Cancun Day 5

On Tuesday we went on a snorkeling tour at Porto Morelos called "Reef Exploration." They took us out on a boat and then a guide swam us around the corral reefs and showed us all sorts of underwater wildlife. We saw sea turtles, sting rays, all sorts of fish, lobters, eels, sea cucmbers, and lots of coral reefs. The guide would even pick up a few of the lobters or sea cucmbers and let us touch them. We did 2 dives and it took about 2 hours and then they brought us in our a traditional Mexican lunch. Unfortunately my camera was still not working while we were there so I couldn't get any good pictures, but once we got back it started working. We went out to the Japanese restaurant at our resort and had all sorts of sushi and teriakyi dishes. Yummy. Here are some pictures of the awesome sunset that we watched during dinner.

Cancun Day 4

Day 4 was Monday and it started really early. Martin picked us up around 7 and drove us 2 hours to Chichun Itza, the ruins of a great Mayan civilization. Martin arranged for us to have a tour in English by one of his favorite tour guides, Fernando. Chichun Itza was incredible!
Since we got there early it wasn't too hot and it wasn't too crowded. By the time we left the place was completely packed. Fernando was actually of Mayan decent and spoke their language. He was very knowledgeable about all the archeology facts and even thing that aren't even in the history books. He had all sorts of additional pictures for us to see of skeletal remains and artifacts that were found at Chichun Itza. This picture is a picture of Choc Mool and our tour guide, Fernando. This may be really gross, so if you get squeamish, don't read on. The Mayan people did human sacrifice and when they did, they would lay them on an alter and break their back. By breaking their back it would paralyze them, a so called form of anesthesia I guess. Then while the person was still alive, they would cut out the persons heart and place it on a plate on Choc Mool and offer it to the gods. Gross, I know. Back in high school my Spanish teacher had a little Choc Mool statue that she used to pass out treats on his special plate. Very funny, Senora Lyons!
This is a picture of a warrior with another man's head in his hand. It's after a game of Pok ta Pok, their ancient game of war. They have a huge arena that warriors would play with a 7 pound ball made from the sap of a rubber type tree. Then they'd try to heave it through a small hole up on a wall by only using their feet, elbows, chest, etc. Once someone makes a goal then someone is beheaded. They're not sure if it's the winning or losing captain, but one of them dies.

Well, after we got through the Pok ta Pok arena we were 3/4 of the way done and that is when the jungle rains came through. We were completely soaked and decided to finish up the tour in the rain since we were already wet. There is nothing I hate more than squishy wet tennis shoes and that's what I had the rest of the day. Unfortunately my camera got wet even though it was buried in my bag and it wasn't working for 2 days so I don't have any pictures for the next few days.

After Chichun Itza, Martin took us to a town that was founded by the Spanish Conquistadors. It looks like a typical Spanish Colonial town. We ate at an awesome Mexican restaurant there, oh my goodness! If only people could make meat like that in the states! I so wish I could have had a little cooking lesson.

We got home from our adventures around 5 in the evening and I totally wanted a nice warm shower and some clean clothes and a small nap. I ended up having to wake Ryan up at 7 so he could sleep through the night so we tried a new restaurant at the resort and called it a night.

Vacation Day 3

Day 3 was Sunday so we decided to take it easy for the day. We were going to have Martin take us to church, but there wasn't one in English and he had to run a bus somewhere so he couldn't take us. So we just had a relaxing day. I spent a lot of my time reading and doing my cross stitch. Here is a picture of our room, I was pleasantly surprised how nice it was.
They had a fridge full of free beverages that they refilled daily, great spa lotions and potions to use, and a turn down service that put chocolate mints on your pillow and turned on relaxing music in evening. We had a hammock out on our balcony and our balcony overlooked a lagoon full of dolphins.
You could pay to go swim with the dolphins if you wanted. I just enjoyed seeing them everyday.
Here is a picture of part of the resort. The beach is off behind those little grass hut looking things.
Ryan didn't like that the water was pretty shallow and it didn't have big waves. I didn't mind it a bit since I could just sit in the water and stay cool. They even had little rafts that you could lay on in the water and just tan while you float around. So that was day 3, a day of relaxation.

