Mexico was a trip of our lifetime so far! We have never been on a trip for a whole week with no children and while I missed the kids, we had a fantastic time!  I took little memory photo clips of everywhere we went and experienced there in Mexico. We were definately tourists in every sense of the word but Ben knowing spanish helped us communicate and become friendlier with the locals.

The resort was so exotic,tropical and fun! The grounds were clean, green and beautiful. I loved walking out our room door. Since we were right off the ocean, there was a constant breeze of fresh sea air. The pool being right off the ocean was so scenic and I never got tired of looking out toward the big waters known as the ocean!

We did several tours or excursions as they call them down there. All of them very memorable in their own way! All four of us went to the Rythmn of Nights on Caletas Island. You take an hour ocean boat ride (we rode on top as the sun went down). When we arrived at the island, we were served dinner. We sat out on the sand right by the crashing waves. The only light on the whole island were candles. The dinner was spectacular. Fresh fish, shrimp, steak, variety of fresh fruits and cooked veggies, yummy rice, homemade tortillas, beans and salsa. After we ate, we were lead up to the stage where they performed dance, drums, a story through music of the sounds of nature. It was done so well and very entertaining.

The next morning Ben and I took another boat ride to do some snorkeling which was quite fun! The tour guides feed some of the fish and they come--! I'd recommend it, snorkeling! Then we headed towards a water fall. You could hike or horse back ride up to it and we decided to horseback ride because we don't get to do that very often. The ride was a blast, kinda scary at times and totally worth it once we got up to the waterfall. The Puerto Vallarta Mtns. are thick and green...beautiful. You had the option to swim up at the waterfall. One of the girls we traveled with was telling me it was totally fine and jump in.. well... it was freezing but I loved it! I've never swam right under a waterfall before. One for the books. Alas, time to go down the mtn... now this ride with the horses down the mtn. was a bit rocky and more scary but still worth it! Unforgettable!

I didn't do the last tour but Ben and my dad did. I hurt my back days before we left for the trip. I was bummed but glad Ben got to do the Zip Lining! He and dad had a great time.. They did 11 zips and they said the scenery was breath taking. They raced each other on one!

Now, we did have small kitchens in our place so Ben went to the 'Mega' which was a big store full of food and everything you could think of. So, we ate breakfast and lunch with the food we bought from there. It saved us on more of a food expense too. But dinners, we went out every night to a different place and the food was sensational! They say Puerto Vallarta is known for their good food. Two of the restaurants were right on the ocean with tables in the sand! Amazing--never eaten right off the sand before. I loved digging my toes into the sand and listening the crashing waves while we ate and chatted away.

We went to Old Town which was about 40 min. from where we stayed! We rode the bus into town to save a bit of money. The taxi's were quite pricey! The bus experience was an interesting experience but I am so glad we did it. Once we got to town, we walked and walked. We ate a good shrimp place (Ben had a hamburger) then we walked to the river walk which had a bunch of vendors.. Oh you have to pay a few pesos to either use the bathroom or buy toilet paper! Then they started this parade down the middle of the city drums, smoke, virgin mary, dancing girls dressed with feathers in their hair and then the people following them on the street singing with candles! Very different than our town parades! ;) We had to catch a few different buses back to our resort and the first one we got on was scary because it felt and sounded like the brakes were going to go out any moment.... down a hill and through a tunnel that smelled like we were being poisoned by carbon dioxide! But totally, fun! Dad thought it was better than a ride at Disneyland! Hilarious.. Oh yeah, you have to have a little patience with the service in Mexico because it is just a bit slower...takes longer to get things done but that is easy to get used to especially when you are not on a time table yourself! I never hardly knew what time it was during the day.....it was so nice!

We took walks in the day and at night on the beach, played scrabble with mom and dad hill, war and Gin Rummy, tried to watch the TV (finally found an english speaking channel)hee... took naps during the day,, yea u heard me! Amazing time and memorable for years to come!

I wanted to shout out to all those that took care of my beautiful kids, love you and thank you from the bottom of my big heart!

J