Mexico!

We didn't really think paradise was a real thing, and then we went to Bacalar. To be exact, we were about 20 minutes north of the town of Bacalar in an Airbnb with our own PRIVATE LAGOON. It was bananas. None of us were expecting that, and it was seriously awesome. I consider myself pretty easy-going and up for whatever, but I'm also generally underwhelmed by experiences. This was truly extraordinary. We loved it. You should all go there.

The kids swam, paddle boarded and kayaked all day and into the night, and we literally never saw another person. Par-a-dise. I thoroughly enjoyed parking my butt under our personal cabana for 2 days while reading, lounging, watching the kids play, etc.

We flew into Mexico City, and the next day we flew to Chetumal (near Bacalar) with York, Luly and their kiddos. Thank goodness for York and Luly! They arranged everything and showed us a fabulous time. The kids had a ball together for 9 days. Luly is the hostess with the mostest, shuttling us all around the city and showing us all the sites.

 

This experience actually made Nils go halfway deaf. More on that later. 

Walmart in the Yucatan Peninsula? Anders had to represent his homeland.

Paid a visit to some ruins in Chacchoben, near Bacalar. We saw a couple of monkeys.

 Another plane ride back to Mexico City

Took a bus tour of downtown Mexico City and saw lots of interesting sites. 

These two just soaked it all in, obviously.

Dinner overlooking the city square, which was pretty fun. We later realized we totally got swindled, and were charged around $250 for a pretty crappy meal. Oh well. I'm happy the waiter/waitress had a nice little pay day, but this is very normal in Mexico, apparently.

We visited Teotihuacan, some ancient ruins that go for miles. It was pretty cool.

 

We bought this giant sombrero, which is the gift that keeps on giving. 

As mentioned earlier, Nils stuck his head in sand, and then he couldn't hear. He shook his head around for a couple of days, tried putting solutions in them to clean them out, but everything just made it worse. We managed to find an ear doctor through the Costco audiologist (hooray for Costco in Mexico!), and she spent a good long time cleaning out Nils' ears. It also cost $20!

When she was finished, and Nils' hearing was restored, he hugged her and said, "Te amo, doctor!" She looked a little scared.

We flew out of Vegas, so we drove to St. George and spent the night. Ava was a little excited for the adventures ahead! 

Addie had a great time taking selfies. 

 Let us not forget Rubi. She is a crack up. 

We went to a museum in Mexico City that has lots of artifacts from various Aztec and Mayan cultures- we had a tour from an archeologist who has found "coincidences" relating the Book of Mormon to many of the discoveries that have been made in these civilizations. It was very interesting! The kids were bored, but I thought it was really cool. 

We had a blast. We learned lots, relaxed lots, drove and flew lots... it was a pretty sweet vacation. But seriously, Bacalar. DO IT.