Vacation Day 2

Day 2
On day 2 we started out with the breakfast buffet (we had it everyday) and then went straight out to the beach. I laid out and swam and Ryan went on a catamaran boat, a kayaking tour, and snorkeled (all of the above were provided by the resort for free).
They had waiters come by and bring you whatever kind of drink you wanted so I sipped pina coladas and mango daquaris until they were coming out of my ears (they were virgin of course). This was the view from my chair. I had a chair in the sun and a chair in the shade so I wouldn't burn the living daylights out of my skin.
After a long day at the beach we met up with Martin again and he took us to see his house and meet his family. Martin has 5 kids and some of them know some English so with my little bit of Spanish and their little bit of English we tried to communicate. Luckily Martin translated for us when we couldn't understand.

Martin took us to a great authentic Mexican restraunt in downtown Cancun and we bought them all dinner. They had a mariachi band walk around and they'd sing you a song for money so we had them sing us a song and Ryan had that song in his head for the rest of the trip. Haha.. I have a video of the song so I'll post that one here when I get a chance. After dinner we walked around a souvenir type mall and then we took them to ice cream. It was quite a fun-filled day!

Vacation Day 1

Day 1
Our plane left at 9:30 am so we had a very early start on the day. We drove down to Ry's parents and switched over the car seat and then his mom dropped us off at the airport. Ethan was not too happy when I shut the car door and he knew he wasn't coming. Cheryl quickly distracted him and he did really well while we were gone. Our flight was only 2 1/2 hours and they even served a sandwich (free). Since when has that happened? We got to Cancun around 12:30 and we had our transportation all reserved through our Travelocity reservations so we didn't have to get a taxi. We checked in to our hotel and had to wait for our room to be finished. We stayed at the Dreams Resort and Spa which is an all-inclusive resort. I think that is definitely the way to go when you're going to Mexico.

We got to our room, took a nap, and then checked out one of the restaurants at our resort. It was a steakhouse that overlooked the beach. Check out the view!

After dinner we met up with our family friend, Martin (pronounced Mar-teen). He runs a tour guide business so he knew exactly where we should go for our trip excursions. He drove us all around Cancun and showed us all the different shopping areas. We set up a little schedule of what we wanted to do during the week and he arranged it all for us. So awesome!

We're Back From Cancun!

Hey everyone! We are finally back! The vacation was great, but I was ready to come home. We figured out that 7 days away from Ethan was too long to be away so if we ever get the chance to do this again it will only be a 4-5 day deal. It felt like the vacation that would never end since I wanted to see Ethan so bad. Ry's mom picked us up from the airport yesterday evening and Ethan was happy to see us, but he acted really shy since he was a little tired. It took him a little time to warm up to us, but once we got him home and got him a little dinner, he was happy as can be. We got home to a house that was hotter than hades! We had to call the A/C guy to come take a look. Luckily he came within an hour of us calling and it was just a blown fuse. He was here less then 20 minutes, but $105.00 later...we had a cool house. UGH! I started a million loads of laundry, thank goodness for a huge front loader washing machine. It only took 4 loads to get it all done. My parents were driving home from Branson so they stopped by to see Ethan since my mom is headed out to Utah tomorrow and she had to come see her boy. I even had a chance to go to the grocery store at 9 at night so we're well stocked. Oh, and my garden looks incredible! Toni (our cousin) watered it for us and I swear my tomato plant has turned into a tomato tree. Not even joking, it is taller than me (I'm 5'5"). Thanks Toni! So are you guys ready for my vacation journaling and pictures? I hope you are, I have a lot to tell.

Vacation Day 9 and 10

We drove home on Saturday and Sunday. This time we drove about 10 hours to Baton Rouge and stayed down town in a cool hotel. Unfortuneatly Ethan woke up at 5 in the morning so needless to say we got an early start. We got into Dallas around 2:30 and we were so happy to get out of the car. The ride home wasn't as easy as the ride there since Ethan knew what was going on and that the drive is quite long. He hasn't gotten into his carseat peacefully since then so I'm working on short trips with him right now. The picture is Ethan helping me pack up by pulling everything out of the drawer and then getting in it. Daddy was waiting for us to get home and Ethan was so excited to see him! It was great to be back together as a family again. Not to mention it was great to be home. Ry did everything on his "honey do" list and then some. It was so nice to come home to a clean house and not have a huge list of things for me to conquer right after getting off of vacation.

