This last post is dedicated to my two favorite places on the last two days of our trip. It was the end of the week, when everyone was feeling settled and content. It was really the happiest few days we have had as a family of four.
We found our favorite beach. It's surprisingly a bit of a cruise ship destination, but more calm and relaxing. Buccannos is a restaurant with a beautiful, sandy beach and pool. It used to be attached to a hotel, but the hotel was destroyed during a recent hurricane. You have to pay a small fee to enter, so between the fee and the fact that their are no actual people staying at the hotel, the beach is really just perfect. Also, all the cruise ship people have to head out around 2, and then the beach is virtually empty.
You can order food and have it brought to your chair, and it is surprisingly good and affordable. I ate my weight in nachos, fish tacos, and piña coladas. We saw tons of other kids, and the music playing was fun and not obnoxious. The view was amazing, the water was perfect- need I say more?
We hung out here all day for those last few days. It was a great spot for us to keep track of Eliza, while still letting her play freely. We could also split up easily to spend time with each girl, so that Eliza felt some attention. She loved to jump off the edge so we could catch her, and to doggy paddle around and around the pool. I can't tell you how happy it made me. This was what I had been imagining when we planned this trip.
My favorite part of the entire trip was when we finally got the entire family in the ocean at the same time. The girls were floating freely in their floaties, and we were all just bursting with smiles. Eliza got brave and would float beside me, without me holding on. She had been nervous to get into the ocean until this point, but discovered that she loved the way the waves would gently push her along. Sadie finally decided she loved it, as well, and would rest her head on the edge of her floatie and smile her toothy grin. We laughed and made up silly songs, and just swam around in the sun.
It's also a great spot to snorkel. We saw several colorful fish, a puffer fish, a trumpet fish, and a slow-moving conch. We didn't end up paying to do a snorkel out at the reefs this time, which was a bummer. But, our friends tipped us off to a great spot in front of the Mexican President's home that Sam got to snorkel on the last day we were there. I stayed with the sleeping girls in the car, while Sam snuck around the side in and he said he was blown away by the sea life. The place is empty and unguarded while the President is not visiting, the coral is untouched and healthy.
On one of the last nights, we left the girls with Jen and Jeff and got to stay the night at the hotel from our honeymoon. It was just as beautiful as I remembered. We decided if/when we come back, we are just going to stay there. Playa Azul is peaceful and quiet, but right next door to Buccannos for good swimming and play. They have an amazing breakfast, and the snorkeling is also good. I love that place. It was so nice to be alone. We haven't been alone in a long, long time. And, I think we really needed it.
Life with kids is exhausting, but I'm glad I get to do it with Sam Gray. And, I'm glad we get to do things like this together. I love my little family, and I'm so grateful we are able to travel together and make memories like these. Cozumel will always be my happy place...
These are our friends! I loved their home so much. Sam and I have always talked about taking a sabbatical somewhere like Cozumel, between jobs or something. And, I think I'm convinced now.
This family was so good to us, and I loved hearing about their life in Cozumel. They showed us around town, and helped out in so many ways. They played with Eliza, and held Sadie- even though Sadie suddenly developed separation anxiety. I also loved being able to walk around with locals who spoke the language well, because people would treat us differently. Everyone always assumes I can speak Spanish, and I'm ashamed when I can't. This trip has given me a renewed desire to learn!
They ordered a unicorn cake for Eliza's birthday, that just happened to be the same cake that Eliza had been obsessing over after watching some Pinterest video we found awhile back. On her birthday, we walked over to the town plaza and all the kids played on rollerskates and longboards. We let Eliza ride a Barbie jeep from the kid who was renting them for 15 minute increments. When your time was up, he would come sprinting across the square to grab it from you. Eliza was in heaven, especially when we let her ride with Sadie. Sadie was white-knuckling the car door the entire time, while furiously sucking her thumb.
They took us to some of their favorite beaches. We drove out to the opposite side of the island, where you can find more local-friendly beaches because their are bigger waves and no cruise ships. Eliza collected piles and piles of treasures- coral, shells, seaweed, bottlecaps, flowers. We poked around in the tidepools, watching the tiny hermit crabs and snails. Sam got to board with Jeff, while I cuddled with Sadie in the sand.
One of Eliza's favorite thing to do was ride around in their minivan. Ha! Jen would offer to take Eliza with her while she ran around town picking up kids from their various after-school activities. Eliza was in heaven, eating popcicles in the backseat while watching movies on their DVD player.
Also, Jen booked us massages! We each got a 1-hour massage, and the masseuse came and set up in their home. It was a great massage, and only $25. Crazy cheap.
