Day 1 of Our Cancun Trip (Traveling to Mexico)
We had a bit of a scare when two nights before the trip, Levi threw up several times. That’s literally the worst kind of common sickness to get right before a giant international trip where you have to endure hours of long waits whilst surrounded by strangers with nowhere to vomit in peace. (We wouldn’t have done that.) Thankfully times a million, even though we learned from his teacher that more than one of Levi’s classmates had also thrown up (at least one before him and one after him), this particular bug left him ravenous and healthy the next day, with no relapses.
Our travel day began at 5:30 in the morning, the first sacrifice of travel. Clayton and I tried to finish packing in time to get decent sleep the night before, but as is tradition for us and big trips, we did not succeed. Mikayla was dazed and cranky after we woke her up, and did want to budge from the couch until she saw the granola bars on offer for the drive to the airport. Then voila! She was ready to go. Food is the way.
The short trip to Denver was easy. Clayton was kind enough to sit with Mikayla, leaving me free to completely zonk out, which I did. My brain registered nothing when the plane landed on the runway. That was a weird experience actually, for my body to have felt the plane take off and fly, but not land.
From there followed more sacrifices. Even though we arrived at the same gate we would depart from again, time was very short between arrival and re-boarding. We flew Southwest for the trip, which does not do assigned seating. They allow families with children to board after the first group. With the way people fill in the window and aisle seats first, it means if we’re not there before the second group boards, we lose our chance at getting seats together without having to cause a ruckus and make people move. So kinda a big deal to board when we’re supposed to.
By sheer luck, there happened to be a McDonald’s close. Clayton even managed to get our food before it was time to board! But once on the plane, we found ourselves tasting the worst McDonald’s we’d ever had, complete with all four hamburgers missing their hamburger patties. (We were dumbfounded at that one.) We salvaged what we could, and subsisted largely on our packed snacks so as to not perish. But snacks do not a meal make.
The flight to Cancun went smoothly. Then came…customs. That was an unexpected 45+ minute wait of shuffling forward inch by inch in line. Cancun has a shortcut lane for travelers from the US, the U.K., and some other country whose flag I didn’t know. But you can’t use that lane if you have children. Thus we waited alongside mostly non-English speakers and American families with kids. Most of them were adults, actually, so while spring break undoubtedly has a crowding effect in Cancun, I can’t say that was the main cause of so long a wait for them to stamp our passports. I think the only reason Mikayla survived that whole thing was because she had little room to wander before running into a stranger, so she stayed close and made due. Levi just zoned out after a while.
Next, a helpful airport person led us to another helpful airport person who told us where to go to find the pickup service we’d paid for. He did help, but couldn’t resist trying to get us to sign up for a discounted deal for our kids to see penned-up dolphins at a waterpark. Clayton and I did that once, when we were young and naive (and I so do love dolphins), but we’ve since come to not support that. Also, we don’t make on-the-spot decisions. When salespeople spring things on me, my polite side goes to war with my protective side, setting off the tinglings of fight-or-flight, and I tend to freeze or mumble. Thankfully, Clayton is direct and good with words at the right times, and the helpful dude didn’t push.
So out we went to the pickup area. I’d read about all the transportation salespeople who would try to pressure you to choose them. They actually weren’t that bad; instead, the struggle was searching a giant crowd of people holding signs for the one person holding the sign with my name who was our ride. Clayton and I searched together first, then me, and nothing. It was a little panic-inducing because my phone was not in service in Mexico. The company had my number, but couldn’t call me (and they did try). It had been over an hour since our plane landed. Realizing at last that the airport had wi-fi, I was getting ready to call them when Clayton went on one last scouting trip and found the patiently waiting guy. He pronounced my name Sha-Un-Na. Next time I know to connect my data-less phone to Wi-Fi ASAP.
Then we went on a 40-minute van trip (thanks to traffic) to our hotel. I admired Clayton for the energy he put into conversing with our driver, who spoke primarily Spanish. I actually would love to connect with people in other countries and cultures, but I’m so hamstrung by my auditory struggles deciphering other languages and accents. I had the same problem in Antigua because of their accents. My college Spanish skills from days of yore have run a bit dry, and while I can remember a surprising amount of vocab, I struggle to interpret and form coherent sentences. I was glad Clayton could carry on with him. He even stopped by a store on the way so Clayton could buy a sim card.
