Playa del Carmen-Part 2

*Edit* This blog post has been in the works for weeks. Life has been crazy. It isn't perfect, but I am going to post it anyway. :)

We had a wonderful week-long trip to Playa del Carmen (about 50 minutes from Cancun) this month. We left on 9/16/08. My morning started very early. 3:30 AM to be exact. Our flight left Sacramento at 6:30 AM, and Abe's mom graciously drove us to the airport, parked, and helped us get in the airport with all of our baggage (4 checked bags, 2 carry-ons, 1LARGE Britax carseat, a stroller, and 1 wild toddler). That was a HUGE help. The airplane is a little boy's wonderland. All the airplanes and equipment were so fascinating to him.After getting on the plane, it was pretty smooth sailing. We had been talking to Chase about flying for a long time. He loves airplanes and points them out in the sky and in books all the time. He was so excited and smiled the whole time during our take-off and landings (the return trip was a different story). He took pretty good naps on both flights. We flew to Dallas and then on to Cancun. Here we are on the first flight to Dallas. Chase loves fruit leather :)



I am going to post the rest of our pictures from our trip. We were not really able to get that many pictures of the three of us, so most of them are individual or pictures of 2 of us together.


Before I post the pictures, I will give you an idea of how we spent our days. We let ourselves sleep in, so we would typically sleep until about 8. That got earlier as the week went on. Sleeping in and toddler usually aren't a good combo. We would then get ready and head off to breakfast. After breakfast we would head back to our room and slather ourselves in SPF 50 sunscreen and get our swim gear together. Humidity and suncreens are just a fabulous combination. Such a wonderful feeling :( We would then head off to the beach. We would drop our stuff off under the palm trees and find as much shade as possible. We grabbed the sands toys, floaties, snorkel gear, and camera and headed into the water. We usually spent about 1.5 hours in the water or playing at the water's edge.


We would then head up to our lawn chairs and grab Chase a snack. We would take a small rest and re-apply suncreen. We would then head to the pool. The pool was amazing. There was an upper and lower pool. It had fountains and and tiled chairs to sunbathe in. Fabulous! One of Chase's favorite activities was to sit on the edge of the upper pool and fall down to the lower pool. It was about a 6 foot drop. One of us would be in the upper pool and the other down below. He would do this about 20 times in a row. He has NO fear :)


We would then go to lunch at the restaurant right out by the pool. After we were re-fueled we would usually head to the beach again for 1-2 hours. After the beach we would either go back to the pool for a while or head in for a nap. We were usually back in our room between 3 and four. We would shower and Chase would take a long nap.


After his nap we would get ready and head to dinner around 6:30. We would eat and then hang out in the fountain area. Usually there was some sort of entertainment. We would usually head back to our room between 8:30 and 9:30. At this point we were all ready to relax. Chase took all of his naps and slept in our bed the whole time. We had the Pea Pod, but daddy decided to spoil him and let him sleep with us. It was nice and cozy :)


This was pretty much our schedule for 6 days. There isn't much sitting around when you take a toddler along. We were on the move! We were so happy Chase was with us though. We wouldn't have changed a thing. Time for me to shut up and get to the best part-the pictures!!

Playa del Carmen-Part 1

We had a wonderful week-long trip to Playa del Carmen (about 50 minutes from Cancun) this month. We left on 9/16/08. My morning started very early. 3:30 AM to be exact. Our flight left Sacramento at 6:30 AM, and Abe's mom graciously drove us to the airport, parked, and helped us get in the airport with all of our baggage (4 checked bags, 2 carry-ons, 1LARGE Britax carseat, a stroller, and 1 wild toddler). That was a HUGE help. The airplane is a little boy's wonderland. All the airplanes and equipment were so fascinating to him.After getting on the plane, it was pretty smooth sailing. We had been talking to Chase about flying for a long time. He loves airplanes and points them out in the sky and in books all the time. He was so excited and smiled the whole time during our take-off and landings (the return trip was a different story). He took pretty good naps on both flights. We flew to Dallas and then on to Cancun. Here we are on the first flight to Dallas. Chase loves fruit leather :)

