Our Mexican Vacation

Our life is settling back to the typical routine after the week long fun in the sun in Mexico (from Jan 18 till Jan 25). I just had a chance to upload all of our photos and must say: First, I'm happy I took my Canon 20D on this trip (the dilemma was whether I want to risk getting this expensive camera and lenses lost/stolen/damaged), and second, I have so many great photos to choose from I'm making my first mini album vs. just a few layouts of this trip.
Now the details. We stayed at the Riu Palace Resort Mexico which is rated 5 stars. The service we got was definitely worth the 5 stars. (For viewing the photos you may double click to view larger image).



I had a great hesitation traveling with Omar, who's 17 m.o. going on the terrible twos of toddler-hood (I guess since he wears toddler size clothing he feels he should act the part). And why do I hesitate traveling with Omar? All you need to do is look at me previous post about the "1st Class VIP" layout to understand my apprehension. Perhaps because this was only a 4 hour direct flight to Cancun, perhaps he's a bit older now, and mostly because dad's cell phone entertained him so much more than a bag of new planes and cars I bought him for this flight, but Omar behaved very well this time.
Once we were at this all-inclusive resort, I was happy to see so many couples with children Omar's age and even younger. As I mentioned, the service was excellent. We were able to get a full liter of milk for Omar from the kitchen at any time, they also supplied us with enough bottled water we could have bathed in it. I know that the "don't drink the water" warnings scare people away from Mexico, but so unnecessarily. All the food, and ice and everything coming from the kitchen has filtered water, the only water you're not supposed to drink is from the tap in your room. Tourism is a big $$$ maker in Mexico and the last thing they want is for people to get sick and spread the word. Mostly everyone speaks English, or they find someone who speaks better English then themselves (except the one time I ordered room service "uno litre of leche/milk, and uno container of boiling water" and ended up with nachos and a hot cup of tea...we had a good laugh, ate the nachos and called them again.
This was Omar's first trip to the ocean.
Dad and Omar walking to the ocean so full of anticipation.
Omar's reaction to the raging ocean, as true to his nature when confronted with an unfamiliar situation, is to break down into a screaming fit. It took a while for him to calm down and allow us to put him down on the sand.
The first day we arrived it rained a bit. I got these dramatic shots of a dark sky and distant rain clouds.

Lucky for Omar, he found the pool much more approachable and inviting. Just the pure joy and glee in his face was worth this trip for me.

This scowl on his face has me mystified. He furrows the brow, gives this super serious look, for no reason at all, and to me! of all people! Maybe it was the super large camera he's fed up with? Usually, Omar reserved this face for all the Mexican waitresses at the buffet restaurant. He was a pet favorite, and they all came over to kiss him, and tell us how cute he is. Omar just made this face, stared ahead and pretended they are not there. Just love this photo of him!

The scowl gets replaced by smiles and laughter in no time.
If I do a layout of this photo it will have to be titled "I'm the King of the World!", to borrow Leonardo DiCaprio's shout out on the Titanic.
I'm 3+ months pregnant in this shot. I got a bit of a pouch belly. Not enough showing to be uncomfortable ,and just enough so people don't ask me for the possible faux pas that I might just be fat, not expecting.




Above are some shots of Tariq's diving adventures. Over a year ago, for his 30th birthday, I got him signed up for scuba diving classes locally, bought him a wet suit, and arranged baby sitting Omar with grandma so he can take the two week accelerated course for diving license. Little did I know what this "gift" has started. Now, every trip we take is with the utmost consideration to whether there's a diving site. Being a gadget collector, he just had to buy his own scuba gear, underwater diver's watch that calculates the feet/meters and how long you have to stay at a certain depth, etc, and even a glass cage for his camera to take underwater shots. My next guess will be that he's getting an underwater video or professional camera (probably both). But he keeps reminding me that my scrapbooking expenses still don't compare to those of his diving (he just might be right, ha!) The highlight of his dive was that he saw a really large bull shark. He was disappointed though that it was not close enough to take a photo. But as I said:"If it's close enough for you to see his face and teeth, it's too close!" As Tariq was diving two 1/2 days, Omar and me spend the day at the beach content to be on land.
In the above photo I was trying to put Omar down for the afternoon nap. Dad brought him in from the poolside screaming and very irritated from too much sun and fatigue (screams so loud I could hear him from the outside hotel grounds). After some milk and air conditioning Omar got his second wind and became a little monkey jumping around in his crib and making faces at his reflection in the mirror. Lucky for us, nighttime was easy putting him down to sleep. He was so exhausted from a full day's activities that he collapsed and didn't wake up even during pyjama and diaper changes.
Overall, it was a much needed vacation for all of us. With the new addition to the family due in July 21, I don't know when our next vacation will be. Dad's happy since he got to dive, and Omar benefited from a change in his routine, being presented with different situations and surroundings. He doesn't welcome change easily, so this really forced him to get out of his comfort zone. We are all rested and are that much stronger dealing with the miserable snow conditions of the Northeast.