Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Spring Break 2013

We had such a wonderful Spring Break! We were blessed with such a wonderful opportunity to go to a private condo in Cancun, Mexico with my mom and step dad Paul! What a blessing and certainly a trip of a lifetime and something so special for our kids. We would not be able to rent out a 5 bedroom condo with its own private beach!
The trip started out a bit bumpy as we (Brad, myself, Carol, Maddox, Paxton and Harper) arrived at the Lubbock airport to start the process of our trip only to find out our flight out of Lubbock was already 2 hours delayed. This meant we would miss our connecting flight in Houston. It was Spring Break weekend and there were no flights available where all 6 of us could travel together. They split our reservation up meaning Brad and Paxton would fly out the next evening and Maddox, Harper Carol and I would fly into Mexico the next afternoon. I held it together in front of our kids, but I was terrified to arrive in Mexico with two kiddos and NOT my husband or my other son! Not something I was looking forward to. Luckily, my hero husband kept talking to customer service people in the Houston airport and they got us all on the same flight for Sunday afternoon!! Whew. So, we stayed the night in Houston and started the rest of our trip just a day late! I must brag on my super amazing kids!! They are such troopers. We spent nearly 12 hours in the airport waiting in lines to figure out what we were going to do. Yes, they got a bit whiney at times, but I certainly felt the same way! I must give a huge thank you to Carol (CICI) because she was such an amazing help with the kids on the entire trip. We honestly could not have made that trip without her amazing help. Thanks again Cici!
Once we arrived in beautiful Cancun, all the craziness from the day before was totally worth it!! Such a beautiful ocean, such an amazing condo and grandparents that love the kids so much to provide such an amazing trip for them to experience!!
We spent our days at the beach. Maddox was fearless in the ocean (scared me a little, but he loved it). He loved the waves hitting him and swimming with Brad and Papa in the big Ocean. Paxton was a completly different kid on this trip. He was so talkative, he loved the ocean and was a champ in the swimming pool. Harper was such a doll. She seriously blew me away with how laid back and easy going she was the entire trip.
We went on an excursion where Maddox could snorkel and see some fish. Maddox had a great time swimming with Brad, Gigi and Papa. (Thanks again Cici for hanging out with Harper, Paxton and myself while the others snorkeled!!!) After the snorkeling fun we all got to explore the excursion site that was absolutely beautiful. The kids got to feed some fish, play on a kids water play ground, watch the dolphins swim and see a manatees. It was such a wonderful experience for the kiddos and I'm so thankful we took the risk and went on the excursion. Harper's favorite part of the excursion was trying frozen yogurt for the first time! She LOVED it and kept grabbing my hand to bring the ice cream cone closer to her!
We enjoyed eating at various restaurants close to the condo and our favorite was Carlos and Charley's. We visited this same restaurant last year and it is very upbeat, the servers sing and dance, there are balloon hats and sombrero pictures. It is loud without being obnoxious. AND the food is delicious!! Last year, Paxton HATED it. He was terrified of the loud noise and did not at all enjoy the dancing or singing going on around him. This year, he had a great time. He clapped and danced some. We actually at at the restaurant twice this trip and the second time he got up from the table and went and danced with the servers (of course Brad and Papa were there with him and his "dancing" consisted of standing there clapping occasionally....but hey, if any of you really know Paxton, you know what a huge deal this is for him!).
After dinner we would all head back to the condo, get the kids to bed, open a bottle of wine and sit and visit. Such a wonderful, beautiful and memorable vacation!
Thankfully, the trip home to Lubbock went much smoother than the trip there! The flights were all on time and we even had the privlige of having Phil and Miss Kay from Duck Dynasty on our air plane flight home! Ha. Maddox recognized Phil and said "hey mom, you know that guy that makes those big duck whistles on TV....I think he was on our flight" I am still disappointed that I did not take a picture with him and the boys...but Harper blessed the flight with her awesome lung abilities and cried most of the flight home....ha....I felt like I just needed to leave everyone alone!! HAHAH. Seriously though, our kiddos were SO good on the air planes!!! Harper was just beyond exhausted and could not fall asleep that last hour home! So thankful for easy travel buddies!!
Thanks again Mom and Paul for such a wonderful opportunity for our family! These are memories that will last a life time.





It might not be clear what facial expression Harper is giving here, but as soon as I sat her in the sand she started to giggle....here she is laughing!!!

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