The coolest sight on that drive, to me, was the dozens and dozens of birds flying above the hotels. They didn’t flap their wings, but held them stretched and straight, hardly bending, while floating on the wind like a horde of dark-winged kites. It was fascinating.
By the time we reached our hotel, it had been 2 ½ hours since our plane landed. We were so exhausted, so hungry, and so under attack from the humidity. I’ve known brutal humidity in Hawaii, Texas, Florida, and the midwest, but this was a new beast. Even while we waited in line indoors for customs, we were tenderizing. By the time we made it to the hotel’s restaurant at 6:00 MST, Mikayla’s hair was sopping. My body is a body of physical sensitivities that transitions horribly in different temperatures and climates, and I was just dying. At one point I felt like I could barely function. Should I wear my thick jacket outside in 84 degree evening heat? Why not, there’s a chilly breeze and I feel cold and wet. But when I take it off, I’m fine too? Maybe? And what temperature should it be inside? Ugggghh. I promise I did not ask for a high-maintenance internal temperature-regulating system, but that’s what I got. Especially with 92% (!!!!) humidity. (Just that first day.)
Day 2 of Our Cancun Trip
We awoke to wind howling outside our patio doors. We’d checked the weather earlier and knew it was coming, so being a hater of strong wind, I mentally prepared myself. Every time we were in it, I just reminded myself of our spring break trip last year to St. George, where we ran dripping wet from the indoor pool to our AirBnB during strong gusts in high-50’s temperatures (during a cold spell, of course. It even freaking hailed one day while we were there). That uncomfortable experience will forever remain in my bones. By contrast, even with such wind, Cancun was warm.
We discovered two things that would set our course for the rest of the day. First, I forgot to pack my dang shorts! I’d pulled them out of winter hibernation, but not having time to select which to bring, I set them back in the closet for later—only to promptly forget and check off my packing as “done.” Not my finest moment. I was so looking forward to wearing them, and so sad. I also so needed them for the hot days ahead, which meant shopping for shorts.
The second involved breakfast. It was a yummy buffet, much like an upscaled version of a buffet breakfast included at a hotel stay—fruit, toast, eggs, pancakes, and other cooked things I did not partake of. The eggs were the best buffet eggs I’ve ever had, and I even complimented the worker cooking them in Spanish. He smiled big when he thanked me and I felt all proud of myself. I did have a frustrating moment later when I couldn’t find butter for the toast, and didn’t know how to say butter in Spanish so I could ask someone. That’s when it occurred to my silly brain that instead of relying on my husband all the time, maybe I should rely on my husband’s job, and use Google Translate. Ha. The kids loved the food and were full and happy. Then the catch: I wasn’t sure if the buffet was included in the hotel cost, and was sort of thinking it was, but nope. Our breakfast feast resulted in an eye-watering $90 bill.
That bill about broke my brain. $90 for eggs and pancakes?! Heck to the no. Combining that with the $120+ bill from the hotel’s restaurant the night before, we began plotting our escape from super overpriced meals. Thankfully we’d rented a villa that included a full kitchen, so that’s what we were going to use. We just needed to get to a grocery store without a car. Fearing that the supermarket in the Hotel Zone might not suffice or be too expensive, we planned a trip to downtown Cancun. Google Maps didn’t have public transit stops listed, so Clayton found another source that did and researched how to do things.
At this point, I was becoming convinced that Cancun is too expensive for families, at least those who rely on the Hotel Zone, which is the most convenient option. Venturing beyond the Hotel Zone requires a solid enough understanding of Spanish to get by. Clayton has that, and without him, I myself would never have left the zone of pricey tourist land. Also, I have to give a shout-out to our amazing kids—they were so tough during our long journeying the day before, only to be rewarded with another long travel day to exciting stores like Walmart. Poor things. They handled it mostly well though. We did not like dedicating a day to grocery shopping, but we had no choice unless we wanted to add a couple thousand more dollars to the trip. At least the windiest day of the trip coincided with the day we needed groceries.
