Hola, amigos

We arrived home from our Mexican getaway last Sunday and last week was a whirlwind to say the least. So these pictures are a little delayed but as I always seem to say, better late than never. We traveled to the Riviera Maya and took Drew while leaving Kate at home to be spoiled by her grandparents.  We stayed at the Grand Velas and it was an amazing resort and very kid friendly.  

  The first morning we had to wake Drew up at 3:30am so my expectations for him on the plane rides were pretty low but he blew me out of the water and was perfect the entire way down there and was so excited to ride on the "jumbo jets".  Every plane in our house is a jumbo jet, just go with it.  We had a lay over in Houston and we had lunch and watched all the jets take off, which Drew loved.  We took our single jogging stroller for Drew and he was glad to have it.  Our gates were at opposite ends of the airport from each other and carrying him would have been miserable so having the stroller was blissful.  His little backpack fit underneath in the basket and he was happy to relax and ride along. 

  Once we arrived at the hotel we got to our room and Drew was ready to head out to the pool.  We were fortunate enough to get a ground level room right outside of the kids pool.  Once Drew saw that he was in heaven.  We headed on out to the pool and spent the rest of the week at the pool and beach. 

Each night we went to dinner on the property and each restaurant was really tasty.  We weren't able to eat at two of the restaurants on the property because they were adult only but from what were heard they were delicious as well.  All the staff were very attentive to Drew and would order his food ahead of ours, and would play around with him, and make the experience just as enjoyable for him as it was for us. 

I was so proud of Drew, he is the pickiest eater and will not try anything new.  This trip he stepped outside of the box and tried all sorts of new foods and sat through long dinners each night.  We would take his little backpack with his cars and magna doodle in it and he would just make himself at home. 

For breakfast each morning we ate outside by the ocean at Drew's request.  A few mornings it was actually a little chilly.  He was so excited they had french toast each morning.  The little things that make an almost 3 year olds day. 

One early morning Brendan and Drew went to the beach and played before anyone was down there and they watched the sun rise.

  Most of our days were spent playing in the sand or splashing in the pool.  It rained a couple of days but Drew didn't seem to mind.  

The kiddie pool was amazingly warm and was only about a foot and a half deep.  It was perfect for Drew, he could play in it with his little truck we took and his bucket of toys we brought from home.  His favorite part by far was the sand, he could have spent all day and night in the sand.  That child is meant to live on a beach.

Drew kept asking us if he could take home a baby seagull.  We went with a stuffed turtle instead.

There were no sand castles built, just roads and tunnels for his truck.

Brendan wrote MEXICO in the sand for Drew and of course as soon as we took pictures, he had to stomp on it. 

The last morning we were there Brendan woke up super early and walked down the beach where we had heard there were some huge conch shells.  He came back about 45 minutes later with this load.

The larger ones each weigh at least 2-3 pounds and the smaller ones have the most beautiful color I've ever seen.  He said that they were just sitting there covered in a bit with sand, but they are in perfect condition.  We are planning on putting them on out shelves in our basement. 

We had an absolutely wonderful time and it was great to spend the time with Drew, but we missed Kate and Ruby too.  We got home really late on Sunday but I immediately went in a rocked my sweet little girl. I would highly recommend Grand Velas to anyone with small children or a family.  We didn't leave the resort and were perfectly happy for the full seven days we were there.  Please feel free to email me at abbyitheewed@yahoo.com if you have specific questions about the resort or travel details.  I have a post coming up about traveling with a toddler.  Stay tuned.  Happy Monday!