Mexico 2014--Part 10

"Wow Chelsey, you still have stuff to say about your Mexico trip in May?!?" 

Heck yes I do. (:

We decided on about Wednesday that we wanted to spend time in Playa del Carmen as a whole family. Bobby, Mandy and their family headed up with Erron and I to the city at about 10 that morning. We were committing to spend the entire day there. I had loved it when we went before-so I was excited. 

When we first showed up we decided that we wanted to take a trip to Walmart. The sweet rush of cool air as we walked through those doors was a present to my face. I've never enjoyed Walmart more than when I was in Mexico. We strolled the isles, Mandy picked up some sippy cups for the girls, and we looked through the alcohol isles (which was one of their largest sections) and then headed to get some junk food. As we passed the bakery the smell of fresh baked bread compelled me to take a peak. This Walmart had a legit bakery! Rows and rows of fresh baked good just sat out like at a farmers market. No plastic boxes or cellophane wrappers. Just mounds of baked bread. While I didn't want to buy any bread it was delicious to just stand there and enjoy the smell. 

I bought something a lot more culturally authentic.....Okay, I bought oreos. It was pretty much my drug of choice throughout the trip. I became known as that girl who ate probably hundreds of oreos within that 2 week span. 

As we walked through the streets, leaving the Walmart & heading towards 5th avenue (yes, Playa has a very elusive "Fifth Avenue" but there is no Saks, for those wondering..) the little girls were so incredibly miserable. The heat was really taking a toll on their tiny bodies. Mandy and Bobby picked both of them up which helped stifle the whining for a bit.

I found this beautiful car on the side of the road & just HAD to stop and snap a picture with it! It was the second cutest car I had ever seen! (The first was a white VW bug back in UT, covered with Hello Kitty). How come all the cute cars are bugs??

We then dropped off at a cheap, but delicious taco stand that Erron and I had discovered earlier in the trip. I think you could get 3 tacos and a drink for like 20 pesos, so it was a steal! They had a these delicious fruit drinks as well. My favorite was watermelon, but they also had pineapple and mango. They came in these huge waterbottles & I'm pretty sure they were just straight up fruit juice. Ahhhh it was so refreshing!

After dinner I held both of the girls, Lion King style, up to the fan that they had stationed in the corner. Their little faces were flushed red & they loved to feel the breeze on their bodies!

We walked along 5th avenue and ran into a man that would let us play with his monkey. Mandy had previous run into him & didn't realize that you couldn't take pictures without paying, so we only got a few low-grade pictures for our peso. This time we wanted the girls to play with the monkey so we all pulled out our cameras and prepared for the cuteness that would ensue.

Kaila definitely handled it better, Miah looked a little bit nervous throughout the whole ordeal. Who wouldn't be!?

Kaila also decided to get a beautiful fan as one of her souvenirs. Sadly one of the needles broke shortly after purchasing it!

And Erron attempted to take some awesome group shots of us walking through the city. We weren't too surprised that they didn't turn out too well:

We then approached a store that was selling liquor and whips. For a small price they let members of our group try out the whip. None of the girls wanted to try it out, but Bob, Kit, and Erron all tried to crack the whip. If i'm remembering correctly only Kit was able to snap it and make the authentic "whipping" noise. It was L-O-U-D!

As the sun started to set Kit, and Mandy & Bobby's families left for home, while we hung out with Bob & Kate to treat them to dinner. We had given them a "night out" for Christmas, and they hadn't cashed it in yet-so what better of a place than in Playa del Carmen? We surveyed the menus at multiple restaurants, most were highly expensive and very formal, which we didn't feel we fit it well there. We finally found a place called 100% Natural, which featured a score of entrees that were completely fresh and natural. 

We first ordered decedent drinks, all of which came in beautiful big glasses. We then moved on to the appetizers. We ordered chips and salsa and a unique cacti dish. It featured cooked cacti, along with various dips to enjoy.

After enjoying our appetizers our entrees came out and we truly feasted. Kate had a dish with shrimp that was served in a PINEAPPLE! 

I had an order of vegetarian fajitas, which featured cacti (which isn't as good as you would imagine) and other various veggies. Mmmm. Bob and Erron had some sort of meat dish, I think Bob had some chicken and Erron had some fish, but I can't recall specifics. 

After we were completely stuffed, we wandered the town chatting and looking for souvenirs to bring home to our families. I found some blankets that were dirt cheap and SO warm. I wish I had gotten one for myself, they are amazing!

I wanted to find a Cuban cigar to bring back to my daddy, because I knew that he would laugh at that. (He does not- nor ever has smoked.) But Erron had to explain to me, because I obviously don't understand basic laws, that the United States has an embargo on trade with Cuba. And then it hit--that's why Cuban cigars were such a novelty. Since I didn't really want to be pulled to the side by security making my way back into the US of A, I decided against it.

Yeah, I couldn't think of a good souvenir for my father, so sadly he didn't get one...

After our shopping spree we decided to go out for ice cream. They had a Haagen Dazs just down the street and so we popped in and ordered two cups of ice cream. Each couple shared, and while we kicked back eating our ice cream with our tiny spoons in the warm weather, it dawned on us that our trip was almost complete. We shared stories about our favorite moments of the trip, and let the happy sink into our minds.

On the car ride back, looking through the van windows at the lights in the blackness outside I was filled with sadness. I never wanted to leave this tropical paradise, I wanted to be on vacation forever! As we reached our stop, we paid our fare and hopped out, on the long walk home we talked about the great night that we had enjoyed with one another.

As we reached our condo Erron and I were hot and tired and decided to run and jump directly into the lit up pool. It felt so good to be surrounded by cool water, and just float and have fun. Everybody in our group was out in the pool and we spent over an hour just playing and laughing with each other while listening to the waves crash upon the dark shore next to us.