MEXICO TRIP JUNE 24th

THURSDAY, JUNE 24TH

XCARET/DISNEYLAND OF MEXICO

This is the map of the whole Excaret park/we tried to get in as much as possible Excaret had performers throughout the park, (check out the men on the pole). One of the adventures was snorkeling in the parks Lagoon. I think Yal-Ku Lagoon beat Excaret with the colorful fish, still it was lots of fun snorkelingThe park had huge turtles, the baby turtles were in several different tanks. We also saw a butterfly pavilion, we saw leopards only surround by a mote, Sydney's favorite was the dolphins and Collin's favorite was the sharks. We snorkeled through a centote, it was a very-very long cave, but lots of fun and there were many other things to see and do if only we had the time. Right in the middle of the park were real Mayan ruins Grandpa sitting on a ruin waiting for someone to decide where to go next. This was a very beautiful church, inside they had a tree(representing Christ) carved in a very different way, but very impressive. I'm taking a picture of Natalie taking a picture of the kidsThe grounds were full of beautiful flowers, plants and waterfalls

At the end of the day the park had a 3 hour program, representing the changes that occurred as the the Spanish people came from the old world and established themselves here. The Mayans dwindled along with their culture as the Spaniards settled in. This picture I took was at the beginning of the program these Mayan men are blowing horns signaling the start of the big game......side note it was the winners of the game who would be sacrificed, as they felt it an honor.

The warriors are trying to get the ball into the rings(see on both sides of the stage). Every ruin we went to had one of these ball parks. The warriors can only use their hips head and trunk of their body to hit the ball. The crowd cheered on as the ball went into the rings several times. Good thing they are only actors so winners won't have to be sacrificed The program was long, but well worth it. Seeing all the beautiful costumes and learning more about the culture of the Mayan people to the people of today was moving.It was a wonderful night and happily the program kept the kids spell bound EXCARET WAS A GREAT ADVENTURE

MEXICO TRIP JUNE 21 22 & 23

MONDAY, JUNE 21st

CROCOCUN ZOO

Jay and Natalie went scuba diving Monday morning, when they got back from diving, we ventured out to the zoo. We had so much fun at the zoo, it was a "hands on" environment. This zoo was an ecological crocodile farm, but there was much more to the zoo than just crocodiles. These are just a few pictures of the birds and animals that we got to see and hold.

This was a gated area where we walked a path that was surrounded by 40 crocodiles, our guide had a big stick, I was wishing I had one too!

The parrot was one of my favorites, his kiss was so soft

We all held the baby crocodile, although I felt a little squeamish, but the kids did great, check out that smile on Collin! Yes, I even held the snake, but I refused to have it around my neck, so it wound around my arm, Jay took some classic pictures of me, I don't know who was more afraid, me or the snake. I refuse to post those pictures on my blog I looked pretty scary. Our guide had a hard time unwinding the snake from Sydney's sun glasses, we were all laughing so hard. The snake really liked those glasses.
The kids loved the Aztec dogs (hairless dogs), they were so friendly.

The monkeys were a real attraction. Our guide explained that a lot of them were bought buy people who don't realize that they can't take care of the monkey as they get older so they give them to the zoo. The zoo then teaches the monkeys how to survive in a jungle, it takes a lot of time and patients and hope that they will survive once they are released.

Sydney loved feeding the monkeys

We even got to go into the deer pen to feed the deer. The deer were so gentle and very friendly, maybe because we had their dinner in our hands.

This was my favorite time, I could handle the deer without wanting to scream and run.

That night we went to a restaurant that was a little like a Denny's, but more pricey. The food was more American, (kind of like going to one of the States Mexican restaurants). TUESDAY, JUNE 22nd

WE WENT SNORKELING!

When we arrived at Hidden Worlds they drove us down a very long and winding road to a path that we walked, also long and winding. The Cenote was at the end of the path, well worth the efforts.

A Cenote is an underground cave full of water. The Cenotes were very sacred to the Mayans. Many artifacts have been found in Cenotes all through the Mayan Rivera. The caves are covered with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. It was a great experience to see the stalagmites as we snorkeled under the water. This is a person repelling down to the underground cave, we chose to take the stairs.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23rd

THE BEACH AT PLAYA DEL CARMIN

In the morning, Natalie and Jay went scuba diving so we took the kids to the beach. I got to take a quick picture of a wedding ceremony that had just ended. No matter what time we visited that beach, morning, afternoon or evening, there was always a wedding going on. Check out the Mayan costumes, they must have hired some actors to give the wedding a special ambiance.Nana Donna and the kids just before jumping into the water. Collin and Sydney could have stayed at the beach all day. The only way we could get them to leave was to talk them into going to McDonald's for lunch.

A nice place to eat after being in the sun all morning. It was air conditioned and Collin was happy that it had windows and a doors.

When Jay and Natalie got back we had to check out Sam's club, so guess where we went for dinner? Check out Jay, he was enjoying his hot dog.....or not?

IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO MAKE US HAPPY!