Viva Mexico

 We recently returned from a fabulous trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  We went with most the employees of DBN Tax as  kind of a celebration of the end of a grueling tax season.  We are very thankful Nathan gets to work with some of his best friends, so this type of trip really is a lot of fun.  Their wives are kinda awesome too.  We stayed at the Royal Hideaway resort.  The accommodations were mostly wonderful.  The food was mostly delicious.  We consumed many a slushy drink - the favorites being the pinada, the strawberry daiquiri, and Miami Vice.  The staff eventually became quite aware that we weren't drinkers (although they seemed a bit confused by this fact).  We won't mention that Nathan tasted his first alcoholic drink by accident during one meal, and during our last meal they served us alcoholic jello with dessert which Nathan and Caleb also ate before we realized.  Ben worked very hard to break the world record for most pinadas consumed.  I'd say he came very close. Other highlights I don't have photos of are attending church in the local ward.  The youth provided a singing program.  Although their voices were less than perfect, the spirit there was unsurpassed.  I think they had us all in tears.  We spent a lot of time at the resort's swimming pools as well.  The men came up with all sorts of crazy competitions that the wives thoroughly enjoyed watching - in between cautioning them to not crack their heads open.

 Check out that blue water.  It was so clear you could look down and see fish swimming.  This was our first trip to the beach.

 Three of the girls all dressed for dinner one evening.  The restaurants at the resort called for reservations and had a dress code.  I don't think any of us were prepared for the time commitment every night required for dinner.  The dinners literally lasted 3 or so hours.  We had a fun time chatting the nights away and tasting foods we normally would not.  I ate calamari. Still not sure if I liked it. Pretty sure I wouldn't eat it again.  There may or may not have been a large amount of immaturity displayed at times.  That's what makes it fun though.   The dinner staff was always fantastic and helped our unclassy selves muddle our way through the menus and such.  After a couple night's practice, most were brave enough to order a couple desserts a piece.  I guess we had to make up for not consuming alcohol in one way or another.

We stayed in the room on the top right.  Isn't it charming?

 One of our "tree rat" friends.  Rat body, rabbit legs.  Weird.

 They guys were quite excited to take part in one of the evening activities the resort provided - trivia.  They were sure their collective big brains would lead them to victory.  When we arrived to participate, we soon learned why this activity was being held at the bar.  Ha ha.  They played it kind of like musical chairs.  If you knew the answer, you had to run and sit in the designated chair first.  After watching the other people play for a while, we discovered if you got the answer wrong, you had to do a shot of tequila.  Needless to say, the guys were a little more hesitant to participate.  But here is a picture of Brave Ben answering a question correctly.

 Playing bocce ball on the beach.  It got quite interesting when they started throwing the polina close to their wives and other breakable objects.

 We were suckered into a snorkeling excursion by a crazy character on the beach.  The idea was that you paid this company to boat you to a reef where you'd get to snorkel for a time.  The waves were huge, the boat was less than wonderful, and no life jackets were supplied until AFTER we arrived at the reef. Odd.  Let's just say that although all these people are smiling in the photo, we were all wondering if we'd survive.  The ride was rougher than any amusement park ride.  Thankfully, we all lived to tell about it even if we walked away with some bruises.  The reef really had very little to offer.  However, I did see a turtle very up close - even if some choose not to believe the truth of my experience.

 Posing by some giant mer-people on 5th Avenue (Where everyone goes in Playa del Carmen to get their fun Mexico souveniers).  The little shop owners had some clever ways to draw you in.  Some favorite pick-up lines were, "Come in. Kill some time!" and "One dollar!"  When Ben went to take the guy up on his "one dollar" Oakleys, he let him know that it was really "one dollar - off."  Ha ha.  That was a good one for sure.

 We took a bus tour one day with Alma Tours to see Tulum and Chitzen Itza.  Both sights were really something.  Left me with a lot of questions and a desire to learn more about the Mayan people.

 Nathan and I at Tulum.

 These ginormous iguanas were everywhere.

 We took a stop for an authentic Mexican buffet lunch on our tour at this famous cinote (an opening to an under ground river).  After lunch, everyone in our group, but me ( because I'm a chicken), took turns jumping into the cinote.  Isn't it gorgeous? Never seen anything quite so beautiful.  

 Caleb and Marci

 All the guys waiting their turn to jump.

 Nathan taking the plunge.

 Here we are at Chitzen Itza.  It was AMAZING and VERY, VERY HOT.  With humidity it had to have been 100 degrees at least.  We had so much fun learning about the Mayans from our very knowledgable and patient tour guide.  Our group had lots and lots of questions for him.

 This night there was a mix-up with our dinner reservation which forced us to leave the resort for dinner.  Luckily we had grilled our tour guide for some ideas of good places to eat so we knew exactly where to go - El Nativo.  The place was tiny but able to seat our somewhat large group.  The decor and food just said "MEXICO".  We all downed delicious smoothies and giant plates of good, cheap food.  Lets not forget the heaping plates of delicious guacamole they served "on the house" as well.  Notice 3 out of 4 guys closed their eyes for their couple picture.  Come on people!

One last shot of our temporary paradise before heading home to our permanent paradise with our little people at home.  So thankful to Denice and Rachel who provided love, food, and entertainment for our kids so we could go away for the week.  They even had to clean up hoards of diarrhea  and vomit between our kids and Caleb's and Marci's.  Now that's love.