The Ritcheys at a Glance: Mexico

To say we had "fun" in Mexico is a sure understatement. We had such an incredible time. I must be honest, prior to leaving I was not excited about the trip... I was concerned the kids would be bored and that it would end up being more "work" than "play" for all of us. I couldn't have been more wrong and it's never felt SO good to be SO wrong!!

It started out with a two hour drive to Ft. Lauderdale to catch the plane. And I believe Adrey asked, "When are we going to be there?" 535 times. Not sure exactly. I should have counted... it would have given me something to do! And it was a race against time getting there. John was starting to sweat by the time he dropped me and the boys off curbside. And when he drove off to park the car, I may have uttered under my breath "If you miss the flight and send me to Mexico to do this all by myself I will ________". I got kind of creative with what went in the blank the longer I waited for him to catch up to us! But he did! And we got to the terminal with enough time to buy some snack mix and a water:-)

Relatively speaking, the boys were very good on the plane. Ya know, most of the time I think I have things pretty much under control. I feel like I make good decisions for my family and I'm very well prepared for whatever it is we're doing. I made a few colossal mistakes which I will spell out for you.

1. Don't sit your kids NEXT to each other on a plane. Or anywhere for that matter. They will fight the entire time. And even though I could have switched seats mid-flight, that thought didn't come to my mind. The fact that that thought didn't come to mind is scary also.

2. Buying a Light Bright toy, which has 640 pieces is not a good idea. And the fact that I forgot batteries, could have been a blessing in disguise.

3. Play Doh, which seemed like such a good idea when I was buying it at THE DOLLAR STORE, was not such a good idea. There's a reason why the real "Play Doh" charges $4.00 per container and not $1.00 for FOUR containers. It's because the 4 for a buck is cheap shit and breaks into a billion mushy pieces which then sticks to the seats, shoes, clothing, etc. And all the boys wanted to do was roll them into balls and throw them. Like over the seats. I spent more time cleaning it all up than the time they played with it.

4. Snacks. I went to Costco prior to leaving and spent about $50 on snacks to bring for the week. Said snacks did not leave Wellington Drive. Awesome. What mother leaves the house without snacks?

One thing I DID bring was a big Ziploc bag of M&M's for "good behavior" incentives. Charlie, on our decent did NOT want his seat belt on. Same thing happened when we were returning home on the decent. I kept saying, "Charlie, if you're a good boy, I'll give you M&M's when we land. But you have to be a good boy." He started screaming louder and everyone started turning. So, to save face, I plopped the entire bag of M&M's in his lap. He was happy. And so was I.

Where was John you ask? On the other side of the aisle!

In all seriousness, though, the boys were pretty good! When we got to Mexico we had to go through customs we were off the plane for oh 10 minutes before Charlie was fast asleep in my arms! Figures!

When we got to Cancun, we didn't waste anytime getting to the pool!!

The water is unbelievably beautiful in Mexico. Stunning!

Blurry, but cute:-)

"It's sandy, Mommy".... Yes, yes it is, Charlie. We are at the beach!

They sported their brand new "Spiderman" bathing suits!

Charlie took a nap every afternoon by the pool!

The servers wanted to be in the picture with the boys! The staff at the resort are wonderful people. They are so nice and will do whatever it takes for you to be happy!