And, they gave us the best recommendations for food! So, I figure I should return the favor. If you're ever in Cozumel, this is where you should eat:
La Estrella - A Cocteleria, famous for their ceviche. Sam was so, so happy to have endless plates of ceviche on hand. They also had really good grilled fish, and this dish...
Kondesa- We came here thinking it was something else, but was still pleasantly surprised to find this fancy fusion place. It had beautiful outdoor eating, and the food looked like it should be $50 a plate. The fish was perfectly seared, and they had this cheese fondue that is the stuff of Mexican comfort food dreams. Eliza ate nothing but quesadillas and chips for an entire week, by the way.
Del Sur- This Argentinian restaurant used to be a tiny place that only sold empanadas, when we came here for our honeymoon. It is now a much larger, beautiful place that's known for their steaks- but we still feel like the empanadas are the way to go. They are seriously so good. Try the plum, bacon, cheese or the spiced beef. And for dessert, the dulce de leche, chocolate banana, or the cinnamon apple. We came here three times!
Buccannos at Night- This place is the best. The dishes would go for way more in the States, and the service is amazing. We loved the chorizo and parmesan stuffed chicken and the lobster skewers. The restaurant is right on the oceanfront.
Casa Danis- This place is a little more tourist-y, but it's a solid family-friendly option. They have pretty good food, and a good sampling of Yucatán food, along with "regular" Mexican options. Since it's in the main square, you may also get serenaded by strolling musicians or see a performance by some street dancers.
La Flor de Michoacan- Pretty much anytime you pass one of these shops, you should stop in for a paleta. We ate so many of these fresh fruit popcicles. The guava and watermelon were my favorite, and Sam liked the lime. Eliza liked anything that was pink. We would walk down the street, all sweaty and hot, with popicle juice running down our arms, while Sadie squawked from the stroller because she wanted another taste. Delicious!
Taqueria Diaz- The BEST tacos we had, and so cheap! I got three huge pollo, asada, and arrachera tacos all for around $2.
A couple of weeks ago we embarked on our first large-scale family vacation, to beautiful Cozumel, Mexico! Cozumel is an island off the Yucatán Peninsula. Sam and I went to Cozumel for our honeymoon seven years ago, and it has always remained in our minds as absolute paradise. I will be honest and say that we were a little delusional in thinking that we could recreate such a wonderfully relaxing experience by merely returning to the island with our kids in tow. But, after a few days of trial and error, and some help from friends, it ended up being a really great trip full of wonderful memories. So, be patient with me as I attempt to record some real-life and real-great experiences here. Because, we are determined to get this whole "traveling with kids" thing down, and I am looking forward to future trips with the girls!
We flew into Cancún, drove to Playa del Carmen, and took a ferry over to Cozumel. It was the longest day ever. I don't feel like the girls were particularly difficult, but any 12 hour travel day is bound to be terrible. I might consider paying a bit extra to fly directly into Cozumel, or to take the puddle-jumper plane from Cancún. We got to our place pretty late, after stopping by our friend's house for dinner.
These friends, they made this trip. Sam's best friend from high school has a sister who now lives in Cozumel with her husband and kids. Sam was really close with their family growing up. We have been wanting to take this trip for awhile, but just hadn't figured it all out. Last year, I was pregnant and the zeka virus squashed our plans. This year, we were nervous about having two kids to bring along. But, Jen and Jeff convinced us we could do it. They let us borrow their mini van, stroller, snorkeling gear, and anything else we needed. They gave us so many good local recommendations, as they have been living their for over four years now. We spent half the trip staying in their beautiful home, which was honestly way nicer than the condo we had booked for the first half. They have four kids, who were old enough to help with the girls. That first morning, at their place, I woke up to find Eliza playing quietly downstairs with their girls and I almost cried. Is this what the future looks like!? I can't wait.
Jeff helped build this chain of retail shops called Los Cinco Soles in Mexico that offers beautiful hand-crafted artisan goods and jewelry. They build relationships with artisans from several regions throughout Mexico, and bring these items back to the shop. The goods are so beautifully made, and really trump the cheap stuff they sell to the tourists in the cruise ship areas. We bought several things for our home, a pretty doll for Eliza with a traditional Yucatán dress, a hand-painted Nativity set, embroidered dresses for the girls, and a silver ring for me. I very highly recommend you go, if you visit! They have a lovely location on the waterfront, and several in the Cancún airport.
