The Brat Fights the Fat
November 18, 2006
We're Back!
After a very long day and night of travelling (our flight was delayed 6 hours), we're back in the land of never ending rain. I haven't gone to sleep yet as we didn't get home until 5:30 am and knew the kids would be up soon. We could have slept in Richmond for a bit, but I was anxious to get home to my babies.
Our trip was wonderful! Beautiful beaches, amazing mayan ruins, friendly people, hot sun and lots of relaxing. The resort we stayed at was huge. We were there for 3 days before we even went to the other 3 lobbies and even then we never did see the whole resort. We did two tours: the Coba ruins and Xel-Ha/Tulum.
The Coba temple was amazing. It was 128 steps high (very steep steps too) and believe it or not, I climbed to the top. Of course, about half way up I remembered that I'm afraid of heights. Not a good time to make that realization. Oh well, there wasn't much I could do, but go to the top and then come back down. After the ruins, we went to this amazing sinkhole for a cool down swim. There were stalagtighs/mights that were like 9 million years old. Our guide Jorge, was great and was of Mayan decent. We visited a Mayan village which was pretty neat. I thought it would be uncomfortable wandering through peoples homes, but in their culture, they would have been insulted had we not visited. It was very interesting.
Xel-Ha was pretty cool too, sort of an ecological theme park. There's snorkling, a floating village and drifting down the river in inner tubes. We spent most of the day there and it wasn't nearly enough time. We went as part of the tour, but if we were to go again, we'd just take a cab and do it ourselves. Had our picture taken with parrots and got a little drunk. Almost missed our bus due to a lovely nap in a hammock.
After Xel-Ha our bus took us to the Tulum ruins. Coba was neat with it's huge temple, but Tulum was facinating as it was a trading port city with lighthouses, a temple and palaces. The ruins themselves were worth seeing, but our guide was horrendous, rude and lecturing. He almost ruined the whole tour.
We also took a cab to the Akumul beach for a brief appearance on a webcam there for the entertainment of friends back home. Felt pretty self-conscious, but was fun to do anyway. After ward we went to Playa del Carmen for some shopping. Lots of stores and everyone is trying to convince you to visit their store. Bought some fun stuff.
Other than that, all we did was lay on the beach, eat, sleep and relax. Just what we needed. I'll post some pictures later, after I've had a chance to sort them.
Our trip was wonderful! Beautiful beaches, amazing mayan ruins, friendly people, hot sun and lots of relaxing. The resort we stayed at was huge. We were there for 3 days before we even went to the other 3 lobbies and even then we never did see the whole resort. We did two tours: the Coba ruins and Xel-Ha/Tulum.
The Coba temple was amazing. It was 128 steps high (very steep steps too) and believe it or not, I climbed to the top. Of course, about half way up I remembered that I'm afraid of heights. Not a good time to make that realization. Oh well, there wasn't much I could do, but go to the top and then come back down. After the ruins, we went to this amazing sinkhole for a cool down swim. There were stalagtighs/mights that were like 9 million years old. Our guide Jorge, was great and was of Mayan decent. We visited a Mayan village which was pretty neat. I thought it would be uncomfortable wandering through peoples homes, but in their culture, they would have been insulted had we not visited. It was very interesting.
Xel-Ha was pretty cool too, sort of an ecological theme park. There's snorkling, a floating village and drifting down the river in inner tubes. We spent most of the day there and it wasn't nearly enough time. We went as part of the tour, but if we were to go again, we'd just take a cab and do it ourselves. Had our picture taken with parrots and got a little drunk. Almost missed our bus due to a lovely nap in a hammock.
After Xel-Ha our bus took us to the Tulum ruins. Coba was neat with it's huge temple, but Tulum was facinating as it was a trading port city with lighthouses, a temple and palaces. The ruins themselves were worth seeing, but our guide was horrendous, rude and lecturing. He almost ruined the whole tour.
We also took a cab to the Akumul beach for a brief appearance on a webcam there for the entertainment of friends back home. Felt pretty self-conscious, but was fun to do anyway. After ward we went to Playa del Carmen for some shopping. Lots of stores and everyone is trying to convince you to visit their store. Bought some fun stuff.
Other than that, all we did was lay on the beach, eat, sleep and relax. Just what we needed. I'll post some pictures later, after I've had a chance to sort them.
November 04, 2006
Quick Update
I leave for Mexico on Friday!! Woohoo! Very excited. If I survive the next 5 days, that is.
I have a hundred and one things to do before I go. My stepmom is taking care of the kids for me while I'm gone and on the days she works, our nanny will watch them. To facilitate that, Grandma Jo will be staying at our house part of the time. Which means I have to clean (really clean) our bedroom and bathroom. I've got to pack and run around getting those stray things you need for a holiday (bug spray, suncreen, etc). Check out our evening schedule for the next bit:
Monday night - Feeding your kids class at the community center
Tuesday night - Assignment due & Riding lessons for Jordan
Wednesday night - Salsa lessons for me, Toddler class for Katie and Basketball for Scott
Thursday night - turn kids over to Grandma Jo and head into Richmond where we'll stay until we head to the airport in the middle of the night.
Picture me laughing hysterically as I look at this list. I guess there goes sleep. It'll be worth it, when we make it to Mexico.
Food and exercise wise, I'm pretty much sucking. I'm going to try to hit the gym every morning before work, but with the lack of sleep... well, lets just say getting up in the moring is a challenge.
Hope everyone is doing well. I've missed you guys and will try to get more consistent with my posting when I get back.
I have a hundred and one things to do before I go. My stepmom is taking care of the kids for me while I'm gone and on the days she works, our nanny will watch them. To facilitate that, Grandma Jo will be staying at our house part of the time. Which means I have to clean (really clean) our bedroom and bathroom. I've got to pack and run around getting those stray things you need for a holiday (bug spray, suncreen, etc). Check out our evening schedule for the next bit:
Monday night - Feeding your kids class at the community center
Tuesday night - Assignment due & Riding lessons for Jordan
Wednesday night - Salsa lessons for me, Toddler class for Katie and Basketball for Scott
Thursday night - turn kids over to Grandma Jo and head into Richmond where we'll stay until we head to the airport in the middle of the night.
Picture me laughing hysterically as I look at this list. I guess there goes sleep. It'll be worth it, when we make it to Mexico.
Food and exercise wise, I'm pretty much sucking. I'm going to try to hit the gym every morning before work, but with the lack of sleep... well, lets just say getting up in the moring is a challenge.
Hope everyone is doing well. I've missed you guys and will try to get more consistent with my posting when I get back.
