I thought I would post mostly pictures of our New Years trip to Cancun. It was a very spur of the moment trip. We had not planned to go anywhere this year but some difficulties that arose with Grant and his stepmother made me reconsider that decision. On Friday, I contacted a travel agent to see what trip would fit into my very meager budget (i.e. the money I received for Christmas from my parents and airfare at $99 per person). Imagine my surprise when she called me back Friday evening and said she could only find two places in my budget... Tampa, FL or Cancun... well, DUH!!!! Tampa was in the 50's and Cancun was where we visited in 2004 and my decision to adopt Sophie was finally made. So, Sunday morning, we were off... just the four of us.
When we arrived from our direct flight... we were starving and headed directly to our favorite restaurant from our previous trip... Carlos and Charlies! Bug was about five minutes from falling asleep here and still in her travel clothes.
Our first full day, we hit the beach... as you can see, it was not the most popular destination for our baby bug! She was terrified of the sand and the water...
But, she would stand on the rocks as long as her sandals were on. Here she looks as if she is praying that her mommy would not put her back down in the icky sticky sand!
This beach babe had no problem in the sand... when did my baby girl get so grown up??
The big kids spent their Christmas money renting wave runners. They had so much fun! Unfortunately, they were too far away from me to get their picture, but I did get them before they went out. It was one of those sibling bonding times... very rare among these two.
That night, New Years Eve... we went to eat at the only restaurant that was available without reservations... Rainforest Cafe. There was a man there with a monkey that let the kids hold and pose with it for the bargain price of $10. I knew I was not leaving that place without my animal loving children having a cuddle with that cute monkey!
All three of my bronzed and sunkissed babies
This trip soon became a time for Morgan and Sophie to connect. For some strange reason, Sophie has not allowed Morgan to get close to her, as if she were scared that Sissy would take the place of Mommy. It was hard for Morgan as she loves Sophie so very much, but Bug rebuffed her anytime she tried to cuddle or hold her. This trip, all that changed... Sophie is now ALL ABOUT her Sissy!! New Years Eve, they had so much fun playing out on the hotel beachfront... Elmo got in the action too...
And... ready for this... TOUCHDOWN in the sand. Here is photographic proof!! Morgan convinced her to put her toes in the sand and very slowly, she realized that it was not all that bad! Here are the three girls in the sand...
Grant had fun with Sophie too playing on the beach chairs. This was a night of togetherness... one I will never forget!
The view from our room at night
New Years Day, we headed over to Playa del Carmen to visit a friend of mine that adopted her daughter, "I", the same time as me and lives there year round (lucky!). Sophie and beautiful "I" had a wonderful time playing in the sand and the pool... you would have thought that Sophie had always been a sand baby the way she dug in and covered herself from head to toe with her little pail/cup and shovel! This trip proved to be a real growing experience for my little bug!
Notice that she is not letting go of the side of the pool. I believe the term is "death grip" but she is smiling!
That night, a front came through and brought cool air and 50-60 mile per hour winds that lasted the rest of our trip. We decided to go inland to an outdoor mall to escape the wind. They had a very small aquarium at the mall. Here is Bug watching the sea turtles, sharks and sting rays swimming in a tank.
Elmo enjoyed the aquarium too.
My favorite picture from the trip... not quite the beach picture I had envisioned taking, but my three kids smiling and together...
Our last night there, we visited our new favorite restaurant, Senor Frogs. We had so much fun with the waiters and both my girls got so much attention from the locals. All the male waiters kept pulling Morgan up to dance with them. Here she is doing the Conga line...
Each table gets a sign... ours said "Kids For Sale"
The group shot!
The final morning of our trip, we sat outside gathering the last of the rays we could take home from the overcast sky... my handsome son...
my beautiful girls...
And a shot Morgan took of her brother on the hotel balcony... I love to see their views through the lens... they both love photography:
Morgan self portrait in the sand
And Grant took some of Morgan on the rocks down the beach when they went for a walk together. I love this picture and the photographer behind the lens.
This was a trip of healing, reconnection and love. Our little family really needed the time away to refocus on our strengths so we can work together through the hard stuff that hits just about every family at some time or another in varying degrees.
DISCLAIMER... I did not mean to insinuate that the trip was meager... it was awesome and I was thrilled that my family of four could travel so affordably to someplace so wonderful! With airfare at $99 per person, and the hotel under $200 a night, we were gone four nights... so reasonable for a spur of the moment, this is the budget vacation. Overall... the money spent was worth it... and maybe we were running away from reality for a while, but it was something I am so fortunate to have been able to do!
