We had such a fantastic vacation to El Cid Resort in beautiful Puerto Morales, Mexico! There were 15 in our group, all but the youngest 3 girls went along (and as I mentioned previously, we are VERY thankful to Grandma Jo and Grandpa Denny for keeping Evelyn and Violet for us). From the plane, we spotted the gorgeous waters of the shoreline!
After a short ride from the airport, we found our resort!
The grounds were so pretty, with the name of the resort actually written in flowers in the grass!
The lobby bar greeted us as we arrived and was a great hit throughout the vacation with its chocolate fountains and unlimited drinks.
We had the absolute best room we could have imagined! It was actually 3 rooms in one with a huge living/dining area to share. Here is the outside (we had the entire bottom floor).
And the inside. This is what it looked like during the day. . .
And this is what it transformed into at night! All 6 kids plus Uncle John slept in the living/dining room on couches and roll-away beds, while each adult couple got their own room for the vacation! An awesome sleepover for the kids, and a great perk for the adults!
Another huge benefit of our room was its proximity to the beach. Literally right outside about 10 steps away, the kids could be playing in the sand!
And they took full advantage of this prime location day and night, playing in the water and on the beach. One evening, they were still building their sand creations until nearly midnight!
Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed relaxing while the grandkids played.
Our rooms also had personal jacuzzi tubs outside. These kids (and adults, too) were in heaven.
This was the first time Tyler and Brynn had been to the ocean, and it had been 5 years for my boys as well (so they might THINK they remember, but only through pictures). They really loved playing in the surf and sand.
It felt like a private beach most of the time as there weren't very many people (other than our 15) in the water.
There were great waves for boogie-boarding. The kids could have done this ALL week.
In addition to boogie-boards, the kayaks also got plenty of use, and Grandma & Grandpa even took the kids out on a catamaran!
Always a competition, there were a few races to see who could get to shore first!
We ladies pampered ourselves with a spa day, and it was fabulous!
Our own personal attendant took us through the "circuit" at the spa, and then we relaxed a bit before our massages. It was a great afternoon.
The kids loved the beach, but as always the pool was a big hit, too! This pool was much bigger and fancier than any pool we'd ever seen, complete with a cliff to jump and a fun slide!
The boys loved playing "American Ninja Warrior" under the bridge. They challenged each other to all sorts of obstacles.
Then they played a little "chicken" on Uncle Kyle and Jackson's shoulders.
The slide was fun. . .
. . . but the cliff jumping is what kept everyone entertained for hours! Jackson and Tyler perfected the front and back flip, and the others practiced all of their favorite poses as they jumped.
The cliff wasn't just for the kids, though. Almost everyone jumped before our vacation was over!
There we go!
Even Grandma Cheryl jumped! This was her idea, even though she doesn't look so sure about it.
Of course, there was a very convenient swim-up bar to keep everyone hydrated.
Mom and I invented a new drink, the "Jayhawk": half Blue Hawaiian and half strawberry daiquiri. It was yummy!
A few more pool pics. . .
The pools were great after dark, too!
Our one excursion from the resort took us on a snorkeling tour of the second largest reef in the world!
Our one excursion from the resort took us on a snorkeling tour of the second largest reef in the world!
We found our boat and were on our way!
Grandma Cheryl LOVES to snorkel, and she has passed that love on her to grandkids.
The reef was beautiful with lots of fun fish to watch, but probably the highlight of this adventure was seeing a sea turtle! It was so graceful swimming up to the surface and back down again. It was just awesome.
The view of our resort from the water as we made our way back after snorkeling.
There were iguanas all over the place, and the kids all wanted to get close, but not too close.
Tyler and Calvin were determined to find shells to bring home. This wasn't exactly a great shelling beach, but after some intense searching, they found a respectable collection.
The food at this resort was delicious! We had our own section of the restaurant each morning for breakfast.
Leaving breakfast one morning, the boys went to get ready for swimming. I loved how independent the kids could be at this resort, made for a relaxing vacation for the parents!
We ate the buffet the first night, a Mexican theme.
We ate at the nice restaurants the rest of the evenings , and everything was so yummy and pretty to look at!
The Italian restaurant was only for those 12 and older, so the younger kids went to Kids Club for a couple hours, which I'm sure they enjoyed way more than sitting at the fancy restaurant with us. We got our own private room, and it was just perfect!
They had entertainment each evening at the resort, like the fire show:
. . . and karaoke! Uncle John was by-far the best performer of the night!
One night we declared a "twinning is winning" theme, and we found a few sets of twins (and one set of triplets) in our group!
We had a wonderful time on vacation with perfect weather and really great times spent with family. I love these people so much!
Our last day, we represented with our KU attire.
Of course my boys couldn't just jump, they had to do a "jump shot"!
And before we knew it, our vacation was over and we were headed for the airport :(
I'm definitely going to miss this view out my window:
I'm so thankful for my family and the memories we get to make on our family vacations. Thank you so much, Mom and Dad, for always making family a priority, and for generously taking us all along for the fun each summer! We love you!
