Cancun

Last week we were lucky enough to spend time in Cancun! Brad worked so hard last year that he earned this reward trip. We headed out on Saturday morning and arrived in Cancun that afternoon. We stayed at this really nice hotel called the Gran Melia. It was all-inclusive and I think that's the way to go! The first few days we just hung out at the hotel. The weather was a little on the cool side (around 75) but still so much warmer then home!

Monday was awesome!! I finally swam with the dolphins. I have wanted to swim with dolphins ever since I watched the Full House episode clear back in the 90s. :) We decided to do this "Trainer for a Day" session at this place called Dolphinaris. It was a program from 9:30 until 5:30 where you spend the day with the trainers and swim with the dolphins. It was better then expected! We got to get in the pool with the dolphins, learn signals and train them, went diving with them in the pool, grabbed their fins and laid on their belly's while they swam. The best part of the whole days was the foot push. The trainer blew her whistle and you waited at one end of the pool. All of a sudden you see two dolphins swim underneath you and put their noses on your feet. Then you speed accross the pool like superman. Such an awesome day!! I wish we could've got the video but there was no way we were going to spend $80!!

Tuesday our first stop was Chichen Itza. We had been with my family about six years ago, but there was a lot we hadn't seen. Our guide knew a lot and was able to tell us really neat things that coincided with our belief that Christ came to the American continent.





The second stop of the day was my favorite! We ate and then went swimming in a cenote. It was beautiful! The water was so refreshing. It's crazy to think there are so many all over the Yucatan Peninsula.




The last stop of the day was Ek Balam. These ruins were really neat because you could climb on them still. So amazing to see! It was interesting to note that in Chichen Itza the Aztecs invaded their society and shared their beliefs and soon the Mayans turned to human sacrifice. (Crazy!) But in Ek Balam you have a Mayan community where the Aztecs never had any influence and they never had any human sacrifice among them. I didn't know that! I thought all Mayans turned to that! There was another really neat picture painted on the wall he showed us where there was a white man standing among the dark skinned people teaching them. So cool!! They also told us that any hill you see in the Yucatan is most likely ruins because there are no natural hills there. You can even see some in the pictures I took. It's crazy to think there are ruins underneath!

The painting on the wall



You can tell the hills that are most likely ruins. Right above my head and right behind my back.



More ruins underneath the trees



Steep Steps!!





They call this tree the Tree of Life. Look at those thorns!!






Thursday we went on this jungle tour. You went wave running out to the ocean and snorkeled. We saw a really cool parrot fish and a squid. We sadly didn't get pictures of that... That night we went for a walk on the beach. There were these crazy pelicans diving into the water for fish. It was pretty cool to watch.







Dinner with the work clan



Our hotel



This is from the balcony of our room. The view was awesome!



I can't believe how fast time goes by when you are enjoying yourself so much! It seemed like we just got there and the week was over!