Cozumel June 21-30
***Caution, picture overload***
These little crabs were everywhere. You could see the little tracks they leave all over the beach. They were all over the pool also. You could swim up to the wall and you would see them walking along the wall of the pool.
This hotel did not have my favorite beach. It was really rocky and the sand was really coarse and really sticky. I guess the time we were down there is a good time for sand fleas. I never want to deal with those again. Thankfully, they didn't bother the kids but they bothered me. I had a hard time even getting in the dirt to play with the kids. We spent a lot more time at the pool than the beach this trip.
It doesn't get any better than this. Being able to swim up to the bar and get drinks any time you want is amazing. The boys drank non stop. Kayson would ask for daquri's every 5 minutes and drink them all gone. Bryce loved trying a new drink every time. His favorite was a pina colada/strawberry daquiri mixed.
We loved that the hotel was constantly doing games. Today they did a water balloon toss on the beach. Thankfully Bryce ran into his buddy Jackson down there so they got to pair up. I love that this kid can make friends no matter where we are. Every time we would see Jackson they would run up and give high five's and beg to get to "hang out". One time Jackson came down to the pool (pretty sure his folks didn't know) and invited Bryce to come back to his room to play DS. His Dad came down shortly after and took Jackson back to the room...without Bryce.
There are iguana's everywhere on the hotel property. The worst is when I run back to the room because I forgot something and I am in a hurry and one is one the grass and runs in front of me. I actually let out a scream one time. They are intimidating. They are not afraid of people at all.
Braiden loved playing volleyball on the beach. He would beg Tyler and Tim to go down and play with him. It was pretty funny, every time they came back someone was injured. I guess I should say Tyler came back hurt. One time he came back with sand in his eye (it was pretty bad). The second time he came back with a bloody knee. I guess he was diving for the ball and hit some rock or cement. It was a rough game.
The hotel did games non-stop and Braiden pretty much won them all. The first day he won the football game. He had to throw a football through a hoop in the middle of the pool. Then he went down and won archery ( I didn't even know he knew how to do archery. He won one more but I can't remember what it was. At night they did a big ceremony for the people who won. Braiden was having no party of that. Doesn't he look thrilled. We all sang "We are the champions" to them.
Our hotel had animals everywhere. They had this parrot that would be sitting on the chairs waiting for people to drop food. If you put your arm out he would walk over and get on your arm. One time Bryce put his arm out and the bird walked over and bit Bryce. It was super hard and super sad.
Can you believe this kid? He is a professional. Tim walked him out and he laid down and just started kicking. He was out there where he couldn't even reach. He did awesome!
For one of our excursions we went out on a glass bottom boat. Well, that is what they call it. There was a small square section that was glass and you couldn't really see much. The kids loved to sit around it and look for fish. We went out a little ways and then got off the boat to snorkel. Tim took Kayson and I took Bryce. They stayed out there for a little while but both of them wanted back on the boat. The waves were bad enough that I struggled holding on to Bryce so I was happy to send him back. Grandma stayed on the boat so they went back on with her. While out there our tour guide came up and said something in choppy english and grabbed my camera. He went down for a few minutes and then came up with pictures of the ugliest looking eel. I was a little freaked out knowing that thing was under me. I put my face down and watched it swim around the rock. It was a little scary. We went out a little further and got off the boat again to snorkel and the waves got worse. I think between the waves and the reflection off the water I started getting a headache so I got back on the boat. After about 10 minutes, I realized it was a migraine. It was the longest boat ride ever getting back to the hotel. When I got off the boat I headed straight back to the hotel room. Emily brought me a Phenegrin and I took tons of Ibuprofren and slept the rest of the day. Tim brought me dinner to the room and I ate it and went right back to sleep. This was a wasted day thanks to my migraine!
Peacock's were everywhere down there. I loved to go out and feed them bread. They were so friendly. This guy waited outside our door every morning (I knew where the crazy lady was that fed them) Today we dropped bread in our room and sure enough he came right in. The boys thought that was pretty cool.
Bryce joining in the pool activities. The workers would come out and do a dance and Bryce went and joined in. He isn't the shy one!
Braiden won more games today. Him and Tyler won a balloon toss and something else. I lost track of all the stuff he won.
How cool are these guys? One night the hotel put on a big show that was amazing! We weren't going to stay for it and after it started we all ended up staying and I am so glad we did. The kids were so interested in it and loved it. Afterwards these guys came out for pictures. Bryce RAN over and said "take my picture". The one guy put his hand on Bryce's head and when we were leaving Bryce said that the guy got sweat on his head and that he was NEVER washing his hair again. The next morning he asked me to feel his hair and see if the guys sweat was still there. He thought they were the coolest crazy men ever.
We also stopped at a place to snorkel. I got all ready to get in and decided at the last minute to sit this one out. This was the first stop on the excursion and I didn't want to be all salty and sticky from the ocean. And, let's be serious...I didn't want my hair all curly for the rest of the excursion. Bryce just went right in. I think he made Tim nervous because he had NO fear while snorkeling.
Tim (driving), Janalyn, Taylor and Bryce rode in one Jeep. Myself (driving), Braiden and Kayson rode in another Jeep and Tyler (driving), Emily, Abby and Austin in the third Jeep.
We stopped at some Myan ruins and explored for a little while. This was NOT my favorite part at all. It was so hot and humid that I just wanted to get on to the next stop.
We stopped at a Tequila disitillary to see how they made tequila. It was not what we were expecting at all. We basically sat on a bench while they explained how it was made and than went into a teeny store to sample and purchase tequila. Walking around a tenny store full of people and glass bottles with little kids is always a good time. I did try some yummy tequila but didn't purchase any.
Our last stop included lunch. We stopped at this place and walked up stairs and ate on an open deck. It wasn't bad food and the atmosphere was pretty cool. All over the ceiling and log beams people had wrote their names with sharpies. So, we asked our waiter for a marker and we all put our names and the date on the walls. This was a super fun excursion!
