Don't be sad it's over...

...be happy that it happened. That's what we've been telling the kids all week as they whine about having to leave Mexico. While it's never fun to leave "paradise" we have many, many great memories from our trip to the Riviera Maya. After our vacation to Yellowstone last year, it was decided the next trip would be "beach." We planned this rather last minute, not really our style, and it was fun only having to wait WEEKS instead of MONTHS for our trip.

Omaha airport. Temperature -8F.

Cancun airport. Temperature +80F. What a difference 12 hours can make! Tony refused to take his sweatshirt off at the airport because "my brain keeps telling me it's cold outside." We made arrangements for private transportation from the airport to our resort which was about an hour south of the Cancun airport. We exited the airport only to have a gentleman approach us and say, "Are you KREES-TOE-FER? Because you look like a KREES-TOE-FER." Too funny. I will say spending a few extra bucks for an air-conditioned suburban was totally worth it!

We finally arrive at the lobby of the "Barcelo Maya Tropical" resort. Stunning. It's going to be hard to stay at a Holiday Inn Express after this!

The weary travelers try to find our home for the week.

It was a bit cloudy and rainy when we arrived, but still this was a delightful sight for sore eyes!

This picture says it ALL. These two kids LOVE the ocean.

Tony finds his perfect meal....corn, guacamole and watermelon.

DAY 1: Tony and I are always the first ones up. This is our own private palm tree right outside our room that greeted us each day.

The kids thought having bathrobes and slippers provided for them was pretty darn cool. Needless to say, Chris and I never got to use them.

On our way to breakfast and looking pretty pale still!

The grounds at the resort were absolutely stunning beyond words. Not a blade of grass was out of place. We loved to walk around in the early morning and enjoy the sounds of the ocean.

These yellow hibiscus hurt our eyes they were so pretty in the morning sun.

Livie "assumed the position" right away. Only thing missing is Gramma Sally next to her!

Exploring as the day begins. It truly is the BEST time to be on the beach.

Our resort had beautiful sandy beaches, but also some great rocky areas to explore and look for critters. Each tide pool was a delight for Tony.

We spent a lot of time walking on these rocks all week. I have scabs on my elbow, ankle, hand and a sprained index finger to show for it. Good Lord, it's h*ll being a clutz.

Again, another early morning shot.

We spied our first iguana! Don't you love his shadow on the building?

Our resort had numerous pools, but this is where these two spent most of their waking hours each day.

Look at these poor two kids without buckets and shovels. Looks like they're doing just fine!

Tony and Livie challenged each other to a giant game of chess! This resort had EVERYTHING you could imagine for activities. While that's not really our "style" of travel, they sure do a good job of keeping people entertained who need it!

I think we'll be trying to grow some of these in our yard this year!

She looks like she belongs here doesn't she?

My parents and the Skubics had stayed at this resort several years ago. They kept telling the kids about the "little ice cream cones." It took us a while to find them, but we did!

It doesn't take much to make this kid happy.

Around every corner we were delighted to see so much COLOR after a LONG, COLD, WHITE winter.

I never know what I'm going to get when I snap a picture of these three...you'll see what I mean later in this post.

DAY 2: This was the day we had arranged for an excursion. We went with a tour company that was recommended by one of Chris' coworkers. There are tons of "eco-parks" in the area created for tourists. You can ride ATV's through the jungle, snorkel, zip-line, etc... They are all beautiful I'm sure, but we wanted more of an "authentic" tour without all the glitz.

A driver picked us up at our hotel at 8am. Our first stop was the Mayan ruins at Tulum. This was what Tony was REALLY looking forward to. We had to stop and pose next to this big iguana sunning himself.

The ruins were STUNNING and so much more picturesque than I ever imagined. Tulum isn't grand in it's scale, but it's location on the cliffs overlooking the ocean was breathtaking. It was HOT already at 9am and there were iguanas everywhere you looked.

I loved the juxtaposition of this tree next to the building.

It was a feast for our eyes, and my camera just couldn't capture the real beauty of the water.

The first few iguanas were really exciting and then it was like the buffalo at Yellowstone...yah whatever, big deal, another lizard.

Taking a breather in a little shade...it was getting HOTTER by the minute.

Just a gorgeous setting.

Quite a feat of craftsmanship when you think about it. No cranes or power tools used in this construction.

The kids were starting to look a little weary and were looking forward to the next part of our day....snorkeling!

After leaving the ruins we got ambushed! 5 bucks for a great Christmas card picture!

Our next destination was in the middle of the jungle to snorkel in a fresh water Cenote. Cenotes are natural underwater caves formed because the Yucatan peninsula used to be a sea floor made of limestone and as it slowly dissolves these caves form...or something kind of like that. Google it.

We had to leave our personal belongings back with the driver and our underwater cameras didn't have a flash. I walked back afterward to snap a few pictures. Part of me wishes I had a camera for snorkeling, but part of me is glad I just got to enjoy the moment. We entered at the platform you see in this picture.

The water was so blue and so clear and so COLD!!!!! Yikes. Thank goodness I had a wet suit (and thank goodness there are no picutres of me in the wet suit). This was WAY out of my comfort zone that's for sure. Not being a strong swimmer, I was a bit leary. But our guide assured us we'd be safe and I felt better knowing Chris was there to keep an eye on the kids. It was so deep and you could see right down to the bottom. It was peaceful, scary, exhilirating and magical all at the same time. Truly a cool experience. I'm amazed at how calm and maturely the kids handled themselves.