We arrived around 3:20 PM. Cancun is on Central time, so 2 hours ahead of California. After arriving, you have to go through Customs and show some paper work and passports. After Customs, you grab your baggage (thank goodness for baggage carts) and head through Security. Not fun with a toddler. Once we were through Securtity we headed out the door into the Great Wall of HUMIDITY. It is so humid and hot. Thankfully, our shuttle was waiting and we were able to get some AC quite quickly. I have never been so happy to see a 15-passenger van :) After the lengthy drive, crazy Mexican roads and driving, some rain, and wrangling an exasperated cranky toddler for an hour we finally made it to our hotel. Ahhh!We headed to our room and unpacked a little. We couldn't wait to eat. We hadn't eaten all day. We had a few snacks, but that was it. We changed our clothes and headed to the wonderful buffet. It was so delicious and the servers were so friendly and kind. The people who worked at the resort were super friendly and kind. They are wonderful people. They absolutley adored Chase. I don't think he has ever gotten some many high-fives and head rubs. At some meals the servers would just stand around our table to talk and play with Chase. Super funny! They made some funny comments like "he looks like Brad Pitt," he is "muy bonito," he is "pretty" and they would pronounce his name "Cheese." The ladies at the front desk would call "Cheese, Cheese" trying to get him to come visit them and give them hugs. Too funny! We hit the hay pretty early that night. We did walk down to the beach in the dark to let Chase feel the sand and the WARM ocean. We also got acquainted the Mexican birds I mean Mexican mosquitoes. Yikes! Abe went directly to the gift shop to buy our $9 bottle of Off. So worth it!Here are some pictures from our first full day. As you can see the humidity got to the camera. I was able to finally get it dry and it started to take some normal pictures.

Chase didn't even hesitate while getting in the ocean. He would just run dive in. It was so fun to watch. This was our first day in the ocean. It was a blast! We could skorkel right where those barriers are in the background. We would take turns playing with Chase and snorkeling. It was a amazing. The fish were so close to the beach that Chase could even see them swimming. We even had a feeder fish following us around in the water. I was able to see a sting ray. There were huge schools of fish. Beautiful!

First Day of Sunday School-9/7/08

Chase began Sunday School this month. The teachers are amazing-Mrs. Shank and Mrs. Jensen. I sat in on the first class just to observe how Chase would handle a whole hour of structured activity much of which is quiet and done in a chair. This is not Chase's style. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did. He seemed to enjoy himself. The class is a mix of 2 and 3 year olds. Since his birthday falls before December he gets to attend.

He was the most outgoing, talkative, youngest, and of course the most active toddler. It is amazing what kids can learn at this age. I am so grateful for the sweet and patient teachers that are willing to help teach Chase about God, His Word, and our wonderful Creation. We are especially grateful for Mrs. Jensen who sits next to Chase to keep him focused and in his chair (she raised a boy so she understands) They started with Creation and are moving through the Old Testament. He gets to take papers home that cover the main topics of the lesson. We hope to review the stories with Chase to provide reinforcement.

Chase talks about some of the kids and his teachers. He especially likes Geoffry. Chase and Geoffry are the only boys. Hopefully, as he grows up the kids in his class will all become good friends. Here are some pictures of the first day. I felt wierd bringing my camera, but this was a big day for our little man.

PS-I heard from my cousin last night that Chase's teacher reported to her that they have a really easy class and Chase. Hmmm! I was wondering why when I ask the teachers how the class went they look at each other, laugh, and say "really well." They claim that they really enjoy him. We shall see!

Megan Hope Myers

Please pray for the little Myers baby. She made a very early arrival. You can find the full story on her Aunt's blog: http://littlewills.blogspot.com/

Angel Island Run

In August, some of our family and myself went to Angel Island for a 12K/25K run. It was super hilly and a tough course, but it felt good to run the whole thing. Four of us ran in the race, and the rest of the group stayed behind to cheer us on and enjoy the beautiful Island. Here are some pictures from that day (courtesy of Wesley and Emily Stone).