December 30th, Marty, Ryder and I boarded a plane to Cancun, Mexico! We were heading to Isla Mujeres, an island a 20 minute Ferry Ride from Cancun to join Marty's Dad and Trish for a week of fun in the sun. They had rented a house in the middle of the island and it had enough room for us too!!
I was super anxious about the travel day with a 21 month old toddler. We
had to be at the airport 2 hours before our flight, then we had a 5.5
hour flight, then a 20 minute Ferry Ride all of these adventures broken
up with several line ups and waiting times...sounded like a nightmare to
me...but Ryder James was a troooper!! He only slept for one hour on the
plane but he didn't fuss, he didn't complain, infact, he made it his
personal mission to smile at every passenger from our seat to the
bathroom..which we visited several times for a change of scenery. He
even got brave enough to head down the isle a few times by himself. He'd
just stand and stare at the person in an isle seat until he or she
would look at him and smile.
We made it to the house on the island of Isla Mujeres just before sun down. Ryder was excited to see his Grampa and Grandma. It didn't take him long to settle in...
First time in a hammock
Ryder was definitely ready for bed after that long journey and after a yummy dinner and hugs from everyone, we put him to bed in his pack n' play in the bathroom. (We thought he would sleep better if he wasn't in our room with us.) The bathroom was hot though and we hadn't counted on the neighborhood dogs barking incessantly all night and the friendly roosters crowing all night...good thing Ryder was tired cause he slept through it all.
The next day was New Years Eve Day. What a great place to wake up on the last day of the year!
There was a pool at the house. It was pretty deep, but Ryder had fun leaning over the side to fill up his watering can and bucket.
Every morning began with breakfast with Grampa on the patio in the sunshine!!
It was New Years so we all dressed up (kinda) and headed to the "downtown" area to see what was happening! We were told the Island would be partying all night long, but because we had Ryder with us, we were down to the center well before any major partying had begun....that was ok though, cause we have learned to make our own party!!
Trish and I in our New Years Eve tops
Mamma and her boy on the last day of the year!
This was the first time we saw the beach and the ocean and the sun set. Though, the sun had gone down, Ryder could not be kept out of the water. We finally had to undress him and just let him "go for it!" Nothing like a little impromptu skinny dipping on New Years Eve! LOL
Happy New Year to my handsome husband!
Ok, I'll admit it, we didn't stay up until midnight and I didn't see any of the amazing fireworks we heard filled the sky. I was exhausted from our travel day and from Ryder's desire to wake in the 5's to begin his days. I had felt blessed to spend the day and the evening (we had a delicious dinner at an outdoor restaurant downtown) with my family and didn't need to see 12:00 on the clock to feel like I'd accomplished something. We watched the ball drop in Time Square (so I made it to midnight in New York) and headed up to bed. The dogs barking, roosters crowing and fire crackers going off filled the air as I tried to catch some zzzs before Ryder's early morning wake up call!
January 1st, 2013! We woke up in sunny Mexico bright and early!! Beautiful place to start our day!!
We went to the Turtle Farm to check out the baby turtles. Check out Ryder's adorable hat and his beach backpack.
He insisted on wearing this plastic backpack.
This picture gives me a flash forward to Ryder's first day of kindergarten....makes me all emotional!
We checked out the BIG turtles after this and that's when the wind took Ryder's awesome beach hat and flung it into the ocean...never to be rescued...we ended up having to buy him a cheezy tourist hat for the rest of the trip...
Baby turtles...soooo adorable!
After the turtles we headed to the Captain's, one of Jim and Trish's favorite places on the island.
Yep, this is me, enjoying virgin drinks at 24 weeks preggers!
Rinsing the sand and salt water off before dinner.
Dinner at Oscar's Grill. Great place to eat! It was walking distance from our "house"
Ryder wore his finger flashlights from Grammy home. Sooo fun!
I'm not sure if this qualifies as "beautiful" exactly, but this is me and Peanut, enjoying beach time!
Grampa and his cutie!
Staying hydrated is important!
MINE!
This stray dog adopted Marty and Trish. Sure looked a lot like Scout!!!
Marty thinks this little sun shirt of Ryder's is "lame" I think it's adorable and obviously so did all the girls who couldn't stop pinching Ryder's cheeks and making him laugh!! He was attracting all kinds of female attention! Perhaps I should get Marty one of these shirts too....LOL
Ryder loved helping to sweep and he did so often!
Our favorite mode of transportation on the island was a golf cart. Ryder always wanted to drive!
Check out the giant iguana!
Such a beautiful place!
Do we look like we are having fun?? It's cause we are all naked!! Ha ha! Not really, but it sure looks like it from this pic!
Marty and I did get some time by ourselves. This secret little beach was an oasis!
Our favorite thing to do all together, was go to the beach ofcorse!!
But he brought the most joy to Marty and I! We loved spending the week in the sunshine with our little boy! Thank you, Jim and Trish for the opportunity!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Awwww! Adorable!
ReplyDelete