Puerto Vallarta

We have just returned from a lovely vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  We spent a week at an all-inclusive resort called Now Amber, which did not disappoint.  There are many advantages of the all-inclusive set up for our family at this stage: it is easy to work Claire's nap in without disturbing the whole family, a variety of food is available anytime, anywhere, the beach and pool are just a few steps from our room and there are no surprise expenses - the entire vacation is paid for upfront.

The girls enjoyed relaxing on the beach and making sandcastles.

But their favorite was the kid's pool.  They spent so much time in that pool, Jason decided that next time we will just go to a Holiday Inn in Missouri, where there is a pool in hot, humid weather.  The kids won't know the difference.  :)

Claire referred to both her swimming suit and the swimming pool as a "swim-in soup".

The endless supply of smoothies were always a hit.  Gabby's favorite was one called "Pink Lady".  One day she asked if next time she could have a "White Lady" since apparently she liked the white foam at the top best.  So we ordered her a kid's pina colada and called it a "White Lady", which seemed to satisfy her.

The resort had what they called the "Explorer Club," a place you could drop your children off at anytime (or for the entire day) to enjoy kid-friendly activities at adult-friendly prices (free!).  Gabby was so excited to get her backpack when she joined, she wouldn't take it off.  It had coloring supplies, a hat, a shirt, and other goodies for her to keep.  She usually went to the Explorer Club while Claire was napping and made cookies, played games, made crafts, had swimming lessons and more.  It was a great perk!

There were always activities going on around the many pools and random highlights for the kids.  The girls even got to touch this baby crocodile.

As we dined and explored, we enjoyed some beautiful views of the ocean.

One day, we went deeper into the city and enjoyed Puerto Vallarta until we couldn't take the heat any more.

Along the Melecón, the oceanfront walkway, we enjoyed some impressive sand structures.  Also this amazing rock-balancer.  He had already stacked six sets of these huge rocks on top of each other and was defying gravity with a new set that we watched him set up successfully.  Each large rock was balanced only by a small rock between the two stones.  How do you discover a talent like that?

Back at our resort, we enjoyed many different restaurants, often with great views.  The à la carte restaurants were especially impressive.  I wanted to take photos of all of our delicious food, but I refrained, for your sake.

We also had free room service, so the girls enjoyed eating breakfast on our balcony one morning.

In the bottom right photo, Claire is taken by some mariachi musicians who were performing at a Mexican restaurant we ate at one evening.  Once we let her out of her high chair, she happily performed a dance for them.

This is either a really horrible photo or a really cool one.  My lens was so foggy from the humidity that it gave it a special effect.

We watched many sunsets from this great view.

I couldn't narrow down the photos....

We all had such a great time that it was hard to leave and return home to reality.  Which is why I've posted so quickly after our return... I am still avoiding reality and To Do lists.

P.S.  One thing I forgot to mention earlier was something funny on the flight.  The girls were the best they have ever been (Claire finally had her own seat!).  Both Jason and I read the entire 5+ hours each way while they watched some movies (mostly Dora the Explorer) on the iPad.  They each had their own set of headphones, which covered their ears completely and blocked out all other sound, including the sounds of their own voices.  This lead to a lot of shouting whenever they wanted to say something.  For those of you not familiar with Dora, she asks you to repeat phrases with her in Spanish (and will even say, "louder!") to go along with the storyline.  So Gabby and Claire (although Gabby wins for being the loudest) were silent and then would randomly shout out phrases in Spanish as loud as they could.  By the time we made it to Mexico, they were practically fluent, as were the rest of the passengers.  :)