The Last Minute Vacation

Jamie and I were married 12 years ago in the Mayan Riviera on December 4th. Since then, every year around this time, I start to dream of warm sandy beaches and cold slushy drinks. I long for humidity, ocean breezes and amazing tropical sunsets. I seek refuge from the daily grind and imagine long lazy days beside a pool. I dream of Mexico and seriously have trouble thinking about anything else.
Late last year I decided there would be no trips in 2015. We had bought a house and drained so much money in 2014 that I felt we needed to slow down and take a break from spending. This plan was working until I had a conference in San Diego. We used the opportunity to a have a little family vacation in the sun. I foolishly thought it would work. I believed it would be enough to stave off my desires come November but I was wrong.
After one particularly grueling week at work I found myself surfing last minute vacation deals on the web. I wondered "how good are these deals really?" and then more dangerously "I wonder if I could find a Mexico deal for under a $1000 per person?" To make it more difficult I decided it had to be an all-inclusive  4 star + resort with direct flights. Surely no deal out there could reach my unrealistic standards. And then one did.
The Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa was a brand new 5 star all-inclusive resort offering a kids club and water park only 15 minutes from the airport. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was perfect! I showed it to Jamie who immediately said "No". Unlike myself, he had remembered we weren't spending any money on holidays this year. He made a good point and, to his credit, it was a financially sound decision. I couldn't let it go though. I was obsessing about a beach holiday. Work was tough and the deal was so good - who was I to pass it up?
My next offer was a compromise. I had six vacation days to use up at work before the end of the year. I told Jamie I would take Brandon and he could stay home. He considered my proposal for a few seconds and then said "Book it for all of us". Yippee! We were going to Mexico :-)
Our trip was booked for Nov 25th. - Dec 2nd. We left bright and early with a very excited little boy by our sides. The flight was about 4.5 hours and felt really long. We landed, hit customs and boarded our shuttle for the resort. The trip was only about 15 minutes before we arrived at the Royalton. The ride up to the resort was a long and windy path through a very large swamp. The back of the resort sort of resembled a prison but once we got off the shuttle and entered the lobby - wow! The view out to the ocean was outstanding.

Check in was fast and we were quickly shown to our room. It was very clean and modern with a view looking out onto the kids water park. Brandon couldn't believe his eyes. He was stripped down and looking for his swimsuit in a matter of seconds. We were out the door and to the pool in probably less than 10 minutes. B hit the water while Jamie and I checked out the scene. The resort was very large with plenty of sunbeds and loungers. In our immediate area -  "the family area" - there were three water slides, a toddler water park, a big kids water park, a small pool, a huge pool with swim-up bar, a snack shack, Italian restaurant, hot tub and infinity pool looking out to the ocean. Everything was clean and modern. I could tell we were about to have an enjoyable holiday.

And it really was nice. I think I enjoyed the food the most. They had something like 10 restaurants and one huge buffet. I don't think I ate one bad thing the whole week we were there. We signed up for the Tappanyaki show twice but what was really great was their sushi. We loved the Italian restaurant and had a fantastic meal at both the Mediterranean and Mexican spots. Being really family friendly they even had a section in the huge buffet for kids - a hit with B.

 Even though this resort had 11 pools I thought the beach was really nice. It was quite large and private. They had  lots of lounge chairs and a beach bar. The ocean was murky and full of seaweed but it was warm. Seaweed didn't bother my husband or my son as they could be found regularly playing in the waves or building sandcastles on the beach.

The Royalton also had a kids club which B took a shine to. They offered face painting and balloon animals so it was hard for B to resist. Once he discovered the kids club he wanted to visit it for a little while every day. Jamie and I took the opportunity to grab drinks at the lobby bar and enjoy the amazing ocean views. While in the club, B made a few friends. This was great because he would play with them the next day at the pool or at the beach.

We only caught one show during the week of our stay. It was the "fire show" and held down on the beach. It started at 9pm and featured live drummers and several performers dancing and doing tricks with fire. I was really impressed by the show and even B said he loved it. The show was over by 10pm and we took our tired little guy back to the room. He slept really well on the pull out couch while Jamie and I found the king bed to be quite comfortable. And the shower - wow! Two rainfall shower-heads made for the best shower ever. I'll have to remember that one for any future bathroom renovations we might do.
Being a new resort there were a couple of quirky things. One pool was under construction while we were there. Apparently the builder had used the wrong tile adhesive in all the pools so they had to go around, one-by-one replacing all the tiles in each pool. Also, because it was built on a swamp, the resort was shifting and experiencing cracking everywhere. Jamie and I started to call it "the caution cone resort" as cones were placed every few feet to warn of tripping hazards.
Despite the quirks the Royalton was a beautiful resort and made for a lovely family vacation. Service was good for the most part and I loved all the free WiFi everywhere, even on the beach. Would I return here again? Probably not. Jamie and I were both missing a quieter more charming Mexican experience. That being said though, we did land an awesome deal on this place and most likely couldn't even afford to return once it gets the kinks worked out ;-)

Brandon Turns 6!

When I first asked Brandon what he wanted to do for his 6th birthday party he said he wanted a "Lego party at the house". I immediately ruled this out as a bad idea. The thought of a dozen screaming six year olds running around my house was more than I could bare. I started researching what it would cost to have Bricks 4 Kidz host his party at their facility. I think I was quoted something in the neighbourhood of $350. That's when I decided I could afford to shop around. I looked into everything - from parties at the zoo, the science centre and all our local pools. In the end, the parties ended up being way too expensive or not available for the dates I wanted. I finally decided to have a Lego themed party at the house.
I arranged for the party to happen on Sunday November 8th. The kids arrived at 2:00pm and set about right away to building Lego race cars. The kids did an excellent job of following the instructions and building their cars. Everyone was quiet and concentrating. It took them about 40 minutes to complete their masterpieces and then noise levels went up when we decided to race the cars. That really only lasted about 5 minutes. As the noise levels continued to escalate I announced it was time for snacks and cake. Phew! That kept them quiet for another 20 minutes or so. After cake it was time to open presents. Brandon's friends were very generous and he received some really nice gifts like Lego, books and games. After presents we all went downstairs to the basement and took turns bashing on the piñata. The kids really loved that! As soon as the piñata burst, the kids loaded up the candy into their loot bags. All of a sudden it was time for parents to pick up the kids. Somehow I had managed to plan the party perfectly. All the kids claimed they had a great time and Brandon loved his party. As for me, I'm really pleased with how it went. The kids were loud, for sure, but they were all really well behaved and a pleasure to have around for a couple of hours. Who knows? Maybe I'll be brave enough to try another home party next year!

So who is Brandon now that he's six? Well mostly I'd say he's a very happy boy with lots of action and excitement in his life. He's doing well at school and Summit and his best friends at both those places are Tau and Zachary. He loves to swim and run and ride his bike. He loves to build Lego and solve puzzles. He doesn't really enjoy singing or dancing but he's discovered Michael Jackson and really likes "Smooth Criminal". His favourite food is burritos, followed closely by sushi. He has a great sense of humour and he loves to tell jokes. He says most words perfectly but he'll still say "me rote" instead of "remote". He's 44 lbs and full of self confidence. He may be only six but ask him and he'll tell you, he knows everything about everything ;-)