Vacation Day 7 and 8: Shopping and Sick Days

Ethan woke up from his nap with vomit all over himself and that was the beginning of his sick time on vacation. He didn't want anyone else to hold him except me, he just laid in my arms all the time, he didn't eat, he slept a lot. Not fun. We bought him some Popsicles and I tried to keep his fluids going as long as he wasn't throwing up anymore. You could just tell he wasn't feeling well. He seemed to feel better in the afternoons so we took him shopping. It was pretty nice since he didn't put up a fuss and he'd sleep in the stroller. I took him to the shoe store and got his feet measured and the lady told me he doesn't have wide feet, he has extra wide feet! No wonder his shoes never velcroed right! So I found him a pair of size 6 XW for his chunky little feet. So we spent our last days in Florida shopping and I got another day by the pool while Ethan napped. Sooo nice! We also walked through Downtown Disney to see all the shops and restaurants there. It was a pretty cool place.

Vacation Days 5 and 6 : Pool Days

Here is Ethan in his super cute floaty suit and sunglasses. This was his first time in the pool for the summer so it was quite exciting. We've also taught him to say "Cool Dude!" when he puts on his glasses and that just cracks me up. We had a lot of fun at the pool. He only face planted in the water once, but that wasn't enough to make me stop getting in and out of the pool. I spent much of the day chasing him and playing "fill up the bucket." Thankfully my parents offered to stay in with him while he napped so I could hang out by the pool alone. I ordered myslef a "Grande Copa Loca" and sipped it leisurely by the pool and soaked in some rays.
Here is the view from my chair. I had to take a pictures so I could capture the moment and remember my alone time.

Vacation Day 4: Disney World!!! Part 1

Here are some of my pictures from Disney World so I'll go through them and tell you guys a little bit about it.
This is my dad and Ethan on the tram ride. Ethan grew very attatched to my dad on this trip as you can tell. Anyway...we took the tram to the monorail which is the subway type thing that you take to get to the actual park. Ethan loved how the doors opened and shut by themselves and that he got to ride backwards. Once we got to the park we rented a stroller. We got that tip from my Aunt Leslie and I was so glad! The stroller was low to the ground and Ethan could spread his legs out. Plus, you have to park your stroller every time you ride a ride so I didn't have to worry about someone taking my stroller.
Right when we walked in we had to take a picture in front of Cinderella's castle.
This is the look that Ethan had on his face all day long. He was totally mesmerized from the moment we got there. We headed over to Tomorrowland first and we rode on the Buzz Lightyear ride. I thought it would be a little scary for him since it was pretty dark and everything glowed, but no, he was way into the controls on the ride car. He could move the joystick and make our car go around and around and then they had laser guns that he could move and that made his day.
We rode on few more rides like the Indy Cars (he did NOT like them at all), Monsters Inc show (loved it), and I got to ride on Space Mountain with my dad while my mom took Ethan over to Toon Town. After all that you can tell what happened...he was zonked. So we ate some lunch, but he ended up waking up 15 minutes later so we decided to take the tram home and get him a nap. Stay tuned for part 2.

Vacation Day 4: Disney World Part 2!!!

After Ethan's nap we headed back on the tram for the rest of the afternoon/evening. Once again, he's hanging with my dad.
This is Ethan on the his favorite ride of the day, "Small World." All the little people in the ride were about his size and they were right on his level so he just absorbed it all. I have a short video of him on the ride, but a lot of it is dark so I don't know if I'll post it. On the video he's totally waving to all the "Small World" figures, it was so cute! Other rides that Ethan loved were Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Pirates. Then we also took him to the Country Bears show and the Tiki Room.
Here's Ethan and my mom watching the light up parade. We got the best seats in the house since I was dying for a funnel cake and raced in line to get one and turned out that there were tables and chairs in the back to sit at. Well, everyone was lined up on the street for the parade route, but they didn't realize that the tables by the bridge were a better spot. Ethan loved the music and all the bright lights. Needless to say, he had a blast!
I packed Ethan's pajamas in the car so he could fall asleep in the car and be easy to put to bed. This is the sweetest picture of Ethan and "Daddy Papa" (that's what Ethan calls him) at the end of such a fun day!