Thus began our journey. We pushed Mikayla in an umbrella stroller when we walked, and took her out and folded the stroller up before boarding the first big full-sized bus. Those buses stop and go wicked fast—I’d barely made it up the steps with Mikayla in my arms before the bus took off again. At least I’m fast on my feet when it comes to grabbing bars and keeping my balance. The bus dropped us off at one place, then we waited for a van-bus (of which there are zillions) to finish the leg to our first stop, Plaza Las Americas, a giant modern mall which happened to have a supermarket inside it. When we boarded that van-bus, I just carried the stroller with Mikayla still in it into the bus because there’s more room in those.
We went straight for women’s shorts inside the supermarket at Plaza Las Americas. This led to a puzzle of sizing. I figured that “chica” must mean “small.” Some had numeric sizing, and I just grabbed the smallest number I could find. The problem is that you can’t try clothes on in that store! So I bought them blind and threw fate to the winds. As of this writing, I still haven’t tried them on, so we’ll know tomorrow if they fit. ;)
There was a place to eat at the supermarket. It took us a bit to figure out how it worked. We’d see the lady cooking pizza in the oven, but then she’d be done and leave. We saw containers of sushi moving on a square conveyor belt, but no cashier. How to buy them, we wondered. We managed to catch the pizza lady and she directed us to the one cashier in the place, where you can order all the things in that area. I think we were thrown off because in America, the menus for what you can buy are next to where you buy them; at this place, the menu by the cashier only had items for behind the counter, and the menus for the sushi and pizza were elsewhere. I chimed in with Spanish best I could, and felt I did okay. Unfortunately our kids (and kinda me) did not enjoy the Mexican style of pepperoni pizza. We did the best we could.
I have to say, I did take time to look around and appreciate what it’s like to be a foreigner. There was little English to be found anywhere, not in conversations around me nor on signs. I had to plan ahead every word of what I’d say to someone. I imagine tons of LDS missionaries have gone through this, but it was new to me. I thought of Spanish-speaking families I’d seen in Utah. How different it is, not knowing the language—and that’s coming from someone who took four semesters of Spanish in college, so I’m not completely helpless. But I think I’d die were I surrounded by any language other than Spanish or English with no translator. The ability to communicate is key to our human existence, and not being able to is such a frustrating feeling.
When we finished eating, we waited outside trying to snag one of the several van-buses that would take us to Walmart. Clayton’s resource gave a list of which numbers would do that. After failing to flag down a couple of them, we moved to a different spot to wait. Finally one van-bus pulled up that wasn’t on the list, but Clayton noticed it said Walmart on it among other things, and it was indeed a van-bus that took us to Walmart.
Walmart had English words listed alongside Spanish in many cases, but it was still filled with Mexican products. It took us ages to figure out what to get. When we were checking out, a man with decent English struck up a conversation with Clayton, asked where we were from, and instantly connected Utah with us being Mormons. (Second time in a foreign country where that happened in exactly that way. LDS church, I really don’t think you should drop your Mormon identity just yet.) Then while I took the kids to get food, he tried to get Clayton to sign up for a discounted deal to family activities around Cancun, just like the helpful airport guy. Haha, they know where the tourists go.
It was late enough that we wanted to eat at Walmart before leaving, otherwise we’d have to travel back to the hotel, unload groceries, and still have to eat at either the $100+ hotel restaurant or leave the hotel again. That left us with Walmart’s options, a Mexican restaurant and McDonald’s. Was really not feeling McDonald’s, but I wasn’t sure about the other, so it was back to the big McD’s for me, Mikayla, Brielle, and Levi. Unfortunately, this is where I ran into big struggles communicating—even when the nice gal brought an English-speaking worker over, somehow we still couldn’t understand what question she was asking me about the McNuggets, and I couldn’t convey that I needed two cheeseburgers, one cheeseburger plain, and two hamburgers. (I should have thought this through much better before trying. But I was tired and hungry.) Mortified by my inability, I dragged Clayton over to help, but even so we ended up with four cheeseburgers, one cheeseburger plain, and no McNuggets. So like, half right. When Clayton went to order the nuggets, he tried to do just one 10-piece, and we ended up with two 10-pieces. Which worked out when Levi accidentally spilled most of his out of his box.
