Beach Vacation

We spent a fabulous week at the Mayan Palace Resort in Puerto Penasco, Mexico, courtesy of my parents, who were there with us, along with my brother and his wife and their four children. We had a "houseful" in a two-bedroom suite, but it was a blast.

The resort was great... away from town so it was very private and quiet. The beach was gorgeous, and the weather and the water were perfect. It was very nice and relaxing. I'm not what most people would call "tan" but I do have an actual "tan line," which is a big deal for me!

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT TIME MOM AND DAD!!!!!

FUNNY MOMENTS:
- Jay trying to communicate with the non-English speaking maid who he thought had stolen his wallet
- the look of terror on the kids' faces when they realized they would be attending Primary without understanding a word that was spoken (they were troupers, and it was a good experience for them to realize that the church is the same everywhere in the world, even if they are speaking a different language)

HIGHLIGHTS:
- a wonderful massage at the resort spa
- evening walks on the beach
- delicious fish and shrimp tacos at a taco stand in town
- fun (and free!) activities for the kids hosted by the resort
- yummy half-price tropical drinks (virgin, of course) at the pool bar during happy hour
- collecting shells
- the kids enjoying their cousins and making friends
- not wearing makeup or blow-drying my hair for a week
- watching the kids thoroughly enjoy themselves
- laying around all day by the pool.... long enough to read 2 novels cover to cover!

LOW-LIGHTS:
- almost turning back to go home on the drive there, when we encountered a fatal traffic accident, for fear we wouldn't be able to cross the border before they closed at midnight (the traffic was backed up for at least 10 miles, and the road was closed for a total of 6 hours... fortunately our delay was only about 2 hours)
- having to leave to go home at the end of our trip

(click on photos for a larger version)

The whole gang gobbled up a lot of tasty tacos in Puerto Penasco.


Mary and Jack got a kick out of the parrot at the taco stand....


... and Jack liked the funny sculpture out front.


Mary loved the beach....
... and building sand castles.
Jack had a blast at the beach........ and the pool....... and spent some time relaxing too.
Jack also made a little friend, who conveniently had an extra water cannon.

Collin (far right) had a great time playing with his cousin, Penn (next to Collin), and made some friends too.

We didn't see much of him... he was having too much fun!


The finished product of one of the craft activities


Mary and Jack crashed after a day of excitement.





Jay took the older boys into town one afternoon and bought luchadora masks for all the kids.