Vacation to Cancun

Brandon and I went to Cancun for the week of Thanksgiving. It was sooo much fun! We went with Brandon's parents and Brandon's sister, Ashley, and her husband, Erin. We stayed at the Mayan Palace Resort that was right on the beach and was so beautiful. Here is a picture below:


We got there Monday night. Tuesday morning we took a ferry to an island called Isla Muhares where we found some fishermen who took us on their small motor boat to another island called Isla Contoy. It was a small beautiful island that we had practically all to ourselves! We snorkeled, played with manta rays, walked around the island, saw iguanas, looked for shells, and ate the delicious Mexican food for lunch that the fishermen made for us.



The next day Brandon and I ate a delicious breakfast at one of the restaurants at our resort that was right on the beach. My favorite part of Mexico was all the fresh fruit and fresh squeezed juice. I couldn't get enough of it! I noticed that the waiters knew a few phrases in English and one that they said over and over and over was after we would say "thank you" they would say "my pleasure." Then we spent a few hours at the pool. Then we drove to Playa del Carmen to an avenue with "the night life"- lots of souvenir shops, dance clubs, and restaurants.




Thanksgiving day we got up early to drive a few hours to the Mayan ruins called Chichen Itza. We learned so much cool stuff about the ruins from our Mayan tour guide. It was really really hot outside.










Then we went to the Mayan ruins called Ek Balam and walked up 107 steps to the top- it was so steep and kind of scary walking up. Here are some views from the top. It was a beautiful view.



That night we went to dinner at a restaurant right on the coast and afterward we went to a few shops in the area to get some souvenirs. Brandon worked his Spanish magic to try and negotiate the prices with the shop owners. Brandon's dad thought the negotiating looked fun so he got into it too.

That night we played a game called Cranium Pop 5 and we must have all been in a silly mood because we had a lot of laughs. The next day the boys went golfing and the girls went to the pool and got yummy frozen drinks. Then we went to a restaurant at our resort that had a buffet dinner show and a live band playing. The food was delicious, the show was entertaining, and the live band was really good.

Saturday we tried to find a place for lunch and after searching and searching and getting so hungry we said we'd eat at the next place we saw.... we ended up at a Thai restaurant on a private beach where a few people were topless.... it wasn't exactly what we had in mind. Then we went to the Mayan ruins called Tulum. It was right on the beach and it was so beautiful.


Saturday night we drove to downtown Cancun to try to find "the best taco place ever". We got kind of lost and since we were hungry and stressed out from driving around some scary parts of town, things got a little heated but since Brandon speaks Spanish, he asked around and we finally found the place and ate the best tacos ever!... and lots of them too. And I had the best Horchata drink... it's a rice milk water with cinnamon in it. It was really good. The next day we walked around the Isla outdoor mall and went to an aquarium where we saw some really cool fish like jelly fish, seahorses, and these fish that are like chameleons and change to look like their environment; we got to pet sea turtles, manta rays, and baby sharks; and we saw a dolphin show!

Monday morning we hoped to lay out at the pool but it was cloudy so we played on the beach and looked for shells. The picture to the right is our hotel room. The picture below is the view from our hotel room. So gorgeous huh? Then we had to come back to Provo... back to reality. It was such a fun-filled relaxing vacation and it was great to spend time with family.