Cancun - Post #5 of 6

Thursday was a little more of a challenging day for me and Lane. I debated about whether I wanted to go into this or not but it’s important to me so I’ll elaborate. Late Wednesday night (around midnight) we got a call from Lane’s brother Brad with some devastating family news. Mona, Lane’s older sister was killed in a motorcycle accident in Arizona. We were in shock and unsure how to deal with the news. I remember walking up Thursday morning wishing Wednesday night was just a bad dream.

We got up Thursday morning and got ready for our trip to Isla Mujeres. Some how we managed to pull ourselves together and tried to have a good time on our trip we'd planned for the day. We met up with a group from our hotel and took a bus to the Aqua Tours to catch the boat that was going to take us to Isla Mujeres. The boat ride was 45 minutes and it was beautiful. When we got to the island we had to catch a cab to take us to Garrafon Park. The cab ride was about 5 or 10 minutes through some rough looking areas. I was relieved when we made it to our destination! While on the island there were several different activities we could do. Lane and I decided to go snorkeling again. This time we were a little disappointed because we were not allowed to swim over the coral so we didn’t get to see as many fish as the day before. It was still a fun experience. They also had zip lines, kayaks and bicycle tours. After Lane and I finished snorkeling we grabbed a bite to eat and then walked around. It was a peaceful and relaxing place.

After spending most of the day relaxing at Garrafon Park it was time to head back to Cancun. When we got back to the Pier there were several dolphin shows going on. We watched the dolphins for a few minutes and then got on the boat to head back to our hotel. We got back in time to shower up and head down for dinner. After dinner we grabbed a table in the hotel bar and listened to the band and had a few drinks before calling it a night.

On the boat ride to Isla Mujeres we saw this pirate ship. Obviously not a real pirate ship, more of a touristy thing! Still very cool.

The people on this boat were out fishing. (If you click on the picture you'll be able to see it better.)

A picture from the boat. I liked all the different shades of blue in the water.

Lane and I on the boat.

Garrafon Park. Look at all the palm trees.

This is part of the snorkeling area.

The doc in the middle of the picture is where we got in the water to go snorkeling.

(If you click on the picture you can really see how beautiful this place was. We were up top of the hill when I took this.)

The dolphin show.

I liked watching the dolphins!

This is a picture of the top of the boat we took to and from Isla Mujeres. It was a big boat!

I snapped a few pictures on our bus ride back to our hotel. - McDonalds-

-The Flea Market-

Cancun - Post #4 of 6

On Wednesday Lane and I purchased a Jungle Tour at an aqua marina through our travel agency at the hotel. The Jungle Tour also included snorkeling. That was the one thing we really wanted to do while in Mexico. We were pumped! Wednesday morning we hopped on the nice city bus and headed to the aqua marina place. We were given life jackets, a snorkeling tube, and some flippers and then we were assigned to a speed boat with a tour guide. To say Lane was a little excited to drive the speed boat would be an understatement! The boat ride was about ½ hour or so through a jungle area. I’m not sure I’d call it a jungle but whatever! After the scenic boat ride our tour guide tied our boats together and handed us goggles and off we went snorkeling. It was really cool swimming over the coral and seeing all the fish. I was bummed we didn’t bring an underwater camera. We got to snorkel for about a half hour and then we back on our scenic boat ride.

After our Jungle Tour we got back on the city bus and headed back to our hotel. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then found some lounge chairs on the beach and kicked back and relaxed. After relaxing for a bit, Lane went down and played in the water and tried to find some shells. Unfortunately due to the wind and high waves we weren’t able to swim in the ocean at our resort but we could go in about knee high. So that’s what we did! (On Friday we were able to swim in the ocean which was a lot of fun.) We were on a mission to find the big kong shells. Once we had enough relaxing we went back up to our room to get ready for the night. Before we went down for dinner we finally figured out our calling card and called the kids. I was beginning to miss them!

A picture of the speed boats.
Me in my life jacket by the speed boats.

Lane in his life jacket by the speed boats.

Me and Lane in the speed boat waiting to take off.

Lane, ready to floor it!!

There were 4 boats in our group including the tour guide. On the way out to the snorkeling spot we were the last boat. This was our view.

We were entering the Jungle!! HA!

This is where we stopped and tied our boats up to go snorkeling.

After we got back from our Jungle tour Lane was down looking for shells. I noticed the beautiful rainbow and had to take a picture. About 10 minutes later it started to pour. We ran for cover!

This little towel swan was on our bed when we came back up to our room. Each day the maids would make our bed a little different and this time they made a swan with one of the towels.

Cancun - Post #3 of 6

Tuesday was a lot like Monday, except we didn’t have to listen to a time share schpeel! We got up, put on our suits and headed down for breakfast. After breakfast we ventured out to the beach, grabbed a chair and relaxed. As we laid on the beach soaking up the sun we got bugged from time to time by people trying to sell numerous things like necklaces, shirts, sunglasses, cigars and shells. Thankfully we just had to say no thanks and they kept walking. We walked the beach for a while and then decided to leave the hotel for awhile and check out one of the local malls. This meant we had to hop on the bus, which was kind of interesting. We managed to make it to the mall without any problems. It was a neat mall. Everything was outside. There were several high end stores (we didn’t go in any of them) and several tourist stores. We bought a few things and then stopped in an old fashion diner for a malt and then headed back to our hotel for the night.

