Weekend Rewind

Finally...I've been trying to post all day with a reponse that Blogger is temporarily unavailable.

Anyway, with all the recap posts, this weekend rewind will be minus any photos as I'm saving you from any more photos than is absolutely necessary. I'm getting close to being finished with our trip recaps, maybe I should cut down on my photo-taking!

As for the weekend, Friday night we grabbed a quick dinner & then headed to the driving range. Hubby had a big tournament on Saturday so he wanted to get some practice in! I hit a small bucket while Hubby hit large bucket and we were both worn out by the time we were done. The rest of the evening consisted of catching up on our DVR & transplanting some flowers in our flowerbeds.

I had to work on Saturday morning but I brought Bogey down & dropped him at my parents' house. With hubby's golf tournament I took advantage of the beautiful, but hot afternoon & laid out at my parents' pool. Bogey got in some good "country" time with a few trips to the pond running alongside the four-wheeler. Hubby got home sometime mid-evening and after a quick trip to Walmart we settled down for more DVR catch-up! We managed to be gone to Mexico during the week of all the season finales so we had a lot to catch up on!

Yesterday we headed to church & can I just say it was so nice to be back in church?!? We missed 2 Sunday's while we were on vacation & its so refreshing to spend time praising Jesus & listening to his Word. After church it was time for lawncare...Hubby & I mowed the yard & then finished up some other small things around our yard.

Last night was our end of the year BBQ for Small Group. We had a blast playing bocce ball & corn-hole/beanbag toss. I love those families & will miss seeing them each & every week. We've got plenty of activities planned, but it was always great to see them every Sunday night.

I'm headed out of town again on Wednesday, this time for our girls' trip to Natchez, MS. We're touring all the antebellum homes in the area; but I'm more excited about just spending some quality time with some incredible women! I'll be traveling with my mom, my mil, my sil, Hubby's aunt, & his half-sister. The trip was actually possibly not going to happen due to a family illness, but God cleared that up for us & we're headed out on Wednesday morning. That being said, the blogging will be few & far between. Hopefully I'll get the Mexico recaps finished beforehand but I'm not counting on it!

Riviera Maya Recap...Time to XPLOR!

After the day of golfing on Monday we used Tuesday to relax & unwind...and I mean that literally. We both had massages on Tuesday morning for 80 precious minutes. It was wonderful! The resort was running a special of 2 80-minute massages for $150! That's an incredible deal anywhere, let along a resort spa!


Anyways, after our massages we headed down to the beach & spent the rest of the day laying on the beach. We also had dinner at a restaurant down the beach called Al Cielo. I had mahi mahi & Hubby had a ribeye...both were wonderful.

Wednesday was another planned activity day. One of the things Hubby really wanted to do on our honeymoon was to go ziplining. Due to some miscommunications by the resort we ended up missing out on this opportunity so I knew that ziplining was at the top of our list for this trip. I did my research & finally decided on XPLOR.



It's basically a theme-park for the adventuresome with about 4-5 different activities. That may not seem like a lot but it took us basically from open to close to do everything we wanted...not because of crowds just because of how the park was laid out & the length of each activity. I had read on Trip Advisor to start with ziplining & since that was the focus of our visit, that's where we headed.

Hubby getting all harnessed up!

Both of us swinging through the trees!

At the top of one of the platforms.

Hubby coming for a landing...

& me holding on for dear life! But I had a great time!

Overlook of one of the water-landings...the water was cold but so refreshing!

Hubby & I coming in for our landing!

One of the zipline circuits had this water-slide for you to get to the next line. Again, this water was freezing!

Preparing for the splash-down!

Having the time of our lives!

The ziplines were definitely our favorite part of the day. We even had time to go through the water circuit one more time--complete with 2 splashdown landings & the water slide. However, the park has more attractions that were fun as well!

Amphibious vehicles...fun, but a little boring after awhile!

Some romance in the cenote'--we needed something to warm us up, this was an underground swim in 75 degree water!

Cenote' rafting, we did 2 different circuits...one with us on a raft together & one by ourselves. We had a great time & the cave formations are stunning!

