Isla Mujeres Trip 2015: Day 2

{Day One found here}

DAY TWO : Friday, March 13

Nate woke up at 6:30 am and I was just sort of laying there, willing myself to fall back to sleep because this would be the first time in years that I could 'sleep in'. I knew I had lost this skill sometime in the past five years but I still wanted to try! Then Nate announced that he was 'going to check out the sunrise situation' and I couldn't formulate a coherent sentence, let alone announce that I wanted to come along. Because, you know, I *did* tell Nate that I wanted to see at least one sunrise while in Mexico and I also wanted to go for at least one run. (Foreshadowing for Nate stealing my copyrighted ideas).

I eventually propelled myself out of bed and realized there was no way to find Nate and meet him on the other side of the island for the sunrise which would happen in a few minutes at 7:00 am. I greatly missed the immediate communication that cell phones provide us in the States (i.e. phone addict?). So I sat out on the patio and Erin joined me shortly after, and we assaulted the WiFi like usual. Nate came back and apparently he not only saw the sunrise but he also ran for a little while. Way to steal my great ideas, Nate!! ;) He made us coffee, Ben drifted out of bed, drawn to the scent of strong (Milwaukee based) cups of Joe, and we all chatted a bit. We might have Facetimed here, or at least texted to check in with the children. Peanut butter and toast, coffee, and water fueled us to start our second day in paradise. And then we decided to officially go out for (real) breakfast.

We walked on the beach for awhile and took the long way to town, heading down our side of the beach to the end of the island and back around to the other more rocky shoreline. I brought my camera and took lots of pictures of our beach walk, of course.







Then we decided on breakfast at Cafe Mogagua. I got a banana smoothie (sans alcohol since it was barely 9 am, people) and a omelette stuffed with various breakfast meats, house potatoes on the side, along with refried beans. Superb. Nate was less than impressed with his spinach omelette, but I gave this place a solid two thumbs up.





Loved this thing.


Cheers.


Hot and sweaty here, plus neither of us is wearing makeup.


Interesting bar quote.

 YUM.


Then we decided to make another grocery store run for random additions to our food stash at the condo. I think this was the day when the boys went to the grocery store three times---very inefficient planning but luckily the store was close to our condo and SUPER cheap. Like, a big bag full of groceries was four dollars cheap.

Love the colors in all of the street shops.


We all walked back to the condo and Nate and I took a detour through a different beach. I wanted a hammock photograph and achieved this goal. Check! The clouds were rolling in at this point, which made for some beautiful pictures.









Back at the condo, Ben was getting ready for a run and I wanted to tag along. Then Nate said he would join us, and right as we all got ready it started to down pour. Erin timed it and the rain lasted 10 minutes and immediately cleared off, returning to sunshine and humidity. We figured we could handle random tropical storms like this, and it doesn't seem like it is ever raining all day long or even overcast in Isla Mujeres. Like I said: perfect destination.

The dudes and I went for our run and mostly stayed along the ocean on a paved path, heading down the other side of the island further than we'd been before. We stopped at a dive shop so that Nate could buy his precious snorkel set that he so fiercely wanted, and once we stopped I noticed that I was literally melting from the heat and humidity---reminded me of running in St. Louis summers;) The giant puddles in the road from the storm soaked our feet and it seemed like parts of the town were semi-flooded from such hard rain. But all in all a good 3 mile run on vacation = guilt free overindulgence later.

We came back to the condo and quickly headed to the pool for a post-run dip. Erin was on the beach and we observed the condo staff setting up a shade umbrella for her. Ah, the luxurious relaxation of a beach vacation. Seriously. We all bounced back and forth from the pool and beach most of the day, and the guys decided to rent paddle boards. We thought it was 25 pesos (2 bucks) but it turned out to be 25 dollars for an hour, so I decided it wasn't worth my own board. The guys went out, then Nate let me try his while he snorkeled, and eventually Ben convinced Erin to sit on his board, too. It was a lot harder than it looked but really fun, and a serious balance work out.

LOL.




View from the ocean, looking to our condo.