Rest was near, but not yet. My kids were champions as they each carried a big bag of groceries to where we’d take our final bus. According to Clayton’s resource, there were supposed to be several options of van-buses to take us to the Hotel Zone. We waited a bit before one came, but the first one we stopped said they did not go there. I was so grateful for Clayton, because I didn’t understand anything he said when he asked the driver where they drove to, or even how to say Hotel Zone in Spanish. We waited a little longer for the second, and it turns out they didn’t go there either. Before panic could start setting in, the kind driver of this van-bus told us that the big bus in front of us could take us there.
There was just one person getting on the big bus when we heard this, so we raced with our groceries to get there before the bus took off. This resulted in me and Clayton lifting Mikayla in her stroller up the stairs, and just like last time, the bus started moving soon as I reached the landing. I clung to the seats while guiding the stroller down the narrow aisle, found a seat, and took a breather. Then I got Mikayla out and managed to fold the stroller up and move it out of the way literally right before the people who boarded at the next stop reached us in the aisle. It’s so fast-paced with those big buses, man.
All we had to do after that was cross the street, which we did. We made it back and unloaded groceries. The kids changed into their swimsuits and could, at long last, play in their beautiful sand and warm ocean. Their sweet tired father offered to go with them so their tired mother could avoid the evening wind and enjoy some rest and napping. The only things standing in their way before tomorrow’s romp in the ocean are a good night’s rest and an easy breakfast in our room. (And their aversion to the taste of saltwater. I can relate, but hopefully they get over that…)
Day 3 of Our Cancun Trip
We took the morning nice and slow. Slept in like pros, meandered through breakfast, and took our sweet time filling water bottles, collecting our beach gear, and covering ourselves in sunscreen. I also tried on my shorts—and they fit! One was a little tight, one a little loose, and one just right. I was shocked. And with that, we were off to our Caribbean beach!
Finding a shady beach spot at resorts can be a bit of a joke, from what I’d read online. Meaning, people can claim their shaded chairs with towels first thing in the morning, and then not even go back and use the spot until well after lunch. And resorts don’t have enough spots available for those who don’t do this. It really sucks how people pay thousands of dollars to stay at beach resorts and resorts can’t figure out a more balanced system. Interestingly, the resort Clayton and I stayed at in Antigua must have been one of manageable numbers, because they did have it figured out—a reserved shade spot for every room, how about that. I was really missing that perk. We ended up grabbing an extra chair, placed it in the shade of a palm tree, and called it a day.
Like our first day at Antigua had been, the weather was lovely and warm, but not at its warmest or sunniest. I braved the ocean best I could, but there wasn’t enough steady sun to counteract the wind and the water that wasn’t quite warm enough. So…I did not last. I retreated from my ocean to my beach chair, which I had to keep moving because we’d placed it too close to a zone where families could play fútbol.
But that was alright. We’d chosen a beach that was remarkably boring, with no perks except that it was the calmest we could find in Cancun for the kids. The wind was actually driving bigger waves than I expected, but still safe and fun for them. They swam a lot, despite how much they’d complained about the saltwater, and they all loved it so much. Mikayla primarily stayed just outside the water’s reach, grabbing little clusters of sand and happily casting them back into the watery chasm from whence they came.
Eventually hunger drained their batteries and we retired to our room to partake of our money-saving groceries. Despite having the mostly Mexican version of our typical lunches (and forgetting to buy the PB of PB&J), it was mostly a success. The deli meats were not necessarily my kids’ favorite, and the only hot dogs I could find were some kind of turkey sausage hot dogs. We ate it all rather slowly.
Then we did what I’d originally sworn off doing: going to the pool. Why suffer the cost and time of traveling to an ocean-hugging place just to use their pool? But the ocean was too cold for me, and the pool was warmer, so…sorry Mother Nature, I chose artificial swimming. Clayton opted to chill on the pool chair this time, but me and the kids had a BLAST. They had a kiddie pool that was large and perfect for Mikayla, and the older kids practiced using their new snorkels in the kiddie pool. When they ventured to the larger pool, they all succeeded using them to a degree. We’re still practicing, but there was good progress.
