Happy birthday to me!! It’s been a nice day. R went to school as usual, then we had lunch with Daddy. It was nice to see him during the day. R has been pretty crabby today, (she has a cold) so after lunch her and I napped. We both woke up refreshed. We then went to a super cool cake shop http://www.cakebox.ca/index.html We came home with a box of cupcakes! We had a lovely dinner with my parents, and I opened some presents later. A lovely day.

Happy Chinese New Year. We celebrated today with the Bamboo Bunch. We met at a hall and had good food, fun, and entertainment! There were about 4 groups of little Chinese girls dancing, and then a dramatic Lion dance. Afterwards we were entertained by some Martial Arts demonstrations. There was a raffle table, and we actually won a beautiful pottery bowl! It was a good time. Gallery is here..

It was a rought night. R was running a temperature, and I was sick to my stomach throughout the night. Of course R is fine now! I’m dragging though.
It also was a beautiful sunny day. After breakfast at the beach, the rest of them found seats at the pool. I slept for a while, then packed, then managed to make it over to the pool. Lovely with the sun, did I mention that already!?
We had our last lunch at the beach, then managed a nap. And so we are now on the bus to the airport. Our flight doesn’t leave until 9pm, so we have a bunch of time on our hands.
Update: So our flight has been delayed….grr. R finally fell asleep in daddy’s arms around 10:30pm, and stayed asleep until 1:30am when we finally boarded. We landed at 8am Toronto time. Rough night. Gallery is here.

Well, we had some sun today. It was certainly glorious when it did shine. When it didn’t, the pool was still very cold…
We spent the morning at the pool with R’s 2 friends. They were in and out of the water, built tents, and coloured. I went in too close to lunch. Mom had a ‘challenging’ time getting onto the airmatress, but did manage it in the end. We dried off and went to lunch.
After lunch R wanted to go to the Kids’ club with her friends. They did crafts and played. They were having so much fun that when A went to get R, she refused to come, twice! We had a nice visit with the girls’ parents and younger sister, just 2 weeks younger than Z, and a happy little baby. In the end, both of us parents had to go to get the kids.
We had supper at the steakhouse. My steak was tasty, and my asparagus soup was great. Unfortunately dad got his soup in his lap with a waiter mis-hap. Good thing our rooms were pretty close and he could go change.
R went to the kids disco, but refused to go on stage and play the game with the kids, so daddy carried her and played. She was quite tired. I am tired too, that’s what all this relaxing does to you, it makes you more tired! I have started to pack… We only leave the resort in the late afternoon, and out flight doesn’t leave until 9 something pm….so don’t expect us to be awake Monday as we arrive around 2am. Gallery is here.

We woke today to very overcast skies, and cooler temps, but no rain. Albert had been sneezing all night, it’s official he has a cold. So after breakfast he went to nap. I took R to the kids club. She wanted me to stay, so I plunked myself on a beach chair in the ‘yard’ of the kids club. I read my book. Albert came later, shortly before lunch. At this point I was queezy, and went to nap instead of lunch. Sleep cures all. In the afternoon dad knocked on our door saying R’s friends were waiting for her at the pool. R was sleeping, but as soon as I said “Rebecca your friends are waiting for you”, she sits upright and repeats “S and N are waiting for me”. She bolts out of bed and to the door. I’ve never seen someone go from sleep to awake so fast! In about 1/4 of a second!
We played in the pool despite the cold wind, although the girls were turning blue again. At about 4pm the sun came out for about 20 minutes, the temperature changed instantly! We acutally see stars tonight, so hopefully we’ll see sun tomorrow.
Supper was at the Mexican restaurant, it was nice, but we had to wait a long time for our meal, and it wasn’t in the least bit spiced. It was quite bland even by my whimpy taste buds’ standards. Gallery is here.

