We had the opportunity to go to Mexico with most of the Moss clan for Stan and Diane's 50th wedding anniversary. Stan and Diane were so generous and took us all on a trip of a lifetime. On Sunday June 4th we flew out super early from Boise with Mark's family and Stan and Diane and then met up with Brian's family in Denver to finish our flight to Cancun where we met up with Lisa's family. After we had all gotten our bags and gone through customs we took a couple of big vans south about an hour to Puerto Aventura. McKay took a little snooze on the way. When we arrived at our private villa, Hacienda Del Mar, we were welcomed with some Mango Tango's and showed around. We were all blown away, we couldn't believe this is where we were getting to stay for the next 5 days. We all had our own bedrooms and bathrooms (Brooklyn shared with Audrey, but McKay got his own room since he snores), our own pool and beach area, a private chef, bartender, butler and maids. The staff was amazing, the food was incredible and the company was even better. We ate all of our meals on the back patio on a table that sat 24. There was a court yard where the kids could play (and get a ton of bug bites) and a play room with a ping pong table, foosball table and pool table. The weather was ideal. It was beautiful and sunny all day long and then the wind would pick up in the afternoon and the rain and thunderstorms would roll in each evening. After getting acquainted with our new surroundings and eating a delicious dinner everyone headed off to bed to get some rest after a long day of traveling.
Monday morning everyone was up bright and early and ready to eat a yummy breakfast. I tell you not having to cook or clean anything for an entire week was truly a treat. The kids were ready to get playing. The day was spent swimming in the pool, playing soccer on the beach (McKay took a ball to the face and got a bloody nose, but didn't care since he stopped the goal), paddle boarding and kayaking, eating more food and drinking as many pina coladas as possible. Books were read, games were played, lots of fun was had. The kiddos got a long like they were best friends. It was so much fun to watch them interact and play with one another. There were constant smiles on everyone's faces.
Tuesday morning we got up and headed to Xplor, an adventure park. Stan and Diane stayed back at the villa with the two little girls and the rest of us took off to the park in a couple of vans. This park was built around a cenote and underground river. While we were there we could choose from all of the activities and spend however much time we wanted on each. We started out with the two zip-lining courses. This was the first time zip lining for a lot of the kids but they all did great. A couple of the lines even went through the water. After the zip-lining we went and swam through the cenote, I think this was actually one of the kids favorite parts. The water was a little cold, but it was so clear. We then went to grab our lunch at the buffet. After filling our bellies we went to ride the ATV's. We split up into 5 groups. There was a course that we followed, some above ground and some below. We drove through water and mud and got all kinds of dirty. There were lots of laughing and screaming. We finished up our day with paddling through the underground river. We had to just use hand paddles, so it was actually a little difficult. Some of the kids went together and they had a hard time, but it was still a lot of fun. It was such a fun way to do multiple excursions in one day. It was also nice because we were actually underground for so much of the day that no one got sunburned or too hot. We then headed back to the house and the kids hopped in the pool until dinner time. We ate a supper yummy dinner and got to celebrate Lisa's birthday with her with a yummy cake. Showers were taken, games were played, books were read and shows were watched until bed time.
Wednesday morning after breakfast Craig, Brooklyn and Stan headed to a beach about 20 minutes away so they could go snorkel with the turtles. We could not be that close to turtles and not have Brooklyn go see them. It was a sea turtle preserve and so a guide took you out and swam with you to make sure you didn't touch the turtles, but they still got really close, one came up and took a breath right in Brooklyn's face. They even got to see a baby turtle swimming around. Brooklyn was thrilled and couldn't stop telling everyone about the turtles. I think her turtle fettish has grown even more now. The rest of that day was spent swimming in the pool, kayaking and paddle boarding. Brooklyn and Audrey even figured out how to ride the waves in on the kayak. In the afternoon we all gathered in the courtyard for some fun games that Nana brought. The kids did sack races and three legged races. The kids had a blast. We also figured out that it was the bugs in the grass that were eating on the kids. By this point most of the kids had at least 50 bug bites and the adults only had a few and we finally figured out that it was because they were playing in the courtyard a lot. The day was finished out with a delicious dinner, an evening swim for the kids and Mexican Train for the adults.
Thursday was the day we had designated to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We had booked a private catamaran for the family to go out snorkeling. Unfortunately Graham was not feeling well so he and Brooke stayed back and then Lisa thought it might be tough with little Penny Rose so her and Stephen stayed back as well. But everyone else walked or rode in a golf cart to the marina. We got on the boat and rode out for a while until we got out to some beautiful blue water and a reef. Everyone except Diane got in to snorkel. The kids all did great! We then ate lunch made by the chef on the boat and played out in the water for a while. Brooklyn and Audrey rode the paddle board like a surf board, we floated on innertubes and floaties, we even got to try out a SeaBob. We played until we were all worn out and Diane had gotten too hot (not being able to get in the water made it very difficult for her to stay cool). On our way back to the marina they served up a delicious cake for their anniversary. We got back in time to the villa for everyone to swim in the pool for a while before dinner. Before we ate dinner Brooke showed us a wonderful slide show she had put together for them of pictures throughout their 50 years together. We also gave them letters from everyone expressing our love and gratitude for them. After dinner we had yet another cake celebrating them. We had another amazing day, even if I got the most sunburned I had in 20 years. Everyone started packing up because it was time to head home the next morning.
Friday morning we enjoyed our last breakfast at the villa. The kids all got their last drinks from the bartender. We got everything packed up and loaded into the vans and said goodbye to the beautiful place we called home for a few days. Lisa and Stephen and their family headed off in one van because they were at a different terminal, so we all said goodbye to them. Everyone else was heading back to Boise together. We got to the Cancun airport and all got through security with plenty of time to spare. We hung out at the airport for quite a while but we made the most of it. We then were on our way to Denver. Because of some weather, we had to take a little bit longer route and got into Denver a little late, which meant that we only had 40 minutes to get our bags, go through customs, walk all the way across the airport to go through security again and then hop on the tram and get to our gate. We were legit running through the airport. Luckily our kids thought it was quite the adventure and by the end I may have stuck one of Brian's kids on my carry-on and pulled him through the airport. We made it thank goodness and even had a few minutes to spare. We got back to Boise around 9:30 and McKay was asleep in the back of the car with in minutes. We had such a magical time. It was truly a trip of a lifetime. We will carry memories of this trip with us forever. We are so grateful that Stan and Diane choose to celebrate their anniversary with all of us.
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