We all split some nachos from the Beach Grill at our pools, then Pina Coladas were had on the patio by the non-pregs, Face time, internetting, chips and salsa, chatting, and eventually showers to get ready for our evening. I walked onto the beach during sunset, which was around 7pm, and took lots of pictures.







We went into town and had a list of dinner places from Erin's extensive online research. Eventually we decided on Angelos because they specifically had pizza and it sounded delish. We also ordered our traditional guacamole, I had a mango margarita and lusted after Nate's mojito, and Erin and I split a four seasons pizza. It was yummy but nothing truly spectacular or anything.....but really, I love any and all pizzas so I was content.







We walked for awhile and the other three got some ice cream, which didn't sound good to me, so I took pictures of them eating instead.

The girls, one with an adorable bump.


So many souvenirs!




ICE CREAM!




One important part of the story here: Nate pulled out his iPhone to take a picture of a Sol sign (favorite Mexican beer) at a bar earlier, and apparently his cash was stuck to the back of his phone. So the money fell out of his pocket with this picture taking business. As we walked back to our condo, Nate was patting all of his pockets and looking perplexed when he said, 'I lost a bunch of money....like $100.' My first thought was that maybe he got pick pocketed and didn't notice it, but he didn't lose all of his cash---just $100 of it. He and Ben went back to the main street to retrace our steps while Erin and I went back to the condo. That's when Nate remembered he had taken the iPhone picture of the Sol sign. And of course the money was not magically resting on the ground anymore. Sigh. Losing a hundred bucks is not the end of the world but it's still a gigantic bummer and Nate was understandably irritated about this part of the night. My favorite statement back at the condo, when we were all trying to make Nate feel better, was when Erin said: "It could always be worse. You could have gotten knifed." Not sure why I found that so hilarious at the time but possibly the constant stream of alcohol was to blame.

Just to add insult to injury after the 'Throwing Money Away' incident? 'The Safe' incident. This one was all my fault and super annoying/irritating. Basically, our condo had a safe that could be locked and unlocked with just a key pad. You could change your code as often as you liked but APPARENTLY you are supposed to pay attention to the numbers you set as your code. Who knew? We had our pass code set for the entire time, and then earlier this afternoon I accidentally punched in some wrong numbers in there and proceeded to lock down the safe with that new pass code. Problem being, I only glanced up at the screen after it beeped, noting the numbers were different before I could actually memorize the new accidental pass code. 'Oh well,' I figured. 'We can always make a new code.' But actually you can't unlock the safe unless you supply the correct code. Huh.

So basically, we were screwed because I didn't know which numbers I messed up with my new sneaky code. And Nate was already irritated by the missing money and now his wife just locked down the safe, which contained our laptops, passports, and his wallet. This probably would have been no biggie but combined with the money loss? Double whammy. 'This is just a crappy night,' was even something Nate said, until I reminded him about the knifing possibility;) And the fact that we were on vacation and pretty much living the dream.

I knew the owner of the condo probably had a master passcode for the safe and after trying approximately 152 different combinations, I gave up and went to bed around 11:00. I probably dreamed about that stupid screen on the safe! Nate also decided that his missing hundred bucks might have made a local's night, hoping it didn't end up going to some other traveling American. I guess we'll never know! Good times on Friday the 13th in Mexico.

Isla Mujeres Trip 2015: Day 1

I really want to recap our amazing/magical/perfect/want-to-go-back-immediately trip to Mexico, even though I am sure these posts will be a major undertaking and not terribly 'popular' for the general public. But I took tons of pictures (shocking!!) and want to relive the memories, so here goes nothing.

Last Memorial Day weekend, Erin and Ben visited us from Minnesota. One of the things on our agenda for that weekend was 'Convince Ben to Agree Upon a Tropical, Winter Vacation.' Erin and I had been emailing about this dream of going on a trip to somewhere with a beach, hot weather, and without our beloved children (i.e. NO RESPONSIBILITIES, ultimate relaxation possible). We somehow succeeded at convincing Ben and Nate was already all over the idea. But of course, I was still quite pregnant with Porter and we wanted to wait until he was born to make the trip officially official. I admit, the idea of leaving my then unborn baby when he would be approximately eight months, along with his two older siblings seemed like it would be a monumental feat. I've only been away from Truman maybe a total of 6 nights ever in his five years of life, away from Cecelia just 2 nights that I can recall, and I dreaded the idea of pumping for the entire trip while away from baby Porter (ha, no worries, Julia of last year!). But I knew that if this winter was anything like last winter, we would be in serious need of a kid-free vacation to warmer weather. And so I started talking myself up to be brave, leave the children for a few nights with very capable and willing grandparents, and enjoy the heck out of our time away.

