning and Lila responded, "I can't my eye is broken." Ok, I'll give ya that. Friday's weather was worse than Thursday so we stayed in again. I'll admit the girls watched a lot of Disney Junior that day, but it was en Espanol so educational right and it's vacation. Friday Andrew starting running a little fever so I kept him on some Ibuprofen, but that night he screamed at 1am and I went to check on him and realized he was burning up--103.8. I took his onesie off and gave him more Ibuprofen then we watched a show with him until he fell asleep in the bed with us. I really didn't want to end up in a Mexican hospital with all we had going on so I prayed that night and I asked Heavenly Father if Andrew could be well so we could enjoy our last day on vacation and then travel home safely. Saturday morning he seemed to be doing much better. His fever was at 99.9 and he was happy so we enjoyed another beach and pool day with lunch by the pool again.
Then that night his fever spiked again to 104. I was in tears with worry so I sent Steve to get my Dad so they could give him a blessing. It was short and sweet stating that his fever would break and we would travel safely. I have to admit for a little bit I wondered if it was what I wanted to hear or really promises, but I had faith and sure enough he has not had a fever since. I was hoping to take a few family pictures while on vacation and Dad brought his nice camera to do so, but with my sunburn, blowfish face, and Andrew's fevers we never got to. We spent a little time Sunday exploring this little ruin park next to the condo that would have been perfect for family pictures, but we were in our traveling clothes and not ready for pictures so we snapped a picture maybe we can use as a backdrop toe a family picture later.
Traveling home was a bit more stressful since he was so tired and not feeling the greatest--I felt bad for all the people sitting around us, but we did our best to keep him happy. On the car ride home we talked about our favorite part of the trip; Lila first said her face going normal again and then the beach. Ellie spending time with everyone doing fun activities. Grandpa seeing the kids reaction to the ocean and beach the first time. Mimi being together as a family. Britney relaxing and enjoying the fact that we really had no idea what time it was because we had no schedule to keep (I managed to read several books since my sister loaned me her kindle). Steve swinging in the hammock with Andrew (probably because that was the only awake time Steve didn't spend chasing Andrew).
As we were getting everyone to bed last night, Steve and I talked about how the traveling that day seemed long, but it didn't seem like we were gone for a week which is a good sign that the vacation was wonderful, relaxing, and rejuvenating--we watched movies, played games, ate a lot of carmel popcorn etc. Tomorrow I plan on taking the kids to Idaho to visit great grandparents, got to make the most of these school breaks. :)