CANCUN!

** May 30 - June 6, 2015 **

Remember 3 years ago when Randy graduated from PT school and we went on an epic trip with our bff couple, Bryan & Ali?
And I said that the next epic trip we'd go on with them would be when Bryan graduated from dental school?
Well that day finally came!!!!

So on Saturday, May 30, I kissed my babies goodbye and hopped on a plane to paradise with my lover...to meet up with my other lovers.

We stayed in Cancun at the Grand Mayan Riviera Maya.

And words or pictures do NOT do this place justice!

It was THE nicest place I have EVER stayed!

It was incredible!

The scenery, the service (Hola Jeremy!), the food (more guacamole please!), the resort grounds....all of it was AMAZING!

I couldn't stop taking pictures, from the moment we got there!

We shared a suite with The Packards that had a jacuzzi in the master bedroom and a plunge pool on the balcony!

And we even had our own kitchen to do some of our own cooking.

Our first night there, after getting checked in, we had THE most amazing meal at one of the restaurants at our resort called Green Break.
We had pina coladas, chips and guacamole and tacos.
But let me tell you, these were no ordinary pina coladas and chips and guac and tacos....they were mind-blowingly good!
So good, that I seriously thought I wanted to eat that same exact meal at that same exact restaurant for every single meal that week.
But I'm glad we ventured out and tried all the other places at our resort, because each meal just kept getting better and better!

Here's a rundown of our 6 days in paradise...

DAY 1:
On Sunday we took a cab into town to explore the famous Avenida 5 (fifth avenue) where we bought some souvenirs for our kids and did a little grocery shopping so we could cook some meals in the kitchen of our suite.

Then that night, we got dressed for dinner and explored the resort grounds a little more...the grounds were SOOOOOO big and seemed to go on forever!  There was so much to see!

We ate dinner at Havana Moon on the beach....another AMAZING meal!

DAY 2:

On Monday morning, we couldn't wait to just go relax on the beach!

Unfortunately, it was kinda rainy and overcast that day, so we didn't get much sun.

But that didn't stop us from having a good time!

We chilled on the beach, explored the grounds some more, ate lots of yummy food and drank lots of yummy drinks...

DAY 3:

A tiny bit more rain on Tuesday morning, but the storm passed quickly and then it was nothing but clear skies and sunshine!

After an amazing brunch at Balche where we had the best omelets I've ever had topped with the best pico de gallo known to man, we walked down on the beach...

Then we lounged in the pool in their amazing built-in chaises and drank alllllll the pina coladas...

We also stumbled upon some wildlife roaming our resort grounds and took lots of pics and videos to send back to our kids!

That night, we got cleaned up for dinner at Frida's where we ate MORE delicious mexican food!

Queso, and guac and enchiladas, oh my!

More guacamole please!

DAY 4:

On Wednesday, we left our resort to spend the day at Xel-Ha, a nearby water park where you can do all kinds of amazing things!

We snorkeled, tubed down a river through a tunnel of trees, rode bikes through the jungle, cliff jumped, relaxed in hammocks while iguanas ran around underneath us, rode zip lines into the water, and saw lots of wildlife (dolphins, fish, monkeys, toucans, iguanas, parrots)

You are pretty much in the water the majority of the time, so when you get there, you put all your valuables in a locker, including your phone/camera.

So we didn't get many pics, except for the few we snapped on our way into the park, and the few we snapped on our way out of the park.

It was a fun day, but it was long and exhausting and by the time we were done, we were all just so anxious to be back at our amazing resort!

Because seriously you guys, our resort was so incredible that none of us ever wanted to leave it!

DAY 5:

On Thursday, we had absolutely nothing on the agenda.

And it was probably my most favorite day of the entire week.

We did nothing except lay by the pool and on the beach and drink yummy drinks and eat amazing food.

All.Day.Long.

We ate lunch at a poolside cafe called Blue Fish, where we had the most AMAZING shrimp nachos, lobster tacos, tuna melt and, but of course, chips and guacamole!

I seriously don't think we ever went one single meal withOUT ordering the chips and guacamole.

It was the best guacamole I've ever had in my entire life!

And it inspired our vacation hashtag, #moreguacamoleplease

Nap time in the pool after lunch?

Yes please!

That night, we got dressed up for a fancier dinner at an Italian Restaurant on the resort grounds, called Tramonto.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical of how good their Italian restaurant would be...

I mean, of course all their mexican restaurants serve amazing food, because thats their specialty!

But I was blown away by how amazing this place was too!

I'm telling you, if you ever stay at this resort, you cannot go wrong with ANY of the restaurants there!

They were all BEYOND incredible!

DAY 6:

Friday was our last full day in paradise, before we all traveled home the next morning.

So we spent it on the beach...

And at our favorite pool...

There were like 5 different pools on our resort grounds and they were all really great, but by the end of the week, after we had tried all of them out, we decided that this one was our fave.

Our little buddy came to say goodbye to us.

We named him Chester.

And by the end of the week, we had gotten pretty brave and decided to pet him...

(even though people told us not to cuz apparently other guests had been having problems with the iguanas)

Then, that night, we decided to end our amazing week on a high note, so we splurged on tickets to a Cirque Du Soleil show, Joya.

It was UNREAL!

The grounds were gorgeous, the show was amazing, and our seats were so good!

It really was such a great way to spend our last night together in Cancun!

The next morning, we boarded the same flight for Chicago, but then parted ways from there...us back to Arizona and the Packards back to Kentucky before their big move to Georgia.

Goodbyes are the worst!

But man was this the trip of a lifetime!

And there is seriously no one I would have rather gone on it with!

Our Cancun trip definitely topped our Bahamas cruise we took 3 years ago!

And when I got home, and my post-vacay blues started to set in, I already started fantasizing about how we are going to top this trip in another few years with the Packards...

Fiji 2017??