As you guys know, it’s been a long cold and snowy winter and we really needed to get away somewhere warm and sunny.  So we decided on an extended family vacation (think 4 families!) in Mexico!   I was worried about a snow storm delaying or canceling our flights or someone getting sick at the last minute (with 12 of us – including 4 kids – chances of that were pretty high).  But fortunately the weather cooperated, everybody stayed healthy and we all had a blast!

I was telling Victor that going on vacation as one large family (it was us, my sister’s family, my parents and my in-laws) was even more fun that going on vacation by ourselves – because everywhere we looked, there was someone that we knew and loved:)  And of course having grandparents watch the kids so that we could have a couple of date nights was really nice as well!

It was a very laid back vacation, although we did squeeze in some culture – with a trip to Chichen Itza – and some ‘adventure’ – with a trip to Rio Secreto – a mayan cenote – i.e. underwater cave.     We ended up spending a lot of time at the pool, at the beach, eating, reading, relaxing and hanging out together!

If you are planning a trip to the Cancun area and are looking for recommendations you may want to check out this very detailed review of our hotel – Paradisus Playa Del Carmen La Esmeralda that I wrote on tripadvisor.  And if you are in the area, I cannot recommend Rio Secreto highly enough  (a link to my review is here) – it was definitely a highlight of the trip!

I did not end up using my camera a lot but here are a few images I captured.

Playing in the pool with Grandma:

My parents would ‘swim’ for a visit and end up hanging out in our swim-up suite:

Although the beach was not my favorite, we did end up spending some time there:

and my talented husband even got a few pictures with me and my parents!:

Kids pool area was awesome – can I just say that I enjoyed coming down this slide as much (if not more!) that my children:)

At Chichen Itza the girls (and their cousin) saw the pyramids and decided to channel their inner Egyptians:)

Mia was acting out descriptions of mayan sacrifices that our guide was describing:

The Kukulkan Pyramid in Chichen Itza – considered one of the 7 wonders of the modern world:

We had an authentic and supper yummy mexican lunch on the way back from Chichen Itza – the girls sat at their own side of the table and had a blast:)

We did have some quiet time, which for my girls meant reading:

And we snuck in a quick photo shoot!:)

It was a lovely vacation and I cannot wait to do it again in a few years!:)