Mexico . . . The End

As our week in Mexico came nearer the end, it seemed we lost some of our luster. Or maybe our liver's capacity for alcohol was waning. Hard to say. Whatever it was, it seemed that by Thursday, we were just plain worn out! Good thing we had another day by the pool planned!!  This was a rough day for me. I was really missing Taylee by this point. Throw in a bit too much alcohol, and I was a blubbering mess for a bit! Luckily, my girls had my back, and had me perked up in no time!

Thursday also just so happened to be Valentine's Day! This meant that the pool game for the day was the "Ideal Couple" contest. Luckily Kent was manly enough to take on the challenge. Really, the competition was just staying underwater "kissing" for as long as possible.  Unfortunately, his partner (me!) had consumed one too many, and didn't put up much of a fight. I only stayed under for 15 seconds. But, really, I think we were sabotaged, because they very generously counted another couple under for 17 seconds, which I'm pretty sure was not true!! Just think, we were 2 seconds from a free massage! Dang it!



1,2,3, Go!



Can you tell Kent is not impressed with my performance?!

 

Mark and Amber, NOT the ideal couple! Woosies!



Cortney and Kent

That evening we enjoyed some fabulous Valentine's festivities. Kent and I even renewed our vows! They were a little modified, written by some crazy man, and alluding to me promising to sniff Kent's farts and fetch beer when he watches sports.  All in good fun, right?!



While I was promising to sniff farts and fetch beer, Kent was wearing the "game over" hat. Seriously!!



Mark went MIA, so Amber was forced to marry her beer. So fitting!



Cortney, the single gal that she is, took this Valentine's bit pretty seriously!!



Friday, our last full day in Mexico, arrived early with a scheduled trip on the "Extreme Zip Line Adventure!" After passing around the bottle of immodium (6 days of Mexico was taking it's toll!), we were off on an hour long van ride to the Zip Line course. Having not slept well the night before, I somehow managed to doze while we drove over at least 450 speed bumps. Not kidding! They have speed bumps every quarter mile on every road. WTH?! Weird. Luckily we arrived in one piece and got strapped into our harnesses. The "extreme adventure" included a series of zip lines (even the "BIG mama!" the longest zip line in Mexico!), a rappel, rope bridges and tarzan swings, followed by a ride on a Razr, and finally a (rough, tough, and kinda horrible!) water slide! We had a great time!



Dueling Zip Lines!

 



SuperMan Style on the "Big Mama!"

Our last evening in Mexico was a little bittersweet, as the end of vacation usually is. But, we had a great time, and we were ready to head home on Saturday.

A few parting shots from our final beach walk on Friday night . . .

Adios Amigos!!

Mexico! The Middle . . .

Our next day in Mexico took us on an adventure into downtown Puerto Vallarta (we stayed in Nuevo Vallarta, about 40 min via taxi from Puerto Vallarta). I have heard mixed reviews about Puerto Vallarta in the past, but we found it to be charming and very "old-world." I wouldn't stay in downtown, but it was a fun place to spend the day! They have a fabulous "beach walk" with cobblestone streets, shops, restaurants, and bars. All sorts of weird statues lined the street, and on the beach, elaborate sand sculptures. Pretty cool!

We grabbed lunch at Pipi's (yummy!), then cruised the town. We even met some mormon missionairies and took pictures with them. Funny!! Too bad they weren't from Utah.

Before heading back to our resort, we spent some time in the local "tequila" bar. We got to ride the bull, wear sombreros, take shots of tequila, and have a caricature drawn of us three girls. A true Mexican pastime for sure!!

The whole gang at Pipi's!



Best Margarita's Ever!!





Hola Senoritas!



Tuesday brought us back to the pool for a few more cocktails and more poolside antics. Us gals once again competed in the "Crazy Games" thought up by "Animacion." Today was the Island Girl Competition. This fabulous competition required us to take a "sexy walk" across the pool deck, pose, sexy walk back, dive in the pool, swim to the other side, take a shot of tequila, do five squats, then jump back into the pool and save a "drowning" man. I know, seriously! Well, alas, we did it, and we had a ton of fun! Except for when that crazy old lady pulled off Cortney's top during her "sexy walk." Yeah, that wasn't really funny at all. Lo and behold the crazy (drunk) old lady got kicked out of the resort later that day for mooning people. Serves her right!

Amber rocked it!



I didn't!



Here's Cortney, pre-molestation. And yes, that's the crazy old lady, trying to molest the "animacion" director!



Cortney may have gone to bed at 4 o'clock that afternoon. I can't really remember . . .  :0)

The rest of us had a fabulous Mexican dinner, and tucked in early for our snorkeling tour the next day.