I would say this was definitely a highlight of our trip. We were exhausted by the time we got home....we were on the move ALL DAY long! Another great aspect of this place was that there are cameras all over the property and you have a computer chip on your helmet. The cameras take all sorts of pictures & you can purchase them at the end of the day. We bought all the photos & they come on your own USB drive so you can do whatever you want to with them. I was very grateful to have all of the action shots & photos of Hubby & I together.

Riviera Maya Recap...Time to Play!

After getting settled in on Sunday, Hubby had made plans to play a round of golf on Monday morning. I decided to join him to keep him company & to be the official photographer. I'm so glad I went! The course was absolutely gorgeous & we probably had one of our best meals of the trip (both with food & view) while visiting the golf course.

Nick was excited because a PGA Tour event is played at this course every year...this normally means a great course!

The clubhouse...I love the modern look!



Hubby next to the starting clock...



What a great way to start off! This cenote (underground cave) was in the middle of the fairway on the first hole. Hubby wanted me to hurry up and take a picture because Mr. Iguana was in a hole in the rock right above his head & started hissing at him! Someone wasn't very happy that we were disturbing his home!



Part of the lagoon surrounding the course



The view from one of the holes. Beautiful! Yes, I'm barefoot...it was SUPER hot and having my shoes off always seems to help keep me cool! Plus, the grass felt wonderful on my feet. Ok, yes I'm a dork!



Hubby looking like a pro!



Me not looking like a pro but hopefully looking cute anyway!



Our reptilian friends even joined us on the golf course...this was a big guy!



The course only had 2 main holes that were on the water but they had gorgeous views!

Hubby was worried the course might be busy but he actually ended up being only 1 of 2 golfers on the course that morning. This was fantastic as he was able to play very quickly but still enjoy the beautiful scenery. After the quick round, we cooled off a bit & then asked to be taken to a restaurant on the property we had noticed during the round.

Can I just say the atmosphere & view were stunning?!? We had a fabulous lunch complete with calamari, a burger & fries for Hubby, & probably the best piece of grilled grouper I've ever eaten. We had a great time relaxing, especially since we were the only couple in the restaurant until we were almost ready to leave.

Hubby is sitting at our table up out of the sun..isn't the view amazing!



$971.30 for lunch!?! Ok, that's actually in pesos, so no worries!



Hubby & I at the restaurant...what a fabulous experience!

After lunch, we hopped in our taxi & headed back to the resort. We were able to change into our suits & get down to the beach for plenty of relaxation. We had a decent dinner on the resort & then headed to the "Pure" Chill Out area. This was an area with several open-air canopy beds, couches, & a small wading pool. It would have been much more enjoyable without the mosquitos & without Hubby sitting in a spot where someone with a wet swimsuit had sat just a little bit before. He wasn't too thrilled about having extremely wet shorts! Aww...poor Hubby!

It was a really modern, neat area that was great for relaxing!


As you can see, I got a little bit of sun this day. I definitely cranked up the sunscreen use the next day...

Next up...another day of relaxing & then XPLOR!

Belated Birthday Blessings!

Ok, well not truly belated but belated in regards to being recognized here on the blog. While Hubby & I were gone to Mexico, my dad celebrated his birthday & my mom's was on Wednesday. I had certainly already wished them a happy birthday but we hadn't had a chance to celebrate. So...last night we got together with my brother & SIL and had dinner with my parents at their favorite local restaurant, The Metropolitan Grille. Oh the food was so yummy!!!

After dinner we all headed to our house to meet up with both sets of grandparents to have a nice little celebration for my parents involving cake & ice cream. Chocolate cake with homemade cream cheese icing was requested, my favorite as well!!!

Their combination celebration cake...don't mock the decorating-I was pressed for time!

The guests of honor!

Make a wish!

Love you guys! Hope your birthday was fabulous & here's to many, many more!

