Well, we've been home for a few days now and it has taken me a bit to wrap my mind around the epic trip we just returned from.
It is a trip that I will never forget for the rest of my life. I mean, what is a trip really, without stories to tell. So, here we go....
fair warning...this post is LONG!
We left Saturday for our annual Harrison trip to Cancun and since our little family was traveling with Ty as a lap-child we got to the airport super early to check in with a real person. To keep it as brief as possible...after specifically asking which line to stand in and subsequently standing in that line for over an hour and a half with 8 bags and 2 small children we were told that we were in the wrong line and would then have to take everyone to a different gate. I can honestly say, I was embarrassed at my behavior and the way that I lost it on the non-American Airlines employees that had no idea what they were doing. I mean, we have been looking forward to this trip for a year...so excited to travel with both our families and the Reads...would we really not make it!?
Fortunately, my parents were around to help us through the waiting, gate move, and security only so we could get inside and have our flight delayed for a couple hours but, at least we could meet up with Uncle Alex and Aunt Minnie and have lunch at the airport.
Our flight went pretty smooth except for sitting on the tarmac for a while before take-off and after landing.
I was so, so ready for that travel day to be over and was thrilled to arrive at our condo but, I was a little worried that day one was a pre-cursor to the remainder of the trip. I had no idea...
Our first day on the beach our whole group met up together (all 21 of us) and enjoyed the beach and the pool!
Even Ty ran around in his birthday suit on day one (no sunburns though!)
Christine and I wore matching swimsuits! I love matching!
All was going well until around dinnertime when Ben informed me that his insulin pump just quit working.
He didn't drop it in sand or water or sit on it or drop it or anything...just quit working. He had some back up syringes and his insulin but, he really needed a pump to have any sort of normal life on vacation. We spent a couple hours trying to fix it, and on the phone with mini-med only to find out that they will gladly give Ben and new pump but, will NOT ship it to Mexico.
And to top it off...in the midst of this phone call in the lobby Ben accidentally knocks off his one extra vial of insulin and it breaks on the lobby floor. Within minutes we hit sheer panic mode.
Fortunately, in Mexico you can get insulin over the counter so Ben, Alex, my dad and I hop in a mexican taxi and head to the 24 hour pharmacy in the center of town.
Bad news, they don't have his type of insulin. So, he has enough insulin for like a day and a half. We make it through the night and think it over again in the morning. We think about somehow getting someone from home to receive the insulin pump and pick up insulin and overnight it to Mexico but, after a quick talk with FedEx we decided there are too many hoops to go through and it won't work.
We come to the conclusion that Ben needs to go back home. His parents buy a ticket for him to go home and back within 24 hours. I was in tears multiple times.
This is was NOT the way our vacation was supposed to go!
Thankfully, Martin and the Reads decided on an alternative. We can ship Ben's pump to anyone in the US so, we ship it to our neighbors, Eric and Leslie, and have Bruno pick up the pump and a new prescription of Ben's insulin for us and fly him to Mexico to join our trip! After a few hiccups, it all worked out and when Bruno arrived he felt like a lottery winner with a free trip and became our own personal hero!
We were ready for dinner and dance parties!
The next day was our deep sea fishing trip and even though I am not much of a fisher-woman and was a little afraid of getting seasick, I wanted a fun morning with my now healthy husband! Despite the company blatantly lying about which boat we would get we did upgrade to a boat that would make P-Diddy proud.
Mendy and I felt so cool for like about 10 minutes....
Then the sickness hit. And it wasn't just me....almost everyone was sick. It probably ended my deep-sea fishing career for life. And to top it off, we only caught one fish. We had to wake up Andrew from his Dramamine-induced sleep to reel in our one fish.
Surely...no more....by this point...its all just sand and water and fun, right!?
Well, just one more medical drama to go.
Martin has had a heart condition for about 20 years that acts up every year and a half or so, and just happened to act up during our trip. I am not really sure the specifics but, his heart goes into some kind of an arrhythmia that needs medical attention very quickly and they usually have to get him to a hospital within 48 hours to be able to knock him out and use the defibulator to restore the natural rhythm of his heart. He has a medicine that is supposed to do this without having to be hospitalized but, it has never worked in 20 years. But, his cardiologist tells him to triple the dosage. And, miraculously, it works.
