Christmas in Mexico

After waking up at 2 am on Christmas Eve morning (after only sleeping for about 3-4 hours), we drove to the airport in freezing temperatures and got on our first flight to Seattle. The boys were still in their jammies until we checked in for our flight. It was way too early to start! However, we did arrive in Manzanillo, Mexico at around 3 pm local time, so it may have been worth the early wake-up. Isaiah and Gabriel were wonderful on the airplanes (Spokane-Seattle, Seattle-LA, LA-Manzanillo) and having my parents with us helped immensely! We were all excited when we finally stepped off our plane into the hot and humid weather in Manzanillo! Standing in line at the immigration, customs, and car rental desk in the heat quickly suppressed our excitement but once we were on the road, it was back on!

The drive to Melaque and our hotel, Vista Hermosa, only took about 30 minutes and once we checked in, we headed down to the beach. It was amazing! The sand was really warm (but not too hot) and so soft, the water was a little cool but very refreshing! Isaiah and Gabriel weren't too sure about the waves yet but we were certain they would enjoy them soon. It was also Gabe's first encounter with real sand and he was a little hesitant at first but quickly adapted and started eating it! :)

Our hotel suite was amazing! We had a two bedrooms (with a total of 5 beds), a shared bathroom, a fully equipped kitchen (which was across the balcony), and an amazing front porch with a dining table and chairs on it that had a beautiful view of the whole bay! It was perfect! :)

After dinner that evening, Nick and the boys crashed after our long day of travel and my parents and I went out on the town to scope out the church and town. There were people everywhere! There were evening Masses and the church is on the town square so there were people walking all around plus all the shops were open and everyone was buying last minute gifts. Everything is open there--the church has wide open doors and windows, all the shops open out onto the sidewalks and have their wares out on the street, there are street vendors selling everything from hot dogs to pan Dulce (sweet bread) to crepes (the most amazing crepes ever!). It was really neat to see all the Mexicans out enjoying their Christmas Eve. We quickly learned that Mexicans love to set off fireworks for any celebration--they did it all night long and every night that we were there! There are no regulations on fireworks in Mexico so anyone can buy them (kids included) and some of them are very powerful. We saw kids in the town square starting fireworks in their hands and then throwing them at each other! And all of this was happening right next to a propane tank--yikes! We didn't watch them for long...

The next morning was Christmas and we woke up to 80 degree weather and sunshine--it was wonderful! And we discovered that Santa found us in Melaque--just a few things for the boys--sand toys and floaties for the pool. We spent the morning at the pool and the afternoon at the beach. After getting cleaned up, we went out to dinner to a fancy restaurant (outdoors of course) where they had a playground for the boys to play during the meal. Isaiah played with a couple of local girls the whole time--he had so much fun! We could hear the church bells from our restaurant and headed to Christmas Mass after dinner. The Mass was difficult for Nick and I because we couldn't understand much and couldn't participate in the singing plus the boys were tired after our long day...but it felt good to celebrate Christmas Mass anyway.

I won't get into specific days here because mostly they were all the same and went something like this:

Wake up and eat breakfast in the kitchen.
Head down to the pool or beach. Usually the pool in the morning and beach later.
Up to the kitchen for lunch.
Nap for the kids (and sometimes the adults too!).
Back down to the pool or beach for the afternoon.
Up to the room to change and shower.
Out on the town for dinner, people-watching, and shopping.
Back to the room for bed.

There were a couple of days that we had some adventures too...

In the afternoon on Monday, we decided to head out in the rental car and check out some beaches and towns nearby. We drove down to Barra de Navidad, the next town on the same bay as Melaque. It was so crowded! We couldn't believe how many more people were there compared to Melaque! The beach was a little steeper but otherwise very similar to our beach. Barra had a nice walkway that went in between a lagoon (where all the sailors and boaters hang out) and the ocean and we walked along that. It was a little overcast that day but very hot and we soon were overheated from walking so we stopped for ice cream and Isaiah found his love--lime sorbet! After walking through the town we decided to purchase a roasted chicken to take back to our hotel for dinner and ended up having to wait about 45 minutes for the chicken to be done. But it was worth it! My mom whipped up a delicious salad and guacamole and warmed some tortillas and we enjoyed an amazing meal on our porch overlooking the bay. It was heaven!

On Tuesday we wanted to go to a beach called Tenacatita that my parents had been to before. We set out in the car and the TomTom and ended up at a gate with armed guards and a 8 foot fence as far as the eye could see. It was a little scary to say the least! We found out later that the Tenacatita beach was owned by the El Hedo or the natives of Mexico and they were protecting the area from being exploited. Anyhow, we had to let them search our car, keep Nick's drivers license, and promise not to take any pictures before they would let us pass to the beach. There were armed guards all over the place and they made us park in a certain area and they watched us much of the time. However, it was amazing! The beach was beautiful and there were hardly any people there (big surprise!) and the snorkeling was amazing! I saw an eel and a jellyfish, Nick saw an octopus, and we all saw millions of amazing fish! Isaiah really got into swimming in the waves--the water was a little warmer than at Melaque--and had a blast. I ended up taking pictures anyway (shhhh, don't tell) so there are some from Tenacatita in the slide show.

After we left the beach and went back out through the checkpoint, we headed to Manzanilla (as opposed to Manzanillo where we flew into). Like Barra de Navidad, it was packed with Mexicans on vacation! We went to the crocodile sanctuary (only saw some in their cages and they looked dead), walked along the beach, ate some dinner, and watched a beautiful sunset over the horizon. When we headed back to the car, we stopped back by the crocodiles and got to see some very big ones eating their dinner--it was wild! Isaiah was impressed but very wary and wouldn't let me put him down the whole time. He is still talking about the crocodiles...

The rest of the week was spent in rest and relaxation! Friday night was New Years Eve and we wanted to stay up late to watch the fireworks across the bay in Barra de Navidad. We had a late dinner of seafood stuffed pineapples and they were amazing!The boys made it to about 10:30 and the rest of us made it to midnight but shortly thereafter headed to bed--we just aren't the partiers we used to be! The fireworks were great and people were setting off tons of their own (which were actually pretty good too) all over the place. We noticed that many of the people were waiting until midnight to eat their dinner--maybe it's a Mexican custom that we were not aware of. Anyway, it was a great way to celebrate New Years! :)

Nick, Isaiah, Gabriel, and myself headed home on New Years Day. Luckily our flight was not until 4:30 pm so we got to enjoy most of the day at the beach. The flights home were uneventful and we made it safely to Spokane. The boys are excellent travelers and we are so proud that they did so well and adapted to everything wonderfully! :) Getting home was nice, however the 15 degree weather was not! Brrrr! Isaiah has already told me this morning that he wants to go to "that Mexico place" so we will have to head back in the near future! :)

Overall, it was an amazing trip and we feel so blessed that we got to go! And that my parents came too--they were an incredible help with the boys and made it so that Nick and I could spend some time relaxing without the kids. Thank you Mom & Dad!