Riviera Maya Recap...Time to Relax

And so the recaps begin. I couldn't have really asked for a smoother, easier travel process. We hopped on our first plane, made our connection, met up with our transfer, checked into our hotel and everything was just as I'd hoped. We were on the beach by 4 and were able to spend a few hours in the sun on our first night.

I had mentioned to the resort prior to our arrival that we would be traveling soon after our 3-year anniversary. They surprised us with our own personal cake & champagne when we walked into the room.

We had turn down service almost every night & when we didn't have turn down service we had towel animals on our bed. I think we had an elephant, a dog & a flower throughout the course of the trip. The turn-down service was definitely a nice touch...not to mention the chocolates on your pillow!


The lobby is beautiful & open-air. We were greeted with a mimosa and a cold towel after our slightly long ride from the airport. Oh how I love resorts that have the service aspect down to a science!


Just a view of our beach area on the first full beach day. I loved the abundance of shade available but there were also plenty of full-sun spots for those sunlovers. I need a bit of both throughout the day so this was perfect. As with any resort, the towel wars were in full effect with people probably getting up around 5 to get a prime spot under a palapa. We definitely weren't getting up that early on vacation...so when we did make it down to the beach around 9 each day we had plenty of options under the palm trees.


Just one of the many, many friends that we encountered on our walk to & from the beach each day. I've got tons more pictures of the wildlife so stay tuned.

We tried to balance our trip with the right amount of activity & also plenty of loungy beach time. It was fabulous. Hubby & I are both fairly picky eaters and we discovered early on that the main breakfast location was not air-conditioned & very, very warm in the mornings. So...what's the remedy for that? Free room service!! With almost everything you could want. We ordered this the majority of mornings so we didn't have to waste time sitting down to breakfast & could get to the beach or on to our activity ASAP!

Headed to dinner the first night...this was part of the path we took each day. They had nice relaxing music playing & it was really a pleasant walk each day. No rooms have ocean view and I was a little concerned with this...but how much time do you really spend in your room anyway!?!?

Hubby at dinner in the Royal Grille. This was our favorite place and the most beautiful setting.

More of the walkway closer to the lobby....there was a small lagoon that they kept just beautiful!

End of night 1. We are such an old-married couple. If I had one complaint from the resort it would be the complete lack of nightlife. They only had one show each night that didn't start until 10 or so (since we were in Mexico, timing was always relative). Well, for those of us who eat a fairly early dinner...say around 7 or 7:30...we got a little bored and never even saw a show because we headed to bed so early! Most nights we did walk either on the beach or around the resort, which was still a great end to each day.

Next up...Golfing at El Cameleon Mayakoba.

Memorial Day Weekend Rewind

Well as is quite obvious, most of our Memorial Day Weekend consisted of finishing up our trip to Mexico, traveling home, & then playing catchup with household duties such as laundry, mowing the lawn & grocery shopping. Ughhh...the realites of coming home from a week-long vacation.

Our beach from our chairs on the first afternoon.

We have plans to spend the evening with our dear friends for a traditional, informal cookout complete with burgers, rotel, & rice krispy treats. I've got all the photos from our trip put on the computer but I hope to edit them a bit before posting. Hopefully I'll be able to get to that quickly & do a recap shortly.

The most important thing is that we had an incredible time & most everything went off without a hitch (minus a couple of mild cases of Montezuma's revenge & Hubby's first case of swimmer's ear which we are still dealing with). Other than that things were fantastic. The weather was beautiful, the resort was just as we'd expected, & the food was decent.

I'll leave you with a tidbit of our week & how we enjoyed it in paradise!

We walked down the beach for dinner at an open-air restaurant.

Hubby played golf at a beautiful course while I cheered him on & played photographer!

We put on our adventurous hats or helmets in this case & went ziplining, drove amphibious vehicles, & swam in underground caves where the water was only 75 degrees!

We continued our adventure with some snorkeling with sea turtles!

But finished off the week with this view from our chairs, a good book, a final strawberry colada, & a gorgeous day.

We spent 7 amazing days & 8 wonderful nights together and capped everything off with dinner right here.

Oh don't you worry, there is much more to come!