Cancun:: Thursday & Friday

More morning shots...

One of our favorite things to do at the Royal Resorts is to paint pottery. 

The boys each picked an animal to paint. Nolan picked a bird. He's always loved birds and he said it reminded him of the parrot he got to hold on the snorkeling trip the day before. Heath picked a turtle to remind him of the turtles in the pond just outside our villa. I was so happy that they actually picked small ones! They were easy to travel with and less expensive too! 

Nolan did a great job and used different shades of green and purple with a little bit of red too. Heath was focused and painted one color on top of the next on top of the next. His was cool because you could take the top off. He thought it would be neat to put some money inside of it when we got home. Heath likes to work on things and he took his time making it just right! When you finish painting, you turn it in to the painting masters and they fancy it up and glaze it for you. The boys were super excited to go back and pick it up the next day! 

Happy Hour! A Leapin' Lizard this time! 

I just love Nolan's expression in this shot. Having so much fun with his cousins! 

Oh. my. cuteness! 

Yes, I do actually have a bathing suit on in this pic! Ha...even though it looks like I'm naked!  

Friday...Cara's Birthday! 

Heath and Uncle Wes messing around in the pool. 

Our last day of poolside activities...

Mark took these shots of Barb and I doing Water Aerobics. 

I look so serious! Ha! I was focused, trying to keep up with Angie, our instructor. She was fast and fun! 

The sun was always in my face too, so I would often close my eyes and exercise. Looks funny caught on camera! 

After Aqua Aerobics, the boys went with Mark to pick up their pottery! 

Nolan and "Birdie". 

Heath and "H". I thought what he named his turtle was super cute! 

Now, at home, their painted friends are sitting on our kitchen counter. Heath got a peso at the airport Starbucks and keeps it inside of "H". He brought it to Target today because he was sure that he would be able to use it to buy a toy! Silly kid! 

Eating lunch by the pool! 

That afternoon while Heath and Brooks napped, Nolan and I went down to the beach with the Syers fam to watch Payton and Cara parasail. 

I love this picture of my cute niece and nephew! 

another selfie with my bud

our family's first initials 

While we waited for them to be ready to go, Nolan and I had some fun in the sand. He wanted me to bury him, but at first he just wanted his legs. He looked like a mermaid, which was NOT cool with him, so then he asked me to bury him on his tummy. 

He looked like a sea turtle! 

hi! 

(Speaking of turtles, we actually got to go down to the beach at night and see sea turtles burying their eggs in the sand! The resort collects the eggs and keeps each hatch safe in a beachside nursery to protect the eggs. One turtle laid 145 eggs. We got to hold one. It looked like a white ping pong ball and felt just like an egg. Even for Mark and I who aren't really into animals, it was pretty cool. The mama turtles are huge and were so close!)

Brady and Wes got to ride a jet ski out to the boat so that they could ride along with Cara and Payton! 

Next, Payton and Cara headed out. 

Nolan and I snapped a few pictures and then headed back up to the pool. 

When we got back to the room, we found this awesome shell creation in the grass next to our villa. When Nolan saw it, he shouted, "What in the world!" It was super cute. We weren't sure of where it came from but it was cool! 

Opa treated the kids to Happy Hour! A "Tropicana" today! 

Even Brooksie got a drink...or two! Double fisting "Banana Monkeys"! A family favorite! It tastes like a banana milkshake! Only with Kahlua for us adults! 

After showering and getting dressed up for family pictures, we found out who made the shell creation...

it was Heathy! We couldn't believe it! Mark said that he made it all by himself! He was so proud and protective of his "shell tower". 

Here are two quick shots from our family photos. 

Oma & Opa and their 7 grandchildren! I love how Brady, Nolan, and Heath look in this picture! So sweet! These kids are so blessed to have so many close cousins. They argue and fight at times, but there are so many laughs and so many fun times that they have together! 

And here's the whole group! A pretty good shot of 16 people! Jayne took a bunch more pictures on her camera which I'm sure will turn out fantastic. I will share them when I can. She took some of just our family of 5 as well. Can't wait to see them! 

The Syers family went out to dinner that evening to celebrate Cara's birthday. The rest of us went up on the deck to watch the sunset. 

Brad and Cohen pretending to be Omar, the masseuse! 

The boys liked the massage area. They were pretty cute laying on the tables. 

The sunset was so pretty! 

Love these shots of my cute boys! 

Cayo Largo, the restaurant at The Royal Islander was having a shrimp festival that evening. I love shrimp so Mark and I decided to go out that night as well. Bruce, Barb, Brad, and Jayne watched our kiddos and we feasted on chipotle and coconut shrimp! It was delicious! And we could even see the kids from our table at the restaurant as well. That was something that was so nice about our trip. We had an excellent first floor location for our rooms. We were super close to the pool, turtle pond, restaurants, and market. We had a lawn for the kids to run around on and the kids could go in on their own to use the bathroom, get a snack, or take a rest. We couldn't imagine having a room anywhere else! 

Just one more post to go!