Christmas in Playa Del Carmen ~ 2015

Every other year we've left the country and gone to the beach as a family to celebrate Christmas.  We get away from the office, home, seasonal events and general chaos to just be together.  This year we chose Playa Del Carmen as our destination.  This vacation started off great with the kids being able to literally hang out with the pilot while all the passengers boarded the plane.  Audrey drew a picture for the pilot while we were waiting at the airport.  We were the first ones to board the plane and the kids handed the pilot the drawing and he invited them to sit and ask any questions.  He had no idea Aaron Jr loves all things airplane related. Each kids took a turn sitting in the co-pilots seat and asking questions.  I finally dragged them out when the real co-pilot showed up.  Such a fun and unique experience for the kids! 

Audrey's 2 favorite things about are the take off and eating on the plane when we are lucky enough to get upgraded because Daddy flies so much! Aaron is in his happy place during the whole airport/airplane experience, starting with the planes he spots in the sky as we get close to the airport and ending when we leave our destinations airport.

The drive from the airport to our resort showed us the realities of Mexico where you are either rich or poor. It is beautiful with tropical plants and trees everywhere, beaches and sink holes, and many historic sites to explore. We arrived at our hotel and settled in right away.  The room and view was beautiful and the kids loved having a hot tub on the balcony and in the room!

First thing on the agenda, swim! They had many pools to choose from but we spent most of our time at 2.  One had these blow-up slides, an obstacle course and a sailboat to play on and around. The other was private with warm water. They both had restaurants next to them but Audrey and Daddy loved the swim up bar in the private pool.  So many yummy non-alcoholic drinks and shakes to enjoy.

If I wasn't swimming or reading, I was watching the kids with a delicious Pina Colada, chocolate cream shake or strawberry slush. Definitely vacation!

 

Our first dinner was yummy with lots of meats to choose from, but Miss Audrey didn't last too long.  True to form, she has fallen asleep at the table on every vacation we've taken.  But she did wake up for her present of pajamas. We usually wait for Christmas Eve, but then I didn't have to pack more pajamas.

We started our 2nd day at the resorts private beach.  The sand was super soft but there was corral and rocks in the water that hurt our feet so we didn't go far into the ocean. We enjoyed playing in the sand, relaxing, and letting the waves push us around.

We saw many iguana all around the resort, pool and beach.

After the beach we headed to our new favorite warm pool and for exclusive members only. It was nice because there were less people in the pools.  It also had a swim up bar that everyone loved! Aaron and Daddy loved to play catch with the football most of the time we were in the pool.

These swings were so cool. I could definitely use this at home.  

When we returned to our room to get ready each evening a treat and small gift was left for the kids.  They got little bear cakes, coloring and crayons and purple backpacks.  Purple was the main color of the resort.

 

Each night we had reservations to a different restaurant. We headed to a Mexican Restaurant that was probably our favorite of the trip.  Yummy food, a game area for the kids with someone making balloon animals, and a Mariachi Band that sounded amazing and were super entertaining!

 

Day 3 started off with room service breakfast.  We had to leave early to get in the tour van.  A group people came along as we went with Alma's Tours to Ek Balam, Chichen Itza and Senote Ik Kil. There was a lot of driving between destinations that allowed us to see a lot of Mexico. The lush and tropical, the poor and dirty, the rich and exotic and a lot of history.

Our first destination was Ek Balam.  This is one of the few Mayan Ruins that can still be climbed on and explored.  It was such a beautiful site with amazing artistry and genius.  We climbed 106 steps to the top of the acropolis. The steps were steep, worn and there were no handrails, but it was totally worth it.  Halfway up there were some amazing carvings and a huge mouth that opened to a tomb.  It was awesome. We couldn't go inside but the architecture was awesome. At the top was an inspiring view of the whole area, including 2 other temples that we also explored. Alma, the tour guide, gave us a rich history of the people and tied it in with the Book of Mormon when it was appropriate.

A pool for cleansing before going into the temple and a baptismal font?

 

I stayed with Audrey as she bumped down the steep steps.  Daddy and Aaron stayed together and got places a little faster then we did. Look at the steep stairs leading to some room.  They were all over this building.

  

Below on the right you can see what the area looked like when it was discovered.  They were just big hills that once explored were actually ancient ruins. It took years to excavate and they still aren't finished.  

They call these trees "The tree of life".  Its symbolic of heaven, earth and the underworld.  It's sculpted in different areas around the Mayan ruins. These are considered young trees.  The thorns protect these trees from predators.  

There is a beauty in these ruins.  I was constantly amazed at how they were built and the effort it must have taken and how long they have been around.

Audrey made a friend of a little girl on our tour.  They had a lot of fun at every stop along the tour.

Aaron was very excited to jump across and straddle these 2 walls.

This nativity scene was outside a buffet restaurant we ate at once we drove to Chichen Itza.  It was a nice reminder that it was almost Christmas since you could easily forget in the warm tropical weather. Some Mayan dancers entertained us and the food was pretty good. 

Chichen Itza is the 2nd most visited archaeological site of Mexico today.  The Kukulkan Pyramid in Chichen-Itza which know as "El Castillo" (the castle) is one of the new seven wonders of the world. It was breath taking to see. We learned how they were brilliant astrologers and architects. 

This serpent is thought to represent the feathered-serpent god Kukulkan. They are all over the area. Notice the stone box with a round lid by the head of the serpent.  This is probably similar to the box that held the gold plates with only the top part of the box above the ground.