Vacation Day 3: Stake Conference and Playing in the Sand

My Dad researched the church times so we thought we were going to a ward at 11, but when we got there the parking lot was packed and they had someone there directing traffic. Come to find out we got there just in time for the second hour of their stake conference and Elder Kikuchi was about to speak. There wasn't an empty seat in the house so we went into a class room that had a loudspeaker so we could hear. It was also nice so Ethan could walk around wherever he wanted since I don't think he'd sit too well since he had just sat in the car for the past 2 days. After conference we all got a nice nap and then we took Ethan out for a walk and tried to take him to the sand area to play with his sand toys. I got him out of the stroller and once he stuck his feet in the sand he went crazy! He hated sand on his feet! He kept tucking his feet underneath him and wouldn't walk anywhere. We sat him down and he just sat there and cried. He felt trapped since he didn't want to walk on it or touch it. After a little coaxing from my parents he actually started playing with it and he sat there for a quite awhile and played. It was so cute. He still doesn't like to walk on the sand, but he'll sit and play. I don't think we'll be getting a sand box anytime soon. I love the picture of him playing with his legs crossed, so cute! Oh, and I was on the phone with my best friend, Erica and I hadn't talked to her in forever! It was great to talk to her, I love you Erica!!!

Vacation Day 2: Drive to Orlando

This is a pictures of Ethan plugging his nose and saying, "P U" as we drove past a skunk smell. Anyway...We drove from Pensacola to Orlando which was about 6 hours, not bad at all. We got to the resort around 3 so we had plenty of time to explore and go grocery shopping. My parents own a timeshare at Marriott's Grande Vista resort and it was so nice! I had my own suite with a huge King bed, my own patio, a great bathroom, and plenty of space for Ethan. Plus, it connected to my parents side, it had a kitchen, dining and living area and then my parents suite. We got to stay in the new building so it all had granite counter tops and new decor so that was nice. We took Ethan out to go look around at all the stuff we wanted to do. They have lots of fun pools for the kids and then a great play area with a big maze play set and activity area. Ethan played in that thing forever! He was not scared at all! I saw a lot of kids way older than him that were really scared to go in, but he just jumped right in and didn't even look back to see if I was around. I did have to follow him everywhere since I didn't trust the other kids in there since he could get pushed over real easily and get hurt. He even made a few friends while he was there. A couple little girls looked after him for me and warded off all the rowdy kids. It was so cute. Here is a video of Ethan and me going down the big slide together. It has no sound since my dad was using his camera.

Vacation Day 1: Driving to Pensacola

So now that all my pictures and videos are uploaded I can tell you all about our vacation. It was so much fun! On our first day we drove about 12 hours from big D to Pensacola, Florida. Not even 2 hours into our drive we witnessed a high speed police chase! I'm not even joking. This guy comes flying around our car and the cops were not far behind. It was just like one of those cop shows! About 10 or 15 minutes later we saw about 10 cop cars pulled off the road and the "bad guy's" car did a 180 and ended up in the ditch. By the time we drove past they were sitting on the guy, trying to cuff him. It was so scary! Other than that we it was a pretty uneventful drive. We drove down through Lousiana and then through Mississippi and Alabama. We drove along the Gulf Coast so we could see some of the damage from Hurrican Katrina. Basically we saw all the reconstruction going on and a big park of FEMA trailers. Once we got to our hotel it was really late so I started getting Ethan ready for bed. Well, he decided he wanted to jump on the bed and the minute he got on the bed, he jumped head first into the headboard and got a huge goose egg between his eyes. He screamed for at least 20 minutes and of course it was late and the hotel was crowded so I'm sure the people next door to us weren't thrilled. Oh well. At least we made the long drive with out a major melt down and he did soooo good. I'm so proud of him.

Still In Florida

Today is our last day in the nice tropical weather of Florida so I'm enjoying it. Ryan and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary yesterday via the phone so that wasn't too fun. I think we'll try and celebrate it when I get back (I hope). So yesterday was our big shopping day complete with a wonderful meal at Cheesecake Factory! Gotta love the cheesecake! I also got to see a little celebrity sighting (not Hollywood celebrity, but NBA celebrities). For all of you that have the NBA playing at your house every evening you will know all these guys. I saw Tashawn Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Rip Hamilton from the Detroit Pistons walking into the mall. The Pistons are currently down here playing the Orlando Magic in the playoffs so I guess they were cruising the mall during their down time. Pretty crazy. I'm just proud of myself for recongizing them and knowing who they were. I guess all of Ry's basketball watching has soaked in somehow. Anyway...Ethan is still feeling yucky. All he wants to do is be held and he woke up this morning at 4 dry heaving. So fun, so fun. Well, he just woke up from his nap so I better go take care him.

