Cancun 2011

Well, since I just slept for almost 12 hours... and Natalia decided that 7am was a good wake up time... now seems like a good time to blog. =) Yes, that's right my dear sweet husband took over kiddo duties last night when he got home from work and I went right to bed. I'm taking Benadryl to help with the itching of this horrible heat rash (more on that later) and it's just kicking my butt. I could barely keep my eyes open all afternoon.

So lets begin with the story!

Saturday morning I was up at 3:30am, getting ready to go. I had already showered the night before so it was a matter of doing my hair and make up. Then my mom came and got me and took me to the airport. I wasn't quite that excited yet, more sad I was leaving. I cried putting Natalia to bed Friday night. But once I was at the airport with my friends my excitement kicked in! From there it was off to Denver to meet up with Brooke and Amy. Then we were off to Cancun. Cheryl and I got to sit in the front row of the airplane behind first class, so we had tons of leg room. I've never gotten that lucky seat before so it was awesome! As tired as I was, I was too excited to sleep. So I just read, and finished a book. he he he. We finally landed in Cancun and then had to go through customs and get our bags. We hoped onto our shuttle and headed for the resort. After a long drawn out process at the desk we were finally checked in and went off to our rooms to change for the beach. It was gorgeous!! The water was such a beautiful color of teal and the sand was really white. It was hot there, but not too hot. After some beach time it was back to our rooms to change for dinner. We had our first dinner at the buffet. We wondered around the hotel after dinner and realized it wasn't as big as we thought it would be. There weren't as many restaurants as we had thought either. So disappointment started to set it. It was only 9pm at night and it seemed like all the activities were dying down and so we got bored. We weren't about to go out to the clubs, so there was nothing left to do. Back to our rooms we went to rest and get ready for the next day.

Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast back at the buffet. Then we had to go meet with our tour company to set up our rides back to the airport and to talk about excursions. I was worried that me being pregnant meant I wasn't going to be allowed to do anything. Four of the girls set up an excursion to go rappelling, snorkeling, and zip lining... I would have loved that but couldn't do it. So Brooke and I set up an excursion to go on a catamaran ride to Isla Mujeras for some snorkeling. All for Monday. After we set those up spirits were high again. Then we checked out the hotel's day activities. Some of the girls went kayaking while me and two other girls went and did water aerobics in the pool. That was really fun and our instructor was a hoot. We then enjoyed some lunch in the downstairs poolside buffet, which wasn't much different then the one we had been eating at except that it was next to the pool. We were hoping for some different food. Oh well. After that it was off to the beach for the afternoon. Which is were I proceed to get BURNED! =) I was really stupid and didn't put a high enough SPF lotion on thinking I wanted to get tan. After a couple of hours I realized I was getting too red and went and hung out in a shaded cabana with a friend while the rest stayed down by the water. Finally around 5:30 we headed back to the rooms for showers and then dinner. That night we tried out another restaurant they had called The Steak House. It was out on patio, and it had a menu to order off of instead of a buffet. I had the most delicious steak there ever. My side was this teeny tiny potato however, so it wasn't enough food. He he he. Their plates were like those in fancy restaurants where they look like works of art. So there wasn't a lot to them. Then we went into the lobby bar to watch people do karaoke. It only lasted an hour though, so by 10pm everything was done for the evening. Again we were looking at an early night in. Which was OK because we all had to be up early for our excursions the next day.

Monday the four girls had to be up and out by 8am, and of course our alarm didn't go off so they had to RUSH to get out and down to their bus. Brooke and I took our time and had breakfast because we had an extra hour still. We then had to ride a bus down to our meet up area for the catamaran. We were a bit nervous about it, but it was simple and I was realizing more and more how much my Spanish was coming in handy. Anyway, we got on our boat and we were off. I've never been on a catamaran so it was definitely an experience. They were feeding the other boat riders lots of alcohol and they quickly became entertaining. the boat ride was nice and smooth though and we had some beautiful views. The water was gorgeous so I took a picture of it from under the boat. took us about 45 minutes to get to Isla Mujeras, and our first stop they had us go into this "tank" to see a shark. Really it looked like a large fish and I guess it was a seaweed/plankton eater anyway. We got our photos taken with it, but ended up not buying that picture. Then back on the boat to our next stop, which was snorkeling. I've never been so this was definitely a fun experience for me. I would panic putting my face in the water and take a lot of fast deep breaths, but it was still cool to be able to do. I missed it, but some of the group saw a sting ray and our instructor got a good photo of it. He also went around and took pictures of each of us underwater. We bought that photo so I'll be sure to scan it and post it in the album. Then they took us to another part of the island to do some shopping. They had a huge Market there with handmade goodies. I had wanted to get Natalia some dresses, since they reminded me a lot of the dresses my Grandma would bring me back from El Salvador. My Spanish came in handy again! in Spanish I was able to bargain down two dresses from $35 a piece to $40 for the two of them. =) I was impressed with my skills, since normally I'm horrible at it. We had an hour in the city and then had to be back on the boat for our next stop which was lunch. at this point my burn was really starting to bother me so I used my towel and covered up even though it was warm. After lunch we began the trek back to the main land. They made a quick stop for some of the people that wanted to parasail on this swing thing, so we had to meet up with another bigger boat. By the time we got back to the hotel it was 6pm! It was a really long day, fun and exhausting. After my shower I noticed the signs of heat rash appearing on my back. I got it all the time when I was younger so I know what it feels like when it's first starting. Not thinking I didn't pack anything for it either. UGH! We split into two groups for dinner that night. Three of the girls wanted to try the sushi place and me and two others did not! So back to the buffet we went. We hung out around the hotel and eventually went back to our rooms for bed.

