Back to Akumal and Yal-Ku With Nana and Papa

After being reunited with Papa and Nana, we took them down to Akumal and Yal-ku for the day. Again, our little Sydney is a happy little monkey.

This time we went to Yal-Ku which is a lagoon or an inlet with a bunch of fish in it. We saw Blue Tangs and a bunch of other fish.
Obviously, Sydney is enjoying the day in the water!
Nana and Sydney looking at fish.
This is a picture of the inlet.
Everyone is happy to be Yal-Ku. Sun claimed a few sunburns today on everyone.
Papa looked happy to be on the beach! I don't think he likes the feel of sunblock or he already had sand in his shorts.

COBA WAS AWESOME

I know to lead the June 17 blog with a picture of McDonald's is a little odd and certainly out of the norm. However, we went there today. Collin savored every bite of his chicken nuggets. To the kids, this was the meal they had been waiting for for more than a week. After a long hot day of climbing pyramids and walking around the ruins of Coba even I have to admit - it hit the spot.

The other big happening today was the win for Mexico in the World Cup. To Sydney's dismay France lost to Mexico nil to 2. With each goal scored, you could hear erruptions of cheers from people congregated in small restaurants/bars/houses. People were honking their horns, shouting and screaming, hootin' and a hawlerin'. It was really fun to see these people get behind their team. It is the first time they have ever beaten France. I bet they were celebrating all night long on 5th Avenue.
This is the cutest, most adorable 7-year-old ever. She seems so happy. More on this later. Just remember the happiness on her face.
When you first walk in to Coba, you see this crumbling, pyramid structure. The main pyramid is a mile down the road.
They only let you walk up 15 feet of it.
Natalie and Collin looking around at all the stuff there is to see when you walk in the park.
Collin and Sydney climbing on ruins.
Natalie and the kids under the Mayan Arch. This is a cool arch that can be seen around many of the Maya ruin sites. It is amazing that even without a keystone which was used in European architecture, it has remained intact for hundreds and hundreds of years. In this case it is a tunnel that even supports the entire structure.

Jay is in the middle of the ball court. There are two courts located at Coba, both of them very small compared to ones at Uxmal and Chichen Itza.
This is another Mayan arch.
Natalie and the ball courts.
The ball courts are about 50 feet long and 30 feet across. The Mayans could only use there knees, elbows, and hips to put the rubber ball through the hoop. The losers were sacrificed to the gods.
Oh yes, the most adorable child. She is madder than a hornet at this stage of the walk. She went from "this is the best day ever" to rivaling Hurricane Andrew as nature's most destructive force - in about 10 minutes.

This is the view from the great COBA Pyramid. It looks a lot like a more famous structure we will see later in Uxmal with it's curved edges. It used to be considered the tallest in Mexico built much like the ruins in Tikal and other cities in Guatemala - very tall and narrow. However is now known to be 2nd tallest - still a towering presence of about 12 stories.

Collin and Jay climbed it first. Collin counted to tell us there are 111 steps. What a spectacular view from the top! Climbing up the pyramid was easy. Getting down the pyramid was the concern since it is steep and the steps are very uneven and slippery.

You can see for miles and the pictures don't do it justice.
Collin on top of the pyramid. There were too many people around to feel comfortable with having an 8 year on top of 150 foot structure. And the thought of getting down was certainly burdensome.
You can see the crumbling pyramidal structure from the entrance.
I bet the Maya certainly enjoyed the sunsets and sunrises from this vantage point.
This is a look down from the pyramid. Again, getting up the 111 step pyramid was easy, getting down a little more difficult.
Picture from the bottom of the pyramid. Yes, we used the rope.
Picture of the family at the base of the great pyramid.
These are stela. It is basically a book written on a stone tablet. They were very similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs.
This was an original score card or score board for the ball court said to have the date of 465 inscribed on it.
The kids at the ball court. You can see the ring in which the ball had to pass to score a point.

Stay at condo, not much happening today day....

Today was a stay at home day. The kids used the swimming pool 4 different times. However, we did manage to lock ourselves out of the condo (long story I don't want to get in to). Last night we got pizza from a place called Banana Pizza. For $15 you get 1 pepperoni and mushroom and 1 Hawaiian pizza with 2 cokes. It was actually pretty good. It fed us dinner last night and breakfast and lunch today. Tonight we are going to a place called Nativo's. We are excited about trying this place.

Update: It was over-rated and over-priced. Won't be going back.

SNORKELING @ PUERTO MORELOS

Today we decided to take a short 30 minute drive up to Puerto Morelos. This little town was pretty much shut down for the off-season. Very sleepy. Very few people on the beach. In the guide book, the going rate to go snorkeling to a couple of different spots was about $25-35 per person plus $2.50 for park fees. We got a guide to take all us out for $70 including park fees. It was good snorkeling and the kids enjoyed it. Right when we dove in we encountered a 3 foot long barracuda!!!! He was really cool. We saw a ton of fish, but, unfortunately for Collin, no rays or sharks.

Jay waiting to go out on the boat.
Collin and Sydney in the water before we got on the boat.
The beach reminded me of the beach at Ensenada. No one was around.
This is all of us ready to make the plunge into our second site of the day.
Collin really likes the snorkeling thing. He did really well!
Sydney, again, afraid of her own shadow, fearing the worst, ends up loving it. She can't wait to go back and do more snorkeling.
A view of the beach from the boat. Again, no one is there compared to the beaches in PDC.

A funny thing happened on the way to Mexico.....

A funny thing happened on the way to Mexico.....