Despite our early bedtime, the snorkel tour started out a little rough for some of us . . . Fortunately, sun and water are enough to perk up anybody, and we had a great day. We got to do some whale watching on our way out to the snorkel site. A pod of dolphins even joined us for awhile! Unfortunately, when we arrived at our snorkeling destination, it was windy and cool, and frankly, pretty unappealing. We sucked it up and dove in "just for the experience." I think we are all glad we did, because although the snorkeling left a lot to be desired, we were able to snorkel into the "Marietas Hidden Beach." Accessible only by swimming through a small cave, I wasn't able to take any photos, but hopefully I will eventually get to add some photos to my blog that Jeron snagged with his GoPro! It was pretty spectacular, and worth the creepy claustrophobic swim! 

We enjoyed a nice lunch on the catamaran and of course (you guessed it) beer and cocktails! We sloooowly made our way back to the marina while being entertained by our friendly boat crew.  Unbeknownst to us, and despite our sunscreen applications, we were getting baked all along the way. This made for a couple of painful days for everyone. I suffered with a sunburnt lip, which swelled up to twice it's normal size! Some might believe that it was a botched Mexican botox job, but I stick to my sunburn story! 

We ended the day with more dancing in the lounge. By this time the animacion team knew we were up for a good time, and were pulling Cortney out onto the dance floor within minutes of her arrival! She's got the moves for sure!



Somebody even talked Kent into bustin' a move! And yes, he is dancing with the male entertainment dancer! They were attempting to re-create a Johnny and Baby move from "Dirty Dancing." It didn't quite turn out that well, but it was pretty darn funny!



Mexico! The Beginning . . .

Two weeks ago, Kent and I jetted off to Mexico with Mark and Amber, Jeron, and Cortney. This was the first time we have left Taylee for more than 3 days. Big jump huh? 3 days to 7 days! Fortunately, I think she faired better than I did with the separation. Not sure she even missed me . . . Well, maybe a little. :0) 

We arrived on Sat the 9th and were off to a fast start. I knew that I was going to struggle to keep up with the alcohol consumption on this trip, but I was determined to put on a good show anyways! I got a little teasing from my compadres for showing up at the "Olympics" (of alcohol?!) without proper training, but otherwise, they took it easy on me. I'm just gonna say, these people can drink! And my liver is still wondering what happened?!!

Anyways, Saturday evening we had a blast getting acquainted with our new home for the week, the Riu Palace Pacifico, and letting our fellow guest get a glimpse of what was in store for them! We dined at the buffet, and danced the night away in the lounge. 

Riu Palace Pacifico

Chillin in the Lounge



The Girls

Sunday was all about relaxing by the pool. We did some relaxing, some playing, and of course, enjoyed lots of daiquiris and pina's (dos rum for Cortney!)!  The liquid courage suited me well when it came time to participate in the kayak race in the pool! The girls of Team Utah (Amber, Cortney, and I) were pitted against the lovely ladies of Team Saskatchewan! We were thrilled to beat them, despite their efforts to sabotage us and capsize our kayak! We only turned it over by ourselves twice. The other two times, well that was those dirty cheatin' girls from Canada! Good thing we were good sports about it all, even if it was tough to climb back into the kayak, in the middle of the pool, and keep our bikini's in place! Our victory put us into the finals, and pitted us against the "Animacion" team at the Riu. Now, they may have been more skilled at kayaking, but they didn't have the crowd cheering them on like we did. We came out victorious AGAIN! And, of course, they didn't go easy on us at all . . .

Round one! Victory vs Team Saskatchewan!



Round 2! As you can see, we had a couple additions to our team this time! We still aren't sure about that crazy gal from Michigan!



Dinner that night was a blast, even if the food in the "Mexican Steakhouse" was terrible! And the "Crazy Show" (yes, that is really what they called it) was hilarious in the lounge that night. We went to bed tired and happy!



Discovery Gateway!

Taylee and I got to take our first trip to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum a couple of weeks ago, with our friends Adrienne, Mia, and Zane, & Jessy, Nyah, Lydia, and Wesley. We love to get together with our friends from mommy's work! Taylee takes a while to warm up to new friends, but they are sure a fun group!
Taylee thought the museum was super fun and has been asking to return ever since! Her favorite part was the grocery store where she could shop, make deli sandwiches, and even scan and ring up her groceries. I am pretty sure we shopped there for at least an hour!
Fortunately, Jessy remembered her camera and acted as our resident photographer, otherwise, we would have no proof of this fun day! Thanks Jess!

Zane the Builder

Lydia the little housekeeper

Learning is fun!

Makin' subs! Maybe Subway will be a first job for these girls?!

Moo Moo Lydia cow!

Taking care of babies in the tree house.

Shipwrecked!

Beautiful little swans!



Pretty sure Zane is going to be an architect someday. These Magnetix were a big hit!

Wind Tunnel! Mia is playing Glenda the Good Witch of the East!!



Pretty Tough to get a group photo of six kids! Taylee was the problem child this time.

Also tough to get a photo of 3 moms, when the only photographer available is 5 or under. Believe it or not, this photo was taken by Zane!!