Our Mexican Vacation

We are back from Cancun and back in the swing of things. We had a really relaxing, fun, hot, and tiring trip to Mexico. Lincoln did very well on the plane and slept for the majority of the time. The flight wasn't too crowded so he actually got to sit in his own seat, he didn't last long.

Our hotel was nice and the view from our balcony was amazing. We had the view of all the pools with the ocean in the background, very relaxing. This was a shot taken in the morning when we would sit on the balcony and drink coffee.

Our first day was slightly uneventful, we went to La Isla shopping center and had dinner seated between a dolphin tank and a bull shark tank. Unfortunately, it was late so we missed the dolphin show but we got to see mommy and baby swimming around and playing with a ball. Most of the restaurants there are open air, so dinners there were hot and sticky.

We headed to Market 28 the next day. That is the authentic Mexican markets that you can haggle with all the salespeople. I was terrible at it and probably paid too much for everything I bought. After the market we went straight for the beach. Our resort did not have the best beach so we went to a sister resort and camped out there. They also had a great kiddie pool that the boys could swim around in. Lincoln loved the beach, this was the first time that he had been that he wasn't too little to get in.

Lincoln also finally learned to swim with arm floaties on (I know they are pink, they are Uniqua from Backyardigans, the only other option was Dora, you decide which is less girly). That was nice because we didn't have to stand 6 inches away from him at all times and we could relax a little ourselves.

Thursday brought us on our own independent adventure to Isla Mujeres. It is a small island off the coast of Cancun. You have to take a 20-minute ferry ride to get there. This is a picture of Lincoln sporting his new hat. Amazingly enough, he wore it almost the whole trip.

Our main mode of transportation around Cancun was the city bus, it was very cheap (maybe due to the lack of air conditioning), only 6.5 pesos (.65 cents).

We left from Playa Tortugas and took a ferry over to Isla Mujeres. It is a very rustic and non-commercialized area. We rented a golf cart to drive us around the island. Our other option was a moped, but not very safe for 3, which is not to say that the Mexican people weren't riding that many.

Our first stop off on the island was Tortugagranja, a sea turtle farm. Sea turtle preservation is a very big thing there. We had actually just missed an ocean release that they had the day before. They had so many sea turtles of all sizes and you could feed them dog food that they sold.

These are albino sea turtles.

They had hundreds of these tiny, baby sea turtles. They were so cute!

After the turtle farm, we headed off to Playa Tiburon. It's a small, private beach with a restaurant and a captive shark. The beach was nice and calm, which was good for Lincoln. We couldn't get a good picture of the shark, but he was there and about 4 feet long. People were getting in the water and taking pictures with it, no thanks for the Gambills.

We had some good Mexican food there, probably the best we had all trip.

Lincoln loved the beach and he especially liked the sand. He was covered in it and was practically rolling around on the beach.

Mommy and Lincoln enjoying the warm waters.

We went to a mariachi and dance show that night. The boys had a great time and we, of course, forgot the camera. Let's just say the dancers weren't wearing too much and the singing was all lounge act.

We decided to get some beach pictures on our last day. It was very windy out, so they didn't turn out that great. This is Lincoln and his cousin Chase, they had a blast together.

Our little family.

The whole gang.

That night we went back to La Isla for some shopping. Lincoln was terrified of the cookie monster, he would only take a picture with him from the safety of his stroller.

This was one of those guys who sits there for hours at a time and only moves if you tip him. He offered me a ride so I hopped on (okay, so we didn't really go anywhere).

There were so many lizards that ran all over Cancun, I thought a picture with one would be appropriate.

A clown on stilts who made animal balloons, need I say more.

And what Mexico vacation would be complete without a picture in a sombrero, for $25 dollars we weren't bringing one home with us.

Well, I know it was long, but I hope that you enjoyed our vacation recap. We had a good time but there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

Lincoln learned a few spanish words that he used while we were in Mexico. I leave you with this short video, until next time!