Tuesday we had all meant to sleep in but of course were up around 7am WIDE awake! DOH! Oh well. We went on a bike ride activity with the hotel and got some fun pictures down by the clubs. Once back we got cleaned up and rode the bus down to the shopping mall. By that time we felt like pros on the bus! he he he. I also got a hold of some calamine lotion to help my heat rash. We walked around the mall and got a few goodies there too. I also bought a higher spf sunscreen and a big soft swimsuit cover up. we all met back up at the hotel for lunch and then it was off to the beach. We got three cabanas in a row for those of us that wanted to stay shaded. I was pretty content there in my cover up in the shade. No more burn for me! It was a nice relaxing way to enjoy my last afternoon there. We had dinner reservations at the nice Mexican restaurant in the hotel that night. My appetizer was delicious, but my main meal was just meh. By this time I was totally burnt out on the hotel's food! Another quiet night back in our rooms, and I started to get my things together to repack.

Wednesday was our day to leave. Me, Brooke, and Amanda were all leaving and Amy, Cheryl, and Angie were staying until Saturday. So we went to breakfast together and then went and checked out. We hoped back on our shuttle to go back to the airport. I was sad to leave now that my burn was feeling better, but oh so excited to get home to Charlie and Natalia. Once at the airport we got in our line at check in for United. It wasn't a long line and felt sorry for the line next to us at the American Airlines desk, it was out the door. HA! Our line took FOREVER! By the time we were only half way though our line, that American Airline line was done. GRR. Finally we got to the front after almost two hours.... only to find out what the problem was. Our flight was delayed four hours, making almost everyone on it miss their connecting flight. So the people at the desk were trying to make arrangements for everyone as they came up, which would explain the slowness of our line. To make matters worse the guy helping us couldn't find a flight for us out of Denver to Boise. EVERYTHING for the that day and the next was full he said. I was in panic mode and ready to cry. We were up at the desk for almost 45 minutes trying to figure out what the heck we were supposed to do. Finally we just said we'll just go to Denver and figure it out from there. He can't look up airlines that aren't international but once in Denver they could and find us a way home. He booked us for a flight on Friday morning out of Denver, but there was no way I was staying in Denver that long if that was the soonest I could get. So Amanda and I both said if that was our only choice we would drive from Denver to Boise. YUK! We waited around the Cancun airport for almost four hours before they finally started boarding our plane. We at least got a good movie on the plane though. I ordered food from the cart not knowing what awaited us in Denver etc. Once we landed we booked it through customs and ran up to the United desk. At the very least we were hoping they would get us out of there first thing in the morning. We knew if that were the case they would at least put us in a hotel for the night. BUT, for some reason they had already put us on a 9:50 flight out of Denver!!! Who knows why the guy didn't see that flight, or why it was full before so he couldn't put us on it etc... but it worked out. They grabbed out suitcases and said go! (By this time it was already 9:20) so we said a quick goodbye to Brooke and ran off to security. I called Charlie crying out of happiness! i was going to be home after all and I was going to be there for Natalia when she woke up which is just what I wanted! So we rushed through security and then ran through the terminal. Of course we were the very last gate, but made it just in time for boarding. I was so glad I had eaten on the plane because at that point Amanda was starving and we had no time to grab food. So we got on our teeny plane and were off to Boise. It was a bumpy ride and the guy sitting next to me STUNK! I felt pretty queasy, but just kept thinking of home. We finally landed in Boise at almost Midnight and my mom was there to get me! WOO HOO! Home Sweet Home! I don't think I've ever been more happy to be home from a vacation as I was then.

Anyway, so the whole trip Charlie was really good at keeping me posted via email at their daily happening here at home. Natalia seemed to do pretty great at first, and she got to spend the night with her grandma a couple of nights because she didn't want to go home with dada. But, towards the end she got bad and had horrible meltdowns for him. I felt bad because I just assumed it meant she missed me. It was awesome to go into her room Thursday morning to get her when she woke up. She didn't seem all that surprised to see me, but snuggled with me all day so I took that as she was happy to see me. My ankles were really swollen all day Thursday and Friday though from my traveling. They are finally starting to look normal again today. I finally went to the doctor yesterday for my heat rash. It's gotten out of hand, it's really inflamed and raised. This happened to me once about 3-4 years ago and I ended up needing to go to the doctor then too. they put me on an antibiotic because it looks so "angry" as she put it and she's worried it will become infected if it already hasn't. I also got the ok to take benadryl for the itching. I've been using a big icepack on it too, and it's starting to look a lot less red. Still pretty itchy, but not as bad as it was. Like I said though the benadryl is making me so very sleepy!

So all in all it was a good trip. Totally not what I was expecting, but good none the less. Nice and relaxing. And I have an awesome tan to show for it. =) My burn is finally fading. My scalp is of course peeling making me look like I have dandruff. I'm glad I got to go though and will forever have those great memories! I'm excited to see the other three and see how the rest of their trip went.

Now it's time to focus on our exciting events coming up! We're doing Natalia's birthday pictures Monday morning, her birthday is Thursday, our Ultrasound is Friday, and her party is Saturday! Plus hanging out with Amy while she is here, should be a busy busy week!

Alrighty, so that got to be a very long post! Be sure to check out the pictures in the Cancun album. As the other girls get home and share pictures I'll have more to post so check back again later. =)