Brian and I decided, a while ago, that we were going to gift his kids experiences instead of things for their birthdays or holidays or big milestones in their lives. We took them to Colorado and on the train between Durango and Silverton last year, took Chokyi to Escalante in June, and Brian's planning a big backpacking trip for Prudi for her 10th birthday. Plus, there are always a few trips to San Diego mixed in there. I travel so much on my own or with Brian doing things that they'd hate or can't do, so I think it's nice to do a trip that kind of revolves around them while we can still enjoy ourselves. I think that the memories created from adventures and seeing and doing new things are more valuable than any toy or physical possession. Plus, our culture needs to get away from buying and collecting stuff and spending money on things that lose their value (both monetary and personal) in a short period of time.
It's tough to zero in on a vacation that we can all enjoy and still be relatively affordable. We've taken the kids to the beach a few times and it seems to be a hit, so we figured that we'd stick with that as a fool-proof plan. I'd been watching flights to Puerto Vallarta for a couple of months back in August and we decided that we'd buy tickets for the kids' birthdays and treat them to a fun few days in a place they'd never been before. Their mom was going to be on vacation for a week and it's a slow time at work, so we booked flights and I found a family-friendly all inclusive resort for super cheap.
Our flights were non-stop and just over 2 hours, so they went off without a hitch. Brian bought the kids both wireless headphones for Christmas, so they watched movies and we were on the ground before we knew it. We Ubered to the resort and were settled in just in time for dinner.
We enjoyed the first of several stunning sunsets and the kids swam. The sun was huge and vibrant red as it sank into the horizon and we watched as a helicopter landed on a yacht out in the bay.
All day every day, we swam and sunbathed and snorkeled and ate and drank. I'm not much of a drinker, but the drinks were free, so I made the most of it. My guess is that they put half an ounce of alcohol in each drink because I found myself about 16 Sex on the Beaches in every day and barely even felt it. I made sure to drink a ton of water too...it was pushing 90 degrees and VERY humid, so I wanted to make sure I didn't get dehydrated. The air was really heavy...I noticed especially on my beach run. For being at sea level, I felt like I was suffocating. The sand was pretty soft and deep too, so I only made it 3 1/2 miles, but it was lovely to be able to take a quick dip afterwords to rinse of the gallons of sweat. You could barely see the other side of the bay because there was so much moisture in the air.
The boys mostly snorkeled and saw tons of Rays and Puffer fish while Prudi made a new friend from Calgary that she played with. Brian's parents gave each of the kids some cash to spend on something fun while we were there, so Brian and Chokyi parasailed while I watched from the beach and recorded it (I'd done it before so I wanted them to just enjoy it and I'd save my money for something else) and was simultaneously "mom-shamed" (I love that she scolds me, who had nothing to do with any of it, and not the boy's actual father) by a lovely woman in her 50s (go figure) for "letting my 11-year old" do something so dangerous. She felt that it was very irresponsible and that he needed immediate medical attention after landing because "he was up there for far too long". She even marched over to him and demanded that he go sit down and put his feet up. Ugh. By the way, he had the time of his life and loved every second and he didn't die, so she can shove it.
That evening, on our nightly sunset beach walk, we watched a handful of baby sea turtles mosey into the ocean and they were so stinking cute. I've never seen them so tiny in person. My pictures are pretty lousy with the low light and wanting to give them their space, but the little blobs are the babies. We shielded them from the birds circling overhead and they made their way into the waves. They weren't moving terribly fast, so hopefully a few of them made it once they were in the water. I think that's something we'll all remember for a very long time :)
We had such a nice time...the resort was lovely, the weather was perfect, everyone had fun, and it was one of the only trips we've ever taken that went off without a hitch (always nice when you're traveling with kids). The kids loved that they got to take a week out of school to go play, so they were in heaven! I'm thinking that the all-inclusive beach vacation may be here to stay...for a while at least :)