***Days 1-4 are in the post from yesterday. Just scroll down!***
Today was the day we'd been telling
Livi about all week! The weather was back to being really hot and
sunny so we spent the morning by the pool again. After an early lunch
and a rest we headed off to take the girls to swim with a dolphin!
Livi was so excited! So was I!
We just did the short encounter to
touch it and see a few tricks. That was more than enough for Sofie.
Gramma came along and when Sofie got really freaked out they sat on
the edge watching and clapping for us! We did bring Sofie back in for
the photo op, even with her complaining. I think the cold water and
the big fish was a little too much for her. She did pretty good
though but wouldn't touch it. Livi LOVED it. She fed the dolphin two
fish, pet it, and hugged it. She wouldn't let it kiss her though. She
laughed her head off when they did their jumps while she was in the
water! I got to swim out in to the deeper water and hold the
dolphin. It was so cool. We got kissed by a sea lion after wards too!
Kind of wet and slimy.
Waiting to touch them!
A passing Sea Lion!
I do have to put in a small plug on how
bad the treatment of these animals are. I am more aware of how bad us humans are to
animals thanks to my veggie mom and vegan brother! It was a very cool experience to be that close to the
dolphins but it was unnatural. The dolphins had scratches and marks
on their skin from being in too small pools and bumping in to things
or each other. They had numerous dolphins and sea lions but I did not
even see a hope of a good facility for them. They are made to preform
all day. Although they are social animals, it felt wrong. I loved the
experience of seeing my girls' faces but these animals are most
definitely suffering.
Dinner couldn't come fast enough then
off to bed! Sofie took a while to fall asleep and Livi was having a
rough night. She fell and scraped her knee 4 times today. You should
have seen her milking it as she hobbled over and could “barely”
walk. I'm so ready for bed now. Good night!
Day 6 -
Sofie had been awake for a long time,
very early in the morning. Because she can easily climb out of her
playpen, and does regularly, I couldn't go to sleep until she was
asleep again. This did not make for a happy mommy in the morning. As
soon as Livi woke up, I got Jon to quietly take the her to breakfast
and let me and Sofie sleep in. Sofie slept until almost 9am and then
we had breakfast.
After breakfast we went to the beach
for the last time. It was so much fun. We were there for the rest of
the morning. I went body surfing! So Much Fun! I seriously loved it.
I caught lots of waves and got thrown around a few times too. One
wave actually felt like it slammed a rock on to my shoulder blade. I
wonder if I'll get a bruise! Jon went out while I stayed with the
girls and Gramma on the beach. After watching the waves die down I
decided it might be fun to take Livi out there and have her try. The
waves had been consistently quiet for a long time. As soon as I got
out there with her though 4 huge ones came! They were well over my
head! Seriously bad timing. Then they were quiet again. The damage
had been done. I'm sure Livi will never go in the ocean again. Bad
Mommy.
Getting buried!
Getting some rest in her bed.
The Goober awakes!
When we realized how late it was we
rinsed off and headed for lunch, then all had much needed showers.
Livi and Jon had a nap and since I figured Sofie wasn't going to
sleep anyway, I strapped her in the stroller to head to watch a
family game tournament that was happening. As soon as it was over and
I walked around a bit Sofie fell asleep! Horray! I think I'll be
trying the same thing tomorrow since she slept for an hour. I sat a
made a thank-you card for Grandma and Grandpa who paid for this
wonderful trip then we went to find Livi and Jon. Livi had slept for
2.5 hours today which is unheard of! It felt so good to be expecting
happy kids today and not have to be dreading the evening!
The four of us hung out in our room a
little before Livi and I did a little shopping before dinner. It was
a Mexican Fiesta night so all the restaurants were decked out. The
food tonight was the best, by far and they had Jamaican Water which
Sofie and I both LOVED. I hope there wasn't alcohol in it :) She ate
so much that her stomach was protruding! It isn't hard to do on her
little body. We cut her off. Some Mexican dancers and mariachis came
through the restaurant. Both girls were laughing and clapping. There
were vendors set out in the main area to do a bit of looking around.
(As well as another tour group offering cow rides and pictures on it.
Cows aren't meant to ride?! The cow had a fresh cut he had gotten
during transport to the resort and was obviously drugged. It made me
sick. I wanted to cry. I think the treatment of animals for tourists
is pretty appalling here.)
Fiesta!
Because of their naps they went to
sleep a little later but fell asleep relatively easily. Now it is my
turn. Goodnight again! It was a pretty good day!
