We were so excited to finally get our big trip two years after we planned it! We had originally planned to go to Hawaii, but with all the Covid testing Mexico seemed easier...and then they changed all the Hawaii Covid rules. Oh well, either way we were super excited to do something big! It was really cool to go to a different country and get to experience all that.
The first two days we stayed at our resort and hung out at the beach. Staying chill for the first day or two is a great way to unwind and get into vacation mode. And our views were not bad!
Matt and Sara rented a jet ski and rode out in the ocean. That was super fun. Kate and Matt used a kayak and went way out too. That was also fun to watch them get past the breaker waves. They did a good job, but it was funny to watch them get wrecked a couple of times.
After successfully getting into vacation mode we were ready for some adventures. First up was Coba and the Mayan ruins and a cenote. We chose Coba because you get to ride bikes through the jungle to see the ruins. Awesome!!
We rented these awesome old rusty bikes and took off. It was so cool. One of the coolest bike rides I've ever taken!
It was really cool to have a member of the church as our guide and for him to help make connections between what we were seeing and what we've read many times. One was this tablet with drawings on it and how Mosiah interpreted tablets. It was really cool.
Also, these bees are friendly bees. They have no stinger. They also make honey for 6 years and then take a year off. These would be really good bees for the Jaredites to bring across the ocean in their barges...
These are the stadiums where two teams would battle with this rubber ball and use their joints to hit the ball through the rings. The winning team or at least the winning team captain would be killed. Yikes!
The ruins were really cool and it was awesome to get up close to them. Our guide also pointed out the highways they built and connected them to the Book of Mormon in a way I had never considered or understood. It was a really cool day!
After Coba, our guide took us to a little known cenote. A cenote is like this sink hole that forms in the limestone that the Yucatan peninsula is built on. They also had a little restaurant there and we got to have some authentic Mexican food. So authentic that some sweet ladies cooked our tortillas over an actual fire. That and driving through all the little towns reminded me a lot of the Navajo reservation. It was interesting. The food was so good and then we swam in the cenote. I loved Mexico for a lot of reasons but one was that they are a little more lax on the rules. So we climbed over the fence they had around the cenote and jumped in from the side. Nobody wanted to go first, so I showed my kids all up and went first. Haha. It was an awesome day and we felt like we got a more real Mexico experience outside of our resort!
The next day we went to Xcaret. They have several parks on the peninsula and we chose that one because they have these underground rivers that you can swim through. They were really cool and so unique. We also went snorkeling and rode on a boat out to the place. We got to see a sea turtle (which actually swam right under me!) and a huge stingray. It was probably 4-5 feet wide. Crazy cool! I didn't take any pictures there because we were all in water all day so we'll just have to think hard to remember that!
The next day we needed another break so we took another beach day. It was so beautiful and the weather was so perfect.
The next day we went to Ek Balam and another cenote. We chose Ek Balam over Chichen Itza because you can get right up to the ruins and even climb to the top of one.
This is a tree there. It was hollow and spiky. Crazy! But possibly a source of water because the Yucatan has no lakes or rivers. The only source of fresh water is cenotes... and maybe these trees?
Again, it was super cool to see references from the Book of Mormon and gospel here. About 250 years after Christ came, the Nephites started to become wicked again. That's also the same time that they started to care more about classes and who had more. That's also the same time that these engravings were made and were significantly more ornate than other parts of Ek Balam that were built previously. These statues are part of the leader"s tomb. The tomb was bigger and more ornate than the temple, suggesting that the ruler cared more about himself and fancy things than the temple and spiritual things. It was really cool to read verses that described what we were actually seeing!
We got to climb to the top of the largest ruin. We were standing in the spot where the temple would have been, but it's no longer there. It was cool to be above the trees and see all around the peninsula. It was crazy that it was completely flat. Not even a little hill around. Wild!
As we were walking out these two people were offering photographs. The man actually plays the ball game that the Mayans played although they don't kill the winning team anymore, haha. We got to hold and toss the type of ball they used. It was about 5 pounds, made of rubber and was heavy but also bounced. Weird!
We loved the girl's costume and that she could totally hide and look like an owl.
The next day and our last full day we saved the best for last! This was a day for Abby!
Sara and I started off the day by getting up for 6:30am sunrise yoga. It was early but beautiful and really cool and really worth it.
I also had to document Abby and her virgin strawberry daiquiris. She drank probably 10 a day! 😂. But the best part of the day was swimming with dolphins!! It was so cool. I only paid the ridiculous amount for Abby's pictures so you'll just have to imagine the rest of us doing the same things. 😂
The first cool trick was being pulled through the water by their fins. We just had to swim out and lay like a T and they swam up behind us and when they felt our hands on their fins they started swimming together. They are amazingly fast, strong and beautiful mammals!!
The next crazy thing was when they pushed us with their noses. We had to go lay out like a star and they would put their noses into our feet and then, together swim fast and strong and push us along. Wow! We were all a little nervous to do this because you can't really imagine it, but it was the favorite thing for all of us. Enjoy Abby's face and know that we all made the "woah, what is this face" to "oh my gosh this is the coolest thing ever"!
Who doesn't love dolphins, but now we all love them a whole lot more! Our dolphins names were Marina and Noelle. Marina was older and significantly stronger but it was amazing how well they worked together!
After the dolphins, we went snorkeling again. This was cool because we didn't have to ride in a boat to get to the place so we didn't all get a little seasick, haha. In this spot we saw about 10 different sea turtles. A couple of babies all the way up to some really large ones. That was so cool! We also saw a blowfish and lots of other cool fish.
After those activities we had a little more time to go down to the beach one last time. This was an awesome trip and I'm so glad we were able to all go together and have this memory. My kids are all pretty cool and fun to hang out with. I love that they try new things. They all tried all the different foods and activities and they all tried to speak a little Spanish. It was really fun. It was also an eye opening trip to see another country. We talked to our guide a lot and learned some things about the US from his perspective. It wasn't anything bad it was just interesting for them to hear another perspective and see that maybe there are different ways to do things. It was just really cool all around!
We spent lots of time swimming in the ocean on our beach days because the water was warm, so unlike the Pacific Ocean in So Cal! We also played a lot of smash ball, our favorite beach game!
Peace out Mexico! Until next time! And there will definitely be a next time!