Well, we woke up to pouring rain. Luckily they put umbrellas in all the rooms.
Breakfast was delicious as usual. We met Rebecca’s new friends there, N and S (from Ireland). We promised to meet them at the pool later.
We spent some time wandering around the shops, checked email, checked out the photo shop and fed the fish in the canals. R had a great time doing that. The water was just a sea of open fish mouthes, waiting for food. Gross!!
Mid morning it started to rain less, so we went to change and head to the pool. Albert and R went, and I had to watch the last episode of Grey’s Anatomy season 1, which I brought along. I am addicted now.
I went out to the pool, and Albert, R and the 2 girls were having a good time in the pool, depite the rain and cold. They finally climbed out around noon, and the girls had blue lips!! Lunch then nap followed. Then we joined N and S in the Kids’ club. R stayed with them there for an hour and came out with her face painted with a beautiful butterfly. I played ‘go fish’ with all the girls yet before supper. Albert and I tried the Oriental restaurant, while mom and dad took R to the buffet. We went to the kids show after, but the music was so loud that R refused to go on stage, she just sat and watched with her fingers firmly in her ears. She just fell asleep here at 9. Gallery is here.

It was another cloudy day here, although it didn’t rain. It was humid though and my hair was curling off in all directions.

We had a good breakfast, and went off to the Xcaret park. We wandered through the rain forest, we saw a mushroom farm, flamingos, a fish and shrimp farm, and lots of orchids and bromalias. We also saw sea turtles, from 1 month old to full grown. That was all before lunch. It was lots of walking. We came back to the resort for lunch, and tried to nap.
Grandma and grandpa took Rebecca this afternoon and saw dolphins, manatees, and the butterfly atrium.
A and I got flipper, masks, snorkels and lifejackets, and spent an hour floating/swimming down an underground river. It was quite cool, (meaning neat). We were also warned that the water would be very cold, and we shouldn’t bring R. It wasn’t that cold, or maybe we’re just proudly canadian. It was very tranquil, and we spend some of the time in underground caves. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to see the rest of the park or the nightly show. Still, we’d likely go back if we were in this area again.
We had another good supper. My daughter hasn’t yet met a piece of sea food she didn’t like. So for supper she ate about 30 shrimp, and likely about 20+ muscles. In fact she went back for more muscles for dessert.
In the evening we went to the kids’ show, and R danced on stage with the other kids. Then they had a pinata, and all the kids took turns whacking at it. R loved the candy pick up!
It was a nice day. R is becoming fast friends with 2 Irish girls. We’ll be seeing them at the pool tomorrow. Gallery is here.

This is a gorgeous resort. Tall stone walls, a canal type thing running through the centre, lots of jungle, lots of wildlife. Weather hasn’t been great, warm, but very overcast. We had lots of drizzle and showers today.

We started with breakfast at the beach. Breakfast is great. You can never go wrong with fresh omlettes.
We then explored the beach area. They have built an artificial cove with a white sandy beach. The rest of the shore is rocky, and has high waves. The cove is lovely and calm, and the fish swim right up close. The resort is very obviously not full. We had plenty of chairs to choose from at the beach. I wandered off and found this bed/hammock swing, surrounded by white sheer curtains. I was quite by myself, the closest people were about 20 chairs away in either direction. I read my book, drank a fruity drink, and just enjoyed the moment. Of course a short snooze was also in order! After lunch at the beach, we headed to the rooms for siestas. Well, not me, I already had napped! We went to one of the larger pools in the afternoon. By this time it was drizzling. I played with Rebecca in the water for a while, then Albert did. They had fun playing ‘shark’ with another little boy. It started raining in ernest, and we started to work on getting Rebecca out of the pool…she was all prune-y and a bit blue from the cold pool! Without the sun things are a little cilly (I know, not as chilly as ontario!)
We had a nice supper, and Rebecca joined in the children’s games in the theatre. She came in second place in a hat game (pass the hat in a circle, you put the hat on, spin around, and pass the hat on. If the music stops while you have the hat, asta la vista baby. She won a piggy bank. That was terribly exciting for her, she wants to go again tomorrow. Tomorrow we are off to the eco park ‘Xcaret’. It’s only supposed to be cloudy not raining…good night! Gallery is here..

We celebrated Z’s first birthday today. It was a lovely afternoon, for a lovely girl. V had prepared a lovely variety of food for us, and of course the crowning glory, “the Pink Lady cake”. It was delicious.