But, let's back it up a bit. We spent the first few days at a condo we booked on Airbnb called Residencias Reef, which is on the south side of the island. The condos are right on the beach, with two beautiful swimming pools. But, it really wasn't the best choice for us. That was our biggest mistake in those first few days. This is what we learned:
1) We had assumed that, with kids, we would want to stay somewhere a little further out of town. We were thinking, quiet, secluded, easy to wrangle the kids. BAD IDEA. It was too quiet and too secluded, and we all went crazy. Eliza had no one to play with, and all the old people gave us dirty looks for being too loud in the pool. She got super clingy and needy, and threw so many terrible tantrums I seriously got to the point where I quite seriously said, "Sam I want to go home. This is not worth it to me."
2) We assumed that we would need two rooms, which is why we ended up at this condo. But, we really didn't. The kids slept fine. So we could have easily stayed at some of the nicer hotels we were hoping for, which only offered one room.
3) We did not want to cook or buy groceries. What were we thinking!? Everything is so cheap there, it's totally not worth renting a condo with a kitchen so you can save money on food. No. When you are hanging out on the beach, the last thing you want to do is wash dishes, eat pb&js or pack the family up to go into town for lunch. We could have been very happy at one of the hotels that offered breakfast and lunch and then, after cleaning up, head into town for dinner every night. That way we could try the local restaurants, but not break up the swim day.
4) Traveling with family, should be "traveling with family friends." Eliza desperately needed someone to play with besides us. We had some really great family time, but it just wasn't enough. I am thinking that when we do a trip like this again, we are going to convince another family with similar age kids to come along so we can trade off and so that the kids can entertain each other. Amiright?? Who wants to come with us!?
After a few sort of terrible days, we managed to figure it all out. I also have to remind myself that those first few days were spent catching up on sleep and getting used to the climate, which would make it difficult for anyone. Later, we found some beautiful beaches that were more active, and easier for kids to play in. And, once we met up more with Jen, Jeff, and their kids, Eliza was so much happier. We really had such a good time, and I really miss it already.
Now that I have spewed out my honest "traveling with kids" vent, let's just chat about how dreamy Cozumel was...
These pictures were all taken at the condo we stayed at. The Caribbean is just as beautiful as you could imagine, with every shade of blue. Our beach was nice and close, but not so nice as others. You could only go in a few feet before it was too rocky to stand. And, funny enough, our old-people condo was surrounded on both side by party hotels that pumped "Cotton-eyed Joe" and club music all night.
But, the pools! They were huge and cool, and had a few different levels that were perfect for Eliza to play on. She could have played in the pools all day long, and pretty much did. I loved watching her with her puddle-jumper floaties and those goggles plastered to her face. She was so happy to be swimming. Sadie took several days to get used to the water. She was hesitant for awhile, but by the end of the trip she would relax in her floaty with her feet up. It was nice to have the pools so close. We would just wake up, swim, nap, swim some more...
I loved seeing all of the colorful buildings, hand-painted signs, and bright murals around town. It was actually the celebration of the 500th anniversary of when the Spanish arrived in Cozumel, so there were several celebrations going on. On the first night we arrived, there were dancers performing in the plaza, wearing costumes from the Yucatán and Jalisco regions. We spent one afternoon walking around town, checking out the shops. I got all tourist-y and paid a ridiculous amount of money to stick my feet in those foot spa tanks. The guy let us split the time for one price, because I really just wanted to try it out. It felt so funny!
(more to come)
For my birthday last month, Sam took the family to the little town of Bonny Doon. It's a tiny town that basically consists of a few local businesses right on Highway 1. He found a great place on Airbnb- a home on a ranch in the Santa Cruz mountains. It was the perfect birthday present. He watched the girls all weekend, while I laid around in bed and finished an entire book. We went on a hike in the dunes, and played on the beach. We ate seafood at a cute roadhouse in town, where the employees were so nice to us even when our kids were being wild.
Motherhood has gotten the best of me lately (more on this later). I hadn't had a good night's sleep in months. And, my birthday was the same week as the election. Emotions were running high, and I was feeling pretty low. So, it was really great of Sam to step in and take care of all of us, giving me the rest I needed. Also, the house didn't have service, and I actually "lost" my phone- meaning I couldn't remember when I used it last, and chose not to look for it until we left. I don't think I could have gotten through that post-election weekend without unplugging for a bit. The ocean can make you forget everything. This particular spot was mesmerizing. We stopped at a cliff that overlooked a beach, where the shallow water stretched out for so long and you could follow a single wave spread so smoothly until it dissolved onto the sand.
Thank you all for the birthday wishes! And, thank you Sam for taking your girls on a much-needed get away!
