Mexico - Part I

We just spent a warm, sunny week in Playa Del Carmen with Darrin's sister & her little family.  Above all, I just wanted to sink my feet in the sand and soak up the sun for a solid week.  I can proudly say that we did just that.  It was a laid back, relaxing week with nothing but sunshine.  There's so much to say about our vacation.  I took over 600 hundred pictures, so I'll do my best to talk my way through them in the next few days.  We are also dealing with this little thing called moving this week, so we'll just see how this goes. Mmm-kay?

We started our adventure on Memorial Day, pulling out of the driveway at 5:30am, heading for the Memphis Airport.  Miles with his cousins, Olivia & Ava....

Our trip started very rocky.  Let's just say that when your travel documents state that "some countries may require your passport to be valid 6 months after you return from your trip" this isn't a suggestion.  Mine and Darrin's passports expire in August of this year, so they told us that we couldn't go. After some begging, phone calls, emails, and 30 minutes of waiting, they allowed us to go. Turns out this is the booking company's policy (Vacation Express), not Mexico's.  After a customs agent said it was fine, Vacation Express said it was no problem.  Needless to say Vacation Express will be receiving a call from us this week about their nonchalant disclosure verses reality.  I'm not sure if how I've stated this actually makes sense, but the lesson learned is to make sure your passport is valid 6 months after you return.

We finally boarded and set off for Cancun.  Miles sat with Ava for his first ever flight. We were a little concerned about him, but he was unfazed, probably b/c we weren't around.

They sat next to the nicest lady that even gave them gum so their ears wouldn't pop. 

After checking in and throwing our bags in the room, we immediately went to the pool, b/c Miles was dying to swim.

Off he goes...

We swam all afternoon, grabbed a quick dinner at the buffet and went to watch the nightly show in an open theater.  It was a very cute show with super heroes and fun music. Miles LOVED it.  Darrin and I thought it was pretty fun too. 

Iron Man was Miles' favorite. 

The next morning, we found a great spot on the beach.   The kids much preferred the pool, but they humored us for a little while so we could enjoy the sand and ocean.

 

We always spent the afternoons at the pool. The pool was perfect for Miles b/c it had a 3 foot ledge that you could sit in about 6" of water. It was fun to sit or play on, especially since he's not the best swimmer yet. It allowed him to always be in the pool even if we weren't.  He did a great job swimming. We even had several people comment that he was an excellent swimmer for five years old.

Miles was very excited to eat some seafood.  He really wanted crab legs, but we never found any.  He loved the shrimp though.

A long day of swimming gets you tired kids at dinner.

The next day was more of the same...breakfast...

....beach time...

...afternoon pool time...throwing the football around...

 
...and dinner...

 

The resort had several restaurants. We ate at the Mexican restaurant on this night.  It was Darrin's favorite meal all week.

That covers the first 199 pictures.  I'll be back soon with Part II.