Mexico--Akumal

Akumal was my favorite thing we did in Mexico!  The beach was beautiful, the water was clear, and we got to swim with sea turtles!!  

We arrived early enough that the beach was pretty empty and by the time it got busy we were ready for lunch.  We ate at the beach side restaurant, which actually had GOOD American food...and you can't complain about the gorgeous view!

Mexico--Xel-Ha

Xel-Ha was one of the two "theme parks" we went to in Mexico.  The attractions included: tubing/snorkeling down the huge river, all you can eat buffets, dolphins (which we saw jumping so many times, yet nobody managed to get a picture), clip jumping, cenotes/caves, a super tall water slide (which unfortunately was closed for kids 18 and under because of the windy conditions on the day we were there), and tons of Iguanas!!  It was awesome...but not without it's stressful moments.

We did the river first.  Mom and Summer in a tube and the rest of the family with snorkels and flippers.  Sounded like a good idea...only problem, the two groups got in the water at different places and when Mom got in the tube with Summer, it was totally awkward and uncomfortable.  It felt like hours before we met up down the river and I had someone to help me get out of the tube without flipping Summer out too!  

Once I finally got situated with Summer (with a lot of help from Mike), we turned around to join the kids and Tyson was gone.  We spent a good 10-15 min searching the water.  I even got that panic in my voice and started thinking who we needed to talk to to get a search party going!  Turns out, he had no idea we were working on fixing my tube situation and he thought we had went ahead without him, so he went ahead searching for us.  Yeah, I guess we should have started the river by telling everyone to stay together.  Scary!!

Down the river there was a place to do some cliff jumping so the big kids got out and did that...and in the process lost one set of snorkeling gear.  By 2/3 of the river Summer was done.  Luckily we had life jackets because it was a long swim back to shore once we ditched our tubes!!   

 After the river and lunch we explored a cave and swam a bit more.  It sure was beautiful.

Summer was completely exhausted (from being pushed and carried around I guess) so she slept through dinner.

Mexico--Our Hotel

We planned a trip to the US Virgin Islands for mid-winter break, using Mike's United miles and we were very excited.  Well, a hurricane hit the Island in the fall causing so much damage that all flights were cancelled through April...including ours.  So we had to hurry and switch our flights....we still wanted the Caribean Ocean-type experience so we finally decided on Playa del Carmen in Mexico (40 min south of Cancun).  We found a hotel on the beach (which really turned out to be a privately owned condo) that had a great pool and was close enough to all the things we wanted to do.

We were not disappointed.  It was a gorgeous condo,with a kitchen, a maid, plenty of beds for all of us, a private wading pool off the patio, a huge pool, a beach club restaurant, beach access 2 min. from our room, and even our own hot tub.

We spent a lot of time at the pool....watched the sunset on the beach...and the kids finally got to play in waves (one of the things they miss most about California beaches).  

When we first arrived, it was super windy and cloudy...but still nice and warm.

Summer got to sleep with Mom and Dad the entire vacation because we had a KING-size bed.  

She was in heaven.

Finding food to eat was a bit of a challenge....even the groceries didn't taste quite right.  But the kids were actually really good sports about it...much better than me.

The amazing view from our patio.

  

In the hot tub 

The hotel pool was spectacular.  Just enormous and never busy.  There was even a little kid area with shallow water and a playground!

  

There were hammocks everywhere!

 

The kids enjoying the waves...and the palm trees

 

 We got up early to watch the sun rise over the ocean...magical (despite the looks on our faces--I couldn't stop laughing at my face in the corner--hahaha)

And May All Your Christmases Be White

This was our family's very first WHITE Christmas. So exciting!!

We did the usual opening and playing with presents and yummy turkey dinner....

(A few things Summer got: a play kitchen, cash register, farm, lots of toy food, calico critters, and way too much more.  She got tired of opening presents before she was done and just wanted to play)

(A few things Jordan got: GoPro, wireless speaker, Hydroflask, earrings, nike hoodie, hammock & Ed Sheeran tickets)

 (A few things Tyson got:  E300 electric scooter, a fitbit, a bunch of fun games, a triangular rubix cube, a sling shot)

 

(A few things Kya got:  lulu lemon leggins, addidas shoes, cozy blanket, Hydroflask, makeup & Ed Sheeran tickets)

... And mixed in a little outdoor fun in the snow

 (Even Ollie came out:))

The perfect combination to equal a magical Christmas we'll never forget!

Christmas Eve {My Favorite}

Christmas Eve landed on a Sunday this year, so our usual ice skating and eating out (which the girls claim needs to be Mexican food) was not an option.  Church was only an hour(which was nice), and the kids still got to open their jammies. 

 

We then started a new tradition...a Christmas Eve Talent Show.  I was so happy that everyone was excited about it and willingly participated (I was worried).  It was a lot of fun.  

The girls did a piano/ukulele duet (and a very loud O Holy Night duet)

Tyson did a card trick

Summer sand Rudolph (and played the triangle)

I played my flute and Mike told some jokes

Then we started another new tradition (I LOVE traditions:)) of watching a Christmas movie--this year we waited for Summer to go to bed and watched It's A Wonderful Life.  The kids hated it, but I LOVE it--but I may let them pick something different next year so I don't have to listen to them complain the entire time.

Summer left milk and cookies for Santa before going to bed.

Then right before we all went to bed, it started snowing. 

 And Santa came.