Ten days in paradise

 We just got back from an amazing 10 days in Ixtapa, Mexico.  My parents are there for a month (their first retirement trip), so we decided to take advantage and go visit them.  We stayed at an awesome condo with a gorgeous pool and the beach right out front.  The kids were such good travelers.  No whining/ crying on the plane, and they actually both slept!  I was very impressed and am excited to take them on more trips!

 The pool was great.  The kids swam all day, every day.  Rylee is a really good swimmer now and actually can dive in the water for toys and swim across the pool without help.  Carson even started swimming without a life jacket!

 This was our first sunset on the trip... absolutely beautiful.  Our family friends Kathy and Mona were also there so it was fun to hang out with them for a few days.

 We spent lots of time walking and playing along the beach.  Lots of sand castle building and wave jumping.

 Carson took a nap outside by the pool almost every day.  It had to be so comfortable in the shade with a nice breeze.

 Our maid, Lupita made us a towel animal the first day.  Rylee thought it was pretty cool.

 It rained one night and day while we were there.  It was a warm rain, but really big droplets.  It was pretty cool to watch!

 Rylee learned how to snorkel in the pool and she did amazingly well!  She got to try it out in the ocean too.  She liked seeing the fish but didn't like getting saltwater in her nose and mouth.

 We explored town and went out to dinner almost every night.  Our favorite places were Emilio's (we had wood fired pizza and the BEST margaritas!  It also had the coolest ambiance.  We went there twice), and Mama Norma's and Deborahs.  So good.  The restaurant at our condo had delicious food as well.

Dance party on our patio!  Every night we would sit on the patio and listen to music, drink wine, and play games.  Very relaxing.

One day we took a water taxi over to Isla Ixtapa.  It was fun to explore the little island and have some different scenery.  We sat on the beach, snorkeled, drank buckets of beer, ate shrimp and lobster and just relaxed.  Very cool place.

 We loved seeing all the alligators.  A little freaky, but still fun!

 One night we rode a horse and carriage that was lit up and had music blaring.  The kids absolutely loved it.  Carson asked to ride it again almost every night.

Lance and Dad did an 8 hour fishing trip one day.  They caught a sailfish, 2 dorados (mahi mahi), and various other fish.  That night the restaurant at our condo cooked it up for us and some friends.  So good!

Rylee and Carson got to release baby turtles into the ocean one evening.  That was very cool.  The little turtles were so cute!



Another beautiful sunset.

My parents had their 39th wedding anniversary while we were there.  Being in Mexico for a month is a pretty cool way to celebrate!

When they weren't in the pool they were having downtime next to the pool, either playing games or coloring.

One evening we took a taxi over to Zihuatanejo.  We had a lot of fun exploring the little town.  We ended the night eating at a restaurant on the beach.  There's nothing better than having coconut shrimp and margaritas with your feet in the sand.  =)

I'm absolutely in love with Carson's little freckle face.  So adorable!

Our last night in town was my birthday, so my parents watched the kids so we could go to dinner.  They sent us to this amazing restaurant in this hotel on a hill called El Farro.  We ate dinner (lobster and more coconut shrimp) while looking out at a beautiful view.  After dinner we took a gondola down to the beach and walked home in the sand.  Pretty romantic.  Not a bad way to spend a birthday!  (I should mention that I spent the rest of my birthday getting a massage on the beach and relaxing by the pool all day).  Are you jealous yet?

Mike and his girlfriend Aye got there on our last day.  The kids had a blast playing and swimming with him during the short amount of time we had before leaving for the airport.

What an amazing time we had and what a cool experience for the kids.  We made many memories with friends and family that we will remember forever.  I am so thankful to have parents that retired and like to travel to such great places!  I have a feeling we will be tagging along on many more trips in the future.  =)