My requests for the trip: 1. To be towards the end of winter, to allow for Porter to be as 'old' as possible and hopefully sleeping through the night (yes, good call, CHECK). 2. Somewhere with a beach and HOT weather, not likely to be raining constantly. 3. Direct flight from Milwaukee (not quite achieved, but still okay). We considered Florida but the weather isn't always a guarantee for 80+ temps and very little rain. We figured Mexico would be a great option and one that is relatively inexpensive when compared to islands in the Caribbean. Nate really wanted to stay on the Gulf/Caribbean side if possible because he thinks the beaches are nicer compared to the Pacific side. We didn't want to do an All-Inclusive because we wanted to eat at different restaurants and explore a little more than feeling restricted to one resort. Erin did all of the planning and research for the trip, and found us a privately owned condo on the island of Isla Mujeres, which is a 20 minute ferry ride from Cancun, Mexico. YES, PLEASE. It ended up being the perfect location, perfect weather, and easy travel. Really, truly, magical.

We booked our Nautibeach condo in September and got plane tickets shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, Milwaukee didn't have any direct flights to Cancun except for on Tuesdays and Saturdays, so we ended up flying in and out of Chicago, Midway. Not a huge deal since we drove the two hours down there the night before our early morning flight, and stayed in a cheap hotel near the airport. Definitely worth it to have a direct flight!

On Wednesday, March 11 my mom flew in from Colorado around 2pm. My dad was also supposed to come but he had the flu and ended up staying home miserable, and muttering truths like 'I NEVER get sick' while wishing he was a part of the babysitting crew. Tony and Lois were also very active parts of childcare while we were gone, so three grandparents to three children ended up being a very good ratio of adults to kids;) Mom got in that afternoon, we ate dinner, Nate got home from work, we put the kids to bed, and then Nate and I immediately drove to Chicago. So I didn't get to see mom much before we left, but I did manage to type up a four page instruction sheet to make me feel better about someone else being in charge of my children for days on end;) #controlfreak #leavingthreekidsishard #don'trockthebabytosleepPLEASE

DAY ONE: Thursday, March 12

Our flight was at 7:00 am, so we woke up at (the ungodly time of) 4:00 am in our hotel room by the airport, parked our car in one of the economy lots (only $15 per day, I thought it would have been a lot more expensive!), and blew through ticketing and security in no time. The morning was so early and I was kind of nervous/amped up about the trip, and I didn't feel all that great. I'm sure I was also overanalyzing every breath since I knew my mom had been exposed to my dad, who was pretty sick. I was extra worried about one of the kids getting sick while we were gone, or mom coming down with whatever dad had---mostly I was a head case about any and all germs. After our McDonalds breakfast, some coffee, and boarding the plane to paradise I somehow pulled through and felt much better once we were on our way to this vacation we had been planning for almost a year!

The flight was four hours long but it went by really quickly with Southwest's free TV, my laptop for working on Porter's eight month post, and a bit of the book I downloaded for Lois' Kindle (Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan---haven't read a book in years, and didn't even finish this one but it's good so far!). We landed, went through customs and got our checked bags, and walked to the end of the airport when we saw Ben and Erin. We were outside at this point and it was ridiculously hot and humid, which was much appreciated because we weren't in Wisconsin anymore, baby! Ben and Nate had a beer or two from the vendor outside of the airport while Erin and I had some water and we all discussed the logistics of getting to our condo. Erin and Ben had already reserved a shuttle from the airport to the ferry dock, so we found our driver and took in the scenes of Cancun while riding to the ferry. Once we got there (about 20 minutes or so), we saw that there was a fairly large line to get onto the ferry itself. But seeing the ocean and palm trees and feeling the sun on our skin made it seem like this was a real vacation instead of something we had just been talking about for so long.



