One of our more *interesting* vacations!

Brian, because he ROCKS, got to take us on another vacation! Yay for my superstar hubby!!!

So, we had very few stipulations on where we could go, but we had to take the trip before November. And with my worst nightmare Kindergarten coming up, we thought we'd go ahead and go in August. We chose to go for a week in Mexico, mostly for the all-inclusive-ness. And since we do have a habit of being creatures of habit, we decided to go a little crazy and try a different resort. I think we would have changed a number of these things. In hindsight, of course. Isn't that always how it is?

Had we never been to Dreams Los Cabos before, then this resort would have been great. But we've been too spoiled. This is why we are creatures of habit, people.

Anyways, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures. But I'll do a little recap and maybe in a couple of months years, we will be able to laugh hysterically.

The flight was great. We seriously have AWESOME. KIDS. They were fabulous! Zac got a little nervous right when we were getting ready to board, but of course, he loved flying. His favorite is landing, when the pilot "has to slam on his brakes." I personally get a little nervous flying, but it is a little different when your family is all with you. It's like, hey if we crash, at least we all are together! A little nuts, but it did give me some peace.

Airports in Mexico are cut-throat. Before you can get to the legitimate drivers, you have to pass the group of people posing to be drivers, but are really timeshare people. It's stressful! They totally make you second guess where you are going, but you have to just tell everyone NO and make it outside where you will find the people who have actually been booked ahead of time to take you to your resort. In Cabo back in April, we actually LOST Zachariah in this mess for a moment and it was absolutely terrifying. Brian and I literally were running and screaming his name at the top of our lungs. Did I ever share that story? A nice American brought him to us. He had no idea to be scared until he saw me and I held him and sobbed. First (an hopefully last) time I have ever truly lost him. And in Mexico of all places!! Oh, bad bad memory. So, this time, I had both children securely attached to me until seated in the shuttle.

I knew our resort was a little bit far from the airport, but I wasn't prepared for that ride. SG was a DISASTER. Major construction in Playa meant a detour, and of course, we had a shared ride this time, so we had to drop people off on the way. And I was sick to my stomach. Shoot me.

Thankfully, the lobby was air conditioned and cool. Which was more than I can say for our room, which was why-bother-straightening-my-hair humid. And very hot.

We went to eat. The resort is very very large, so we walked a long ways in the heat, only to discover the restaurants didn't have great A/C either. Just a lot of fans. To blow the humid air around a hot room. Mama was not happy.

The first 2 days were a blur because SG didn't sleep very well at all. Unless she was being carried and walked around the room - she slept great that way. We would have put her crib in the bathroom, but the room was so hot already, and the bathroom was even hotter.

By the 3rd day, our ac started working again. Selah Grace finally got into a sleep schedule, and Zachariah had made a group of friends (not surprising there!).

Dreams Tulum (our resort) was a nice resort. Very diverse. A couple times I pulled Zac out of the kids club because no one spoke English. The teachers did (kind of), but the kids were from Spain, France, etc.

I kept seeing these two adorable little french sisters at the pool, probably 8-9 years old, topless. For some reason, this drove me nuts. I wanted to put little shirts on them. Surely their bathing suits came with a top! Brian wouldn't let me say anything... lol I made the observation that European men like to wear short shorts. And they love speedos. They also love having 2 kids. Not 1. Not 3.

The food was okay. Room service was great. Pool service... meh. It was alright.

We were surprised that we did not have the option of a room that had a separate master bedroom. Sharing the whole room was not what we had in mind. And when we put Selah Grace to sleep in the bathroom for naps or bedtime, we had to find another bathroom. Actually, just me. The boys have it so easy. I made several middle-of-the-night treks to the lobby to use their bathroom.

Then, Brian got the Mexico stomach bug. Not cool. I ended up with it, too, but not really bad until we got home. Zachariah got a cold while we were there, which meant he coughed a lot at night. Then Selah Grace got it, which meant she couldn't suck her paci or nurse very well. You might know how well that went over.

We ended up booking separate *private* transportation back to the airport. Worth every penny. ($80 plus tip - yikes!) The kids were AMAZING travelers again. Zac tells me, "Mom, don't worry about turbulence. It's no big deal." On the ride back, SG slept most of the time and we all got to watch Shrek 3. :)

All that to say, we were very glad to be home.

Although being home is its own set of problems with our HORRIBLE tenants in our home right now. I can't believe they've only been there one month and have caused so much stress. Not fun to check email on the plane ride home, only to see MORE drama from them had happened while we were gone. They are terrible renters and I am dreading what our little home is going to look like after they leave. Not to mention our blood pressure.

Some highlights and memories of our trip:

*Selah Grace learned to wave! She was a huge hit with the Mexican ladies. They love them some baby girls. She also points at people a lot. And when you say "yay!" she starts clapping.

*Zachariah is such an awesome friend. We watch him like a social experiment. He can seriously break through any group and make his way in there. It's awesome. Love that boy!

*Zachariah made one friend named George from England. I know this isn't going to come across as funny as it *really* was, but when he saw Selah Grace, he said, "Well, she's a bit cute" in the most ADORABLE english accent. Brian and I have repeated it to each other ever since.

*Selah Grace learned to kiss! It's so stinkin cute. She can lean in, and she can make a kissy noise. Although she doesn't necessarily do them at the same time. Mostly we get very wet open mouth kisses. LOVE it.

*We discovered that you can still sunburn in the shade in Mexico. One morning, Brian hung out at the pool while Zac swam. Brian was under the umbrella the whole time, in the shade, so he didn't bother with sunblock. SG and I joined him at lunch and I was like - Uh-oh!! He was definitely burned. It's not too bad, though. :)

*A slice of pizza at the Cancun airport will run you about $10. One slice. *Selah Grace loves the ocean! But she will eat the sand. Here are some pics and video from our trip. (actually the videos aren't really working on blogger right now - bummer!)

See? We didn't have a terrible time! It was just not one of our favorite trips. But we had some fun times, too. :)



My babies at the airport watching planes





We saw lots of lizards and crabs





At night, the maids come and turn down the sheets and leave chocolates.





They even turned down the "sheets" in Selah Grace's crib! lol




So, right when we got there (and I was not very happy at this point), Zac goes to the restroom and then comes out to exclaim, "Mom! The sink is totally broken! Look at my shirt!!" His shirt was soaked. I didn't have the energy at that point. But Brian and I checked it out anyway.



Turns out, he was trying to wash his hands in the bidet. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. We laughed for so long, that Zachariah almost started crying because his feelings were hurt. It was just SO. FUNNY.





Selah Grace loves to hang out with Bubby when he is trying to watch tv.







We had a hammock on our back patio.





Ocean fun





Mommy and Selah Grace (yes, she had been eating sand...)





Zachariah had many many many poolside strawberry daquiris





Daddy with his girl





Zachariah received a letter from George, which included his address so that they could be pen pals. Zac told me that George asked him to be his best friend.





Daddy found a tiny little crab on the sidewalk!

Here are some videos, but they aren't really working that well. I had so many more. Oh well!