Ken and I took a vacation to Riviera Maya Cancun, Mexico for 5 days.  This was our first trip alone since our honeymoon in 1999!  We had a wonderful relaxing time.  Most of our time was spent hanging out in the pool or lounging in a chair, enjoying being pampered by the staff at the hotel.  We stayed at the Secrets Capri Riviera Maya, an adults only all-inclusive hotel.  It was as great as it sounds.  I almost didn't know what to do with myself not having to cook or clean for 5 days!

Temperatures were in the 90's every day but with the breeze from the ocean it was very comfortable.  We both got tan within the first day and towards the end of our trip I actually stayed out of the sun because I was getting too dark and was afraid they wouldn't let me back into the U.S. Haha! Speaking of which, we almost didn't get through customs when we left because no one told us that we needed to keep the little slip of paper that they give you when you arrive in Mexico.  Luckily Ken had put all of our receipts and papers together and we managed to find our "immigration papers" that allowed us to return to the States. 

Ken did talk me into parasailing and besides feeling sea sick after the first 10 minutes it was cool.  I can't say fun, because it wasn't that enjoyable hanging onto the straps like I was going to plunge to my death.  I know I didn't need to hold on, the straps do the job, but I felt like I had to, just in case :)  We took some photos with a disposable camera, I will post those when I get them developed. 

The food was nice.  They had the best nachos!  Ken and I laugh about how Hawaii had the best waffles ever when we were on our honeymoon, and I always say I want some Hawaiian waffles.  Now my new thing will be that I want some Mexican nachos.  Ken's favorite thing was the top shelf- free drinks that he had all day, every day.  He made friends with the swim-up bartender, Juan, who knew how Ken wanted his drinks every time.  Even at 10 in the morning.  Yuck!  Another thing that we obviously are not used to is Mexican fine dining.  The hotel had a couple of fancy cuisine type restaurants where you have to dress up and wait for each course.  The portions are hilarious! We kept saying that we were going to leave dinner and go to dinner at another restaurant afterwards.  Each item comes on this big huge plate with this small clump of whatever food you order in the center and there was always some sort of fancy pants decoration.  We wanted to say, hold the fancy sticks that are standing up in our food and give us a real portion! Everyone we talked to out by the pool, raved about the food being so good.  Imagine our surprise when we ordered steak and lobster and were served a 3 ounce steak and a baby lobster that was gone in 4 bites.  It all was pretty yummy though. 

One night we did go to downtown Carmen Del Playa for shopping. We didn't want to take our camera there so we don't have photos.  We ate at Senor Frogs and bought some shirts and maracas for the kids.  One thing I won't miss is the way Mexicans drive!  It's almost like it's a requirement to not leave any space between cars because they will race up as fast at they can and then have to break real fast.  Even if someone is riding a bike or moped, they flash their lights, and then speed by real fast.  It's insane and I was glad to get out of the taxi alive each time. 

Other little tidbits:

They don't have Mountain Dew in Mexico - thank goodness I had cut back right before we left so I wasn't dying.

Ken tried to trap a baby gecko that was on our wall with the ice bucket, instead he accidentally chopped the gecko in half.

Ken almost got suckered into listening to a time share thing when we first arrived in Mexico.  I laugh how he is a salesman himself, yet stinks at telling other people no. Same as tipping people. Mexicans are real good with helping you with everything (because they want your money), luggage or whatever, and Ken hands out tips left and right instead of saying he will do it himself.

We were surprised at how many people at our hotel were from the Midwest, some even from neighboring counties.   Lots of honeymooners. We seen a few weddings on the beach.  Several people were there that had been to the same hotel before.  Even though the hotel was perfect, I don't think I would ever go to the same place twice. There are too many places to travel to in the world.

We seen two wrinkly old ladies topless and in thongs walking down the beach. They were gross.

We missed our kids a lot, but they didn't seem to miss us too much.  I don't think I could have lasted more than 5 days.  It was the perfect amount of time to be away.