I snapped a picture of the map for a visual aid. There were serious SCUBA divers everywhere. In addition to our family, we had a lovely couple from New Zealand on their honeymoon with us, and two older ladies from Canada....they were a HOOT. One of them was deathly afraid to snorkel and our sweet guide Moses, held her hand the whole time. By the end of the day she was in tears over the whole experience. Very very cool. Tony kept saying, "I really liked those gals from Canada." After the cave we drove to Akumal to snorkel with Sea Turtles. We saw two turtles right away and this was VERY exciting for everyone in our group. After the turtles we stopped for lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant on the beach. We were all so hungry and tired I didn't even snap any pictures. We made one last stop at a lagoon for some more snorkeling and tropical fish viewing. This day was truly the highlight of our trip. If you ever plan to travel to this area, let me know and I would be glad to recommend this company. The owner is from Mexico City and his is wife is from North Dakota believe it or not.

Day 3: This day we spent just hanging out at the resort. We brought our own snorkel gear with us on the trip and did a lot of snorkeling right off our beach. There was coral everywhere and lots of cool fish. Most importantly, we discovered there were also SEA TURTLES!!!! Livie is a huge lover of turtles and this made her very happy.

I made this collage out of the pictures we snapped in Akumal, as well as at our resort. We just had disposable point and shoot cameras...no zoom. So you can see how close we were to these amazing creatures! We usually saw them in fairly shallow water as well. We just kept clicking away not knowing if we had any good pictures. The kids were excited to see what we had when I got them made into CD's. Talk about "old school" photography!

There was one spot right off the beach that had tons of fish. People feed them so they were very used to humans. You can see Tony's yellow flippers in the sand.

Here is Livie feeding the little piggies.

I swear these three must have grown gills on this trip. Thank goodness I could zoom in from my beach chair!

Ah, this is the life. We all agreed we could live at the resort. We usually hit the beach right after breakfast and stayed until the sun went down. Then we'd clean up and head to a late dinner. I wanted to get a good family picture on the beach, but by the time we'd clean up it was already dark outside.

Here we are over in the "swanky" part of the resort. Technically our wristbands didn't grant us access here but when you travel with a Maras, it's ok to bend the rules a little. (wink) However, my rule-following kids were sure we were going to get thrown in Mexican jail for this trespassing! Kind of funny, but my camera tripod is perched on top of a "caution" cone for this picture....rebels.

Day 4: It was a gray and drizzly day so we hopped in a taxi and spent the day at Playa del Carmen. First thing we did when we arrived was get Livie's hair braided.

So cute and so Livie! It's been a week and she still has those braids in! I think she feels like once she takes them out it's officially "over."

We made the most of a yucky day and got a little taste of "real" Mexico. The kids enjoyed spending their cash and learning the art of haggling.

Even on a gray day the ocean is beautiful. I need to live near the ocean. I love the sand, the salt, the smell, the humidity...although, it made for one long bad hair week let me tell you!

It was still cool and rainy when we got back to the resort so we enjoyed playing Spanish Scrabble and Battleship to pass some time. Of course, the never ending supply of drinks, food and ice cream helped as well.

Day 5: The LAST day. Tony and I were up at the crack of 6:00 and ready to hit the beach. Knowing it was our dreaded last day, we wanted to spend every minute outside. We left Chris and Livie sleeping in our room and took a nice long stroll. The resort had these cool Mayan inspried statues all over the place. Tony brought home several cool Mayan-themed souvenirs to put in what we call his "Bedroom of Natural History."

Here comes the sun...we're sure the ENTIRE resort prayed hard for a sunny day and it worked!

Just monkeying around.

I love the colors in this picture....so tropical.

We spent all day at the beach. Livie made fairy houses of course. She has made fairy houses all over the US and now in Mexico. She plans to keep a photo book of all her fairy houses...what a fun idea!

Earlier in the week Chris and Tony did some exploring. They had something special they wanted to show us, so Livie and I went along this time. (We both sucked it up, I mean IN, and posed for Livie.)

We were gone for almost 2 hours and traveling by foot along the rocky coastline to this special spot.

Stopping along with way to pick up old coral and look for critters.

A very happy little boy indeed.

This is what lay all along the coast. Amazing old coral...we could have filled a bed of a pickup truck if we could. Each piece was unique and a treasure. This was extra exciting for Tony. I cannot tell you how many HUNDREDS of pictures he has drawn over the years of coral. Now he has a real frame of reference to refer to.

We were hot, tired and then we went around the corner and saw THIS. There aren't words. I did not doctor up these pictures at all....and even then, my camera didn't quite capture the brilliance of the water. It was isolated, wild, natural and deserted. Across the way was either a large home or small hotel...regardless, it looked abandonded. Chris will you buy it for me PLEEAASSSEEE??????

Last iguana picture I promise.

And then there was THIS! A ruin, just sitting there crudely fenced off. The water was so blue and so clear. You can't imagine all the beautiful fish we could see. It was tempting to go back and get our snorkel gear, very tempting.

We were so glad Chris and Tony found this hidden lagoon and we feel like we all have a very special secret to hold dear.

Enjoying their last strawberry "kid-daquiri" on the beach.

Back at our room they sorted out all their beach loot from the week. What to take home and what to leave....I'm pretty sure they took it all.

Upon trying to get a nice family picture I tested my flash....classy bunch they are.

Much better. We all left Mexico darker and little bit heavier.

Enjoying a last moment on our patio before heading to the airport.

Goodbye paradise....

...goodbye Mexico. We had the time of our life and hope to visit you again someday!

The Cancun airport is WAY nicer than Chris and I remember it being 18 years ago. Zoom in on this picture if you can....you see in the back a sign for Hard Rock Cafe and Viagra. I find this quite humorous. Maybe I got too much sun?

Just killing time at the airport.

My travel partner the last leg from Dallas to Omaha.

Stunning sunset over Texas. Almost home.