Friday, September 18, 2009

Cancun 2009 - A Family Affair

Jeff had some time off he needed to take and what better place to go then Cancun, Mexico. Six days filled with sun, sand, water, and fun. Now I need a vacation from my vacation!!! Enjoy the next 5 or 6 post filled with pictures of our adventure. Enjoy!!

And yes, unfortunately this is the only picture we got of all four of us together--don't we look like we're having fun!!!

Cancun 2009 - A Little Taste of A Lot of Fun

Here are just a few random pictures of our Cancun adventure to get you started. Max was the coolest kid at our resort, actually b/c we went during the off season he was one of the only kids there!
Here is a picture of our little pigeon buddy. He slept on the light outside of our room and pooped on our balcony quite frequently. The boys thought he was great and still talk about the the little fellow. We go all the way to Cancun for vacation and the boys make friends with a pigeon. Something is very wrong with this!!
And what is a trip to Cancun without topless girls??? Fortunately this is the only one we came across!

Cancun 2009-Finding things to do

There are lots of things to do in Cancun but not many of them involve children 3 and under. Jeff and I had to be a little creative in finding kid friendly activities for those hours of the day when it's too hot to be in the sun.

One of the hardest parts of vacation with little ones is the waiting. And most of our waiting was done at the airport. Max will tell you that we had to ride four airplanes, two trains, two vans, one taxi, and about a thousand busses on our trip. The busses were the most fun b/c you had to give the driver "circle money" to get on (pesos).
Cookie Monster was our only celebrity encounter on this trip but Max was thrilled to see him!


One of the malls we visited had a really cool kids play area with climbing stuff and riding stuff and sliding stuff and well all kinds of stuff!

Max and Zach both loved watching the jumping water in this fountain. Max kept throwing pesos in the water and Zach kept trying to go for a swim.


Some of the other kid friendly ammenities we found were a playgroup inside a Chili's Restaurant, a lego game room inside a store, and several fast food places to get a chicken nugget in a pinch!

Cancun 2009 - LOTS and LOTS of fish

There is an aquarium in one of the outdoor malls in Cancun. We took the kids there thinking they would have a really good time. Unfortunately they were more hot and hungry that day than they were interested in fish. Oh well, we can't win every time!!


See!! Jeff came with us too! Some how he is only in three or four of our vaca pics!


The dolphin show was the best part of the aquarium although Max was convinced they were really sharks and were going to come and bite him!!



Z's face is a little swollen b/c he was already sunburned at this point in the trip. I think I missed one little spot on his cheek around his eye and he got toasted pretty good. But the little tough guy never once complained!!

Cancun 2009-Under the Sea

On our Cancun trip we decided to try doing a tour with the boys on the last days. Both Jeff and I were nervous because both of the little ones are prone to unexplained and poorly timed meltdowns. We were brave and gave it a try and it was GREAT! We went on the "submarine tour" which was a boat ride through a giant coral reef with windows underwater to see all the marine life. We saw turtles, rays, coral, and all kinds of fish.

Both of the boys charmed our tour guide into letting them take a turn driving the boat.



Max was a marine life expert thanks to "Finding Nemo!"

Cancun 2009--Hotel Swimming

Everyone thought we were crazy to take our kids to Cancun for our vacation this year. Maybe we were a little, but check out this view. If you could go there, wouldn't you???


We spent A LOT of time swimming in the FIVE pools our hotel offered. We learned very quickly that Max doesn't like strong waves and Zach HATES wet sand and saltwater. Jeff took Max down to the ocean a few times but Z and I stuck to the pool.




We took lots of video of the boys splashing and playing in the pool and in the ocean, but I'll probably never get around to uploading them so you'll have to come to my house and see them or take my word for it that they were adorable!!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Is this the day?

Is today the day that Max will make it through school without crying? It just might be!! For the first time in three weeks of preschool, Max walked through the doors and into his class without falling to pieces. I don't know how he did after I left, but I think we may have turned a corner!!
I didn't really think he would have such a hard time adjusting to preschool like he has. But he has always had a flair for the dramatics so anything is possible with him. Th last three weeks I have gone back and forth with whether to leave him in or take him out, put him in full time, try a different place. I just can't seem to decide what is best for him. I think he needs to be in a social environment without me but I don't want to force him if he isn't ready. Then I think, he's just doing this for attention and I should ignore the drama and he'll stop. But what if he's doing it for attention b/c he needs the attention???
Anyway, I've pushed through and promised the staff that I will see how September goes and then decide what to do. So we are just taking one day at a time. I made cookies for his class so he could share. I set up playdates so he could get to know the kids better. I've done everything I can think of. Fortunately it seems to be working. I was so proud of him when I left today!!
Now the next big problem is that we are leaving on vacation and he'll be out a week! Does this mean we'll ahve to start all over again. I hope not!! I just don't know how much more I can take!!!