Mexico!

Instead of dealing with the wreck that is my house during naptime I am reminiscing about Mexico. Seriously, every room is a mess. I haven't unpacked a single suitcase. Laundry is piled high. The table top is barely visible. The kids have pulled out almost every new toy they received for Christmas. Joe went grocery shopping yesterday, but I am yet to put most of the groceries away. And the icing on the cake is the large puddle of water I discovered under the kitchen sink! Who knows how long that has been there?!? My guess...a while as evidenced by a moldy box. The reasonable thing to do would be deal with it all. But that sounds boring. And tedious. And well just not like anything I want to do today! So instead I am sharing the pictures from our most wonderful week ever...

 

 

Joe's parents very generously took us (along with his siblings) to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico to an all-inclusive resort. Seriously, it was like a dream come true! The last time we went on a week long KID-FREE vacation was nearly SEVEN years ago...also to Mexico with Joe's family. On that trip I was 6 months pregnant with Isaiah. It was somewhat of a miracle that this trip worked for us. The dates happened to be during Joe's winter break. My mom was able to watch our children. And I am neither pregnant nor nursing (which has been very rare over the last 7 years)!

My fabulous in-laws!

But I am getting ahead of myself. Before Mexico happened we had to get all packed up (for Mexico & Christmas...including gifts) and drive 400+ miles to my parents house WITH a puking Hannah. Not to mention Joe had to take his SHELF exam for his EM rotation before we could hit the road. It was just a tad stressful and crazy and complicated. We had very little wiggle room. Joe finished his exam at noon on Friday and we had to be at the airport the next morning by 4 am....two states away! Thankfully the weather (and the children!) cooperated and we made it! With our sanity mostly intact. This trip couldn't have come at a better time. As Joe put it "the wheels came off" for our family just days before we left. I needed the break from the kids. Joe needed a break from school (and stress).  And most importantly the kids needed a break from me.

 

my sad sick traveling baby:(

All that being said, I wasn't prepared for the anxiety that hit me as we actually left the children (sound asleep) at Grandma's house. My heart was pounding and I was on the verge of tears as I realized I was LEAVING THE COUNTRY without my babies! We only had a few hours to sleep that night (midnight - 3 am) and as exhausted as I was from the all the prep and travel, I could NOT sleep. All the "what ifs" and worst case scenarios were whirring through my head...none of which happened!

 

A little comparison. Same day. 12 hours apart.
Minnesota temperature -8. Mexico temperature 84.

The first three hours of our vacation - as in the first three hours we spent at the resort - were the loooongest three hours of my life. In a good way. In the best way possible actually. They were three solid, completely uninterrupted hours. I had nowhere to be. No one demanding something of me. And nothing to do. It was perfect. I put on my bikini, grabbed a good book and plopped myself down on a lounge chair on the beach and RELAXED! I even dozed off for a bit. Oh and I had a fountain Pepsi. Pure bliss. Don't worry I didn't burn. I wore SPF 50 all week. My goal was to get rid of my bags under my eyes NOT get a fabulous tan.

I am the apple of his eye. Look closely...I am there:)

 And the rest of the week went pretty much like that. No agenda. Get up. Eat. Relax in the sun. Play in the waves. Eat. Sleep. And repeat. One of the things that I really loved about this trip was the opportunity for Joe and I to be just that....Joe and Bear. NOT Daddy and Mommy. We were able to just be. And have fun. We played like a couple of kids. (We even went down the water slide in the kiddie pool!) We played in the waves. Boogie boarded and body surfed in the waves. We kayaked. And just plain had FUN. I managed to read two and half books! I haven't read a book in its entirety since before I had Hannah (16 months ago)! Joe played beach volleyball for a couple hours every day. And he squeezed in a little study time too. (Boards exam coming up this summer...) I had forgotten how fun and funny my husband can be.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of eating. I got really good at that on this trip. Probably too good. One day I ate 2 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 1 dinner with dessert and then 1 extra dessert. I took full advantage of not having to cook!

Our vacation did have one scheduled event. A beach wedding! Joe's cousin got married Thursday afternoon. It was a beautiful, private event on the beach. Followed by a beachside dinner for our party of 15. Initially when I heard of the wedding (it wasn't part of the original vacation plans) I grumbled and complained...a tad. I didn't want to have to do something on vacation! I thought it would interrupt the fun. Also I didn't want to hang out with the bride and her bridesmaids all week...I assumed they would be fun and young and cute (they were!) and I would just look old and fuddy duddy in comparison (I wasn't!).  And as it turns out, the bride and her bridesmaids made me feel like a million bucks by exclaiming over how amazing I look and they couldn't believe that I am 30 and have three kids and look so good! Seriously they were the best confidence boost I have had in a loooong time. Thanks ladies:)

 

 

And a couple I took from the photographer's FB page...

 

 

I could go on and on, but I will try to show some self restraint. Suffice it to say it was an AMAZING trip. But by the end we both missed our kids terribly. The twice daily email updates just weren't enough. And yet once we arrived back to Minnesota we were shocked (and slightly overwhelmed) by the sheer volume and constant activity of our own kids. It would have been nice to ease back into the role of parents and family...but alas that did not happen. Instead we were thrown back full force just days before CHRISTMAS! More on that to come....

 

I want to go back...I want to be this person again...