I lasted until the sun no longer touched most of the water, but the kids lasted until we ordered dinner and ate it poolside. (We weren’t able to find good, convenient family food options at the store, so we’ll probably still go out for most of our dinners.) Mikayla, my goodness, did not want to stop. She didn’t want food, she wanted “water”; this she said over and over, while nibbling on her dinner here and there. We bribed her home with a sugary treat.
And that was our day! Not much to write home about, but just the right chill and relaxing we really needed. The next two days should be warmer, and I’m hoping to do more ocean swimming. The two days after that are questionable. Either way, I remind myself that we’re in a much warmer place than if we hadn’t come here. It’s also been a great experience for the kids.
Day 4 of Our Cancun Trip
We didn’t buy enough bread, that much was already clear. There was a supermarket only a 10-minute walk from our hotel in the Hotel Zone, the one we didn’t try because we were worried about it being expensive, but now was the time for convenience. When we got there, we weren’t sure where the entrance was and entered through the parking garage. Clayton took Mikayla in the stroller up to the store in an elevator because we didn’t realize at the time that the escalators were not moving stairs, but were actually moving ramps, so people could take their grocery carts up and down on them—pretty cool. Before I could take myself and the rest of the kids up the escalator, two security guards stopped me. They needed to inspect my backpack (our diaper bag). They did so while it was still on my back. It wasn’t until they finished and we met Clayton at the top that he told me they’d tied the backpack’s zippers together.
I felt a little shocked. And a little violated! My mom brain was like, but what if she poops? Hahaha. I was still processing it as we walked through the store. Afraid we’d take something out and hurt someone? Ah, maybe afraid we’d steal something and hide it inside? That made sense. Also how did they tie backpacks that opened and closed with only one zipper? Either way, weird feeling being barred from your stuff! Clayton has both prescription glasses and sunglasses, and with the sunglasses on his face when we got there, he couldn’t get into the diaper bag to switch them out for his normal glasses. Dark times at the supermarket.
The supermarket was the same brand we’d visited inside the Plaza Las Americas, but clearly more geared towards tourists. They had way more imported American brands than even the downtown Walmart. At first I was a little worried that we’d made a mistake sacrificing so much of the other day going downtown. But this store didn’t have shorts, and was a little more expensive, so then I felt better about it. When we were all done we approached the security guards about the backpack, and they pulled out a pair of scissors and cut the tie for us. Whew, free again.
We headed to a seafood place. The hexagon-shaped stones on the ground along the way made for some rough pushing with our little plastic stroller wheels. But we made it, and through a giant stroke of luck, all our kids (and I) liked the food. Then we headed back to the store to buy some freezer/fridge stuff, then walked back to our hotel. By then the heat of day was raging, and we took the same path we’d taken to get there, which was next to the asphalt road and all the heat-emitting vehicles and over a cement sidewalk alongside bright white cement buildings. The heat hit us everywhere and we began to melt. I was a million times grateful that the shorts fit me and that I was currently wearing them.
But we made it home! Sad to say, it was a lot later in the day than I thought it’d be when we got back. By the time we changed and sunscreened up, we had only a couple hours until dinnertime. We did the same as the previous day—ocean first, then pool. The advantage of going later is we were able to get a shade spot with chairs and a table. The ocean was also much calmer this time, exactly as I’d read about it online, and it was warmer and I loved it even though there were still no fish to see. It’s perfect for the kids, being a bay a long ways from the big ocean, and quite shallow for some time. Clayton was never able to get to where he could fully stand and still be submerged up to his neck. Or his nipples.
The kids like the ocean, with Brielle enjoying swimming more than Ari, and Levi loving it the most. He’ll dive and swim and swim and dive for ages, no stressing over the salty taste, and will dive for seaweed and dead coral pieces if he wants to. I’m excited for them to learn how to snorkel in the ocean. Eventually the wind and lowered sun got to us, so we retreated to the pool, where it was already too late for me to jump in. The kids did their last swimming before we headed in. Clayton won hero of the day by dealing with Mikayla’s poopy swim diaper—always a gross situation—while Ari and I made grilled cheese sandwiches. It was a yummy end to the day.