By the time we got back to our hotel it was close to supper time. The neat thing about supper at our resort was each night they had a different theme. They had an American night, a Chinese night and one night they walked around with skewers of meat and they would cut the meat off at your table. It was neat. I can’t remember the other night themes. They always had such a wide variety of food. And the pineapple was to die for! We usually didn’t leave hungry! After dinner we went to the bar in the hotel and had a few more cocktails before calling it a night.

This is a picture of the outside restaurant where we usually ate dinner. And that's a picture of our fruity drinks. Aren't they cute??!!

After dinner there were some booths set up with people selling stuff. This guy was doing paintings and the cool thing about his painting was he only used his finger. We purchased the one he is working on in the picture.

Here he is signing our names on the painting.
Lane and I walking along the beach.

This is a picture of the part of the mall we took the bus to to go shopping.

The city bus!

A picture of the front of our hotel.

This picture was taken from the front door of our hotel.

Me and Lane with our shots from Pepe our waiter. I think he was trying to get us drunk that night! He was a fun waiter.

Cancun - Post #2 of 6

Monday morning is kind of a long and funny story (well, now it’s funny). I’ll give you the short version, we got sucked into listening to some schpeel on time shares, although according to the people talking to us it wasn’t a time share. Yeah, whatever. Once we got back to our hotel we put our suits on and hit the beach. It was so relaxing………………makes me wish I was back in Cancun. We spent most of the day down by the ocean just relaxing in a lounge chair with a drink in one had. The weather was perfect, sunny and in the 80’s. We walked up and down the beach looking for shells for the kids and checked out the different hotels/real estate along the ocean. Some of them looked a little scary! Lane and I were pretty sure we wouldn’t stay in some of the places! After we soaked up enough sun for the day we headed to our room to get ready for dinner. It was a great first day in Mexico.




Lane sticking his toes in the water.
The ocean.Another picture of the ocean. I was trying to get a picture of the waves.Lane soaking up some sun.Lane's view from his chair.Me soaking up the sun. (We were probably 2 of the whitest people in Cancun!!)A view from my chair. Oh how I miss this view!A look down the beach from our hotel.A look down the beach (the other way) from our hotel.Lane looking for shells and posing for the camera!

Cancun - Post #1 of 6

Ahhh, Mexico. For those of you who don’t know Lane and I finally went on our honeymoon, 6+ years later. It was worth waiting for! We starting looking for vacation spots back in January and finally decided on Cancun. We booked our trip for the end of March (March 20 – 26 to be exact). We were excited.

We flew out of Fargo at 6 AM Sunday, March 20th and I think we landed in Cancun around 5 PM. It was a long day of flying but once we landed we were ready to hit the beach. I was surprised to see our luggage made it to Mexico. We were cutting it a little close when our flight from Salt Lake landed in LA. We had to run to the gate. Thankfully it was there and we were ready for a relaxing week. Once we got checked in at the hotel, we did a little exploring. We ventured down to one of the restaurants for dinner and then sat in the lobby bar for a while before turning in for the night. We were exhausted from the busy day of traveling and wanted to be ready for a fun and relaxing day in the sun on Monday.

The mountains in Salt Lake City. The were beautiful.
More mountains.
This was the view from our balcony. (2 of the 3 pools and off to the left is the beach and ocean.)
One more view from our balcony.
Our room. (Looking in from the balcony.)

First Haircut

MaKena got her 1st hair cut on Saturday, April 9th. She was such a big girl and mommy didn’t even cry! I thought I would. Its sad cutting off the hair they were born with but she really needed a trim. When Lane and I told her we were taking her to get a haircut she was excited. I’m not sure she really understood what getting a hair cut meant but she was excited and could hardly wait. We only cut a couple inches off to straighten out then bottom. When she was all done she the stylist put some glitter in her hair and she got a sucker.

Some funny little stories about her hair………..
Lately she has been a bear when it comes to combing her hair. All I have to do is open the drawer in her bathroom to get her brush and instantly I hear her saying “mommy you can’t brush my hair, ok.” Sometimes she’ll take of running when she sees me with her brush. And when I actually get to brush her hair it’s a fight. She cries, screams and even puts her hands in her hair so I can’t brush it. The thing that gets me is if daddy asks to brush her hair she is a complete angel. I guess I’ll have to teach daddy how to put ponies in her hair.

The night before we took MaKena to get her hair cut she was being a pill and wouldn’t let me comb her hair after bath. I decided to tell her that we were going to cut her hair short at her hair appointment and she wouldn’t have long hair like a princess. (In case you forgot she is obsessed with princesses.) I would never cut her hair short, at least not yet. I love her hair long. My little threat didn’t work. She looked at me and said “Snow White has short hair and she’s a princess. I want short hair like Snow White.” My 3 year old outsmarted me!

Here is a video of MaKena on the way to MJ Capelli for her haircut.







MaKena sitting in the chair like a big girl. I think she was a little more interest in all the stuff than getting her picture taken.
Love this picture. What a goofy kid.

Sitting so nice.

One more gymnastics video

This is another video from the last night of gymnastics. The kids were getting their ribbons at the end of the class. Each kid was supposed to do a sommersault on the star and then walk on the ramp and show us their Tah Dah. MaKena is at the end of this video.