I had to change clothes because I was dying in my yoga pants, hoodie and tennis shoes, the guys got some food, and us girls chugged more bottled water. We ended up getting onto the boat about an hour after we arrived to the ferry, and we were all pretty thrilled with the color of the ocean water. And our rock guitarist on the 20 minute ferry ride;)



He was really into singing Santana songs, and possibly one Guns-n-Roses tune. Entertainment!


Selfie with my big camera, because we are serious about documentation;)


We're on a boat!


We then walked from the ferry to our condo and I think we were all dripping in sweat at this point, extra-excited for the pool and ocean. The guys walked to the grocery store and apparently came back with many very heavy groceries that must have been a sight to see, as they hauled them back to our condo. Erin and I changed and went right to the beach. Snapped a selfie on the beach to mark the true beginning of vacation;)


Then we noted a small group of loud, topless girls in the water, shaking their coconuts and causing us to wonder if spring breakers *would*, in fact, be on our island and not just Cancun! Alas, we did not see anymore partiers the entire trip, and instead noticed many families with small children. I don't actually think there were too many kids at our resort but of course, like typical moms, we seemed to notice every single one of the little babes. Occasionally one of them would make me miss my own offspring until they began to melt down, cry, and give their parents general hell while vacationing. At that point I would simply take another sip of my adult beverage and soak in the non-parenting moments of our childless vacation. Love you kids! But mommy and daddy need time away sometimes, too.

Erin observing the once-topless girls who reapplied their bikini tops prior to this picture. Ah, different seasons of life.



The guys came back from the store and we all hung out at the pool for a bit. The flotation devices were KEY for maximal relaxation. I accidentally popped one of these babies with a stray bobby pin, too. Whoops!


Many-a-foot shots were taken on this trip. Be warned.


We attempted to find WiFi immediately upon stepping into our resort, but we quickly realized that the best signal would be on the patio of our condo. For internet junkies like us, this was a prominent location for out trip! (None of us took a single picture of the inside of our condo, but trust me when I say it was delightful).

Beloved patio of Internetting:


View from our patio, looking to the pool and past that, the ocean.


Such prettiness around our condo:


Palm Trees = NOT WISCONSIN



Then we Face-timed with the kids...


...got showered, and went out to dinner. Oh, and the boys and I began our love affairs with Pina Coladas before we left for dinner. Somehow they were able to concoct the most delicious, frozen, fruity drink ever and we may or may not have gone through nearly three bottles of rum during the trip. I blame that on the men for 80% of the consumption though. Poor Erin and her non-alcoholic vacation. We drank in her honor, obviously.



Had to take a few 'dressed up for dinner' pictures on the beach. Erin's belly is truly this adorable in person, FYI.


Parents vacationing on the beach. Watch out, Mexico!


Kind strangers took a few pictures of the four of us, many of which turned out really well!


Strolling the streets, looking for a place to chow.



We walked around the main street of Isla Mujeres (called Hidalgo Ave apparently, did not know this until I just read Erin's blog post about our first day) and eventually decided to eat at Lola Valentina for dinner. We started with guacamole and decided we would have to taste test guac at every dinner, and we were always quite satisfied with each version, every night. My pineapple ginger margarita and my flautas were both awesome for dinner. I like to think I'm fairly easy to please with food but I do not like anything remotely spicy, which can be a bit challenging in Mexico. But I avoided any of the burning-mouth-panicky sensations and found many tasty alternatives to breathing fire. Such as: badass margaritas.


And my 'flautas', I think there was chicken inside--not totally sure.


After dinner we walked home and hung out on the beach briefly before retiring to bed at an impressive 9:30pm. It was a long day of travel and we were all beat, so luckily our king sized beds turned out to be ridiculously comfortable. Although Porter is now sleeping through the night, getting uninterrupted sleep on a kid-free vacation was still especially wonderful. Because everything on vacation is wonderful, right?