It'll Be Just You and Me and the Moonlight Dancin' on the Sea to the Spanish Guitar Melody of a Mariachi Band...

It seems like it didn't even happen. That's how awesome it was. JUST what we needed. This is Mexico trip #4... but the first one since the cherubs have come to live with us. And the first trip anywhere without the cherubs (thank you sooooo much Mom and Dad Innes). And the first trip in which we didn't do any excursions. Nope... nada. Puuuuure relaxation on the beach... or in a hammock... or by the pool... just listening to the ocean. Ahhh-mazing. I just wish it was the first trip we didn't get an embarassing/painful sunburn... accompanied by a nasty fever blister that lasted for almost two weeks afterward. And that was after multiple doses of sunblock. For real. Why does my skin hate the sun!?

Yeeeouch!

But it was a small price to pay for the sheer awesomeness that was our vacation. Get ready for too many pictures...

Riu Palace Mexico

On our flight , the pilot brought all the first class passengers one by one to see the cockpit. Have you ever been in a cockpit before? It was pretty cool. And lest you think I'm bragging about being a first class passenger... we NEVER would have sat in first class if it weren't for Rich's "gold status" from all those Malaysia trips so.... there.

Flying into Cancun... after landing, we travel south by taxi for about an hour until we get to Playa Del Carmen. Love this place. With all my heart.


Our room... complete with cheesy towel animals. :)

Our hotel. I'm so excited.

The beach was amazing.

And so was my husband. It's really funny... how much we've "missed" each other over the past 4 years. Don't read too much into that statement... I LOVE our life. We really have such a wonderful marriage. It's just that after you become moms and dads, you learn to love a different aspect of your "lover" than you did before you had kids. It was nice to have our stress-free... carefree selves back for a while. :)

I was like, "Oh, Rich is so funny! He's so charming!" We held hands everywhere we went. We laughed at each other's lame jokes. We wore perma-grins. It was like we were dating all over again. And awesome to know that, yes... even though real life right now is hectic and the kids pretty much squelch any alone time or romanticism the moment we even think about it... we are still compatible... still best friends... still a perfect match.

(Okay, you can sigh... or puke... whichever you'd like.)

Here's said charming husband.

... and here's the lovely Mayan Riviera.

Some obligatory beach photos...

Rich and the "Great White". *sigh*

If only there were a pill that you could take...

We passed by some little ruins on our way to "5th Avenue".

Fifth Avenue. We would jog there through the streets of Playacar and then take our shoes off after spending a few hours there and jog along the beach back to our hotel.

Rich on 5th.

I love 5th Avenue.

Here is a little 360 video view of 5th ...

We love this little restraunt. We met Mandarina when we first came to Playa Del
Carmen on our "honeymoon". That was almost 10 years ago... and it wasn't as nice then as it is now. Anyway, we thought we'd take a picture for old time sake. :)

It was rainy and overcast the first day we were there... but still beautiful.

And the water was still super warm. So that was nice.

Me and Rich on the pier before our jog back to our hotel.

The hotel in the background is the Grand Porto Real.

We stayed there on our honeymoon.

The ferry that goes to Cozumel.

Rich at dinner with a fake/annoyed smile on his face. It was so beautiful at our hotel. Balmy and warm, and it smelled like the ocean. It was so refreshing to not have to hoover our meals before the kiddies start throwing their food.

R+C=TLA

...some of the nightly entertainment. Lots of Mexican dancing going on, and then on this particular night they were doing dances from around the world. We basically drank our weight in pina coladas and margaritas (they can basically make every kind of specialty drink without alcohol - yay for us.) and watched the performers each night after dinner.

It really wasn't as cheesy as it looks...

...okay, maybe it was. But it was still entertaining.

Part of the beach was equipped with hammocks... perfect for reading books...

...posing for cheesy photos...

...taking more pictures of our feet...

...people watching...

...checking your work email... WHAT!? What a nerd.

...and taking a well-deserved nap.

Rich and his Bahama Mama.

... a little more of Playa and 5th Avenue. Love the color.

Rich tried (unsucessfully) to teach me how to swim. Well, I know how to swim... I just can't swim. Are you confused???

Rich's perfect underwater handstand.

My not-so-perfect underwater handstand...

...because it is one-handed.

Because my other hand is busy.

Because it is plugging my nose.

Because I'm 3.

Don't make fun.

Yes, I needed to post a picture of the pretty carved melons. Just be grateful I didn't post all of the pretty melons I took pictures of. :)

Frizzy hair and shiny faces. Love that balmy air.

Balmy sounds more vacation-y than "sticky", "humid", "suffocating". But really, I actually didn't mind it here because I didn't have any need to do my hair... or my make up.

In fact, it was liberating. :)

"Cheers!"

Okay... I must tell you of my two favorite moments while here. I love mariachi bands. It has always been a dream of mine to be sereneded by a mariachi band. At dinner, the night before we left... the ONLY 2-hour span I did not bring my camera, my wish came true. We were stuffing our faces full of sopas and tamales and fresh tortilla chips when we were greeted by four fancily clad amigos, instruments in hand. They asked me what my favorite Mexican song was... to which I excitedly (understatement) replied... "That Ay-ay-aye-ay one!!!" And with that, they raised their instruments and played "Cielito Lindo" to me while I stupidly swayed back and forth and grinned from ear to ear... while getting all misty-eyed (seriously) and singing along in my best Spanglish. Ole!

While the following mariachi band is not the same one that sereneded me... they do have something to do with my 2nd favorite moment...

It had just finished raining and the ground was all sparkling in the courtyard outside our hotel. We had just finished dinner and a mariachi band (that night's entertainment) was playing on the gazebo. It was balmy and warm and the ocean-air had me smiling from ear to ear already. And then, and then my romantic little husband (with absolutely no prodding on my part... yeah, and I'm tan) took me out on the couryard and slowdanced with me. All. by. ourselves. To make it even more wonderful. It started to rain again. (Don't worry that the band was playing a comical Mexican version of "...I say my dar-ying, you looh won-nerful tonighhh".) It was STILL romantic. Don't roll your eyes.

Here's some more beachy pics... seriously, this post is really more for me than anyone else. I know you can't possibly want to see every flippin' picture from our trip. But I want to remember it here. So... more beachy pics.

The cute little book I enjoyed while sipping my pina colada.

Our last day...

Don't let those smiles fool you. We are heartbroken to have to leave.

We are such Lucky Duckies to have such awesome parents. Our boys are hard to keep up with... they really don't sit still for more than a minute. I think Rich's mom was a wee bit heart-broken when she discovered they don't really ever sit to watch a cartoon. I hearby award them the most-energetic grandparents ever! My little stinkers got spoiled. While we were living life in lap of luxury, they were going to parades, petting farms, Thanksgiving Point, the museum, they even went to meet Cosmo! They had so much fun.

Coming home was like a big 'ol slap in the face. We went into Dame's room to get him up the morning after we got back and he was a little panicked because while he could hear us and feel our faces, he couldn't see us. He kept raising his eyebrows in an effort to pry open his lids and desperately shaking his head from side to side trying to somehow catch a glimpse of his long lost parents. It took some skilled work with a wet washcloth and about 15 minutes for us to get his eyes open.

Pinkeye is for the birds.

And punishing your parents with over the top tantrums and suction-cup-shaming cling-on skills for 2 weeks because they left you for 5 days is just rude... but I'll take the punishment if that's the payment for bliss. Soooo worth it. Viva Mexico!