Got to spend ~4 days in Cabo San Lucas and got a wonderful taste of what I wish our retirement could look like! I’m super ready to spend significant amounts of time lounging by a pool with the kids (and margaritas and pina coladas). It was full-service, too.
We got the all-inclusive deal because we got a discount for being vegetarian(woot!) and we figured it would be worth it to be able to use the gym (which Tom did just about everyday) and have internet access (which I didn’t actually use much, but I think Tom made use of it playing his iPad games) and to not have to worry about preparing our own meals in the kitchen.
It was wellllll worth it! Everything was seriously over-priced, but since we were camping out at the resort and doing absolutely nothing of educational/cultural value, we would have spent way more if we paid as we went, and it was nice not to have to worry about nickel and diming everything. Kids enjoyed “no-booze” (as Dylan would say) margaritas — strawberry and mango — and I, especially, enjoyed plenty of margaritas and pina coladas.
I’d contacted the concierge before signing up for the deal, so the restaurants were aware we were vegan and made absolutely delicious custom dishes for us at every meal.
We spent most of the post-breakfast time at the pool where we thoroughly enjoyed ordering plenty of avocado sushi rolls (and other snacks) for lunch! After swim time, we cleaned up and got ready for evening festivities with the family.
The evening activities often had the kids sleeping late (and sleeping in a tiny bit the next morning), leaving some time for both Tom and I to squeeze a workout in before they woke up. He headed to the gym and I attempted to run around the resort and along the beach (it was still pretty hot even at 7am, so one morning, I opted to run on a treadmill in the air-conditioned comfort of the resort’s gym).
Anyway, some pictures…!
We had a ground-floor unit facing the ocean. This was fantastic!! As soon as Chloe woke up, she’d ask if we could go to the beach, take a walk or play in the sand (or all of the above!). Taking her for a walk out to the ocean and then around the resort became our daily ritual together!
Since Tom and I were both sacking out with the kids at night, we were both waking up pretty early. I loved opening up the curtains and watching the waves break while the sun rose. It was so peaceful and so amazing to have that time while the kids were still snoozing….
Chloe wanted to see this fountain every time we returned to the resort! The kids also loved seeing the koi and the turtles.
They were very loving when they were in a good mood!
All of the kids totally loved spending hours in the pool. This was Chloe’s first experience in the pool and she absolutely loved it! She will be ready for real swim lessons soon!
Behind these girls is the swim-up bar. Ok, miraculously, I lost weight on this trip! I attribute this to swimming to and from the swim-up bar (I also ran in-place in the pool while the kids swam around me).
Here’s Dylan, always the inventor, in his improvised pool lounger!
Full sun on my dear son’s face!! Surprisingly, no kids got sunburnt!
The pools were not heated!! So, the kids got pretty chilly, even with all of that aerobic activity swimming back and forth to the swim-up bar! So, we ate lunch by the deserted hot tub (there was another one lower down) and splashed around in there for a bit.
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On our second evening there, Dre and Christina had a hosted welcome reception at the Grand Solmar (sister resort right next door). But before we enjoyed some seriously boozed up drinks, we went to the wedding site and had the kids rehearse….Cameron was actually late because she was throwing a fit, but we talked Dylan through it and followed Chloe around.
Dylan was the ringbearer but because the coordinator was very confusing, he ended up missing his opportunity to walk down the aisle! Poor guy was so disappointed.
Auntie Christina and her friends are party animals. No joke. Booze flowed freely at the reception.
About 70 friends and family came for the ceremony.
We normally don’t let our kids drink so much crap, but this was vacation and a special occasion, so they sucked that stuff down while they could. Yeesh.
One Cameron and Tom found us and the kids had some drinks, we took Cameron over to the wedding site to explain her flower girl duties.
She had been totally looking forward to this for months, so she was ready. She did a great job, too! Chloe, on the other hand, refused to march. I had to swing her down the aisle.
Every morning, we met my parents for breakfast.
There were three main pools at the resort and we tried them all! This was the third one and the least populated.
The day before the ceremony, Cindy and her family finally arrived! Our kids were super excited to see their cousins!
The next group activity (the day before the ceremony) was a dinner cruise. Of course, Tom and I thought this would be a quiet and pleasant little jaunt out to the famous Cabo Arches and back. We were foolish because, of course, Cabo is a total party place! The boat had a bar, a DJ and a bunch of singing and dancing serving crew! It was fun for a bit, but Dylan’s ear started hurting, Cameron fell asleep and Chloe was way overwhelmed by the noise. Luckily, we stayed downstairs. Up above us, all sorts of grown-up partying was happening which (as videos from Christina’s friends attested to) were definitely not so kid-friendly!
This is indeed pretty. I’m proud to say Santa Cruz has some natural bridges (errr, ok, only one is left!) of its own!
Yes, Dylan can swim without a floatie–he’s currently working on butterfly stroke in swim class–but he still has fun playing in a floaty and racing Cameron.
Kids loved being all fancy for the ceremony!
The gentleman on the left side of the frame, by the way, is Dre’s twin brother, Anthony!
We got our hair and make-up done for the wedding. I chose french braids because I thought Cameron would get a kick out of it. My mom had other plans for my head, but when she heard Cameron’s name, she managed to squeeze an appointment in for her. I had to run down to the pool to grab her and bring her back. Luckily, I was still in fairly good running shape. I made it back in 5 minutes and didn’t even break a sweat (despite 90+F heat and humidity and the uphill journey).
Cameron enjoyed it so much, she asked me if we could go to the salon right after she woke up the next morning (where’d I get this girly-girl??).
Before we left for home, we stopped by Cindy’s amazing suite (the Presidential Suite at the Grand Solmar). It was amazing–3 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, with a kitchen and TV that were bigger than our’s back in Santa Cruz!.
They paid for part of the room on trade (from MMagazine), but still, this thing must have cost a pretty penny!
We left for the airport right after leaving Cindy’s room! The journey back was pretty exhausting. We actually had to grab our bags from baggage claim and re-check them once we arrived at LAX. Then, our flight, which was already going to get us into SJ at 9:20pm on a school night, was delayed about an hour!! The plane also had only 2-seats on each side of the aisle and while we were able to get 3 seats together for me and the girls, Cameron refused to sit next to the very nice lady (who kept trying to smile reassuringly at her) in the seat across from the aisle from me. Chloe refused to sit in her own seat and buckle up, so luckily, the flight attendant allowed Chloe to sit on my lap–two problems solved; Cameron could sit next to me and Chloe could sit in my lap.
Of course, since we were leaving at 10:30 at night, the kids were tired. Cameron and Chloe both sacked out–I spent the entire flight trying to figure out how we were going to get our bags and our car.
Dylan really stepped up to the plate, though! He knew he would have to walk out of the plane (Tom briefed him) so he rested, but actually stayed awake! Once we landed, he helped with the hand-carry, I carried Chloe and Tom carried Cameron.
Tom helped me pull luggage off the carousel and then my mom helped me plop them just outside the door before she and Mike left for their shuttle. While I waited with Chloe, Tom carried Cameron and took Dylan to get the car in long-term parking. Luckily, Tom was able to find a spot near where Chloe and I waited (where I inched our luggage closer and closer to the curb!). It was a very long night. We let Dylan sleep in the next morning and took him into school late. Now, we’re back to business as usual with fond memories of a pretty swank vacay. Will probably be a very long time before the next trip like this!!