Day 5 of Our Cancun Trip
Today was our BIG beach day. The skies were all sun, the waters calm, and the wind good enough. We still got out kind of slow; our sleeping in works against us because of the time change, where we’re still running on Utah time, but Cancun is an hour ahead—an hour we lose every day. It feels like we’re heading out just past 11:00, but really it’s already the afternoon.
Even so, this time we had hours to play and swim. We let our pool-obsessed kids take a quick dip in the pool and practice snorkeling, then set out to sea. Levi and Ariana both snorkeled great in the ocean! I was so proud of them. Ariana had to use Clayton’s snorkel though. I’m going to look for another mask for Brielle, whose very sensitive head really hated her hair getting tangled on all the straps and parts for her snorkel mask. Eventually Ariana told me that snorkeling was kind of boring and there wasn’t much to see, haha, so I explained that this was just the warm-up, and next time we’ll go where the good snorkeling beaches are.
With the kids on the beach watching Mikayla, I went out deeper with Clayton and we finally found a deep enough spot for the water to reach his neck while he was standing! Hurray. The kids spent hours swimming and playing and collecting dozens of tiny shells. About an hour or so after arriving, we managed to luck out and find a shade spot, where we took a break for lunch. Then it was back to the ocean until the sun sank too low to shield us from the wind’s chill. The only nerve-wracking thing was when I was watching Mikayla near the end, she kept wandering in and out of the water, going deeper and deeper until the water was at her neck at one point. I always stayed close enough to grab her immediately if needed, and kept aggressively directing her back to shore, but geez that was kinda hard on my nerves. She’s not afraid of water and may not understand the difference between the kiddie pool, where she sits and sticks her face in the water all the time, and the ocean. Gonna have to watch for that tomorrow.
When we left the beach, the kids played in the pool again before we called it a night. Mikayla didn’t poop in her swim diaper this time so that was a giant relief. And that was our beach day! Today I hit that sweet spot of satisfaction in feeling that, even if we had to go home tomorrow, we’d met our quota and had a successful trip. We’d gotten a lot of beach and done a ton of swimming. But fortunately, we had two more days!
Day 6 of Our Cancun Trip
We weren’t sure how Monday’s weather would turn out, but it ended up warm and sunny. We made eggs and toast for breakfast before heading out. The beach wasn’t nearly as busy as the day before, and we even got a shade spot right away. The kids went to town with their beach toys in the sand. Then they went swimming with Clayton while I finished putting on sunscreen. Ari and Brielle swam the furthest from shore they’ve ever gone. (Where they could still touch, of course.)
When Clayton came back, I took my own swimming journey out. The waves were gentle enough that I could flip onto my back and just float, eyes closed against the sun, arms and legs outstretched, savoring the sensation of ocean liquid cushioning my skin. It was a very meditative moment—there’s just something so serenely peaceful about floating. Even the word “float” is nice.
By the time I swam back, I was feeling cold and a little queasy. Queasiness usually meant I needed food soon. The cold was unfortunate though, and when I walked onto shore feeling the last waves slosh against my ankles, I wondered if I’d be returning to the ocean before the end of our trip.
One by one, our kids got oceaned out. Ariana came first, having received a splash of salty seawater to the face, hurting her eyes. She curled up in a blanket and went to sleep on her chair. Brielle was next, all done with sand and salt and longing for the pool. She wrapped herself up and rested too. Then Clayton came asking if anyone wanted to go for a walk along the beach, and only I said yes. So we brought Levi back to play in the sand by his sisters, while Clayton and I went for a walk, along with Mikayla who had no choice of course. We walked past many of the neighboring resorts and villas feeling that, frankly, we’d chosen the best resort with the best bit of beach. (Each resort’s swimming section is outlined with buoys.)
After our walk, Clayton took the younger three to the pool. I think Ari was suffering from a little heat sickness, as she wanted nothing but air conditioning and ice water. Once she got those, she helped me make sandwiches and we brought them to everyone else, then she and I ate ours inside our room. She felt better after that and swam in the pool until it was time to be done. The pool was too cold for me, so my time in the water was over for the day.
