Dallas and I alone for a whole week

8 whole days together
No kids
First time in 13 years!

Dallas and I have gone away for long weekends since our kids have been born but have never left them for a week, so it did take me awhile to get used to the idea, especially being away from Grandparents where you don't ask and just leave ;) We originally had the plan to go to Cancun for our 10th anniversary...well that came and went...3 years ago, but my thing was where to leave the kids for that long.

Eventually we decided enough was enough, this was a good thing and it was time to do something like this together! As soon as we started mentioning it to friends we had several families offer to take the kids, enough so that I had to not feel bad about saying no to certain ones. We asked the boys though who they would like to stay with (we gave them options) and made sure they were people we trusted with our lives :) Families that know the boys well and love 'em.

They did so, so good!! Our friends described Carter as the sweetest, older brother who made sure the other 2 cleaned up, obeyed, and were taken care of. Logan as the sweet one but who didn't always want to listen to Carter. And Brady as the cheeseball and the cuddler when he was tired.

All descriptions that reminded me of this picture taken 5 years ago.....even then Carter and Logan were the same! Brady we didn't know as well yet...but Carter was the one watching out for the train, careful to hold Brady nicely, and Logan was busy stuffing rocks in his mouth during this photo shoot.

Anyways, we were proud of them and they had a great time, between two families houses and events while we were away. One family from our cell group with two teens and one family with kids in the same grades as Carter and Logan in school.

The rooms were in these tower things

Ok, our holiday! We flew to Cancun and then drove 40 minutes south to stay the week in Playa del Carmen. There were tons of people from South America and from Europe at the place we stayed, but we had heard that Playa del Carmen was known for this.

People watching is fun and therefore, some general observations:
- Accents are fun to listen to and to guess at where the people are from
- Europeans have some interesting fashion sense
- Latin people greet each other as they pass all the time, saying hello to you as you pass in the dining room or wherever, where as Europeans/Americans/Canadians ignore each other. This is normal in Mexico but I didn't expect it so much at a resort.
- The few Canadians and Americans that we saw were the ones that were...drunk and making scenes. And taking tequila shots at 10 am.
- Salsas are spicier in the Cancun area than in Guadalajara, they use more Habanero peppers we are told.
- It is not always hot and sunny at the beach.

We had such a relaxing time! It took a couple days for me to totally relax but I think it's normal to need to unwind from being busy.

I've been doing the study "Breathe" (about taking and creating time for Sabbath) the past month or so, and this was an opportune time to reflect on what that means, practice it, and learn more about it.

It was nice to do what we wanted, hang out together, talk, eat without being interrupted by kids, do fun activities together, and just run around and hang out. We did talk to the boys several times but they were happy and so we were happy knowing they were well taken care of.

The place we stayed at was in the jungle a little more so, it had it's own Cenotes (a natural sinkhole in the ground where the limestone bedrock collapsed, exposing underground water).

There are tons of Cenotes around Cancun and they have crystal clear water. Most don't have a lot of fish though so if you're snorkeling you look at the bedrock and the formations, as some are in caves or partially in caves.

Believe it or not, this picture is the only sun we saw in the whole week! The first day was hot....

...and then it rained. And was cloudy. And rained. All day, except for a few hours a day more or less and sometimes for half a day. So, we walked everywhere with our umbrella and went out and about anyways! We tried to time activities around the periods of no rain or just got wet anyway. We still got plenty of scrapes and cuts and bruises which goes to show we didn't let the rain stop us completely ;)

My goal in the above pic was to get in the obligatory beach/toes/sand/drink picture. All in one and get it over with.

Dallas' expression when Tara asks for yet another picture....

One of our favorite things we did was go to Xel-ha, a natural inlet in the ocean with snorkeling, ziplines into the water, rope swings and obstacles, lazy river tubing, a little water cave, etc.

The lazy river started by taking you under the Mangrove trees

This sign was quite realistic....

A draw to this area of Mexico is that the ocean water is so clear and blue and there are tons of tropical fish. We saw some here in the inlet and were planning to go out further into the ocean but the rains prevented that. Either way, we saw some interesting fish.

The other thing to see in the area are the Mayan ruins. We drove a little further of course so we could see one of the biggest ones, and a place that allows you to climb them ;)

This is the biggest one, hard to get a picture of the size. And you don't realize how tall it actually is until you climb it and see over all the trees.

At the top

Climbing down....not for children or the week-kneed!

Anyway, there's much more I could tell....

We watched some shows in the evening at the hotel, most were about Mayan customs and dances and spiritualism, which we watched a little of. And we did watch a Disney show :) without our kids...but Tarzan and Jane were doing aerobics on rope swings so there's our defense.

We ate too much.

We argued a little.

We got along a lot.

So, if you are thinking about taking a trip, long or short, with your hubby or wife.....go for it! If it's something you can do and have the time for, it's worthwhile. The place to me is not the most important. Yes, it's beautiful there, but for me the fact of enjoying it as a couple as what makes it worthwhile. I think it'll be a "once in a 10 yr type of thing", as in save up for a long, long time, but in the meantime we'll still enjoy hanging out.