This summer right before school began Eric and I had a great vacation and it's about time I finally wrote about it! And so begins our great Mexican Adventure. Be prepared for a long post with LOTS of pictures. I planned to post each day on vacation but soon found I was having WAY too much fun! So here goes.
Eric and I are lucky enough to have dear friends, in particular, super close friends who decided to have a destination Wedding in MEXICO!!! And, since the groom works at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, we were booked at the Four Seasons Hotel in Punta Mita. and seriously, this is worth getting rich for. Now that you have the background information on our trip let's begin the adventure.
Our vacation kind of started on Friday night. Isabella was always invited on this trip but Eric and I made the decision that since she is so young and probably won't remember it, is nearly two so kind of a handful,since Eric would have a lot of best man duties, and since Eric and I truly need some couple time we decided to arrange for her to have a mini vacation with Poppie and Nana. So Friday night we took her over around dinner time so we could run a few pre-trip errands and pack. And as usual, once we were baby free we spent the evening celebrating our vacation. The only bummer so far, I had a killer headache I couldn't kick. So after packing, relaxing, eating cheap T.V. dinners we finally made it to bed around midnight.
3am comes far too fast and I wake up with a continued killer headache (Thanks Amy for loaning me the Excedrin, it was a life saver) We pulled ourselves out of bed and hit the road for the airport. Check in, security, boarding and flight to Phoenix were all very smooth. We also got to travel with Niki's (the bride) parents Bill and Coleen and her brother Billy and his girlfriend Samantha, all dynamite travel buddies. They treated us like family even waiting any time Eric and I had to stop for anything or fall behind. We saw a ton of small children on our travels and although we missed Bella, the screaming toddler in customs line reminded us of why we chose to have this romantic get away.
We arrived in Pueta Vallarta in the early afternoon and were picked up by a Shuttle to the airport. The shuttle ride was a blast and took about 45 minutes. We knew we were in for a good time when they greeted us with cold lemon scented towels. Then once we got to the resort they escorted us to a beautiful patio off of the lobby where they handed us cool drinks and brought the registration TO US! That's right, no waiting in line or at the front counter. All transactions were conducted as we lounged on the patio. Here are a couple great pics from our arrival.
Our awesome travel buddies.
The cute Iguana that hung out with us while we registered.
After registration we headed to our buildings (taken by golf cart which you could call night or day to drive you to where you wanted to go, not matter how far!) Eric and I were in Flor which seemed like an awfully long way from the others but we quickly discovered it was central to everything else and a truly perfect location. Plus the room was gorgeous. As well as the view from the room.
We didn't spend too much time in the room at that point since there was way too much to do. We quickly changed into our seats and headed for the pool, the beach and then of course The LAZY RIVER!!! I think the lazy river was really the hit of the party as that was where most people wanted to spend their time. After quite a while everyone realized that we should probably get something for dinner. The concierge rec commend a restaurant off the resort and at Sunset we headed that way. The sunset was one of the best parts. It was incredible!
Dinner was amazing, the owner of the restaurant was a delightful man who brought out complimentary appetizers. We then had gazpacho and an amazing meal who's name I cannot possibly spell. There was a mariachi band playing for us and the best part was that the restaurant was literally ON THE BEACH. Not only did I slip off my shoes at dinner but I was actually able to wiggle my toes in the sand! That, and most evenings we stayed up late hanging with The Heathes' and Garcias' in cabana's on the beach or patios and often watching a rainstorm.
The next morning (Sunday) Eric woke up early to go deep sea fishing with Rich, Brandon, and Chris. They all caught barracuda's who, clearly kind of funny looking, are also not great to eat. They had a fantastic time and Eric took some beautiful artsy photos.
While he was a way I induldged in some serious Trish time. I slept in, lounged around the room and read my book club book, then took a walk around the resort taking pictures of the beach, my toes in the waves and the pools. Then joined the rest of the party at the incredible breakfast buffett and spent my morning by the pool, in the lazy river or reading in a cabana. This was also the day that Nikki and I got manicures and pedicures.
That evening we had more incredible food at the welcome reception by the adult pool. We were reintroduced to Nikki's friend Trista ( who worked at Sunnyside for a long time and we talked daycare for a while) and then stayed up late again on the beach in a rainstorm.
Monday was the wedding day and the morning was much the same for me. Eric was gone again to go golfing on a world class course with a hole that is literally it's own island. He was VERY happy. I did much the same lounging, and swimming and going to the spa. Both days at 4:00pm we were also able to Skype with Bella and Dad so we had a chance to see our beautiful girl and how much fun she was having. Nana was back from England by this point so Bella had been spoiled rotten for DAYS now. She was kind of confused by Skype but seemed to enjoy talking to us.
That evening we headed down to the beach for the Wedding. It was incredible, one of the most amazing weddings I've ever been to, THE most amazing, with the exception of Eric and my wedding.
The ceremony was beautiful and then we sat down for a multiple course meal, each course more amazing then the last. It was topped off by the dessert course. I get hungry again just looking at it.
Of course following the wedding is a good reception and one on the beach is even better! This turned into another late night of beach playing, Hermit crab fights and overall really good times.
Tuesday arrived too soon and it was time to go home. Although I wish we could have stayed one more day I truly missed my girl. Eric was finally able to enjoy waking up with me and not early as well as a walk around the resort and the amazing breakfast buffet. We swam in the pool and the beach and then headed to our room to pack. Once at the airport we checked in and then hit the duty free shop which was one of the highlights of the trip home. Flying home was relaxing as well and blissfully uneventful and I continued to read my book, play cards and sleep.
We got in around midnight which was too late to pick up Bella, Grudgingly woke up and went to work the next day desperatly wanting to go get B and get some good baby snuggles. Finally at 3:00pm I was able to head to my parents house where I learned all about the great adventures Bella had with Poppie and Nana, she was very happy to see me and I was VERY happy to be home.
~Trish