They don't have to go home...everyone is healthy and four days in, we can really start our trip the way its supposed to go!!
Praise God!
The next few days are filled with wonderful relaxation and fun in the sun. I truly cannot say enough about how loving and wonderful and supportive everyone was throughout all the medical drama. Everyone helped out so much and stepped it up for Ben and I with our kids when we were pre-occupied and Kinley and Ty felt like the center of attention all week.
They really didn't know what to do with themselves when they got home and didn't have 20 other people to play with.
(nevermind Ty's double nose-pick here...
)
Kinley really became intensely obsessed with Ashley who was so, so patient with Kinley and just played with her for hours during the trip.
They also loved hanging out in the shade on the beach with Gram and Alex and playing with animals and building sandcastles and turtles.
Ty's favorite place was the tiny foot water bath that is pretty gross if you think about it..which I tried not to. We all took turns watching him play in the foot water.
I am so, so thankful that both our sets of parents were there. We could not have done this week without them all. They are amazingly wonderful and so generous and thoughtful and I feel blessed beyond words.
A couple days we got to feed the seagulls on the beach and Kinley LOVED that.
I mean, they were taking French fries out of our hands.
Aunt Minnie so sweet to try to get Kinley closer to the action.
There were also tons of iguanas right on the beach next to our hotel. Ty was in heaven.
Both kids were a little scared of the ocean the first day but, by the end we were holding them back from running in. Jumping the waves coming in was a big favorite!
The majority of the time, we looked like this on the beach...just a massive group of chairs relaxing.
These two...Love them so much. Can we say Austin Powers in this pic?
You know how much I love to match, but, one day the Reads really hit it out of the park with matching orange and pink swimsuits for everyone. I was green with envy and I feel like every beach trip from now on should have a matching swimsuit requirement.
And, I guess we love piggy-back pics because we took a million pics like that. I love these pics because look how dark Mendy is compared to Alex. So funny!
The Reads took the piggy-backs to a new level too with stunts galore...I am sick I missed this too somehow! (Probably on the phone trying to get an insulin pump for my hubby)
But, at least we got really cool hand-holding and jump pics...who did it better!?
One day Kinley got her hair braided into 3 little braids by a lady walking the beach. I was super pumped for her...and she was too... but, we were taking bets. Christine's over and under bet was 24 hours for how long they would last.
My favorite day is spa day...It was MUCH needed after the beginning of the week we had!
A few nights we just stayed in or ate on the property but, we did have some fun dinners out. My kids had to adjust to a new schedule out with the Reads. Dinner time with the Reads is never before 9pm and we did our best to hang. We took turns walking around with Ty and everyone had Kinley in their lap at some point. It was truly a group effort to parent my two children during this trip.
We love taking couple pics at dinner.
We joked all week about how Mendy and Ben ended up next to each other at dinner. We would go around taking couple pics and it was always Ben and Mendy and Me and Alex. Who knows why!?
One of the best nights for us was the night we celebrated Minnie's birthday! We started out with a toast and some presents for Aunt Minnie in the condo and then took a cab into town for a late dinner in town.
Mendy got to dance with the mariachi band and take some birthday pics. She was such a trooper.
Kinley was not the biggest fan of the loud music and did not make it 5 min into our 9:30 dinner before passing out in Uncle Alex's lap.
More couple pics...
Here we are backwards spouses again.
Ty was a little more prepared for a late dinner since he took a late nap but, they were both finally in bed around midnight.
The night ended with our coolest animal encounter yet! We saw sea turtles laying their eggs on the beach! It was amazing! The workers were so protective of them and would scoop the eggs up so carefully and pile them in a bucket and bury them so they could incubate and hatch a few months later. We watched a momma come out of the ocean, dig a huge hole, lay the eggs and go back out to sea.
It was awesome!
Overall, it was quite the trip. Lots of stories to tell and memories made. I will always remember this trip for the craziness that ensued...but, I will also remember such a fun time with these amazing family and friends.
I am so thankful for everyone that went and when we go through the good times and the bad times in life....I am just so glad we get to do it together.
#1loveMeixco
