Day 1 (6/27)- Early flight, lots of people, lots of bags, and there wasn't enough room for our carry on bags in the overhead storage (we purposely put everything in our carry ons just in case our checked bags didn't make it). The carry on bags didn't make transfer flight, so we had no carry on bags in Mexico...Big surprise (not really we knew as soon as they took ours and the other peoples bags under we wouldn't be seeing them any time soon). After renting cars, finding the hotel and driving into Playa Del Carmen for dinner the day was done.
On a side note Payton did great on the plane, she loved sitting with her uncle "don".
Day 2 (6/28)- With the arrival time of the bags uncertain, I was lucky to have a mother in law who let me borrow her extra swim suit so we could go to the beach. It was a great day, and a first time swimming in the ocean for both Chad and Payton.
While Payton enjoyed the water the sand was her true joy.
Our bags came late that afternoon and so Payton and I suited up and headed for the resort pool. We were staying at the Mayan Palace Resort. It was a huge place!! The pool had three levels that lead to the beach. Payton really enjoyed the little islands in the pool that allowed her to be right in the action.
Play hard sleep hard :)
Day 3 (6/29)- Sunday we went into Playa for church. It was a very unique experience as I played the piano for sacrament and the entire meeting was in Spanish. The spirit was strong and the church is true :) We went to the beach after to see if the shore was less rocky as the beach by the hotel was very rocky and covered in urchins. It was a nice beach and Chad and John boogie boarded for the afternoon.
Day 4 (6/30)- Luckily we had an 'extra' day in our schedule because most of our party including Chad and Payton were under the weather with bowel issues. We stayed around the hotel, played in the pool and had some down time.
Day 5 (7/1)- This was my favorite day in Mexico. We spent the day at the archaeological sites of the ancient people of the Book of Mormon. We went to the cities of Coba and Tulum, our tour guide Mosiah (a member of the church down there who gives tours to LDS tourists along with his brothers Lemhi and Moroni) was with us the entire time explaining the meanings of buildings and symbols and relating the places we visited to the sites in the Book of Mormon.
This is the tallest structure you are allowed to climb, it is a temple in Coba.
The Boys (and Payton)
It was hot... can you tell?
The famous ballcourt.
Climbing the ruins.
This is the center temple and the worship city of Tulum. There was a ton of history and symbols in the city and it was great having Mosiah there.
The people knew what they were doing putting their temple on the most beautiful beach on the coast.
Our day finished up great playing on the beach.
Day 6 (7/2)- We went to the pool and then decided to go up to Cancun to go shopping at the market and eat dinner. We ate at the restaurant Senor Frogs, which came highly recommended by the Aldridge's. It was a fun up beat place and even Payton seemed quiet in there.
Our little beach bum...literally!!
Day 7 (7/3)- We went to this zoo, museum, beach, place with a underground river you snorkel in called Xcaret. It was a busy day that was topped off with a cultural show about Mexico. We had underwater cameras that we took lots of pictures with but they aren't developed yet.
Day 7 (7/3)- We went to this zoo, museum, beach, place with a underground river you snorkel in called Xcaret. It was a busy day that was topped off with a cultural show about Mexico. We had underwater cameras that we took lots of pictures with but they aren't developed yet.
Day 8-10 (7/4-7/6)- Happy 4th of July!! We headed back for the states. No lost bags, long day, fireworks and we were glad to be home. Here is a picture of Payton in her dress we bought her at the Mercado 28 in Cancun. She was such a trooper on our trip; diaper rash from diarrhea, dry skin made worse by the sun and chlorine and to top it off she got a bit of heat rash. We had just enough time to unpack, do laundry, get some sleep, and repack before we headed out on our next trip.
Day 11 (7/7)- We decided to get a rental car for the extra room for all of our camping gear, so we headed out for the straight shot drive to Chandler AZ to see Chad's dad. 14 hours later (the drive was only really 12 hours) with over a half dozen poop stops, we pulled into toasty Arizona. Payton did a great job driving, we actually didn't mind the car ride so much after all the flying we had just done. Plus we got to do our favorite things, read, listen to music, sleep and most of all eat :)
Day 12-14 (7/8- 7/10)- We stayed with Mark and Eileen, Chad's dad and step mom, for 3 days. We relaxed, went to see Wall-E at the movie theatre (it was Payton's 1st show, she didn't do too bad though I imagine a few more months and a movie with animals and some talking wouldn't hurt), and went to IKEA, which was awesome!! We had a great time walking around the huge store and we were glad we had rented Explorer because we ended up finding the perfect kitchen table that needed to be brought home. I even had time to catch up with a room mate from my freshman year of college, Mauri, over some ice cream. It was hot, in the 100's, but it didn't feel nearly as hot as Mexico did.
Day 15 (7/11)- This was our first camping trip as a family. After a quick trip to Walmart on our way out of Phoenix we were set for 2 days of camping. We made it to Grand Canyon National Park and set up camp. We enjoyed the surroundings, the wildlife, had chili dinner, and enjoyed a campfire. We all slept great in our tent...it was a very successful day.
The Grand Canyon. There are not going to be any more individual pictures of the canyon because in reality there are only so many ways you can take a picture of some rocks and a big hole in the middle of nowhere...but the truth is no picture could do it justice- it was fantastic and nothing words could describe.
Day 16 (7/12)- Our day started at the visitors center, we took a pit stop for lunch and then headed out on our big hike down into the canyon.
The hike was killer and we shared carrying the pack with Payton in it (though Chad carried her the majority- love you babe!) It was a breathtaking hike in and if it hadn't turned into a monsoon on the way out it would have been a completely enjoyable afternoon.
Day 17 (7/13)- The rain continued through the night and into the morning making the campsite take down miserable. In the end it was still a great trip. We drove back, through the four corners and had a memorable road trip vacation.
Though there are piles of laundry to do and a muddy tent we are are glad to be home. It was a great trip and I can't wait for the next adventure!
4 comments:
Hey we could have met up at the Grand Canyon. Looks like a great trip!
So much fun! You sure are adventerous!!!
Shanda! You have such a cute family! And your little one, way too cute!
It looks like you had a super time. Can't wait to scrap with you again.
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