 

  

This is The Temple of Warriors.  There are 1000 columns with soldiers carved in them that surround the temple that used to have some kind of roof over them. You can't see all of the columns but it is really impressive.

Below is the Skull Platform.  Yes there was human sacrifice here before the Christians came and converted them.

Below is The Great Ball Court. It is the largest and best preserved ball court in Ancient Mesoamerica. It was a difficult game that only specially selected men could participate in and someone got sacrificed at the end of each game to the Sun God. This was considered an honor. Definitely a game of life and death.

 

This is Cenote Ik Kil. A cenote is a spot where the limestone has collapsed into this underground water system. Usually the roof has collapsed to create an open and in this case a beautiful swimming hole.  We climbed down into the cenote and Aaron, Audrey and Daddy swam while I took pictures.  This cenote was 150 feet deep and had Black Catfish swimming in it.  Audrey was very hesitant to jump in at first but after one jump it was all she wanted to do. Aaron and Daddy jumped from the high platform.  For some reason my camera didn't take great action pictures, but you can tell what was happening. The water was dark because it was late in the afternoon. If we had been there around noon the water would have been turquoise. 

We really enjoyed this tour guide- Alma.  He was super nice and very informative.  

When we got back to our room there were cake pops and balloon animals waiting for the kids.

Day 4 We all slept in from our late busy day before and it was Aaron's 11th birthday.  We had an early lunch on the balcony.  We had a great view and enjoyed the morning together.  Right afterwards we got our suits on and headed to the pool.  The kids loved finding tiny bananas on our way to the pool. 

We spent hours playing catch, laying out, playing games, reading, eating and drinking a lot of shakes from the pool bar.

There was an resort activity leader that came each day to get a polo game going.  He also brought balloons and water balloons for the kids. 

We got back to the room and found it decorated with balloon all over the room.  There was also cake that Aaron happily gave to Audrey since it was chocolate.

It was a beautiful night as we walked around the resort on our way to dinner. I took some great pictures of my family. Aaron loves coconuts so we went hunting for them and as you can see in the pictures we found some good ones. 

The kids loved all the fish and turtles all over the resort.  

Aaron is a very picky eater and it is always difficult to find something he will eat. But luckily he loved the shrimp he ordered and you can see it on his face.  It was a fun birthday!

We started Day 5 out at the beach.  We did some exploring off of our private beach.  We walked to the public beach and found a small cenote that we learned continues to grow.  It is right next to the ocean and actually runs into the ocean.  It is beautiful and has a natural spring that runs into it.   

Below are the pictures of the cenote.  Clear gorgeous water.

Beautiful cenote and palm trees!  Love this place.

This is where the cenote runs into the ocean. Audrey loves to swim and is a regular fish. 

I love this view of the ocean.  You can see the rocks in the most shallow water.  

We found this log and it became our entertainment for a bit.

After the beach we headed to the pool with the fun slides and obstacle course. Daddy tried it to and in the picture below you can see him finishing the course. 

Audrey loved this water slide! She also decided to let Daddy help her go across the obstacle course.

We all loved swimming up to the bar and ordering all sorts of shakes.

This fun snowman is made of meringue and cookies.

This little walkway below is our favorite with all the pretty lights on the trees. We dressed up extra nice because its Christmas Eve.  There is a special dinner and celebrations on Christmas Eve. We went to a production of the Nut Cracker and afterwards Audrey got a picture with the cast members.

Merry Christmas! Santa found us even all the way in Mexico.  We actually go to see him along with all the other kids at the resort.  We stood in line as Santa came in on a golf cart with all his helpers.  Every child got a picture with Santa and a gift. 

Nothing like some pool time on Christmas day. After swimming we rented a car and drove into the city. We wanted to have some yummy local Mexican food and walk around the city.  It was a busy fun atmosphere and we found some souvenirs to take home. We also got quite a collection of our favorite Mexican snacks a huge grocery store we visited.

Daddy had arranged for the tub to be ready when we got home.  It was full of bubbles and balloons.  The kids got their swim suits on and hurried in. It was exactly what the kids would want in a tub!

Daddy and Aaron went walking around while I put Audrey to bed.  These cool pictures were taken on their walk around the resort. Aaron fell in love with a Mexican wrestling mask of the Panther's football team while we were in the city and he is wearing it in the picture below.  

We got up early the following morning and drove to the Tulum ruins. It was a beautiful day for wandering around reading the signs describing the different buildings and viewing the cliffs along the ocean. We also saw lots of iguanas and birds that looked like pterodactyl.  

We wore our swim suits in hopes of swimming in the ocean but the wind made the water too dangerous so we weren't able to swim.  Audrey loves flowers and found a few to put in our hair. There is an amazing amount of tropical flowers and plants in Mexico that we all loved.

We left Tulum after getting our fill of all its beauties and headed back to Playa Del Carmen.  We decided to go back to the city and enjoy some more Mexican food.

After stuffing ourselves with carne asada and el pastor we headed back to the resort for a swim that included an intense game of polo.  We had our last dinner on our balcony enjoying our last night of vacation.

On our last day we filled our morning with walking on the beach and one last swim.  We were super surprised to have our favorite mariachi band show up to play.  It was a perfect way to end our vacation!

We got to the airport early and found some Duty Free items to take home with us.  Every vacation goes by too fast but we'll cherish all the memories we made this Christmas vacation.