Last Tuesday, my former boss called me while our plane was enroute to PHX. I got off the plane and looked at my phone and noticed I had a message. I really didn't want to listen to the message, but I figured I had 30 minutes to kill, so why not. He said there is position available over in the new district. Meanwhile, on that flight from SLC to PHX we sat next to the sister-in-law of a principal in Canyons District. This was the principal with whom I would be interviewing. When I talked to the principal, I told her that her sister-in-law "said hi" which was quite odd and amazing.

If that was not weird enough, the day after we arrived Natalie and I dragged the kids to Mega to do some shopping for the week. While in Mega, I noticed a couple speaking English. I politely asked "Where are you from?" They responded "Salt Lake". What a small world! We talked a little more and they asked us what we did for a living? We responded that we were teachers. The husband asked for which district and we responded "Jordan". He told us that he happened to be an Asst. Superintendent from Canyons. What a small world. Anyway, I did get the job offer to go to Mount Jordan Middle School. Last year it was Natalie getting a job while in Mexico, this year it was Jay. I hate to think what kind of jobs we would get if we went to Europe?

Finally, we at last night at this place called UTIL Pasta Factory. It reminded me of Piccollo's in Denver. Thick noodles and a great sauce. It was awesome.

Sydney and Jay see a turtle.

We returned to Akumal today. However, this time the kids were equipped with mask and snorkel to find some turtles. Jay first swam out there to see if he could see anything. He came back with a report of seeing 2 turtles. Upon this discovery, Sydney put her fears aside and followed Jay way into the bay. When they returned they reported seeing another turtle. Natalie and Collin went out a long ways but did not find any turtles. Jay believes that the shells were about 4 feet long. They are huge creatures. Sydney saw one that was eating grass and also breeched about 5 feet from us.

(Not our picture. We'll post later if one turns out.)

Day 5 or June 13....You won't believe

You won't believe what just came out of Natalie's mouth....."I hate to say it, but I will relish the day when we go to Burger King and sit in an air-conditioned eating establishment." It only took 5 days for this to happen.

Gorgeous sunset from our balcony!

Today was pretty much more of the same. We went to the beach early and stayed about 2 hours. We came back to the condo, took a nap, watched the kids fight, went down to 5th Avenue to buy snorkel masks from a French Dive Shop. Sydney liked the dive lady because she was from southern France. We walked back in the heat and humidity with, of course, the kids complaining of the heat, humidity, and "why do we have to walk everywhere?" add a little whine to "why do we have to walk everywhere? much better! It really is not that bad. In fact, today was really nice up until 3pm, and then got really nasty with humidity.

We are having a lot fun just relaxing and reading books. Sydney has finished two of her chapter books already and Collin is almost done with book 5 of Percy Jackson. Natalie is struggling along with her boring Spanish book, and Jay is almost done with his first book of the trip. The condo is very nice to live in. Plenty of room for everyone. The pool is awesome. There are only 5 English channels to chose from, so TV has not been a part of our lives at all.

So far, the local establishments have been great to eat at. Tonight, we are eating at UTIL PASTA COMPANY. The kids are actually excited about eating tonight. They usually bring their books and read or try to catch flies like Mr. Miyagi. Sydney caught one the other night at El Fogon.

Tomorrow we are planning a trip back to Akumel. We are going try one more time to see the turtles.

Things that we have learned in the past 4 days....

10. Topes are really big bumps that you have to slow down for, however, the rubberband that makes our car go can barely get over the bumps without a running start. One tope actually bumped us back a few feet.

9. You can get 4 humans in 12 cubic foot area and go 80 kmph.

8. A family of four can eat for $2 at the Wal-mart pastry shop.

7. It does not matter if you are in Ensenada or Playa, the vendors are all the same. Gotta love the calls to buy absolutely worthless items. "Sir I have exactly what you need." Ah, I don't think so.

6. El Fogon might be the best place I have ever eaten.

5. Aquachilles fish taco might be the best taco I have ever had.

4. Akumel is one of the nicest beach towns we never heard of.

3. The kids truly do not like going on tours that consist of a boring guy talking, temperatures in the 90's, humidity at 97%, and walking 2 miles to see ruins that were built 1500 years ago. Go figure.

2. The kids would rather have a donut and Top Ramen noodles than eat at El Fogon again.

1. Deodorant 3 times a day for everyone!

1a. You never know who you might run into on a vacation. It is a small world!

The views down Calle 34

This is the view we have of Calle 34. To the west is a purple building that serves great tamales. You can see that it is cloudy and rainy today. It is also surprisingly cool since it has rained and the breeze is blowing.

This view is directly across the street from us. The yellow building is a daycare center. We tell the kids we are going to send them there. It is the equivalent of Mexican Dana and Scott from West Jordan.

This is the view towards the beach. We are 5 blocks away from the beach so we don't have a view, but the soccer stadium is right across the street. If you notice on the light poles banners are hanging up for the upcoming elections on el 4 de julio (JULY 4).

LAZY AND RAINY DAY AT THE CONDO

Collin and Sydney doing their best Butch and Sundance impersonations in the morning at the condo pool.

Today was spent at the condo. After all of the activity yesterday, a few sunburns, mosquito bites, and exhaustion, we decided to take it easy today and do nothing. We are planning to go to Mega today to do more grocery shopping. The kids don't like what mom and dad eat, so they have been eating tons of turkey sandwiches, Otter-pops, and tortillas with cheese.

The 3 of them just hanging out and having fun. The newest thing for them is to be flipped in the air by Dad.