Isn't this what a "family vacation" is all about. Ava never falls asleep in our Arms, what a treat. You can tell by the look on his face, Darin sees is as much.
One of Easton's signature looks
Easton loved dancing with us the first night, then he discovered his own
private retreat away from the dancing.
We danced almost every night after dinner. There is nothing like dancing with your baby. I must say Easton's a pretty good dancer.
We drove to
Chichen Itza, okay someone drove us to Chichen Itza. It was phenomenal, and I couldn't believe how much the "bigs" got into it. They already knew so much about the Mayan Culture, and the even the games they played. I was impressed with their level of understanding and interest. We spent longer than we planned. It's amazing what knowledge this people had. I found it so inspiring, and faith building. Also, since it rained every day at the beach it was a welcome relief to be here with
no rain.
We ventured into
Playa Del Carmen one day to get a bit of culture. We got more than we ordered seeing 3 men arrested outside this fabulous local restaurante. We got to watch the chef's make all the food. This dessert was made at our table.
We also listened to
fine music on a wooden zylophone (who knew). It was our only dinner outside the resort, besides the amazing tacos we ate
on the side of the road on the way to Chichen Itza. I know SCARY, but we ony got a little sick and they were good!
One of the very few times we actually got to play on the beach, since we were in a
torrential downpour for most of the trip.
Madeline couldn't figure out why the water was
so Salty.
This picture is so typical of Savvy. She was trying to clean up the beach by ridding it of the
Seaweed. A big job!
Last time we were in Mexico, Ava tried to devour all the sand. Not this time, she's a quick learner.
Possibly the best thing about the trip. The happy hour, when drinks are two for one. The kids had earned their own money and loved spending it on these jewels at the
swim up bar. The are know well versed in virgin drinks:)
It was exciting
when the rain quit, so we could swim.
Seriously, that hat should have never come off my head. My hair was so insanely crazy underneath it. I didn't even want to take it off to sleep.
Could we ever have too many "mom, take a picture of my
muscles" shots?
Nope!
Since it wasn't raining after dinner we let all the kids who so desired
jump in the pool in their clothes. It's so much fun while you are in, it was getting out with
no towel that was a bummer.
Baby at the buffet, watching the shows. This could have been one of the 5 nights we celebrated her birthday. More on sweet baby's birthday later.
Sergio, the resort celebrity entertaining us all. He is a professional dancer and absolutely drunk and hilarious at all times.
Sergio imparting
words of wisdom to Easton. Mom and Dad
cringing in the background. Wish I had a picture of that.
More dancing.
Still dancing!
Darin and Ava on our snorkeling trip.
Mads and Easton took a little break after the first excursion. They loved it, it was just a little too long.
I am doubting very many
babies go snorkeling. This baby has got no choice, and she was a sport almost the entire time. I had her in a tube, and she was pretty happy.
Pre-Snorkel
Darin had so much fun with Madeline on our snorkeling trip. She was super timid in the water, you know with the whole salty thing and all. She wanted to get back in the boat until she looked down in utter amazement at what was beneath her. She was in AWE.
See the face Savvy's making. This is how the whole family feels about Ava. There is a reverence for her that no one else has the honor of receiving in quite the same way.
We all adore her!
This is Easton's "cool guy" face. Isn't it cool?
I am really loving Thanksgiving these last couple of years. I love that my girls love to help decorate the table and bake in the kitchen. I especially love that Darin loves making the pies with the girls. This year he took a pie making class at Williams Sonoma. He and Paris apparently learned a lot, because our pies rocked!
Paris and Papa playing the piano
Paris and Savvy trying to talk "uncle Jimmy" into coming back or staying longer...
The baby table. Should there really be such a thing?
The napkins all the kids folded (thank you, you tube) complete with the chocolates Paris designed for each guest...
Our table, quite possibly the best part
More pictures of people, because they are more important than the food, right? Yep, especially when for two years in a row, the Turkey Bombed. Yep, worked so hard on it and then somehow the thermometer was in the wrong part of the Turkey and it said it was done, and it wasn't. Soooo, we had Turkey soup. The soup was great for the next four days, cause that's when I felt like cooking again!
