2 girls ready for the beach!
A few family pictures. Look at Leah's face in the below shot. She was being such a stinker about taking pictures (in all fairness, I did make my dad take another picture after I told her that we were done because I didn't like the raft in the background of the first). She was whining and complaining about taking pictures, while my mom was pity nodding along, and I told her to pull it together and smile for 5 seconds. This is what we got. Classic!
We went to the Marti Gras parade in town. It was pretty big. It was pretty special because Chris and I went to the same parade 11 years ago on our first trip to Cozumel together. Leah didn't really understand "island time" and was annoyed that we had to wait for the parade to begin. A waiter from our hotel recognized us. He has worked at the hotel for 30+ years. He made room for my mom and dad to sit down and bought our girls Popsicles. He was so kind and nice. My mom found him the next day and gave him a huge tip for his kindness.
This little girl was too cute. She was the waiters granddaughter and he was very proud of her. She counted to 15 for me in English as an opener, then took my extremely basic Spanish conversation skills to mean that I spoke the language and talked to me like I could understand her. I just nodded along and said many "biens". Whatever she was saying must have been pretty funny because the Spanish family next to us was laughing really hard. She loved Juliet. She kept trying to give Juliet anything she could find, the feathers from her mask, her hair bow, a random napkin. She got scared of me when she picked up a random piece of candy from the street that I had just stepped on and scraped off my sandal and popped it in her mouth. I screamed, "NO!" out of sheer reflex. She ran back to grandpa for a while. I felt so bad.
The parade was pretty good. Chris held Leah on his shoulders and I held Juliet. I was worried about how Juliet would handle it, since she doesn't like loud noises and commotion, but she did great! The costumes were amazing. I wanted to get some good pictures, but really couldn't because I was holding Juliet.
Chris and I loved that there were so many kids in the parade, like 5-8 years old, dressed in 20 pound costumes, in full make up, walking and smiling for the miles long route of the parade in the 85 degree heat. We told Leah we don't want any more complaining on our walks anymore.
Give this girl a strawberry daquari and a hammock and she is happy.
Juliet giving Daddy butterfly kisses at the pool.
One day is was really windy and the sea weed was blowing by. It was pretty cool to watch (and a little stinky!)
This view. Amazing.
I say it every year, but this vacation is such an investment in our family. We get to spend time together, not distracted by washing clothes, vacuuming, cleaning, or cooking. We just get to be together. I get to spend a few hours every day with just my husband, while someone else serves us drinks. There are no distractions. All the random annoyances that somehow matter at home are magically forgotten for a week. There is no i-pad, cell phone, or Nickelodeon (though it was pretty funny to watch the girls try to watch TV in Spanish). My girls get to spend time with their grandparents, and we all get to spend time together. Sitting on the beach during the day and balcony at night is amazing. Chris and I always talk about trying another resort, but for right now, at this stage in our family, this resort has it all. I love the familiarity of it. I like to see the same people every year, I like knowing how things work. We hope to be back next year!