Day 7 -
The kids woke up shortly after 7am. Way
too early for our liking but there was no going back to sleep for
them. We went and had an early breakfast then sat at a bar
overlooking the waves for a little bit. The kids were exceptionally
grumpy so we decided to head back to the room for some down time. We
found Monsters Inc on TV so that gave the down time Livi needed. It
was in Spanish but Livi didn't seem to mind. That was the first time
the TV was on all week!
We went to the pool for a little while
before checking out the Iguana feeding. They put out food for the
wild Iguana's that hang around so the tourists can check it out. It
wasn't as exciting as it sounds. Or maybe we left before the real
action started. We just watched one big guy keep a few of the smaller
ones away by chasing them. One little guy got some fruit though!
There were tons of Iguanas in the trees above but maybe they weren't
hungry yet.
Watching the Iguanas
Eating
We went too our rooms after lunch, for
a quick nap. At 3 pm we had a big family picture and got the one
picture of all four of us together all week! Then was the anniversary
party for the family. We got to come to Mexico for this reunion
because it is Grandpa and Grandma's 60th wedding
anniversary this year, as well as the 25th anniversary of
the family business! We celebrated with some thank-you's and a gift
exchange, since it is our Christmas gathering. Sofie did wonderful
and slept for us for part of the party!
The Bartel's
The Bartel's Extended!
The girls naps gave them enough energy
to stay up late and attend at least part of the family dinner at one
of the reserved restaurants. We had a small dinner at 6pm to hold the
girls over until their second meal at 8. Livi didn't last too long in
to her second meal and actually chose to go to bed instead of stay
with the family... miracles never cease! Jon stayed back with Sofie,
who had a late nap and was happy and rearing to go! They just
returned and now Jon is putting Sofie to sleep. I should get to bed
since tomorrow is going to be a long day of travel... Wish us luck!
Beautiful girls!
So cool
Going Home Again -
Our bus didn't leave until 11:30am so we had a relaxed morning. Breakfast, finished packing, then sat around the bar for one last drink!
Traveling is always stressful, particularly with kids... and Jon :) Actually Jon wasn't so bad. Neither were the kids. They did great on the plane again. They were both a lot more grumpy this time but there was an hour delay! Lisa and Tony sat with us and helped out SO much with the kids! Thanks guys! Livi was talking about how much she loved you the next morning :)
Sofie did have an epic meltdown once we were off the plane. She was extremely tired, hungry and overstimulated. She didn't want to be held through customs but because it was a chartered flight they didn't have our stroller waiting for us. She threw a fit like she did on the way home from Bulgaria. I felt terrible for her. We made it though. I found some puffs to subdue her while we were waiting for our luggage. She fell asleep pretty quickly in the car. My wonderful sister came to pick us up!
Getting Sofie to sleep once we got home at 9:30pm was another epic meltdown. Jon was successful though! We did no unpacking. I caught up with my sister's and mom instead! My mom had done some extra dishes that I had not had time to do and vaccuumed my living room! I love my mommy :) It was so nice to be in my own home and bed with the girls sleeping soundly, but it is so much colder hear!!!
Our bus didn't leave until 11:30am so we had a relaxed morning. Breakfast, finished packing, then sat around the bar for one last drink!
Traveling is always stressful, particularly with kids... and Jon :) Actually Jon wasn't so bad. Neither were the kids. They did great on the plane again. They were both a lot more grumpy this time but there was an hour delay! Lisa and Tony sat with us and helped out SO much with the kids! Thanks guys! Livi was talking about how much she loved you the next morning :)
Sofie did have an epic meltdown once we were off the plane. She was extremely tired, hungry and overstimulated. She didn't want to be held through customs but because it was a chartered flight they didn't have our stroller waiting for us. She threw a fit like she did on the way home from Bulgaria. I felt terrible for her. We made it though. I found some puffs to subdue her while we were waiting for our luggage. She fell asleep pretty quickly in the car. My wonderful sister came to pick us up!
1 comments:
One of my friends went to the Dominican on vacation last year and noticed the same about the animals she saw there. She said that because people really rely on them for their livelihoods, in a way you don't see back home, they tend to really get their work's(and money's) worth from them. It's so sad... Then again, I've seen poor horses in Canada all scarred and banged up looking in the pastures at historical reenactment sites, and my hope was always that the animals had been rescued and allowed a nice retirement at our heritage sites rather than suffering once they got there.
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