Clayton cooked us some good ol’ American pepperoni pizza for dinner. We showered while he did so, and for some reason, the chlorine content or something was way high in the shower water. Ari, Brielle, and I came out of our showers with burning eyes, and the inside of my nose and throat were burning. It was rather awful and I’m not sure why it happened when we’d had no problems before. Everyone was worn out after dinner, and Levi even asked unprompted if he could go to bed. At this point, maybe it’s good we have just one day left. It’s just that Tuesday’s weather is looking cloudy, windy, and iffy—it’s currently super windy outside as I write this. If we can’t hit the ocean, we’ll see about exploring something indoors.
Day 7 of Our Cancun Trip
The skies were sunny when we woke, with the wind no worse than the previous day. So we ventured into the water one last time. First was the pool, where we all swam together and got Mikayla to join us in the big pool with her swim wings on. She had to adjust to the feeling of floating with her feet not touching the bottom. Then we switched to the ocean, where Clayton snorkeled for the first time, and swam with Ari, Levi, and Mikayla. It was Brielle’s turn to sleep on a shade chair under her towel. The water was too chilly for me—I’d barely made it into the pool. But that was alright.
It was late in the afternoon when we were finally ready to find food. Clayton wanted to try a fancy restaurant so he could eat some fancy yummy food. He chose a place farther down in the Hotel Zone that had a kid area, so the kids could play while we waited for our food. The girls even made bracelets. The thing is, I think the kid area existed so that adults could eat and drink wine while a professional nanny watched their kids. So it was probably beyond baffling to our two waiters (plural) when we kept refusing wine. I finally gave the gentle excuse that we’d been raised religious, while Clayton was more direct saying we don’t drink. Haha, even without religion I’d still be a plain boring water drinker, which I think is perfectly fine until we eat at fancy places where half the deal is about the wine. Then I feel kinda awkward.
The two waiters were very precise in how they brought our dishes. Even my fancy-looking ice cubes were dropped into my cup one by one with tongs. Our waiters also hovered nearby at times to answer our every whim. As a picky eater, and a mother of picky eaters, I found that kind of uncomfortable. I did at least love my steak.
We’d taken a fast bus ride there—during which I noted that there were no van-buses in the Hotel Zone—but there was traffic on the way back. The bus also filled up with people from every stop. Long before we reached our hotel, every seat was occupied and standing people filled the aisle. Getting our family off the bus at our stop was a bit intense. I pushed my way through, saying “lo siento” over and over because I can never remember how to say “excuse me” in Spanish, while wielding my closed-up stroller and wearing a poofy backpack. But I figure bus people are quite used to that, and they were very accommodating. Someone even threw Mikayla’s pink bracelet out the window as the bus drove away—she’d lost it while falling asleep on Clayton.
Once back, we showered and packed, and that was that. It was a great stay, Beachscape Kin Ha Villas in Cancun, Mexico!
Day 8 of Our Cancun Trip (Traveling home)
We made it to the hotel lobby pretty close to on time, around 7:30am. Our driver was very nice, and spoke the best English of any local we’d met. It was comforting having someone converse with us about Cancun in our language. I have his card too, so if anyone needs transportation around Cancun, let me know!
We couldn’t check-in for our flight on our own, so we waited in a long line for them to do our check-in and bags. It ended up taking as long as going through security at most airports I’ve been to. But the security that followed was the shortest we’ve ever been through—we walked right up to it.
Unfortunately, shortly after that came the message that our flight was delayed by two hours—and counting. As of this writing, it’s been delayed three hours. (The plane we need to get on hasn’t left its airport in the States yet.) That screwed us over immediately with our connecting flight, so currently we’re scheduled for a late flight from Denver. It’s gonna be a rough, rough trip for the kiddos this time around.
Update—we flew out of Cancun over three hours after our scheduled time. The flight from Denver was scheduled for 9:50pm, got pushed back twenty minutes, and then we sat in the plane waiting for connecting passengers and baggage for an hour. We flew into SLC well after midnight. By the time we made it home, it was 2:00am.
We’d been up for 20 hours, spent at least 11 of those in an airport, and the rest in an airplane or driving. Our kids were the troopiest of troopers. Our flight company gave us some vouchers to put towards future flights, but the whole ordeal put me off of doing any major or out-of-country trips with the kids for a while. (Except flying to see the eclipse of course.) Still I think it was worth it and a great experience for everyone. I’m very grateful we got to go.
