For the week of Thanksgiving this year we spent it with Mike's family in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! His parents own a time-share there at a resort called The Grand Mayan, so it is a place we all go every couple of years. It is also the place Mike & I went for our honeymoon so it has good memories for us as well!:) It is so much fun!!! Here are the boys on the airplane all ready to go! Connor was SO excited to be flying on an airplane! He still talks about how he went on it a whole month later! :)
The first night we got there we checked in, got settled, and then walked around and found something to eat for dinner. The kids of course found the kiddie pool and just had to wade in the water! Only problem was they weren't so good at staying very shallow so they ended up with their pants all wet! :) And Connor trying to be just like his older brothers actually fell down in it so he was sopping wet!! At least he thought it was fun!
We spent most of the week just hanging out by the pools (they have lots of them!), playing on the beach, and doing all the fun things they have such as the wave pools, lazy river, and the water slide! Here are a bunch of us going down the slide:
Jaricka:
Cade:
Shawn:
Mike:
Brady (who was nervous at first and wanted Mike to catch him):
BJ and Talin:
And the second rounds! Cade:
Brady (this time okay to do it on his own!):
Connor had fun watching everyone! He even went down it a couple times with Mike!
Jaricka:
Leslie and Talin:
And some more fun in the wave pool
One evening some of the family decided to play a little water volleyball:
Connor and Kamree patiently waited off to the side in their strollers to watch. They are only one month apart in age, so it will be fun to watch them grow up together!
And another one of our family's favorite things to do is sit on the beach to watch the sunset. So beautiful and relaxing! Love it! Here is part of the fam waiting for that beautiful sunset.
Connor loves any time he gets to hang out with Grandpa!
The kids love playing on the beach so much! They love to "jump the waves", swim in the ocean, and play in the sand. Here is Shawn and Brady with their cousin Cade:
And Connor with his cousin Kamree:
One of the days a few of us decided we wanted to go para-sailing. That doesn't seem like what it's called, but I can't think of the name right now. Anyway! They hook you up to a huge parachute, which is attatched by a rope to a boat in the ocean. You basically stand there on the beach and the boat takes off which lifts you high up into the air! They drive around for a bit and you have a fantastic view of everything, then they have you pull on the rope which pulls you back down onto the beach to land. It was SO AWESOME!!! One of the funnest things to do ever!!! Here is me getting all hooked up and ready to go:
Taking off up, up, up into the sky!!!
It was so much fun and such a gorgeous view!!!
Another one of our favorite things to do in Puerto Vallarta is go downtown (since our hotel is actually in Nuevo Vallarta) to the boardwalk area. All the little shops for souvenirs, etc are there as well as restaurants. Our very favorite place to eat is a place called
Pipi's. It is so good! And their service is fantastic! Their saying is "Don't drink the water, drink the margaritas!" So we all do. (non-alcoholic of course) The kids are so cute drinking out of those HUGE glasses! Here are Cade and Shawn sharing one:
They always have a mariachi band walking around playing to all the tables. So fun! The kids loved it!
They also pass around these hats to take pictures with. So funny! We have them from all the last few times we've been there. Great memories!
Shawn and Cade:
Kamree:
JaeLynn, Ariel, and Jaricka:
Brady and Shawn:
Yes, Pipi's is always a good time! We also love to walk around the boardwalk and see all the cool things people do. They make sand sculptures, paint the coolest pictures, and there are even human robot guys that the kids just love!
By the end of the night the kids are always completely exhausted! They fell asleep in the car on our way back to the hotel. :) So sweet when they are sleeping, aren't they?!
I should mention that the "lift" drink in Connor's lap above is the kids favorite drink ever in Mexico! It is apple juice in soda form. (carbonated apple juice, sounds lovely, doesn't it?!) They all LOVE it! :)
Well, stay tuned for parts 2, 3 & 4 of our lovely trip!