Greetings From Florida!

We made the huge drive to Florida and we are here! I finally have a chance to sit and pump out a quick blog about our adventures so far. Sorry, no pictures until we get back since I forgot my USB port for my camera. It will just entice you to come back later. Anyway...we drove about 12 hours on Saturday and stayed in Pensacola and then drove about 6 the next day. Ethan did awesome and never had a melt down. He slept for 2 1/2 to 3 hours each day so that took a huge chunck of time off. Plus, the fact that my parents have a portable DVD player and he could watch Monsters Inc as much as he wanted played a huge role as well. We got to the resort Saturday afternoon and did a little exploring, they have tons of kid friendly things here so Ethan is in heaven. Sunday we ended up at Orlando's stake conference so we got to hear Elder Kikuchi speak. Monday was our big Disney World day and Ethan had a blast! I didn't quite know what his reaction would be to all of it. I didn't know if it would be too overwhelming and he'd be scared or if he'd jump right in and love it. Well, luckily he was extremely entertained by all the kids, characters, rides, and food. I have plenty of pictures and video for you. We came back to the resort around lunch time for him to get a good nap in so I think that's the biggest secret of our success. Then we were able to stay until the fireworks at 10. Tuesday we had a day at the pool. They have a ton of different pools to choose from so we went to the kiddie pool/waterfall area where they all different types of waterfalls and sprinkler type things on a beach for them to run in. Ethan mostly ran around the pool and didn't get in too much. He was too intrigued with all the beach balls and kids running around. Today we did a little time at the pool and then put Ethan down for a nap and while he was asleep my parents stayed in with him and I got a little alone time by the pool. I ordered me a pina colada (virgin of course), played my I Pod, and layed out the whole naptime. It was wonderful! Every mother's dream! Then of course Ethan woke up with vomit all over himself and his bed so reality set in real fast. I think he just gagged himself or something since he's been doing that a lot lately. I'll find him sticking his fingers down his throat and gagging all the time. I don't know why he does it! This is the first time he's ever thrown up, but he could have a little bug from all the places he's been. Who knows. He was very cuddly before I put him to bed and that is sooooo not like him so he might be feeling a little yucky. Hopefully he'll be better for all the shopping we need to do while we're here! Well, stay tuned for an update and pictures when we get back next week.

Disneyworld Here We Come!

As some of you know we're leaving for Disneyworld tomorrow! So exciting! My parents are taking Ethan and me (Ry has to stay for work, boo) down to Orlando for a week and it will be so much fun. We're doing the drive down there which is 17 hours so we'll see how it goes with Mr. Ethan in the car. I swore I would never drive for long periods in the car ever again with Ethan, but at least this time I'll have my parents in the car. Last time we drove was when he was 9 months and we were driving from Cali to Texas. 28 hours, 9 month old, by myself, still breastfeeding, need I say more. I know I can handle this "short" drive, I just hope my parents can, haha. I've gone to the library at least once a week and borrowed a bunch of their kids CDs and downloaded them to my IPOD so we're going to listen to those in the car and I think my parents are going to hook up a portable DVD player too. It won't be half as bad as last time. So I'll post some super fun pictures when I get back.

Lake Chelan, Episode 3

This is Cousin Tyler at Ethan at Blueberry Hills
Cute little Matthew giving Ethan a love pinch
Corbyn loved feeding Ethan at every meal.
These are just a few fun pictures with Ethan's cousins at reunion.

Lake Chelan Episode 2

I was flipping through the Lake Chelan travel guide a few weeks before reunion and I saw an add for a fun place to go berry picking. I told Ryan, "No matter what, I have to go!" I checked it all out on the internet and you can too at Blueberry hills and I got all the directions, the whole thing. So just as Ryan promised, we went berry picking the first full day we were at reunion. It was great since just about everyone wanted to go too. They had blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries to pick and they were about $2/lb. My favorite was the raspberries since they're the best tasting and pretty easy to pick. Aaron, Dave, and Ryan tried to throw berries over the row at each other and catch them in their mouths and the kids sneaked a few while they were picking. So all in all I think we all had fun. When we got back Grammie made 3 Jumbleberry Pies for all of us to eat. A slice of that with a little vanilla ice cream...heaven!